Digital Commons Network^™

Delineation Of Undescribed, Morphologically Cryptic Cave Beetles Of The Pseudanophthalmus Pubescens Species-Group (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Trechinae), Jedidiah John Nixon

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The genus Pseudanophthalmus Jeannel is a widespread and extremely diverse taxon of troglobiont beetle endemic to the karst of eastern North America, with its distribution centered in Tennessee and Kentucky. Despite lying near the heart of this region, the pubescens species-group was thought to contain many undescribed species. In this study, the validities of several of the late Dr. Thomas Barr’s unpublished putative new species in the pubescens-group were tested both morphologically and molecularly. Body measurements (length and width for head, thorax, and abdomen), as well as male genital morphology were compared to see if they reflected theorized species limits.. …

Factors Influencing Both Maternal And Infant Body Composition At Two Years Postpartum, Samantha Henry

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Maternal body composition (BC) and physical activity (PA) level during pregnancy both contribute to infant body composition; however, few studies follow children beyond the early weeks to determine the longer-term implications of maternal lifestyle on offspring health. The purpose of this study was threefold: 1) Determine the role of maternal obesity on offspring BC at 2 years of age; 2) Determine the role of PA during pregnancy on maternal and infant BC at two years postpartum; and 3) Determine whether BC at birth (assessed via air displacement plethysmography [PEA POD]) is related to BC at two years of age (assessed …

An Intergrative Ecological And Taxonomic Assessment Of The Stoneflies (Insecta, Plecoptera) Of The Black Mountains, North Carolina, Usa, Madeline Lake Metzger

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The Black Mountains are a part of the Blue Ridge region of the Appalachian Mountains and include Mount Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River at 2,037 m (= 6,684 ft). A comprehensive inventory of the stonefly fauna was conducted between 2014-2019 within Mt. Mitchell State Park and adjacent Pisgah National Forest. Collections occurred seasonally from 44 unique locations, covering a broad range of stream sizes and elevations in the region. Sequencing of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (mtCOI) gene was completed to assist with making positive determinations to species for females of taxonomically challenging genera …

The Enhancement Of Climate Change Science Communication And Understanding Through Glacier Tourism, Natalie Jean Kincheloe

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The natural environment provides the opportunity for educators to teach the general public about scientific topics that are misunderstood. Arctic tourism has increased as accessibility to these regions has improved. Informal learning is a valuable yet extremely understudied phenomenon within the tourism industry. Iceland is a country that lies in the North Atlantic and has experienced a significant increase in foreign visitors over the past decade. Of the natural features in Iceland, glaciers have become a top attraction for visitors. Since thousands of visitors participate in guided glacier tours annually in Iceland, an opportunity to couple glacier tourism with informal …

From Coalescence To Bureaucratization: Veganuary’S Use Of Rhetorical Strategies On Social Media, Sabrina A. Carr

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Social movement plays an integral part in how our society makes progress and changes overtime. With the birth and adoption of digital technologies comes new and unique opportunities for social movements and social movement organizations to make further progress and accomplish its goals. This study uses the foundations of organizational identification and values advocacy to evaluate the rhetoric of a specific organization within the vegan movement, Veganuary, and shows how this organization utilizes various strategies on its social media platforms to grow as an organization over a six-year time period. Specifically, I argue that Veganuary was able to move from …

Tell Me What You Need: An Examination Of Dialectical Tensions Within Romantic Relationships With Depressed Partners, Leah Christine Goodwin

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

While depression communication in romantic relationships has been heavily studied in psychological-based research, there is a lack of research grounded in communication theory. By using Relational Dialectics Theory (RDT) as a framework, communicative tensions and coping strategies were explored within relationships where one partner suffered from depression. Through eleven semi-structured interviews with both depressed and non-depressed individuals in a relationship, three major dialectical tensions and two major maintenance strategies emerged. Findings suggest that couples with a depressed partner faced unique and challenging tensions including involvement/distance, openness/closedness, and revelation/concealment. A number of positive and negative coping strategies for managing the tensions …

Inflammatory Bowel Disease Diagnosis Using Metagenomic Classification, Michael Riggle

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a set of disorders that involve chronic inflammation of digestive tracts, e.g., Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Millions of people around the world have inflammatory bowel disease. However, it is still difficult to treat IBD due to its unknown cause. In fact, accurately diagnosing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can be very challenging too since some of IBD symptoms can mimic those of other conditions. In this work, we apply classification methods to help improve the success rate of diagnosis. We study four formulations of IBD classification: i) IBD and non-IBD (binary classification), ii) …

Ua3/10 President's Message - Spring Semester, Wku President's Office - Caboni

WKU Administration Documents

President's Message emails sent by Timothy Caboni to faculty & staff during spring semester, 2020.

• Announcing WKU Restart Committees & Commencement Update
• Big Red is in the Final Four! Vote Now!
• Big Red Restart Draft
• Big Red Restart Panel
• Big Red Restart Plan Answers
• COVID-19 & Holiday Schedule
• COVID-19 Testing
• COVID-19 Update
• COVID-19 Update – March 13^th
• COVID-19 Update 4.6.20
• COVID-19 Update: 3/17/20
• End of Semester
• Executive Order to Close Non-Life-Sustaining Businesses to In-Person Traffic
• Healthy On the Hill
• New Vice President for Enrollment & Student Experience – Ethan Logan

Ua19/16/2 Football Press Releases, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Press releases, photos and game statistics for WKU football team from January to July 2020

Ua19/16/2 Basketball Press Releases, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Press releases, photos and game statistics for WKU basketball team from January to July 2020.

"O Lost Moon Sisters" : Feminist Revisions In Diane Di Prima's Loba, Chelsea Megan Mathes

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In her master work, Loba, Diane di Prima revises a variety of traditionally malecentered narratives from a feminist viewpoint in the long tradition of feminist revision that is a cornerstone of Second Wave Feminism. This thesis examines five of the revisions of Christian, Jewish, and Greek stories present in Loba: The Virgin Mary, Eve, Lilith, Helen of Troy, and Persephone. Di Prima revises these stories to include the full— physical, spiritual, and emotional—experience of the woman, often from her own point of view, to give the woman agency over her own story and subvert the woman-as-object tradition present in male-authored …

Old Man Young Man Snake, Bradley Hathaway

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A young man in rural and frigid North Dakota is on the run for committing a crime. He finds refuge at a secluded bible camp from a mysterious old man that may or may not have his best interests in mind, and the young man must decide if the old man’s protection is worth the cost. Exploring ideas of free will, God, nature, and visions, Old Man Young Man Snake, a screenplay, quietly tells their story.

Ua37/2 Autism Isn't Coronavirus, Tom C. Hunley

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Poem written by WKU English professor Tom Hunley during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Toxicity Of Novel Platinum Compounds In Mammalian Cancer Cells, Vanesa Veletanlic

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

There are currently three FDA platinum compounds approved for use as chemotherapeutics, where each drug has variable efficacies for different cancer types depending on cancer’s tissue of origin. The approved compounds are platinum(II) complexes with four coordination sites on the platinum atom allowing two types of ligands to attach: leaving ligands, which are removed from the platinum atom in solution, and non-leaving ligands, which remain complexed to the platinum. Carboplatin, the preferred compound used to treat ovarian and small-cell lung cancers, has a characteristic cyclobutanedicarboxylic acid leaving ligand and two ammonia non-leaving ligands. A novel compound, 1,1-cyclobutanedicarboxylato(ethylenediamine)platinum (II), or Pt(en)CBDCA, …

Mercury And Other Trace Metal Analysis In Bat Guano, Amanda Lee Houchens

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Heavy metal pollution in the environment pose risks to ecosystems and the populations that reside in them. Mercury, lead, and cadmium negatively impact humans by way of neurological disorders, various cancers, and damage the reproductive organs, kidneys, and lungs. Bats have been studied as a bioindicator species to identify possibly elevated levels of these metals in the environment. Previous studies have identified correlation between metal concentrations within bat tissues and fur. Many bat species are endangered or at risk due to white-nose syndrome so collection of tissues and fur for analysis can impose stress on bat colonies. This study investigates …

Effects Of Pharmacologically-Induced Sleep Loss On Parental Care In Arctic-Breeding Songbirds, Wesley Payette

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Sleep loss is well known to impair cognitive function, immunological responses, and general well-being in humans. However, sleep requirements in mammals and birds may vary dramatically, especially with changes in environment. In circumpolar regions with continuous light, sleep requirements may be little, particularly in breeding birds. The effects of sleep loss on several fitness parameters were examined in two species of Arctic-breeding passerine birds: Lapland longspurs (Calcarius lapponicus) and snow buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis). Adult males were implanted during the nestling phase (4 days post-hatch) with osmotic pumps containing an anti-narcolepsy drug, modafinil, to extend the active period for 72 h. …

Content Validity Evaluation Of An Unnamed National Professional Organization Certification Exam, Sean Tate

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Department of Psychological Sciences Western Kentucky University There are three validation strategies utilized for evaluating tests, content validity, construct validity, and criterion-related validity. Each of these methods serves a different and unique purpose when it comes to the validation of tests. Content validity pertains to whether the content measured by the test is representative of the content domain. Verifying content validity is a multi-step process involving conducting a job analysis, identifying content domains, creating test specifications, creating test items, and then conducting analyses to identify whether or not the test items are representative and in accordance with the test specifications. …

Unpacking The Burnout Phenomenon: Understanding Daily Influences On Burnout, Emily Houk

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Burnout is a work-related phenomenon that is not bound to the work domain. As such, experiencing burnout can be particularly detrimental for employees because effects of burnout can spill over into other life domains. The present study serves to examine the burnout phenomenon; specifically, I examined the direct effect of daily job stress on perceptions of burnout, as well as explored daily work-related affective rumination as a mediating effect in the relationship between daily job stress and burnout. Work-related affective rumination is a mechanism that potentially helps to explain how buildup of daily job stress influences the development of burnout. …

Validation Of A Novel Vo2max Protocol, Griffin Green

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Though there are several to choose from, the Bruce protocol is the most commonly utilized treadmill protocol when assessing maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max). Originally developed for cardiac patients, the Bruce protocol may not be an appropriate treadmill protocol for young or trained individuals with higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness. The steep grade used often leads localized muscular fatigue, which may cause participants to end the test prior to reaching their true VO2max. Another popular protocol, the Astrand, also utilizes a steep grade, but the speed remains constant. Similar to the Bruce, the Astrand protocol may not prompt a maximal cardiovascular …

An Application Of The Interpersonal Psychological Theory Of Suicide In College-Age Survivors Of Sexual Assault, Ava Katherine Fergerson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Sexual victimization is a pervasive public health concern that disproportionately affects college students and results in severe mental and physical health risks for survivors. Despite low prevalence rates in the general population, a national study found that 33% of survivors of rape reported suicidal ideation, and 13% actually made a suicide attempt (Kilpatrick et al., 1992). Although it is clear that survivors of sexual violence are at increased risk for suicide, knowledge is largely limited to epidemiological studies. Few studies have integrated theories of suicide to understand how and why this population is at such elevated risk for suicidal thoughts …

Load Balancing Of Financial Data Using Machine Learning And Cloud Analytics, Dimple Jaiswal

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The rising use of technology for web applications, android applications, digital marketing, and e-application systems for financial investments benefits a large sector of stakeholders and common people. It allows investors to make an appropriate choice for investment and to increase their capital growth. This requires proper research of investment companies, their trends in price and analysis of historical and current information. In addition, prediction of prices makes the process of investment more comfortable and reliable for investors as shares are the most volatile type of investment. To offer this service to multiple users spread across the globe, there are certain …

Dice Questions Answered, Warren Campbell, William P. Dolan

SEAS Faculty Publications

Superstitious discussion of fair and unfair dice has pervaded the tabletop gaming industry since its inception. Many of these are not based on any quantitative data or studies. Consequently, misconceptions have been spread widely. One dice float test video on Youtube currently has 925,000 views (Fisher, 2015a). To combat the flood of misconceptions we investigated the following questions: 1) Are dice cursed? 2) Are D20s (20-sided dice) less fair than D6s (6-sided dice)? 3) Do float tests tell anything about the fairness of dice? 4) Are some dice systems inherently fairer than others? 5) Are density differences or dimensions more …

Ua37/2 If This Next Apocalypse Gets Canceled Or Postponed, Tom Hunley

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Poem written by WKU English professor Tom Hunley during Covid-19 pandemic.

Ua37/2 We Will Survive, Tom C. Hunley

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Poem written by WKU English professor Tom Hunley during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ua37/2 Love As The World Ends, Tom C. Hunley

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Poem written by WKU English professor Tom Hunley during Covid-19 pandemic.

Ua37/2 We Lived Happily During The Plague, Tom C. Hunley

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Poem written by WKU English professor Tom Hunley during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ua37/2 Lockdown Haiku, Tom C. Hunley

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Haiku written by WKU English professor Tom Hunley during Covid-19 pandemic.

Ua94/6/1 Covid-19 Diary, Anonymous

Student/Alumni Personal Papers

COVID-19 diary submitted to WKU Archives by a healthcare worker.

American Business Women's Association - Kentucky Colonel Chapter (Mss 693), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 693. Minutes, financial papers, scrapbooks, programs, newsletters and various other organizational papers from Bowling Green, Kentucky’s Kentucky Colonel chapter of the American Business Women’s Association.

Motsinger, Mary Jo, (Fa 1370), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1370. Student folk studies project titled “Early Veterinary Practices” which includes survey sheets with brief descriptions of remedies for cattle and horses in Logan County and Todd County, Kentucky. Sheets may include a brief description of the folk remedy, traditional practice, and informant’s name.