Digital Commons Network^™

Eliciting Stakeholder Representations Of A Marine Socio-Ecosystem: Participatory Modelling Of Shellfish Aquaculture In The Normand-Breton Gulf, France, Sophie Gourguet, Léa Monnier, Jeffrey M. Dambacher, Martin P. Marzloff, Cédric Bacher, Pierre Boudry, Philippe Cugier, Nicolas Desroy, Aline Gangnery, Sophie Girard, Patrick Le Mao, Jose A. Pérez, Olivier Thébaud

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In data-poor situations, qualitative modelling (Puccia and Levins’ “loop analysis”) combined with participatory involvement of stakeholders is well suited to holistically represent the complexity of socio-ecosystems and to assess system stability and its responses to long-term perturbations. This paper presents the results of a qualitative modelling project that involved an interdisciplinary team across natural sciences, social sciences, and modelling. The project focused on analysing the sustainability of a socio-ecosystem with an intense activity of shellfish aquaculture in the Normand-Breton gulf, France. Our primary objective was to involve stakeholders into the participatory development of qualitative models describing the structure and functioning …

Variable Selection For Improving Predictions Of Hydrological Events, Marina G. Erechtchoukova, Marina Zistler

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Application of supervised classification to short-term predictions of hydrological events rely on data routinely collected by Conservation Authorities with high frequencies on streams and their watersheds. It implies that the quality of predictions depends on location of monitoring stations and representativeness of data sets used in the analysis. Given that application of classification algorithms requires data transformation, an attempt was made to improve the performance of these algorithms by extending the set of variables of black box models which are supplied by stream and rain gauges and include their derivatives which may carry very important information as well. The original …

A Multi-Agent System Of Water Allocation And Management In The Bakken Region, Zhulu Lin, Siew Hoon Lim, Tong Lin, Michael Borders

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

A water-depot based water allocation system has emerged in western North Dakota to distribute a large quantity of freshwater for shale oil development activities at the Bakken. This novel, multi-agent system of regional water allocation has never been previously examined. An agent-based model was developed by categorizing more than 600 water depots into 9 agents in terms of types of water permit, ownership and water sources. The model was calibrated against annual water use data recorded by a state agency during 2007 to 2014, with R² values ranging between 0.432 to 0.998 for different agents. The benefit functions also …

Assessing The Environmental Fate Of Graphene Oxide Nanoparticles And Their Reaction Products In Surface Waters Using The Water Quality Analysis Simulation Program (Wasp8), Yanlai Han, Christopher Knightes, Richard Zepp, Dermont Bouchard, Xiaojun Chang, Hsin-Se Hsieh, Brian Avant, Matt Henderson, Jessica Spear, Brad Acrey

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The risk assessment of engineered nanomaterials in the environment significantly relies on mathematical models. The Water Quality Analysis Simulation Program (WASP) is one of the most widely used water quality models throughout the world, and has recently been updated (WASP8) to include numerical algorithms for simulating the fate and transport of engineered nanomaterials in surface waters. Sunlight exposure induces the phototransformation of graphene oxide (GO) nanoparticles in surface waters, resulting in products that include photoreduced GO (rGO) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In this study, we assume that GO releases into a river at a constant loading for 20 years, …

User-Friendly Decision Support For Integrated Water Management: Epa’S Watershed Management Optimization Support Tool (Wmost), Naomi Detenbeck, Alyssa Le, Amy Piscopo, Timothy Stagnitta, Jeff White, Shannon Mckenrick, Annie Brown, Marilyn Ten Brink

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Communities, utilities, and watershed organizations have multiple goals for water resource management; these include meeting regulatory requirements but may extend to economic, supply, siting, recreation, and other goals. The Watershed Management Optimization Support Tool, WMOST, allows stakeholders to identify the most cost effective suite of management options across stormwater, drinking water, wastewater, and land conservation programs that will meet their identified goals and constraints. Instructions to guide the user through data entry, selection of potential management practices and constraints, optimization, and display of results are embedded in a Microsoft ® Excel spreadsheet. WMOST reads in baseline hydrology (runoff, recharge) and …

Software Development Best Practices In Integrated Environmental Model Development, Takuya Iwanaga, Joel Rahman, Daniel Partington, Barry Croke, Anthony J. Jakeman

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Integrated models are often made up of smaller component models, each representing a particular domain that are coupled together. Such models are software for a scientific purpose, and so similarities between model and software development exist. These models tend to be developed by researchers who take on a dual-role of scientist and software developer.

Despite the similarities in development approaches, many best practices found within the field of software engineering may not be applied. These lead to issues revolving around the reusability, interoperability, and reliability (in terms of model application and results) of models developed for integrated assessment. To address …

Combining Modelling With Clustering Analysis To Characterise Exceedances Of No2 Concentrations In The Metropolitan Area Of Buenos Aires, Andrea L. Pineda Rojas, Emilio Kropff, Julie A. Leloup, Nicolas A. Mazzeo

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Ground-level air pollutant concentrations are known to present marked spatial variations in the urban atmosphere. In large urban areas, air quality models can contribute to assess potential exposure concentration levels. The Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires (MABA), the third mega-city of Latin America, concentrates around 13 million inhabitants in approximately 3830 km². However, despite of its extension and the potential impact of air quality on human health, only a few monitoring campaigns have measured ground-level nitrogen dioxide (NO₂). In this work, an urban scale atmospheric dispersion model (DAUMOD-GRS) is applied in the MABA, considering three years …

Dune Habitat Trends Of An Endangered Species, Penstemon Haydenii Wats. (Blowout Penstemon), In Carbon County, Wyoming, Bonnie Heidel, Samuel E. Cox, Frank C. Blomquist

Western North American Naturalist

Penstemon haydenii Wats. (blowout penstemon, blowout beardtongue) is an early-succession plant species that is adapted to the dynamic habitats found in sand dunes. Following widespread habitat loss, the species was thought to be extinct from 1940 until it was rediscovered in 1968. It was listed as endangered in 1987 under the Endangered Species Act. At the time, it was only known from the Nebraska Sandhills, where its low numbers were ascribed to habitat loss. It was first discovered in Wyoming in 1996, in the Ferris Dunes of Carbon County. To develop a proxy for historic Wyoming habitat trends and a …

Decision Support For Control Of Salt And Methylmercury Export From Managed Seasonal Wetlands, Nigel Wt Quinn Phd, P.E., D.Wre, Stefanie Helmrich, Joel Herr, Katie Van Werkhoven

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Monomethylmercury (MeHg) is a toxic mercuric compound that, even at very low concentrations, can lead to mercury (Hg) bioaccumulation within the aquatic food web and cause high levels of MeHg contamination in fish and humans. The behavior of Hg in the environment depends on numerous chemical, physical, and biological factors that vary in time and space driven by biogeochemical and hydrodynamic processes. Managed seasonal wetlands are a major source of both MeHg and salinity to the Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta which discharges into San Francisco Bay and is the source of drinking water for 2/3 of California’s citizens. Whereas …

An Innovative Approach Based On Recursive Clustering To Design Optimal Districts In Water Distribution Networks, Armando Di Nardo, Michele Di Natale, Carlo Giudicianni, Dino Musmarra, Giovanni Francesco Santonastaso

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Water Network Partitioning (WNP) in District Metered Areas (DMAs) is an effective management strategy for the Water Distribution Networks (WDNs), simplifying pressure control, water loss detection and protection from contamination. Nevertheless, the definition of permanent DMAs constitutes an arduous task, since, the closure of some pipes may worsen significantly the energy and the topological redundancy of the system. In recent years, several optimization procedures, relied on heuristic optimization methods, were focused on the optimal design of DMAs; they generally are based on the simultaneous insertion of gate valves in all boundary pipes defined in the clustering phase. Since these procedures …

Models And Modeling In The Environmental Sciences: Between Epistemology And Practice, Carlo Gualtieri, Dragutin T. Mihailović Prof., Darko Kapor Prof., Siniša Crvenković Prof., Ilija Arsenić Dr.

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Designing the models and their use in computer simulation in the environmental sciences inherently involves many epistemological questions. Although practical considerations often overruled the problems of epistemology sometimes it is necessary to make basic epistemological choices, especially in modeling. In sciences and accordingly in environmental ones for many reasons modelers ignore non-linearity of phenomena and processes. If we decide to linearize “the object of modeling” then we use linear equations where the variables and their derivatives must always appear as a simple first power. The theory for solving linear equations is rather well developed one because linear equations are simple …

“Seeing” Beyond The Knees: Inflammation In The Eye As A Result Of Mechanical Stress, Michael Goodman, David Kooyman

Journal of Undergraduate Research

A correlation between Osteoarthritis (OA), affecting over 27 million people in the US [1], and metabolic syndrome (MS), affecting over 340 million people worldwide [2], becomes strikingly important as the search for an effective treatment for OA continues. Increasing evidence has shown that OA is linked to systemic inflammation and MS. With MS comes other substantial comorbidities, including diabetic retinopathy (DR). Ocular inflammation promoted through mechanically induced OA would provide evidence that mechanical stress can be a factor leading to systemic inflammation. Such results would have profound impacts upon the way we view OA as a metabolic disorder, leading to …

A Dakota Woman: Zitkala-Ša’S Fight For Native Gender Identity, Olivia Cronquist

BYU English Symposium

The writings of Dakota author Zitkala-Ša include her memoirs from her elementary education in a white boarding school, as well as some original Native American stories. While there has been much modern scholarship on how Native American women have reconciled their racial and gender identities, I will be examining the link between Native American feminism and assimilation in the boarding school system, exploring the specific aspects of Native femininity that Zitkala-Ša highlights in “A Warrior’s Daughter.” This short story outlines a young Dakota woman’s effort to rescue her lover from the hands of an enemy tribe. Through the main character, …

Navigating Orthodoxy: The Calvinist Self In Lucy Hutchinson’S On The Principles Of The Christian Religion, Jeremy Loutensock

BYU English Symposium

In this paper, I argue that Lucy Hutchinson’s On the Principles of the Christian Religion functions as a clever navigation of Calvinist theology, wherein Hutchinson successfully addresses the potential pitfalls of contemporary belief and constructs an optimistic view of the self. I demonstrate this by comparing Principles to The Judgement of the Synode Holden at Dort to establish the orthodoxy of Hutchinson’s treatise. Then, I examine the emphasis that Hutchinson places on the varied timing and pace of the bestowal of grace and divine enablement and show that these emphases allow Hutchinson to disassociate conviction for sin from reprobation, or …

Our Day Will Come, Heidi Moe Graviet

BYU English Symposium

The majority of scholars agree that Seamus Heaney’s bog poetry is politically charged and directed primarily at the violence of the Irish “Troubles.” Critics have extensively analyzed the poems that Heaney published during this time for their political context and bold political commentary. However, one poem has been curiously overlooked. “Bogland,” published in the face of the “Troubles” in 1969, has received little, if any, attention in way of politics. Instead, it has been analyzed as a process poem: a psychological dig or embodiment of Heaney’s exploration of his personal fears as a poet, search for resolution, and struggle …

Challenging A Stereotype: Female Nature In Rape Of The Lock And “Saturday. Small-Pox. Flavia.”, Elizabeth D. Smith

BYU English Symposium

Due to events such as the Civil War, Interregnum, Restoration, and the rise of the bourgeois, England’s national identity was subject to change during the eighteenth century. Along with this large-scale change came a questioning of the meaning of gender and gender roles. Because of the relatively new forms of written media, like newspapers and journals, both men and women of various social standings could engage in a literary discussion about such questions. This essay focuses on two poets in particular: Alexander Pope and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Pope’s Rape of the Lock and Montagu’s “Saturday. Small-Pox. Flavia.” hyperbolize society’s …

“Soiling The Others”: The Effect Of Change In Igbo Sin And Punishment, Sam Christensen

BYU English Symposium

In recent discussions of cultural change in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, a common critical discussion is whether or not the adaptation and acceptance of Christianity and European values was a positive step forward for the indigenous Igbo culture. A majority of critics argue that Achebe’s purpose in writing Things Fall Apart is to show that while the introduction of Christianity, and the resulting system of government it ultimately established, certainly did change the Igbo culture and way of life, not all of the changes were bad. According to this view, Achebe’s purpose is to examine the benefits and …

Agency In Action: Exploring User Responses And Rhetorical Choices In Interactive Data Displays, Jacob D. Rawlins, Gregory D. Wilson, Kate Crane

Faculty Publications

n 2014, Rawlins and Wilson proposed a typology of agential interactions between users and designers of interactive data displays. This article tests that typology by studying 20 users working with three different types of interactive data displays and answering questions, which were coded by verb and actor and analyzed for themes. The authors show that rhetorical agency is marked by thoughts, actions, and language. Affordances by the designer open a shared rhetorical space where user and designer are coparticipants. As interactivity increases, participants see themselves as rhetorical agents in a community of rhetorical agents rather than as conduits of information.

Current Practices Of Online Instructor Evaluation In Higher Education, Jon E. Thomas, Charles R. Graham, Anthony A. Piña

Instructional Psychology and Technology Graduate Student Projects

As enrollment of students in online courses has steadily increased over the last few decades, very little attention has been given to online instructor evaluation. This is an area of online education that needs additional research to better ascertain the current state of online instructor evaluation as well as discover ways to improve its effectiveness. The purpose of this study is to identify how institutions evaluate online instructors and why. Findings indicated that the post-secondary institutions studied utilized many types of evaluation including student evaluations, administrative evaluations, peer evaluations, self-evaluations, and metrics in their evaluations. Recommendations for the use of …

The Poet Jan Rainis During Swiss Exile, 1906-1920: Internationalism, Nationalism, And The Meaning Of ''A Free Latvia In A Free Russia'', Bryan K. Herman

Swiss American Historical Society Review

T his opening quote appears in the 1949 Stalinist fi lm Rainis, one of several biographical films of cu ltural and scientific figures from the early years of the Cold War. The quote comes at the end of the film , just as Rainis prepares to leave his native Latvia and live under an assumed identity in Switzerland. The scene expresses the tensions of a writer from a relatively small nationality heading to an unknown land . However, instead of finding a strange and unfami liar land, the historic Rainis (Janis Plieksans, I 865-1929) fe lt welcomed and at home …

Transcription And Translation Of The 1658 Jesuit Annual Letter, Vietnam, Nathan Joseph Richardson

Theses and Dissertations

Transcription and Translation of the 1658 Jesuit Annual Letter, VietnamNathan Joseph RichardsonDepartment of Spanish and Portuguese, BYUMaster of ArtsThis project provides a translation and two transcriptions (semi-diplomatic and normalized) of the 1658 Jesuit Annua letter sent from the Tonkin kingdom (now Vietnam) to Jesuit authorities back in Portugal. Specifically, the letter, which is housed in the archives of the worldwide Society of Jesus in Rome (folder 89, Japonica Sinica series, fols 286-290v), reports the progress of the Jesuit mission in that kingdom. However, it also contains a fascinating account of contemporary political and other events there. The purpose of this …

Variable Modulation Of Inputs To Gaba Cells In The Ventral Tegmental Area And Hippocampus, Teresa Marie Nufer

Theses and Dissertations

The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is an important component of the mesolimbic dopamine circuit and processes reward and motivational behaviors. In response to drug exposure, synaptic connections of this circuit can be rewired via synaptic plasticity—a phenomenon thought be responsible for the pathology of addiction. While much is known about dopamine neuron plasticity, less is known regarding plasticity exhibited by VTA GABA cells, specifically inhibitory inputs from outside the VTA. Expanding on the work of Bocklisch et al. (2013), we investigated the plasticity of inhibitory inputs to VTA GABA neurons. Using whole cell electrophysiology in GAD67 GFP mice, we observed …

Test Method For Predicting Failure Modes In Protective Films, Aubrey Jeanette Decker

Theses and Dissertations

In the business of packaging engineering, a large consumption of time is placed on evaluating new materials to provide cost savings to a company. This evaluation is made by using test methods such as those found in ASTM D4169-16, which helps to simulate shipping and distribution conditions. A key problem is that this test method can take up to multiple months, and sometimes years to complete. The apparatus created in this study allows for a comparison to be made between currently used films and prospective films in approximately ten hours. This allows for a prescreening of new films to be …

Lean Six Sigma's Impact On Firm Innovation Performance, Austin Michael Strong

Theses and Dissertations

Following Toyota's dramatic rise to prominence within the automotive industry in the late 1980's, firms around the globe have widely sought to adopt Lean Six Sigma (LSS) as a means of reducing costs, improving quality, and gaining an overall competitive advantage. While the operational benefits of LSS are largely undisputed, there are criticisms of the movement with regards to its effect on firm innovation capability. Prior academic studies investigating the relationship between LSS and innovation are largely conceptual in nature, rely heavily on qualitative data, and display a high degree of variability in results. The objective of this work was …

In Situ Analysis Of Void Formation At The Flow Front In Rtm, Perry August Burton

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to empirically investigate flow front void formation rates and post-formation bubble mobility behavior for composites produced via resin transfer molding (RTM).For this study, in situ observation of bubble formation and migration was accomplished by photographing resin flow progression during infusion tests of carbon reinforcements. An analysis strategy for use in batch processing sequential image sets is presented. The use of MATLAB to process and analyze binary images of infusions for void content has garnered satisfactory results and has shown that analysis of progressive image sequences can greatly enrich the volume of in situ measurements …

Using Religious Themes And Content To Affect Cultural Sensitivity In Russian Language Learning, Paul Tristan Gallo

Theses and Dissertations

Specifically oriented towards Russian culture, this study addresses the need in diplomacy for deeper cultural understanding. As research suggests a link between the inclusion of religious perspectives in second language acquisition (SLA) and student motivation and cultural empathy, this study examines how Russian language classrooms could leverage an understanding of Russian religious themes to foster cultural sensitivity. The study invited 24 second-year university students of Russian to complete a previously-validated assessment of cultural sensitivity: the Global Perspectives Inventory (GPI). Divided into a control and a treatment group, the participants also watched a short video depicting a story from Russian history …

Application Of The Entropy Concept To Thermodynamics And Life Sciences: Evolution Parallels Thermodynamics, Cellulose Hydrolysis Thermodynamics, And Ordered And Disordered Vacancies Thermodynamics, Marko Popovic

Theses and Dissertations

Entropy, first introduced in thermodynamics, is used in a wide range of fields. Chapter 1 discusses some important theoretical and practical aspects of entropy: what is entropy, is it subjective or objective, and how to properly apply it to living organisms. Chapter 2 presents applications of entropy to evolution. Chapter 3 shows how cellulosic biofuel production can be improved. Chapter 4 shows how lattice vacancies influence the thermodynamic properties of materials. To determine the nature of thermodynamic entropy, Chapters 1 and 2 describe the roots, the conceptual history of entropy, as well as its path of development and application. From …

Affect, Neoliberalism And Forgiveness In Alonso Cueto's 'Redención' Trilogy, Anthony Joseph Pearce

Theses and Dissertations

In the aftermath of the bloody twenty-year internal conflict in Peru, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Comisión de la Verdad y Reconciliación, or CVR) documented the massive human rights violations by Sendero Luminoso and the Peruvian state. The CVR contextualized these abuses by producing a broad historical narrative which has fomented the creation of a new discourse in Peruvian cultural production. This thesis is concerned with how the CVR and the post-conflict search for reconciliation have influenced contemporary Peruvian literature. This paper will focus on the ‘Redención' trilogy by novelist Alonso Cueto. The three novels explore notions of forgiveness and …

The Woman As . . . : The Feminine Quest In The Feminine Quest In Lágrimas En La Lluvia And El Peso Del Corazón By Rosa Montero, Zachary Nelson Glassett

Theses and Dissertations

Rosa Montero's novels Lágrimas en la lluvia and Peso del corazón focus on Bruna Husky, an android private detective living in Madrid in 2109. Husky's career leads her into investigating various sinister plots, both of which she falls victim to. These quests lead her to make discoveries about herself that challenge her beliefs about herself. All the cases that Bruna investigates take her on journeys that mirror Campbell's structure of the monomythic quest. My analysis of the novels focuses on how Bruna follows the model of the Campbellian cycle while at the same time questioning the quest, keeping true to …

Doing And Interpreting Lyrical Sociology: Living In Detroit, Gregory Joseph Wurm

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines, experiments with, and theorizes the value of lyrical sociology as an approach to social scientific research. A lyrical sociology, as proposed by Andrew Abbott, seeks to describe an author's emotional response to a phenomenon rather than explain it. This allows for a researcher's own experience to play a role in the research process in a way that helps the reader to connect emotionally and ethically to both the world they read about and the world they themselves are a part of. It has valuable implications for the way researchers relate to their research, their research subjects, their …