Digital Commons Network^™

A New Species Of Teleoceras From The Late Miocene Gray Fossil Site, With Comparisons To Other North American Hemphillian Species, Rachel A. Short

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A thorough morphological description of Teleoceras material from the Gray Fossil Site, Gray, Tennessee is provided. This is the only record of a browsing Teleoceras and, as a late Hemphillian locality, represents one of the youngest populations. Linear measurements of post-cranial elements indicate proportional differences between Teleoceras from the Gray Fossil Site and those from other Hemphillian localities. These differences are more pronounced in the elements of the forelimb than in those of the hind limb. Statistical analyses of post-cranial elements from 3 Hemphillian species of Teleoceras suggest that these differences should not be used to separate species. However, the …

Contemporary Perceptions Of The Solidarity Movement Held By Polish Nationals, Nathan P. Buhr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Widespread participation in the 1980s Solidarity movement by Polish nationals of both genders, varying ideologies, and differing political backgrounds has led to diverse views of the history and narrative of the movement that today is interpreted in differing ways by groups and individuals. To gain a better understanding of how Poles view this unique time period of their history a survey featuring 54 questions was dispatched to and completed by over 121 Polish nationals. All questions relate to the Solidarity movement in categories covering: Prominent People, Media, Economics, Religion, and Education and concluding with a free-write section for additional comments …

A Study Of Surveillance And Privacy Rights, Jesse T. Kittle Mr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study it to research the role and public perception of security surveillance on a university campus. The research measured variables such as age, gender, class standing political affiliation, and one's residence whether on campus or off campus. This study is focused on how students view security surveillance, and whether they see security surveillance as an important tool for the safety of the public or a threat to privacy. A student survey was administered to undergraduate students asking how they felt about crime on campus and whether crime was a problem that could be solved by security …

School Culture And Leadership: Teacher Perceptions Of Title I And Non-Title I Schools, Krista R. Crum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to see if teachers perceive a significant difference in school culture and leadership in Title I and non-Title I schools. Specifically, this researcher considered the possibility that teachers working in Title I schools have lower perceptions of their school’s culture and leadership than teachers working in non-Title I schools. A quantitative study was used to find the perceived differences between school culture and leadership in Title I and non-Title I schools. A quasi-experimental design was selected because preexisting data were collected on teachers in an upper East Tennessee region. The data were collected from the TELL …

Site Location Modeling And Prehistoric Rock Shelter Selection On The Upper Cumberland Plateau Of Tennessee, Lucinda M. Langston

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using data collected from 2 archaeological surveys of the Upper Cumberland Plateau (UCP), Pogue Creek Gorge and East Obey, a site location model was developed for prehistoric rock shelter occupation in the region. Further, the UCP model was used to explore factors related to differential site selection of rock shelters. Different from traditional approaches such as those that use (aspatial) logistic regression, the UCP model was developed using spatial logistic regression. However, models were also generated using other regression-based approaches in an effort to demonstrate the need for a spatial approach to archaeological site location modeling. Based on the UCP …

A Theological Inquiry Regarding The Practice Of The Eucharist In Cyberspace, Janice L. Duce

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study looks at the Eucharist in cyberspace, beginning with a case study of a faith community who met with controversy after the group shared the ritual in cyberspace. Based on a qualitative study of the practice and its aftermath, the theoretical analysis includes the nature of the Internet itself and its capacity as a location for networked communities; its capacity to operate as a communication medium for a religious ritual; and the involvement of active users.

The users in this case were members of a religious community interested in preserving their Eucharist theological tradition. The first set of major …

The Ethos Of Humor In Technical Communication, David Roberts

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Within the realm of technical communication, humor has often been regarded as an unnecessary or risky rhetorical device that can negatively impact the credibility of a document. While many other professional fields, such as medicine, computer technology fields, or business have used humor, and humor continues to crop up in "user as producer" documentation, technical writing continues to approach humor cautiously and with little theoretical guidance. In order to fully understand how humor functions, it is important to understand the main theories of humor: superiority, relief, and incongruity. It is also important to understand how humor functions, by looking at …

Bone Morphogenetic Protein-7 Attenuates Inflammation And Apoptosis And Improves Cardiac Function In Diabetes, Princess Urbina

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bone Morphogenetic Protein-7 (BMP-7) belongs to the transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) family of cytokines has is known to have potent anti-inflammatory properties. It has been used in patients to treat osteoporosis clinically and has been reported to treat diabetic nephropathy in murine models. Moreover, studies show that inflammation is up-regulated in patients with pre-diabetes (PD). We, therefore, hypothesize that the administration of BMP-7 will attenuate inflammation in the heart of Streptozotocin (STZ)-induced PD mice. In this study, we divided C57Bl/6 mice into three groups: CONTROL, PD, and PD+BMP-7. CONTROL mice received intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections of Sodium Citrate Buffer while PD …

The Hybrid Spirit Animating Chinese Pentecostals In Malaysia, Eu Kit Lim

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation interrogates the assertion in postcolonial scholarship, especially from the work of Homi Bhabha that the construction and performance of hybrid identities act as a form of resistance for marginalized communities against structures of oppression. While this study supports this assertion, it also critiques how hybridity fails to address issues of unequal power relations. This has led to an uncritical use of hybridity that reproduces the very idea of static identity which its proponents claim to transcend.

Through qualitative study of Chinese members of a Pentecostal church in Malaysia, this study argues that church members engage in "unequal belonging" …

Mimicry, Mirroring, Subversion, And Critique: Reading Heterotopia In The Cubicula Of The Sacraments, Eric Christopher Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the spaces commonly called the Cubicula of the Sacraments, five rooms in the Callistus Catacomb in Rome, in light of Michel Foucault's concept of heterotopia. I argue that the Christian communities that created the Cubicula constructed their spaces and construed the symbolic worlds they conjured there as a way of mimicking, mirroring, subverting, and critiquing the "other" spaces and cultures that surrounded them.

This work takes place along four lines of inquiry. The first of these is space and place, and uses Foucault's and Henri Lefebvre's notions of heterotopia to describe the Callistus Catacomb's location in the …

Monetary Effervescence: A Sociological Theory Of Religion Applied To Money, David J. Worley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project attempts to answer the question "What holds the construction of money together?" by asserting that it is money's religious nature which provides the moral compulsion for people to use, and continue to uphold, money as a socially constructed concept. This project is primarily descriptive and focuses on the religious nature of money by employing a sociological theory of religion in viewing money as a technical concept. This is an interdisciplinary work between religious studies, economics, and sociology and draws heavily from Emile Durkheim's The Elementary Forms of Religious Life as well as work related to heterodox theories of …

Mathematical Modeling And Analysis Of Asthma Stability And Severity, Arezoo Hanifi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Asthma is one of the most common chronic conditions in the United States. Asthma affects about one in fifteen people. It affects children more than adults and blacks more than whites. People with asthma experience attacks of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing. Asthma can be fatal and the costs for the disease (direct and indirect) are approximated to be tens of billions of dollars each year.

There is no cure for asthma. However; for most people if asthma is controlled well they can lead normal, active lives. Therefore asthma controllability is a main factor in clinical practice. In order …

The Removal Of Pharmaceuticals From Wastewater By Wet-Air Oxidation, Miao Sun

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The ubiquitous occurrence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in aquatic environments has raised concerns about potential adverse effects on aquatic ecology and human health. Certain pharmaceuticals have recently become a major focus of research to better understand the routes and persistence of these compounds once they enter into aquatic system.

In this research, two model compounds were selected to represent pharmaceuticals that have been identified by recent research as being persistent; specifically, these compounds were trimethoprim (TMP, a basic antibiotic) and gemfibrozil (GEM, an acidic lipid regulator). Treatment of synthetic wastewater that contained these drugs was accomplished using …

Fresh Squeezed: The Dilemma Of Local Food Production Along Colorado's Front Range Urban Corridor, Amanda Jessie Weaver

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Today, the Front Range Urban Corridor of Colorado is one example from the urban/agricultural battlefield. The history of food production and urbanization in this area is similar to many regions throughout the western United States. Originally an extraction based economy, Colorado later became agriculturally/pastorally based, and more recently became a service-based, urban economy. On the Front Range Urban Corridor specifically, the urban core of Denver and Boulder developed with rich agricultural lands toward the northeast to Weld County along the northern border of the state. Though a semi-arid region, this agricultural zone produces a volume and variety of food-based crops …

The Case For Extending Patent Terms For Drugs That Treat Rare Diseases, Joanna Louise Thompson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper seeks to determine if extended patent terms can positively effect the production of drugs that treat rare diseases. It reviews the structure of the modern pharmaceutical company and considers the regulatory history that lead to this structure. The paper applies historically significant economic research in the field of patents and considers patent alternatives to establish the best method for incentivizing the development of these drugs. The paper finds that while there are numerous pitfalls and issues with the patent method, there are no viable alternatives. It also concludes that extending patent terms for drugs that treat rare diseases …

Effectiveness Of The Mind Research Institute's Algebra Readiness Curriculum On Student Achievement Implemented In A Tiered Response To Intervention Model, Nancy Quick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Algebra is typically the gatekeeper for higher-level math coursework. Low math performance on standardized assessments impedes access to these higher-level math classes. Limited math progress in high school affects future career opportunities and quality of life. High school students who have historically struggled with math need interventions that work. Research indicates that the research on reading interventions far outnumbers the research on math interventions. With the passage of new federal legislation requiring schools to document progress for all groups of students and allowing schools to use Response to Intervention models, the need for evidence based math interventions becomes even more …

Resilience Through Adversity: A Narrative Case Study Of Students' Experiences Of Expulsion From School, Nadia Coleman Krivenkov

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Expulsion from school is life changing. This single event can alter the trajectory of a student's life--for better or for worse. How life changes is unique for each individual student. Risk and protective factors that impact an individual student's resilience determine the level of positive or negative outcomes experienced as a result of expulsion. Educators have the opportunity to take advantage of this disruption in students' education to improve the trajectory of students' lives. However, without thoughtful intervention from caring educators, this interruption in students' education may have an irreparable destructive impact on students' future.

The purpose of this study …

Seeded Propagation Of Tau Fibrils, Paul David Dinkel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In various neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, Pick's disease, and corticobasal degeneration, the deposition of fibrils composed of misfolded tau protein is observed. Recent evidence suggests that tau fibrils transfer between cells and spread throughout the brain, underscoring the significance of fibril propagation.

Six tau isoforms exist in the adult human brain that can be grouped into 4-repeat (4R) tau and 3-repeat (3R) tau based on the presence or absence of the second of four microtubule binding repeats. We demonstrate in vitro that seeded fibril growth, a prerequisite for the spreading of the tau pathology, is crucially …

Isolation And Characterization Of A Full Length Retrotransposon: Cr1, Cassandra Michelle Weason

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Transposable elements (TE) have been found in all genomes and have clearly had a major impact on genomic evolution. The described research takes advantage of an abundant transposable element present in the genomes of Anseriformes, called Chicken Repeat 1 (CR1). Previous studies in Anseriformes suggest that CR1 is presently active in recent evolutionary time (St. John, 2004). A fully functional CR1 element itself is approximately 4.5kb long (Kajikawa, 1997), where almost all inserts are truncated at the 5' end. Because of this, it has been a challenge to isolate a full length, active element. In this study, two CR1 sequences …

The Last Citizen: A Response To Rawls's Challenge On Impairment—A Third Principle Of Justice, And Extra-Rational Contribution, Michael Neil

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

John Rawls, in Political Liberalism, acknowledges that justice as fairness, as it stands, "may fail" to deliver justice to people with severe cognitive impairment. He continues, "How deep a fault this is must wait until the case itself can be examined." The intent of this work, then, is to revisit Rawls's justice as fairness in light of intervening decades of disability consciousness and the emergence of competing theoretical constructs pertinent to the lives of people with impairment, specifically to people with an inability to reason or to reason fully, and determine whether new perspectives can expand its scope into a …

China's Business Cycle And Monetary Policy, Hailun Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Economic reform that began in 1978 became a landmark in the evolution of the Chinese economy. The Chinese economy then gradually transferred from a planned economy to a market-oriented economy. I mainly focus on China's business cycles and monetary policy after 1978 in this paper.

I use GDP growth to measure the Chinese business cycle. Instead of the level of GDP, the business cycles in the thesis I am talking about are ups and downs in the rate of growth.

In Chapter Two, I illustrated all five business cycles which have occurred over the past 30 years. I also introduced …

An Exploration Of The Development Of Empathy In A Clinical Sample Of Preschoolers In Relation To Child And Family Factors, Lindsey G Venesky

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the current literature base of social-emotional development in early childhood there exists a paucity of research of empathy development due to the complicated nature of empathy in young children. The present study utilizes a preexisting dataset from a local therapeutic preschool program, and its methods include visual analysis, correlations, and independent samples t-tests. Results of the present study found that clinical behavior patterns negatively correlate with empathy development. Further, statistically significant group differences exist in affective empathy for children whose parents have a mental health diagnosis. However, results regarding adaptive skills were not found to be statistically significant. The …

Theological Foundations For An Ethics Of Cosmocentric Transfiguration: Navigating The Eco-Theological Poles Of Conservation, Transfiguration, Anthropocentrism, And Cosmocentrism With Regard To The Relationship Between Humans And Individual Nonhuman Animals, Ryan Patrick Mclaughlin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the past forty years, there has been an unprecedented explosion of theological writings regarding the place of the nonhuman creation in ethics. The purpose of this dissertation is to propose a taxonomy of four paradigms of eco-theological thought that will categorize these writings and facilitate the identification, situation, and constructive development of the paradigm of cosmocentric transfiguration. This taxonomy takes shape within the tensions of three theological foundations: cosmology, anthropology, and eschatology. These tensions establish two categorical distinctions between, on the one hand, conservation and transfiguration, and, on the other, anthropocentrism and cosmocentrism. The variations within these poles yield …

Solidarity According To The Thought Of Fr. Pedro Arrupe And Its Application To Jesuit Higher Education Today, James Menkhaus

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J. was elected the 28th superior general of the Society of Jesus in 1965 and served in that role until 1983. As superior general, Arrupe sought to shape the Jesuits in the spirit of the vision of Vatican II, as well as the original charism of the founder of the Jesuit, St. Ignatius. The questions this dissertation seeks to answer is how Fr. Pedro Arrupe understood solidarity in light of his own life and theological perspectives and then how his view continues to shape Jesuit education today.

The first chapter examines solidarity as an element of Catholic …

Eruv, Eryn Green

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Eruv is a collection of poems exploring the interstices between the Judaic concept of Eruvin and the poetic traditions of dictation, field and personist poetics. The poems that represent the body of this work are explorations of the ways in which poetry empties and fills a space, and what might be implied for our shared conceptions of ‘Home’ and ‘Self’ by these tendencies.

The Impact Of Transit Oriented Development On The Travel Behaviors Of Workers In Denver, Colorado, Gregory J. Kwoka

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To combat unsustainable transportation systems characterized by reliance on petroleum, polluting emissions, traffic congestion and suburban sprawl, planners encourage mixed use, densely populated areas that provide individuals with opportunities to live, work, eat and shop without necessarily having to drive private automobiles to accommodate their needs. Despite these attempts, the frequency and duration of automobile trips has consistently increased in the United States throughout past decades. While many studies have focused on how residential proximity to transit influences travel behavior, the effect of workplace location has largely been ignored.

This paper asks, does working near a TOD influence the travel …

'Everything Looks Different Up Close': Perception In Margaret Atwood's Oryx And Crake And The Year Of The Flood, Jennifer Leora Nessel Cassidy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the first two books of her MaddAdam series (a projected trilogy), Margaret Atwood explores a series of events from three very different perspectives. A close reading of the two texts suggests that the specific focalizers chosen, and their very different ways of perceiving the world around them, are central issues in the novels. In Oryx and Crake, Atwood establishes the apocalypse as a problem of dystopian vision through the book's deeply flawed focalizer. In The Year of the Flood two alternative visions are offered in order to rehabilitate the perceptual problems of the first text. In the three …

Curvelets And The Radon Transform, Jill Dickerson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Computed Tomography (CT) is the standard in medical imaging field. In this study, we look at the curvelet transform in an attempt to use it as a basis for representing a function. In doing so, we seek a way to reconstruct a function from the Radon data that may produce clearer results. Using curvelet decomposition, any known function can be represented as a sum of curvelets with corresponding coefficients. It can be shown that these corresponding coefficients can be found using the Radon data, even if the function is unknown. The use of curvelets has the potential to solve partial …

Bridging The Gap Between Fun And Fitness: Instructional Techniques And Real-World Applications For Full-Body Dance Games, Emiko Charbonneau

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Full-body controlled games offer the opportunity for not only entertainment, but education and exercise as well. Refined gameplay mechanics and content can boost intrinsic motivation and keep people playing over a long period of time, which is desirable for individuals who struggle with maintaining a regular exercise program. Within this gameplay genre, dance rhythm games have proven to be popular with game console owners. Yet, while other types of games utilize story mechanics that keep players engaged for dozens of hours, motion-controlled dance games are just beginning to incorporate these elements. In addition, this control scheme is still young, only …

The Restorative Effects Of Color And Environment Type On Cognitive Functioning, Jessica Michaelis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although individuals have limited directed attention capabilities, it has been shown that exposure to natural environments elicit cognitive restoration (i.e. Berman, 2008). It has also been shown that individuals prefer blue and green colors because they are relaxing and prompt happy feelings (Guilford & Smith, 1959; Mahnke, 1996; Wexner, 1954). The question however, is what aspects of nature elicit these effects: is it the natural colors, the environmental setting, or both? The present experiment will examine the effects of color (Blue, Green, Black and White, & Natural) and environmental setting (Urban, Foliage, & Aquatic) on measures of attention, short term …