Digital Commons Network^™

Arkansas Teacher Licensure Cut Scores, Do They Indicate Highly Qualified Teachers?, Karen K. Morton

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The highly qualified provision of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act promoted licensure exams on a national level. The present study is an effort to explore the most commonly used Praxis licensure exams and their passing scores. Hypothesized was that passing scores are set at such a minimal level that they are ineffectual in identifying highly qualified teachers. More specifically, Arkansas's low passing scores are examined by comparing the distribution of University of Arkansas Praxis scores to national trends. Based on low passing scores, the question was posed - At what point in teachers' careers are expectations lessened? Academic …

Determining Multidimensional Gender: Development And Psychometrics Of A Measurement Instrument, Karyl Lounsbery

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Gender identity is often thought of only as a binary construct, masculine and feminine, despite the fact that there are many people who do not see themselves as fitting this dichotomy (Rochman, 2006). Within the counseling field, it is likely that every counselor will eventually see someone who will be struggling with issues of gender identity (Ehrensaft, 2011). The introduction of the Arkansas Multidimensional Gender Scale (AMGS) will show there is a much broader scope of gender identity, more in line with the idea that all gender identities are normal and that there are as many gender identities as there …

Children's Effortful Control In A Montessori Classroom: Effects Of Parenting And Purposeful Work, Judith Sarah Blahut

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research in effortful control is necessary to understand and support children's behaviors in Social and classroom settings (Rimm-Kaufman, Curby, Grimm, Brock, & Nathanson, 2009). This study reviewed literature discussing the relationship between parenting style and effortful control and Montessori philosophy as it relates to the work in practical life. The literature reviewed in this study suggested that parenting style may also be related to a child's effortful control. In addition, it was expected that the work of practical life in a Montessori classroom would positively influence effortful control in children. Using an experimental design, this study examined the efficacy of …

Individual Resilience, Social Support, And Health Risk Behaviors In Adolescents And Young Adults: Study On Cross-Sectional And Longitudinal Samples, Chuong Hong Nguyen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Resilience is considered the ability that a person gains positive achievements despite exposure to significantly adverse life conditions. However, a majority of previous research has focused on human developmental tasks or academic achievements. Evidence of resilience on health risk behaviors has not been comprehensively established yet. The purposes of this dissertation were to extend the existing literature about the stability of resilience through time, to examine how the resilience scale concurrently and prospectively predict resilience statuses, and to explore effects of Social support over a long period of lifetime. The dissertation used a secondary database from the public-use version of …

Modeling Water Stability And Transport On Mars And Iapetus: Exploring Their Effects On Geomorphic And Atmospheric Processes, Edgard Giovanni Rivera-Valentin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The stability and transport of water on solid planetary surfaces strongly affects both atmospheric and surfaces processes. In this work, two bodies are specifically investigated where transport of water is relevant: Iapetus and Mars. Iapetus, an icy Kronian satellite, has a drastic albedo contrast on its surface and one of the darkest surfaces in the solar system. This extreme brightness contrast is suggested to occur via the transport of water ice from the leading hemisphere to the trailing hemisphere and the poles. Here a global heat and mass transfer model is developed for Iapetus in order to study the current …

A Typology Of Preadolescent Sexual Abusers Based On The Emerging Personality Patterns In The Millon Preadolescent Clinical Inventory, Sam Wallace

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop a personality-based typology of preadolescents with sexual behavior problems based the Emerging Personality Patterns in the Millon Preadolescent Clinical Inventory (M-PACI, Millon et al., 2005). Grounding a typology in a theory driven personality system may offer clarity and specificity in understanding preadolescents with sexual behavior problems in a manner that has not yet been explored. A personality and theory driven typology could provide a more comprehensive framework for assessing and treating children who sexually abuse than any of the current taxonomic models.

The study used an ex post facto design with test …

The Truth Between The Teeth: An Analysis Of Interproximal Tooth Wear At The Ables Creek Cemetery, Amy Reynolds Warren

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Current archaeological knowledge suggests that, by the Late Mississippian period, inhabitants of the southeastern United States had adopted maize agriculture and that maize was a key component of the normal diet. However, in some regions where wild food resources were easily attainable, there is evidence that the transition to agriculture was delayed or did not occur at all. This thesis examines Late Mississippian skeletal collections from two sites in eastern Arkansas, Ables Creek and Upper Nodena. Analysis of differences in interproximal tooth wear facet size and caries rates between the two populations reveals that the diets at these roughly contemporary …

The Self-Efficacy Beliefs Of Black Women Leaders In Fortune 500 Companies, Latonya R. Jackson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Black women are underrepresented in leadership positions within organizations. The extent to which self-efficacy influences the advancement potential of Black females is unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine the self-efficacy beliefs of black women in leadership positions and to determine how Black women leaders' careers are influenced by their self-efficacy beliefs. Participants for the study were determined using convenient random sampling. The objectives of this study were to determine the profile and level of self-efficacy, and leadership practices of participants based on tenure (length of time in a leadership position), age comparison and work experience (total number …

Divine Hiddenness And The Challenge Of Inculpable Nonbelief, Matthew R. Sokoloski

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Divine hiddenness is the idea that God is in some sense hidden or obscure. This dissertation responds to J.L. Schellenberg's argument, based on divine hiddenness and human reason, against the existence of God. Schellenberg argues that if a perfectly loving God exists, we would not expect to find such widespread nonbelief in God's existence. Given the amount of reasonable nonbelief in the world, Schellenberg argues that an agnostic ought to conclude that God does not exist rather than conclude that God is hidden. Schellenberg's argument has three major premises: (1) If there is a God, he is perfectly loving; (2) …

A 1,461-Year Growing Season Precipitation Reconstruction For The Carolina Coastal Plain, Kathryn Perkins Wolff

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A recollection and dating of ancient cypress trees and subfossil logs was performed at Black River, North Carolina, and the separate Black River, South Carolina. The new updated and expanded chronologies date from AD 365 to 2010 and 549 to 2010, respectively. Baldcypress ring-width chronologies are dominated by high inter-annual to decadal variability and do not tend to capture century scale fluctuations in tree-ring growth that could be associated with centennial scale change in climate. The tree-ring chronologies were standardized with a technique designed to preserve low frequency variance known as regional curve standardization. The two chronologies were averaged into …

Perceived Impact Of Quality In A 21st Century Community Learning Center Out-Of-School Time Program: A Case Study, Patricia Ann Wright

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Concern for the safety, education and well-being of children during out-of-school time is helping to change the landscape and priorities of families, educators and policy-makers. Changes in family structure and society have presented the need for quality out-of-school time programs. The changing family structure caused by both parents working outside the home, the advent of the single-parent household, the necessity of federally mandated standardized testing for student achievement, certain criminal activities and the expanding population of children have contributed to the question of how to protect children and enrich their lives during out-of-school time hours. The purpose of this intrinsic …

Happily Ever After Take Two: Rewriting Femininity In Hybridization Fairy Tale Films, Megan Estelle Troutman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The tradition of fairy tales has evolved drastically over the past five hundred years. At the beginning of the 20th century, fairy tale cartoons became widely popular as an independent medium, as well as introductions to larger films. In 1937, Walt Disney started the tradition of fairy tale cinema with the release of Snow White. Since that time, Disney has released and re-released eleven princess fairy tale films. Critics and parents alike ridicule Disney for its depictions of women as submissive and subservient. Recent films have used fairy tale tropes, without referring to a specific classic tale, in order to …

An Experimental Test Of Trauma-Relevant Cue Exposure And Desire For Alcohol Among Adolescents, Heidemarie Blumenthal

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A burgeoning literature suggests a linkage between adolescent traumatic event exposure and problematic alcohol use. Research conducted with adults indicates that exposure to trauma-relevant cues elicits a desire to drink; however, no work has examined this association among adolescents. The current study was designed to build upon and extend this line of work. Participants were 72 community-recruited adolescents (Mage = 16.19; 34.7% girls). Trauma-exposed (n = 47) and non-exposed (n = 25) youth were assigned to either a 3-minute experimental (voluntary hyperventilation) or control task (low-arousal picture viewing). Desire to drink was assessed (1) prior to task assignment, and (2) …

A Role Of Environmental Components In Autoimmune Vitiligo Of Smyth Line Chickens, Lei Dong

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Smyth line (SL) of chickens is a well-established animal model for the study of spontaneous autoimmune vitiligo, displaying all the characteristics of human vitiligo. In humans, phenolic derivative 4-tertiary butyl phenol (4-TBP) has been shown to trigger vitiligo in susceptible individuals. In vitiligo-prone SL-chickens, live turkey herpesvirus (HVT) infection at hatch was identified as the most effective trigger of SL-vitiligo expression. This dissertation examined the role of the environmental factors 4-TBP and HVT in the etiology of SL-vitiligo. Specifically, the generation of reactive-oxygen-species by melanocyte-containing feather tissue (MC-FT) and cultured melanocytes in response to 4-TBP exposure in vitro (Study …

Cotton Response To High Temperature Stress During Reproductive Development, Justin B. Phillips

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Temperature is a primary controller of the rate of plant growth, developmental events, and fruit maturation. Increased temperatures from global climate change are projected to cause substantial losses in crop productivity by the end of the twenty-first century. Elevated temperatures affect all stages of cotton development, but the crop seems to be particularly sensitive to adverse temperatures during reproductive development. In Arkansas, temperature stress is considered to be one of the main factors affecting cotton yield. Environmental stress during floral development is a major reason for the disparity between actual and potential yields. Field and growth chamber studies were conducted …

Distribution And Control Of Herbicide-Resistant Italian Ryegrass (Lolium Perenne L. Ssp. Multiflorum Lam. Husnot) In Arkansas, James Walker Dickson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Italian ryegrass populations have evolved resistance to herbicides that producers rely on for weed control both in wheat and burn-down. The objectives of this research were to: test populations of Italian ryegrass from across Arkansas for resistance to glyphosate, diclofop, pinoxaden, and pyroxsulam; determine if there were any differences in control of 12 glyphosate-resistant populations in relation to glyphosate rate or application timing; determine the level of glyphosate resistance in one selected population versus a susceptible standard and a previously discovered glyphosate-resistant population; and determine the best options for controlling Italian ryegrass prior to planting crops. A total of 215 …

Effects Of Management Strategies And Molecular Breeding Values On Cattle Performance And Carcass Traits, Benjamin Collins Williamson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Forty-eight Gelbvieh x Angus steers (265 ¡À 40 kg) were utilized to determine the relationships among molecular breeding values (MBV), steer performance, and carcass traits. Body weight (BW), hip height (HH), hip width (HW), exit velocity (EV; rate at which steers exited the squeeze chute and traversed 1.8 m) and body ultrasound measurements of steers were recorded at d 0, 93 and 154 of grazing mixed stockpiled endophyte-infected and -free tall fescue. Tissue samples were collected for genomic profiling (Igenity, Merial Limited, Duluth, GA). Steers were transported to the Oklahoma State U fed for 159 d, harvested and carcass parameters …

Feed Supplementation With Natural Extracts Of Cranberry And Its Efficacy On Campylobacter Colonization In Poultry, Ann Woo-Ming

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Campylobacter spp. has been identified as one of the leading causative agents of food borne diarrheal illness. Epidemiological evidence has shown that poultry is the main source for human infection. Poultry are asymptomatic carriers of Campylobacter within their gastrointestinal tract, with colonization levels reaching 106-108 cfu/g cecal content. Surveys of domestic poultry flocks have estimated that approximately 90% of flocks are positive for Campylobacter colonization. Risk assessment studies have determined that by reducing levels of Campylobacter colonization during rearing, incidences of human infection will be significantly reduced. Currently there are no consistently effective treatments to eliminate Campylobacter from poultry flocks. …

Intake, Digestibility, Insitu Disappearance And Ruminal Fermentation Of Bermuda Grass Hay By Lactating Beef Cows Offered Corn Or Hominy Feed As Supplements, Zibani Madzonga

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hominy feed, a co-product of dry corn milling, has been evaluated to a limited extent in feedlot and dairy rations, but has not been evaluated as a supplemental energy source for lactating beef cows. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of level of hominy feed supplementation on intake, digestibility, in situ DM disappearance, and ruminal fermentation characteristics of medium quality bermudagrass hay. Five ruminally cannulated lactating beef cows (BW = 596 kg, SE = 13.9) were used in an experiment with a 5 × 5 Latin square design. Treatments were low hominy (LH; 0.25% …

Colic In Infancy As An Indicator Of Subsequent Sensory Processing Development, Terri Anne Pohlenz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper attempted to find a link between infantile colic and subsequent sensory processing development. Literature research turned up very few studies linking colic with later development of sensory processing disorder. Ten hypotheses, based on literature research, linked colic in the first year with later indications of sensory processing disorder, whether formally diagnosed or anecdotally reported. None of the 10 hypotheses were proven.

Biological Strategies And Mathematical Approaches For Limiting Bacterial Contaminants And Chemical Pollutants In Bioethanol Fermentations, Alia Chahed Ep Limayem

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

During the most recent decades increased interest in fuel from biomass in the United States and worldwide has emerged each time petroleum derived-gasoline registered well publicized spikes in price. The willingness of the U.S. government to face the issues of more heavily high-priced foreign oil and climate change has led to more investment on plant-derived sustainable biofuel sources. Biomass derived from corn has become one of the primary feedstocks for bioethanol production for the past several years in the U.S. However, the argument of whether to use food as biofuel has led to a search for alternative non-food sources. Consequently, …

Trauma At Akhetaten (Tell El-Amarna): Interpersonal Violence Or Occupational Hazard, Rebecca Marie Hodgin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The New Kingdom individuals excavated from the site of Akhetaten, modern day Tell el-Amarna in Middle Egypt, exhibit traumatic injuries relating to construction of the new city. This site is important for Egyptological and bioarchaeological interpretations because the city was only occupied for approximately 15 years. The cemetery provides an archaeological instant in history providing information on the individuals who lived, worked, and died at Akhetaten. A total of 233 individuals have been excavated and analyzed to date. The incidence of forearm fractures as chronic ulnae stress fractures instead of parry fractures are indicated by the presence of Schmorl's nodes, …

Characterization Of The Vasotocin Receptor Subtype 4 (Vt4r) In The Brain And Pituitary Gland Of The Chicken, Gallus Gallus, Rajamani Selvam

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study investigated the distribution of the vasotocin subtype four receptor (VT4R) in brain and pituitary gland of the chicken, Gallus gallus. The anterior pituitary cell types associated with the VT4R were also determined. Two polyclonal antibodies were raised in rabbit against a cocktail of peptides, 15 amino acids from the amino terminal region and 17 amino acids from the carboxy terminal region of VT4R receptor. The antibody was validated utilizing the Western blot and immunocytochemistry. A single band at 47KDa utilizing membrane protein extracts of chicken brain and pituitary tissues was shown for the VT4R antibody. A peptide …

The Androgynous Tomboy: Adolescent Liminality In The Contemporary Southern Bildungsroman, Brooke Alexandra Shippee

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Androgynous Tomboy: Adolescent Liminality in the Contemporary Southern Bildungsroman is an analysis of the adolescent, specifically, of the young tomboy characters central to three Bildungsroman texts set in the American South during the twentieth century: Carson McCullers' The Member of the Wedding (1946), Bobbie Ann Mason's In Country (1985) and Dorothy Allison's Bastard Out of Carolina (1993). I seek to challenge the very notion of the conventional tomboy within the coming of age literary genre by defining these youths as androgynous, rather than as young individuals who assume a singular gender opposite of their biological sex. Throughout my work, …

Recombinant Protein Production In Bacillus Species, Isolation And Methionine Production In Methionine-Producing Microorganisms, Suwat Saengkerdsub

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Linoleic acid isomerase (LAI) is the enzyme that converts linoleic acid to conjugated linoleic acids (CLAs) which appear to be capable of lowering cancer risk and enhancing immunity. There is an interest in developing commercial processes for the production of single isomers of CLA by biotransformation of LA using microbial cells and enzymes. However, the evaluation of these strains suggest that growth and LA isomerase production levels by these anaerobes are insufficient to support economic commercial production of single CLA isomers. A better alternative is to clone the isomerase gene and to generate new production strains using recombinant technology. Bifidobacterium …

Foster Parents' Perceptions Of Their Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities In Relation To The Behavioral Challenges Of Foster Youth, Melissa Hall

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The complex, long-term, and prevalent behavioral problems and needs of foster children and youth continue to be documented (Farmer et al., 2010; United States Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], 2005). However, research indicates that foster parents are not adequately prepared or trained to address these challenging behaviors (e.g. Dorsey et al., 2008; Lee & Holland, 1991; Puddy & Jackson, 2003). Foster parent perspectives and the inclusion of their input concerning foster parenting and the behavioral problems of foster youth are needed to examine this crucial problem area (Park & Helton, 2010). The intent of this multi-case study was …

Photocatalytic Reactor Using Tio2 Thin Film On Quartz Tubes, Ram Mahipal Kouda

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Photocatalysis process, as an environmental application is an advanced oxidation process with tremendous potential in the near future. Previously many researchers, have conducted photocatalysis in different reactor configuration using TiO2 slurry and thin film, using a UV light source, the constraints for these reactors are the need for the removal of TiO2 particles at the outlet stream in a slurry reactor and poor environment for the efficient use of TiO2 film using UV light, as the UV light penetration depth in water is about an inch.

Taking all this into consideration, we propose a design for reactor with efficient contact …

Whores & More: Selected Stories By Hernán Migoya, Nikki Noreen Settelmeyer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This is a collection of short stories written by Hernán Migoya from the books, Todas putas and Putas es poco. The stories have been translated from the original Spanish to English. The selected stories demonstrate the humor, style, and neurosis typical of Migoya's writing.

Nutrient Dynamics In Stormwater Runoff From Green Roofs With Varying Substrate, John Michael Fohner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

One major concern with urban development is the increasing amount of stormwater runoff from large expanses of impervious surfaces. These impervious surfaces reduce the ability of stormwater to infiltrate into the soil and eventually groundwater, which leads to greater amounts of surface runoff. Green technology serves as a viable solution to many of the environmental problems presented by modern development. Fifteen mock, extensive green roofs were built in the fall of 2008 at the Watershed Research and Education Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The goals of this project were to (1) measure the amount of stormwater runoff from varying treatments and …

Chinese International Students' Cross-Cultural Adaptation And Online Communication, Chen Wei Wu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explored Chinese international students' computer mediated communication with both Americans and Chinese during their studying in the U.S. based on a Cross-Cultural Adaptation theory. The specific purpose of this study was to test five theorems of the theory with a sample of Chinese international students and to explore how Chinese international students' intercultural transformation, adaptive personality, host communication competence, and their interpersonal and mass communication with both host and ethnic groups associate together.