Digital Commons Network^™

Relationships Matter: A Narrative Analysis Of Agenda Setting And Policy Perspectives That Influence Higher Education In North Dakota (1990-2020), Billie Jo Lorius

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is about North Dakota’s political structures and culture spanning the past 30 years through a case study approach examines the modern identity of politics that derive meaning into how policies are decided upon, and ultimately, the dynamics of those policies for the state’s system of higher education. Individual interviews and narrative inquiry analysis of the participants’ perspectives shed light on the social and political context in which key policy influencers play their role in the direction of policy deliberation and the ways that these policies influence decisions and lawmaking for the state. Agenda setting theory informs a conceptual …

Valuation Of Potential Pumped Hydro Energy Storage Projects Based On Known Economic And Service Criteria, Seth Lykins

Theses and Dissertations

Clean and sustainable energy sources must comprise a greater share of the global energy portfolio in the future, in order to support a growing population while reducing the anthropogenic effects of traditional energy production. Solar and wind-based generation methods, frontrunners of the energy transition, are intermittent by nature. This presents a challenge in the effort to replace dispatchable fossil fuels with a chiefly renewable energy portfolio. Yet this challenge can be met with appropriate storage, which must be scalable, reliable, sustainable, and financially feasible through implementation of multiple services. Pumped hydro energy storage systems (PHESS), with its colossal scale and …

Deep Geothermal Wells: Enhancing The Suitability Of High-Density-Water-Based Drilling Mud To Sustain Harsh Subsurface Hp/Ht Gradients., Opeyemi Olaolu Oni

Theses and Dissertations

The harsh temperature in which some reservoirs are geologically located has presented a major drilling fluids challenge to the geothermal industry. Therefore, the design of drilling fluid that will be effective and cost-friendly in high-temperature high-pressure (HPHT) environments has become an age-long threat to the economic development of geothermal resources. A geothermal drilling fluid should possess high thermal stability while performing the basic functions of drilling fluid all through the drilling process. Exerting sufficient hydrostatic pressure, suspension, and effective removal of cuttings, shale stabilization, minimum filtrate loss, and thin filter cake thickness. Ilmenite was adopted as a weighting material due …

An Exploration Of The Meaning Of The Phenomenon Of Hope, In The Context Of Hopelessness, For Rural Frontline Registered Nurses In South Dakota, North Dakota, And Minnesota During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Stephanie Jean Orth

Theses and Dissertations

Background & Purpose: This study’s purpose was to understand what the phenomenon of hope meant to rural critical access hospital RNs in three Midwest states, and what gave them hope during the COVID-19 pandemic. The full scope of the pandemic on the rural nursing workforce is unknown. Prior research has shown that hope can be a positive tool for sustaining psychological well-being, setting and achieving goals, and can facilitate coping (Collins, Bhathal, Field, Larlee, Paje, & Young, 2018; Hacimusalar, Kahve, & Aydin, 2020; Persell, 2016; Snyder, 1995). Methods: Ten participants were interviewed using a semi-structured, interpretive hermeneutic phenomenological approach. van …

Estimation Of Idle Time Using Machine Learning Models For Vehicle-To-Grid (V2g) Integration And Services, Prashanth Rajagopalan

Theses and Dissertations

As the Electric Vehicles (EVs) market continues to expand, ensuring the access to charging stations remains a significant concern. This work focuses on addressing multiple challenges related to EV charging behavior and Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) services. Firstly, it focuses on accurate minute-ahead (20 minute \& 30 minute intervals) load forecasts for an EV charging station by using four years of historical data, from 2018-2021. This data is recorded from a university campus garage charging station. Machine Learning (ML) models such as Seasonal Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA), Random Forest (RF), and Neural Networks (NN) are employed for load forecasts in terms …

Conducting Fog Research And Abatement Using Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Uas), Michael Douglas Willette

Theses and Dissertations

The tremendous safety and monetary impacts of long-duration fog events continue to spur interest in its anthropogenic dissipation. With the emergence of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) platform and the development of miniaturized atmospheric sensors, more efficient methods of fog research and anthropogenic fog dispersal may be achieved. The feasibility of a supercooled fog dispersal project in the Red River Valley and the efficacy of using the UAS platform to acquire in-situ fog microphysical data are explored. A 30-year climatology of the Red River Valley indicates increased supercooled fog potential between early November through early April, peaking in March. Five …

The Predictiveness Of Gendered Racism On The Well-Being Of Women Of Color, Mallika Chakrabarti

Theses and Dissertations

Research suggests a reduced sense of well-being in women of color who have been experiencing discrimination based on gender or race. Surprisingly, the intersectional discrimination of both gender and race, termed as Gendered Racism, on women of color has received much less attention than the individual variables. The present study seeks to fill a void in literature by offering to examine some effects of gendered racism on aspects of well-being in this population. This study examines the predictiveness of intersectional discrimination based on race and gender – called Gendered Racism - on the well-being of women of color. Well-being was …

A Measure Predicting Treatment Outcome For Sexual Offenders, Kaitlin Alyssa Guston

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers generally agree that treatment reduces the likelihood of sexual offender recidivism. However, studies show attrition rates of up to 85% in some treatment programs for sex offenders. Because many risk factors for recidivism and treatment attrition are the same, the present study used gold-standard risk assessments to predict which sex offenders would not complete a community treatment program. The Static-99r, Stable-2007, and URICA assessed static risk factors, dynamic needs, and responsivity to treatment for 289 sex offenders. Pre-treatment scores from the sex offenders in the sample indicated that these assessment instruments could predict treatment attrition for sex offenders in …

Jackpot In The Skies: Overcoming Challenges Of How Faa Part 139 Airports And American Indian Tribes Can Cooperate In The Implementation Of Gaming, Noah Reese Gunter

Theses and Dissertations

This project sought to explore and inform the current gaming use at FAA Part 139 airports and how gaming could be used for other airports across the US. This research also explored the effects of a partnership between American Indian tribes and the airports that would operate gaming within their facilities. To do so, a qualitative method was completed with case studies and narrative research through a variety of data review and physical observations. By looking at current and proposed gaming locations at FAA Part 139 airports and how American Indian tribes near airports could use gaming within airports to …

Empowering Educators: Enhancing Teacher Efficacy In Rural Schools Through Innovative Professional Development For Teachers Of English Language Learners, Jody Lynn Maanum

Theses and Dissertations

The National Center for Educational Statistics’ [NCES] 2021 annual report indicates that there are currently over five million English Language Learners (ELLs) in U.S. schools. Of additional importance to this statistic is that the growing wave of diversity is no longer primarily settling in the larger metropolitan areas, but ELLs and their families are more recently finding themselves in geographically rural areas. The school systems in these rural areas face unique challenges in meeting the needs of the growing diverse populations, with many teachers in these systems lacking best practice knowledge and the confidence and competence needed to meet the …

Distracted, Bored, And Disengaged: How To Reengage Gen Z Learners In The Secondary School Classroom, Sharon Kay Stout

Theses and Dissertations

With a plethora of digital tools at their disposal and knowledge at their fingertips, Generation Z students must be engaged in ways that differ from previous generations of students. Using Ryan and Deci’s (2000, 2020) self-determination theory and the Student Engagement Core model proposed by Bundick et al. (2014), this qualitative research study used semi-structured interviews and focus groups to research the best ways to engage Gen Z students in a classroom setting. Data was coded using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006), with the self-determination theory’s three tenets, relatedness, autonomy, and competence, serving as the initial coding framework. Results …

H. Keith Hunt On Consumer Behavior: Understanding His Contribution, Laura Egan, David Aron

Librarian Publications

This study uses an ego-centric bibliometric analysis of H. Keith Hunt to elucidate his connection to researchers in the consumer behavior field and his impact on the field. We identified publications written or edited by Hunt using Web of Science, Google Scholar, and the Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior; analyzed Hunt’s co-authors and citations in those works; and tabulated Hunt’s co-cited authors for top consumer behavior journals in Web of Science. Based on the analysis and quotes from his works and others about Hunt, we also identify and discuss dimensions related to Hunt’s impact on the …

December 1, 2022, University Of North Dakota

University Senate Meeting Minutes

Minutes from the December 1, 2022, meeting of the University Senate. 4 pages

An Investigation Of Hrrr-Simulated Convective Transport During Summer 2021, Devin Bissell

Theses and Dissertations

Overshooting convection can significantly impact the chemical and radiative properties of the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) through the transport of various chemical species. Most notably, these impacts include enhancement of stratospheric water vapor and introduction of ozone-depleting halogen compounds, which both have important impacts on climate change. Convective updrafts provide a mechanism for transporting lower-tropospheric air, containing much higher concentrations of these substances, into the UTLS on time scales and in extratropical locations that are not possible via large-scale circulations. Additionally, overshooting tops are often correlated with severe weather at the surface and their identification can aid in …

High Resolution Compositional Characterization Of Degraded Crude Oils Using Petroleomics, Miguel Fernando Jimenez Jacome

Theses and Dissertations

The compositional evaluation and geochemical characterization of twenty wellhead samples from six fields of the heavy oil belt on the western flank of the Middle Magdalena Valley basin in Colombia (MMVB) were completed by analyzing its polar fraction, that is, compounds of Nitrogen, Sulfur and Oxygen (NSO) using 15 Tesla and 21 Tesla Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS), combined with negative electrospray ionization (-)ESI and positive atmospheric pressure photoionization (+) APPI. To highlight the sulfur compounds and organic acids, the Propyl Sulfonic Acid (PRS) and Amino-Propyl Silica (APS) fractionations were used respectively.

The results validate the use …

Whole Fruit Consumption, 100% Fruit Juice Consumption, And Cardiovascular Disease (Cvd) In U.S. Adults: Analysis Of 2019 Brfss, Brendan James Kesler

Theses and Dissertations

The consumption of whole fruit is well established to promote health and prevent disease. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans includes both whole fruit and 100% fruit juice in its intake recommendations. Compositional differences between whole fruit and 100% fruit juice may exist especially with regard to health-promoting dietary fiber. Based on potential compositional differences, a primary hypothesis was created: whole fruit consumption frequency will be lower in adults with less favorable cardiovascular measures. Additionally, a secondary hypothesis was created: 100% fruit juice consumption frequency will be higher in adults with less favorable cardiovascular measures. To explore the hypothesis, a cross-sectional, …

Factors That Influence School Nurses' Intent To Report Child Maltreatment, Catherine M. Jordan

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Child maltreatment is a global problem that causes harm to the well-being of a child that extends to adulthood. In the United States alone, there are 158,900 child victims in 2019 and 1,779 child fatalities. Despite national attention and the availability of child abuse education, the victimization statistics have remained essentially unchanged in the last 11 years. Nurses are mandated reporters of child maltreatment. School nurses are frequent observers in a child’s life, thus leaving them uniquely qualified for real-time assessment. The purpose of this study is to determine what factors correlate with the school nurse’s intent to report …

A Cross-Sectional Exploratory Study On Voluntary Reporting Of Professional Groups In U.S. Commercial Aviation, James Norman

Theses and Dissertations

Aviation safety culture research does not exist regarding the specific factors that either promote or discourage voluntary safety reporting among different frontline groups in U.S. Part 121 operations. Moreover, while safety culture has been shown to vary across workgroups, cross-sectional research across multiple aviation organizations regarding voluntary reporting is lacking. To address this gap in the literature, an exploratory study was conducted utilizing a sequential, confirmatory mixed methods approach. A 28-item survey was distributed to air traffic controllers, dispatchers, maintenance technicians, and pilots. The instrument quantitatively assessed organizational safety values, reporting friction, previous reporting experience, just culture, and voluntary reporting …

The Effects Of The Alpha1a Adrenergic Receptor In Modulating Psychiatric Symptoms, Jason Power

Theses and Dissertations

The adrenergic system plays a key role in the treatment and understanding of the etiology of mental illnesses. Despite antidepressants having the effect of reducing the reuptake of specific neurotransmitters, such as norepinephrine (NE), the mechanism of the antidepressant effect is poorly understood. It is apparent that antidepressants increase the rate of neurogenesis occurring within the hippocampal region of the brain with the hippocampus found to have an increased density around the time of symptom improvement (rate plateaus after 4-8 weeks after treatment). With an increased rate of neurogenesis taking ~1 month to occur, it was hypothesized that treatment with …

Evolutionary Cartographies Of Language Diversification: Quantitative Approaches To The Geolinguistic Mapping Of The Kayanic Languages (Central Borneo), Deandré A. Espree-Conaway

Theses and Dissertations

Why are there so many languages in the world and how did this diversity come about? Every day, humans around the world speak over 7,000 languages. One of the most impactful theories describing the processes and mechanisms of language diversification is that of the Linguistic Niche Hypothesis (Lupyan & Dale 2010). The Linguistic Niche Hypothesis suggests that languages adapt to their environments (Lupyan & Dale 2010: 1). Lupyan and Dale describe it, stating that "just as biological organisms are shaped by ecological niches, languages structures...adapt to the environment (niche) in which they are being learned and used" (2010: 1). Taking …

Assessment Of Blood Pressure And Postural Control Mechanisms In Parkinson’S Disease During An Orthostatic Challenge, Rabie Fadil

Theses and Dissertations

Upon standing, 500–1000 mL of blood shifts from the central body compartments to the lower extremities and splanchnic circulation, leading to a decreased venous return to the heart, reduced cardiac output, and a consequent decline in blood pressure. In healthy individuals, the drop in blood pressure is quickly compensated via regulatory mechanisms. On the other hand, people with Parkinson’s disease may experience impaired reflex responses and a persistent drop in blood pressure (orthostatic hypotension, OH), leading to visual disturbances, loss of consciousness, postural instability, and fainting. Parkinson’s disease patients have impaired balance and gait control as a symptom of the …

Indigeneity In Space Governance Discussions: Centering Indigenous Knowledges Beyond Earth, Erin Edwards

Theses and Dissertations

Space policy and space law are expanding fields given the recent boom of commercial space flight, yet we hear less about space governance. These conversations are happening, but the discussions generally replicate western democratic practice with little input from other knowledge traditions, despite recent socio-political strain seen in senior democracies.This work focusses the discussion on missing voices. Those of the many Indigenous cultures that have routinely been silenced from terrestrial governance discussions. These voices, however, reflect thousands of years of collective knowledge of managing societies in a holistic manner. Some of these societies have developed in areas considered extreme environments …

The Domestic Energy Transition In The United Kingdom, Nicholas Peter Doe

Theses and Dissertations

This paper addresses a pressing need to accelerate domestic energy policy that will lower the carbon footprint of Britain’s domestic sector. A systems approach was taken to seek empirical evidence for an inherent problem of a low adoption of government programs created to incentivize low-carbon domestic retrofit. The purpose of research is to explore this low uptake with the aim of fashioning effective programs. This paper is intended for policymakers and researchers with an interest in meeting the UK’s 2050 emissions targets.

Geopolitical and macroeconomic pressures on government may have hindered effective climate policy. Other financial interests may have influenced …

Geothermal Energy: Direct Use Application From Repurposed Oil And Gas Wells For Williston State College, Nnaemeka C. Ngobidi

Theses and Dissertations

This analysis of the logistics of repurposing plugged and abandoned oil wells for use in district heating indicates that it is economically feasible and provides a guide to inform the development of geothermal direct use in the Williston Basin. This study focused on Williston State College where data on campus infrastructure, heating and cooling loads, oil well status, and geothermal resource potential are available. I selected a PA well and an SWI well that lie within 2 km of the WSC campus for the production and injection wells for the analysis. The alternative to using PA wells, drilling a new …

December 1, 2022: Agenda, University Of North Dakota

University Senate Meeting Minutes

Agenda for the December 1, 2022, meeting of the University Senate. 26 pages

November 3, 2022, University Of North Dakota

University Senate Meeting Minutes

Minutes from the November 3, 2022, meeting of the University Senate. 4 pages

November 2, 2022, The Dakota Student

The Dakota Student

No abstract provided.

November 3, 2022: Agenda, University Of North Dakota

University Senate Meeting Minutes

Agenda for the November 3, 2022, meeting of the University Senate. 18 pages

October 6, 2022, University Of North Dakota

University Senate Meeting Minutes

Minutes from the October 6, 2022, meeting of the University Senate. 4 pages

October 6, 2022: Agenda, University Of North Dakota

University Senate Meeting Minutes

Agenda for the October 6, 2022, meeting of the University Senate. 19 pages