Digital Commons Network^™

"Courting" Time: Assessing The Policy And Planning Issues Related To Adoption Of Case Processing Standards In The Kentucky Judicial System, John B. Dobson

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

No executive summary.

Should Pseudoephedrine (Pse) Be Moved From Behind The Counter To Prescription-Only? An Analysis Of Pse As An Otc Medication And A Precursor For Methamphetamine Production, Jerry Dillon

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Kentucky State Senator Tom Jensen recently sponsored Senate Bill 45, which would change pseudoephedrine (PSE) from an over-the-counter to a schedule V prescription-only drug. The bill failed, but the debate continues as to whether Kentucky should make PSE, a precursor required to manufacture illicit methamphetamine, a controlled drug that is available by prescription only.

Methamphetamine abuse has been increasing in Kentucky as well as in the rest of the country, despite efforts to control the sale of PSE through federal and state legislation. The Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act (CMEA) of 2006 and Kentucky’s initiative to electronically monitor the sales of …

Public School Performance: Examining The Relationship Between Teacher Training Program And School Achievement, Lindsay Griffith

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Few would argue the importance of providing today‟s youth with a solid educational foundation, yet the United States ranks as low as 25th educationally among 34 OECD developed nations1 . Many researchers have studied the various factors affecting student performance in the K-12 educational system, but mixed, ambiguous, or conflicting results have led to a general sense of uncertainty regarding who to hold accountable. The research has tended to focus on teacher effectiveness or school funding. While those are among a wealth of valid inputs to examine, this study attempted to determine the viability of examining the effect of teacher …

An Analysis Of Bachelor's Degree Production By Kentucky Public 4-Year Universities: Before And After The Kentucky Postsecondary Education Improvement Act Of 1997, Jonathan Pruitt

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

With the passage of the Postsecondary Education Improvement Act of 1997, Governor Paul Patton and the Kentucky General Assembly sought to improve the standard of living and quality of life in the state through increasing the educational attainment of its citizens. The production of bachelor’s degrees by the state’s public four-year universities is a key driver in increasing educational attainment and, therefore, meeting the goals of the legislation. This paper uses interrupted time series regression analysis to evaluate whether Kentucky public four-year universities have increased the rate at which bachelor’s degrees are produced in the period of time since the …

Implementation Analysis Of Two Legal Means To Grant Undocumented Immigrant Crime Victims U.S. Residency Status, Shelley Sellwood-Davis

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

In order to complete an implementation analysis of the T Human Trafficking Status and the U Victims of Crime Status, legislation, articles, annual reports produced by the government and its agencies, and written documents were assessed and compiled to create a framework for highlighting the significant elements of each status, a process that has not been done prior to this effort. This framework was then examined from an intervention theorist’s perspective to assess whether the statuses have been implemented in a manner that meets the goals of the authorizing legislation.

The T Human Trafficking Status and U Victims of Crime …

U.S. State Employee Pension Systems: An Investigation Into The Causes Of Unfunded Liabilities, Chuck Truesdell

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Defined benefit retirement plans for state employees have come under fire, both financially and politically, following recent market volatility and subsequent losses in pension investments. Asset losses matched with liabilities that are set years in advance translate to pressures on state policymakers and plan administrators to either find ways to improve the finances of these pension systems or transition to defined contribution plans that put the financial risk on individual employees rather than the state government. Because most states are legally and contractually obligated to pay retiree benefits regardless of the pension system’s financial condition — even to the point …

Cell And Protein-Based Sensing Systems For The Detection Of Environmentally And Physiologically Relevant Molecules, Kendrick Bruce Turner

Theses and Dissertations--Chemistry

The detection of small molecules in complex sample matrices such as environmental (surface and ground water, sediment, etc.) and biological (blood, serum, plasma, etc.) samples is of paramount importance for monitoring the distribution of environmental pollutants and their patterns of exposure within the population as well as diagnosing and managing diseases. Biosensors have demonstrated a singular ability to sensitively and selectively detect analytes in complex samples without the need for extensive sample preparation and pretreatment. Nature has demonstrated myriad examples of exquisite selectivity in spite of complexity and we seek to take advantage of that attribute in the development of …

Opioid Codrugs For Pain Management, Ujjwal Chakraborty

Theses and Dissertations--Chemistry

Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissus damage or described in terms of such damage. Opioids are effective in treating moderate to severe pain, but opioid alone therapy is associated with several adverse effects, development of tolerance and addiction potential. One way to solve these problems is to administer opioids with adjuvant drugs. In this project several opioid molecules were combined with other adjuvant drugs in a single chemical entity to form a codrug.

A series of codrugs were prepared by conjugation of an opioid with S-(-)-nornicotine, ketamine, norketamine and gabapentin. Several …

Factors Affecting Feeder Cattle Prices In The Southeast, Kenneth H. Burdine

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

Traditional factors known to affect feeder cattle prices, such as corn prices, have been questioned recently given the volatile nature of agricultural markets and some recent research findings. This work utilizes two very current and unique datasets to examine feeder cattle pricing relationships from Kentucky internet auctions and Certified Preconditioned for Health (CPH) sales. In addition to examining traditional pricing factors, factors that affect feeder cattle basis were also examined. Basis questions are of great interest in the southeast as transportation costs to major cattle feeding areas have been impacted by rising fuel prices and increased market volatility. Finally, price …

Comparative Analysis Of Rural And Urban Start-Up Entrepreneurs, Hyunjeong Joo

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

This study investigates the reasons for apparent differences in entrepreneurship rates in rural and urban areas using a Survey of Rural Kentucky Residents (SRKR) and the Panel Study of Entrepreneurial Dynamics (PSED) data. We estimate the determinants of dissimilar characteristics for rural and urban areas in two aspects: one is individual and contextual resources; the other is cultural tendencies of resources.

The results of the analysis suggest that the difference in available individual, economic, and social support resources does not explain the observed difference in entrepreneurship rate. The results also indicate that gender, ethnicity, income, and number of children in …

Camera Planning And Fusion In A Heterogeneous Camera Network, Jian Zhao

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

Wide-area camera networks are becoming more and more common. They have widerange of commercial and military applications from video surveillance to smart home and from traffic monitoring to anti-terrorism. The design of such a camera network is a challenging problem due to the complexity of the environment, self and mutual occlusion of moving objects, diverse sensor properties and a myriad of performance metrics for different applications. In this dissertation, we consider two such challenges: camera planing and camera fusion. Camera planning is to determine the optimal number and placement of cameras for a target cost function. Camera fusion describes the …

An Analysis Of Behavioral Flexibility And Cue Preference In Pigeons Under Variable Reversal Learning Conditions, Rebecca Marie Rayburn-Reeves

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Behavioral flexibility, the ability to change behavior in accordance with the changing environment, was studied in pigeons using a series of reversal learning paradigms. All experiments involved a series of 5-trial sequences and I was interested in whether pigeons are sensitive to the reversal by switching to the other alternative after a single error. In Experiments 1 and 2, the overall probability of the two stimuli was equated over sequences, but the probability correct of the two stimuli changed across trials. In both experiments, subjects showed no sensitivity to the differences in sequence type. Instead they used the overall average …

Control Characteristics Of An All-Digital Proportional-Integral-Derivative (Pid) Compensator, David Michael Feinauer

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

The digitization of classical control systems presents a number of challenges and opportunities with respect to the miniaturization, distribution, reliability verification and obsolescence of both the controller and the underlying system under control. A method for the design of proportional-integral-derivative (PID) compensators realized in the form of all-digital components is presented. All-digital refers to a system implementation that is realizable with a wide range of digital logic components including discrete digital logic elements and programmable logic devices (PLDs) such as field-programmable gate arrays. The proportional, integral and derivative components of the classical PID control law were re-envisioned in terms of …

Effects Of A Short-Term Mindfulness Intervention On Depression And Immune Function, Erin C. Walsh

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Pro-inflammatory cytokines have been implicated in the pathophysiology and maintenance of depression. This study investigated the effects of a short mindfulness intervention on pro-inflammatory correlates of depression (IL-6 and TNF-α) and selfreported psychological health. Sixty-four college females were assigned to a four-week mindfulness training group or a contact-control group. Cytokines and psychological health were assessed at baseline, post-treatment, and 3-month follow-up (mindfulness group only). IL-6 and TNF-α significantly decreased from baseline to post-treatment in the mindfulness group only; these changes were sustained at 3-month follow-up. No between-group differences in psychological health emerged. Although reductions in proinflammatory cytokines in the mindfulness …

Sensing Characteristics Of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube (Mwcnt) Sensors Embedded In Porous Alumina Membranes, Swetha Sree Nimmagadda

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

A theoretical model is developed for calculating the sensitivity of resistive sensors based on aligned multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) embedded in the pores of alumina membranes. Aligned MWCNTs offer more surface area as each CNT acts as a landing site for detecting gas species. The MWCNTs behave as a p-type semiconducting layer; when the bus bar contacts are placed at either end of the top surface the resistance between the contacts responds to oxidizing (resistance decreases) and reducing gases (resistance increases). The model presented in this thesis aims to understand the device resistance dependence upon the MWCNT resistance, and the …

Control Of Metal Transfer At Given Arc Variables, Yi Huang

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) is one of the most important welding processes in industrial application. To control metal transfer at given variables is a focus in the field of research and development in welding community.

In this dissertation, laser enhanced GMAW is proposed and developed by adding a lower power laser onto the droplet to generate an auxiliary detaching force. The electromagnetic force needed to detach droplets, thus the current that determines this force, is reduced. Wire feed speed, arc voltage, and laser intensity were identified as three major parameters that affect the laser enhanced metal transfer process and …

Characterization Of Wolbachia And Its Interaction In Host Mosquitoes, Eunho Suh

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

Wolbachia are maternally inherited, obligate, intracellular bacteria inducing a form of sterility known as cytoplasmic incompatibility. Wolbachia based strategies have been proposed for the control of disease vectors. One example is to use a population replacement strategy to drive into natural population a novel Wolbachia that modifies the age structure of a vector population, reducing disease transmission.

In this research, the effects of a life-shortening stain of Wolbachia (popcorn Wolbachia) are transferred into the mosquitoes Aedes albopictus (Chapter Two and Three) and A. aegypti (Chapter Four and Five). In Chapter Two, the Wolbachia symbiosis significantly reduced fecundity and …

Foreign Language Skills For Cataloging, Kathryn Lybarger

Library Presentations

No abstract provided.