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Mapping Narrations, Narrating Maps: Concepts Of The World In The Middle Ages And The Early Modern Period, Ingrid Baumgartner, Daniel Gneckow, Anna Hollenbach, Phillip Landgrebe

Research in Medieval and Early Modern Culture

This volume offers the author's central articles on the medieval and early modern history of cartography for the first time in English translation. A first group of essays gives an overview of medieval cartography and illustrates the methods of cartographers. Another analyzes world maps and travel accounts in relation to mapped spaces. A third examines land surveying, cartographical practices of exploration and the production of Portolan atlases.

2022-06-03 Michiganoverview_Covidbedppe, Michigan Department Of Health & Human Services

Michigan COVID-19 Hospital Data

Contains the tables Statewide Hospital Capacity Report for COVID-19, COVID-19 Metrics, Statewide Hospital Available PPE Tracking for COVID-19, as well as the tables PPE Days On Hand and Patient Census.

2022-06-02_Michiganoverview_Misc, Michigan Department Of Health & Human Services

Michigan COVID-19 MIS-C Data

The MIS-C Data page was obtained from Michigan's COVID-19 data page: https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus/stats/mis-c-reporting.

This report is created by the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services from data self-reported by health care providers and local health departments. Data is updated on the first and third Thursdays of the month.

Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) is a condition in children and adolescents under 21 years of age where multiple organ systems become inflamed or dysfunctional which occurs in association with illness. Children with MIS-C may have a fever and various symptoms, including abdominal (gut) pain, vomiting, diarrhea, neck pain, rash, …

Examination Of Sedentary Behavior And Stress Levels In Undergraduate Students At Western Michigan University, Samantha Putman

Honors Theses

The intention of this research project is to provide a snapshot of current sedentary behavior and stress levels of undergraduate students at Western Michigan University (WMU). This project investigates two variables of interest in current undergraduate students at WMU to understand how much sedentary behavior and stress students are experiencing whilst pursuing their undergraduate degree. Both sedentary behavior and stress are often seen as underlying causes of multiple health issues, which is why they are variables of interest. Understanding these two variables can help the university support aspects of an undergraduate’s life affected by increased stress and sedentary behavior while …

A Novel Electroconductive Nanofibrous Scaffold For Bone Regeneration, Mitchell Kenter

Medical Engineering Theses

The goal of this study was to develop a biodegradable and conductive scaffold to mimic the piezoelectric properties of bone and the architecture of the extracellular matrix. Poly(3,4- ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) is a conductive polymer of great interest in tissue engineering due to excellent electrical stability and biocompatibility. To enhance its conductivity, dopants such as dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) can be added. Engineered graphene oxide (GO) can also be introduced as oxidant to enhance conductivity and mechanical properties. PEDOT nanocomposites were synthesized by oxidative polymerization of 3, 4-Etylenedioxythiophene monomer (EDOT) in the presence of GO, DMSO, ferric chloride and various solvents. The …

2022-06-01 Michiganoverview_Covidbedppe, Michigan Department Of Health & Human Services

Michigan COVID-19 Hospital Data

Contains the tables Statewide Hospital Capacity Report for COVID-19, COVID-19 Metrics, Statewide Hospital Available PPE Tracking for COVID-19, as well as the tables PPE Days On Hand and Patient Census.

2022-06-01_Michiganoverview_Covidstats, Michigan Department Of Health & Human Services

Cumulative Michigan COVID-19 Data

The COVID Overview page was obtained from Michigan's main COVID-19 page: https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus/stats.

The State of Michigan is working around the clock to test and treat COVID-19 patients. Below is the most recent data healthcare experts across the state have compiled. COVID case and testing data will be posted once a week on Wednesdays.

This report is provisional and subject to change. City of Detroit and Wayne County are reported separately. MDHHS began tracking probable cases April 5, 2020. FCI indicates federal correctional institute. MDOC indicates Michigan Department of Corrections. Diagnostic tests, including nucleic acid amplification/real-time polymerase chain reaction (NAAT/RT-PCR) …

2022-06-01_Michiganoverview_Covidcounts, Michigan Department Of Health & Human Services

Michigan COVID-19 Confirmed Cases by Date of Onset Data

Data was downloaded as an Excel spreadsheet which appeared in the Public Use Datasets section under the Cumulative Data link of Michigan's Coronavirus webpage, under the url https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus/0,9753,7-406-98163_98173---,00.html.

Cases are aggregated by the date of onset of COVID-19 symptoms, if known, otherwise by laboratory specimen date if known, otherwise by case referral date. Deaths are aggregated by the date of death if known, otherwise by the last date of a change to the case status.

57th International Congress On Medieval Studies, Medieval Institute, Western Michigan University

International Congress on Medieval Studies Archive

The printed program of the 57th International Congress on Medieval Studies (live on the internet May 9–14, 2022), together with the Corrigenda.

2022-06-01_Michiganoverview_Covidvaccinestats, Michigan Department Of Health & Human Services

Michigan COVID-19 Vaccine Data

The COVID Vaccine Dashboard page was obtained from Michigan's main COVID-19 page: https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus/resources/covid-19-vaccine/covid-19-dashboard.

First-dose tracker above is for entire Michigan Population. Coverage maps below are for age 5+.

Previously reported numbers of administered vaccine doses may change as new data are received. A possible lag in reporting vaccine doses will result in increases in numbers previously reported.

This report is created by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Division of Immunization from data reported to the Michigan Care Improvement Registry (MCIR).

The dashboard contained the tabs Primary Series Doses Administered, Primary Series Doses by Vaccine, …

Teacher Evaluation In Saudi Arabia Relative To National And International Teacher Evaluation Standards And Best Practices, Suhayb Kattan

Dissertations

Teacher evaluation systems are essential in tracking the quality and effectiveness of teachers and education systems. This dissertation examines the teacher evaluation system in Saudi Arabia through multiple perspectives, including research-based frameworks for teacher evaluation, norms and best practices from OECD countries, and established Saudi Teaching Standards. An explanatory sequential mixed methods model was used. Data collection involved 643 responses to a teacher survey that covered working conditions, existence of professional learning communities, and teacher evaluation practices, methods, and uses. Following the survey, in-depth interviews were conducted with 11 teachers and 3 key informants.

Findings from this study indicate the …

Investigating Pedestrian Distraction By Phone At Intersection Crossings, Safety Implications And Potential Treatments, Lusanni Mercedes Acosta Rodriguez

Dissertations

Road user distraction is a major safety concern. The issue is not only for drivers, but also for vulnerable road users such as pedestrians. Every year people are involved in potential and real crashes due to being distracted while walking/crossing streets. Although there are several ways by which pedestrians are distracted, phone use while crossing streets is among the riskier and growing behaviors. Crossing an intersection, especially those with heavy traffic, requires full attention from the individual. Inattentiveness to traffic while on a phone call, texting, web-surfing, listening to music before crossing a street can lead to a fatal crash. …

Using A Design Thinking Approach In Human Resource Practices In North America, Corinne Diane Eswar

Dissertations

Global forces have changed the landscape of the today’s global economy, with such disruptive forces reshaping the workplace, the workforce, and the work itself. Human Resource (HR) functions are no exception to these changes. HR departments must simplify their processes, build a culture of collaboration, help employees manage the flood of information at work, manage complexity, and encourage innovation and creativity. The concept of design thinking has been adopted widely across multiple disciplines and industries as a tool for innovation, however it has yet to be a major influence in the Human Resources field.

This research explored the use of …

Aesthetic Implications Of Using The Computer Medium In Music, Rodrigo Valente Pascale

Masters Theses

In this thesis, I reflect on the relationship between the materiality of computers and computer music. Marshall McLuhan and Friedrich Kittler had a fundamental role in unraveling how media shape discourse and influence their conveyed message and history. These were important discoveries that built the foundation for the field of Media Studies. Throughout this thesis, I will revisit reflections of researchers who contributed to this field and point out how the medium molds computer music’s history and aesthetics. After reviewing the role of the materiality of computers, I will indicate some aesthetically compelling directions of computer music, which consider features …

The Weight Of The Interaction: An Exploration Of Fat Women's Experiences In Healthcare Settings, Danielle Snow

Masters Theses

Despite making up a large portion of the United States population, fat people are stigmatized, discriminated against, and treated as deviant. Though there is a large body of interdisciplinary literature on obesity and health, and a large body of sociological literature on stigma, there is little literature on fat stigma. Thus, using a Goffman’s stigma theory with the added contribution of Foucault’s concept the medical gaze and medical anthropological concept delegitimization, this qualitative thesis explores the health care experiences of 13 White and 2 Black fat women in the U.S. First, context for fatness and health is explored within chapter …

Benzofuran Derivatives Substitute For The Discriminative Stimulus Effects Of 3,4methylenedioxymethamphetamine (Mdma) In Male Sprague-Dawley Rats, Candace Johnson

Masters Theses

4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is currently under evaluation in phase III clinical trials as medication-assisted therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and is expected to be approved by the FDA for clinical use in the near future. MDMA is also a popular abused substance with risks for cardiovascular toxicity and neurotoxicity, particularly when misused at higher doses. Characterization of the behavioral and neurochemical effects of novel psychoactive substances is an essential step in the development of safer alternative therapeutic agents. Drug discrimination is a preclinical behavioral assay with pharmacological specificity for characterizing in vivo drug actions in the central nervous system. This …

The Bean Pie: Black Muslims And Identity In Early Twentieth Century Detroit, Alexandra Christine Bicknell

Masters Theses

The bean pie is the product of culinary traditions set forth by the Nation of Islam. Nation members used the navy bean to whip up a custardy dessert utilizing religiously approved ingredients. Milk, eggs, brown sugar, and whole wheat flour transformed a savory, well-cooked bean into a sweet treat. Pies made from beans were not invented by the Nation of Islam, but they became symbolic of the culture and institutions established by Black Muslims in America. The Nation of Islam shaped Michigan and the midwestern region’s social and cultural identity. The Nation promoted that Black people ought to have power …

Stressors And Coping Of Mexican American College Undergraduates, Jeanette Calvario Perales

Dissertations

Empirical literature indicates that current mental health practices with Mexican American college students are lacking. Mexican American undergraduates have unique challenges that need to be addressed by counselors within the university context and in community settings. This study addressed the dearth of empirical literature on stressors and coping strategies by exploring the experiences of Mexican American students at a predominately White institution (PWI) in the Midwest region of the United States. Through grounded theory, a theory was generated from multiple in-depth interviews using a comparative analysis process to enhance understanding of how Mexican American college undergraduates at PWIs cope with …

Mixture Of Functional Graphical Models, Qihai Liu

Dissertations

With the development of data collection technologies that use powerful monitoring devices and computational tools, many scientific fields are now obtaining more detailed and more complicatedly structured data, e.g., functional data. This leads to increasing challenges of extracting information from the large complex data. Making use of these data to gain insight into complex phenomena requires characterizing the relationships among a large number of functional variables. Functional data analysis (FDA) is a rapidly developing area of statistics for data which can be naturally viewed as a smooth curve or function. It is a method that changes the frame of data …

Historical Memory And Feminist Consciousness In Almudena Grandes’ Episodios De Una Guerra Interminable, Alba Fernández-Fernández

Dissertations

General Francisco Franco’s brutal dictatorship (1939-1975) was one of the darkest periods in Spain’s recent history. During this dictatorial regime, political detractors were mercilessly persecuted, tortured and massacred. In 1975, Franco died leaving the legacy of nearly four decades of repression and over 150,000 victims on his back. Spain then cautiously headed into a process of democratization, with fear and horror still etched on the country’s memory. While politicians promised a smooth transition to democracy, their insistence to look ahead meant Spaniards were asked to neglect the country’s painful past. No legal action was taken against those responsible for mass …

Oncolytic Tanapoxvirus Variants Expressing Mil-2 And Mccl-2 Regress Human Pancreatic Cancer Xenografts In Immunocompromised And Immunocompetent Cann.Cg-Foxn1Nu/Crl Nude Mice, Scott David Haller

Dissertations

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related death in Western countries. The incidence of PDAC has increased over the last 40 years and is projected to be the second leading cause of cancer death by 2030. Despite aggressive treatment regimens, prognosis for patients diagnosed with PDAC is very poor; PDAC has the lowest 5-year survival rate for any form of cancer in the United States (US). PDAC cases are rarely detected in early stage when surgical resection can be performed and few, approximately 20%, are suitable for surgical resection which remains the only curative treatment when …

From Young To Old: The Effects Of Sedentary-Aging And Exercise Interventions On Structural Plasticity Of Lumbar Motor Neurons, Nmj, And Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Expression, Alberto Felipe Cintron-Colon

Dissertations

Neuromuscular weakness has been associated with age progression. A possible reason is a disconnection between muscle and neuron, causing components from both the central and peripheral nervous systems to deteriorate. Exercise, however, has beneficial effects for both muscle and nervous tissue, inducing neuroprotection. Neurotrophic factors are powerful regulators of neuronal maintenance and synaptic strength. Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is a neurotrophic factor that has been shown to be a potent survival factor for somatic motor neurons that innervate skeletal muscle.

This study aims to evaluate changes in structural plasticity of motor neurons in the lumbar spinal cord and …

Mid To Late Neogene (5.9-3.7 Ma) Epeirogenic Uplift And Associated Ultramafic Volcanism, Canterbury Basin, New Zealand, Katherine Anne Dvorak

Dissertations

Cored marine sediments from Canterbury Basin Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 317 shelf sites U1351, U1353, and upper slope Site U1352 have been resampled with emphasis on benthic foraminifera from the Late Eocene to Late Pliocene. These new data coupled with paleo water-depth and age data from the nearby Clipper-1 petroleum exploration well, are used to develop a 1-dimensional basin subsidence model for the Canterbury Basin. Our model indicates there was widespread epeirogenic uplift of 890  350m, in the mid-Neogene (5.9-3.7 million years ago), which took place during concomitant ultramafic volcanism. Close association of uplift and volcanism could …

Development Of Flexible Hybrid Electronics For Sterilization And Structural Health Monitoring Applications, Arnesh Kumar Bose

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Model Predictive Controller Design For Internal Combustion Engines Based On The Second Law Of Thermodynamics, Muataz Abotabik

Dissertations

Energy resources depletion and worldwide strict emissions policies pose challenges that automotive manufacturers try to overcome through researching advanced powertrain technologies such as lean-burn gasoline, direct injection, homogeneous charge compression ignition engines, powertrain electrification, etc. Most of these developments have been focused on conventional internal combustion engines (ICE) emissions and performance enhancements. Most ICE control strategies are built based on the First Law of Thermodynamics (FLT) i.e., to deliver a specific load requirement, enhancing thermal efficiency, etc. The FLT doesn’t account for in-cylinder high temperature thermodynamics process irreversibilities that cause losses in the work potential; up to 25% of the …

German Imperialism And Applied Orientalism: German Encounters With The Ottoman Empire, 1850-1918, Matthew David Penix

Dissertations

Edward Said’s influential treatise on culture and imperialism, Orientalism, specifically called out German scholars of the Islamic “Orient” as being different. The lack of a formal German empire in Muslim lands seemed to preclude a culture of Orientalism. This dissertation examines the lived experience of Germans who traveled and worked in the Ottoman Empire from 1850-1918. As German interests sought their “place in the sun” during the decades before 1914, the Ottoman Empire became a major field of business investment, military-to-military contact, and missionary endeavor for Germans acting at the behest of both state and private interests. Their experiences formed …

The Influence Of Demographic, Social, And Economic Factors On Referral For Heart Failure Services, Catherine Elaine Kelty

Dissertations

Patients with end-stage advanced heart failure must go through an extensive evaluation process before being selected for either heart transplantation or left ventricular assist device (LVAD). This evaluation not only assesses a patient’s medical need for advanced heart failure treatments but also includes an assessment of psychosocial and economic factors that may affect a patient’s success post-treatment. While it is important to allocate scarce resources, such as donated organs, to the patients who will benefit the most, there is also a need for equity in the allocation of and access to healthcare services. This raises the question of whether patients …

The Experiences Of Undergraduate Saudi Students In The Stem Trajectory: A Closer Look At Major Choice And Persistence Intentions, Manal Almalki

Dissertations

STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) are a key source of economic progress in many countries. As the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia works toward an innovative and knowledgeable economy, more qualified national professionals in STEM are needed. Nevertheless, the problem of STEM attrition is still insufficiently explored in Saudi Arabia, which may indicate a gap between skills of the Saudi workforce and the country’s need for economic development. Therefore, this study attempts to provide more information about the STEM trajectory in Saudi Arabia, underline possible attrition points that require more attention, deliver a better understanding of the factors that …

Exploring The Development Process Of Innovative Graduate Programs For Adult Learners At A U.S. Midwestern Public University, Ibrahim Rustamov

Dissertations

This case study explores the development process of two innovative graduate programs designed to serve the needs of adult learners for programs at a U.S. Midwestern public university. This case study also explores how leaders addressed issues of allocating funding and other resources, contributed to improved processes, and addressed the problem of resistance to change during and after the development and implementation of such programs. Additionally, it also examines how they plan to support further development of graduate programs that integrate specific innovative and alternative approaches such as prior learning assessments and/or competency-based education.

For this study, I used a …

Inquiry-Based Teaching And Learning As A Tool For Achieving A Scientifically Literate Future: Combating A Post-Truth World, Lauri Elizabeth Davis

Masters Theses

Truth is under attack across the world. This can be seen in the lies spread by Putin to justify his invasion of Ukraine to the misinformation spread about combatting the COVID-19 virus. The authoritative and trusted nature of science is being undermined by unfounded beliefs and opinion. Many Americans lack an understanding of how science is done nor have basic knowledge about common scientific information. What is needed is to increase the level of scientific literacy in the United States. Inquiry-based teaching and learning has been touted as a way for developing more scientifically literate citizens, because inquiry-based teaching and …