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A Proposed Methodology For Predicting The Carbon And Nitrogen Stable Isotope Measures Of K'Inich Yax K'Uk Mo', Copan Dynastic Founder, Keith Edwards

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to show that stable isotope analysis can be used to predict K’inich Yax K’uk Mo’s stable isotope measures based on Stuart’s (2007) hypothesis that K’inich Yax K’uk Mo’, the dynastic founder of the Copan royal lineage, was a Caracol lord. There is significant and convincing evidence that K’inich Yak K’uk Mo’ had a non-Copanec origin. Stable isotope analysis is a tested and reliable method for detailing diets and migratory paths of ancient humans and this theory is applied as a predictor of the stable isotope measures of K’inich Yax K’uk Mo’, if he did …

Rawls's Theory Of Justice A Necessary Extension To Environmentalism, Andrew Greene

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

John Rawls‟s stated intergenerational justice scheme, known as the just-savings principle, does not include an institutional concern for the environment and is therefore incomplete and incapable of maintaining meaningfully just relations between generations. The theory‟s emphasis on economic theory and capital accumulation demonstrates a misinterpretation of environmental issues and concerns as well as their underlying causes and repercussions. This lapse in Rawls‟s intergenerational scheme exposes flaws in his larger theory of justice by leaving the stability of society in question and placing arbitrary burdens on generations and peoples without institutional recourse. However, by supplementing justice as fairness (JAF) with Rawls‟s …

Hotel Manager Attitudes Toward Environmental Sustainability Practices Empirical Findings From Hotels In Phuket, Thailand, Sivika Saenyanupap

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the attitudes of hotel managers in Phuket, Thailand, in an attempt to identify whether their attitudes influence their utilization of environmental sustainability practices. Due to the increasing number of visitors to Phuket, Thailand, the consumption of natural resources has increased in the region, causing serious environmental problems. A sustainable way forward is needed for the tourism industry in the region in order to maintain quality of service while reducing environmental damage. The data analyzed in this study came from self-administered questionnaires that surveyed hotel managers in Phuket, Thailand, with a sample of 243 respondents. Research results revealed …

Using Geographic Information Systems (Gis) In Spatial Analysis Of Mortuary Practices In The Kellis 2 Cemetery, Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, Elsalam, Heba Abd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on the use of geographic information systems (GIS) to examine mortuary practices in the Romano-Byzantine period Kellis 2 cemetery located in the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt. The first research objective examines the relationship between age, sex and grave substructures of 701 burials in Kellis 2 cemetery. The aim of this research objective was to determine if the presence and style of grave substructures were influenced by sex or age. Although not statistically significant, GIS analysis revealed that most of the graves in the Kellis 2 cemetery have no associated substructures, but of those that did have associated substructures, …

Innovative Pollutant Load Monitoring, Eric Gurr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Modern streamflow measuring equipment, water quality sampling techniques and a better understanding of pollutant washoff are continuously being developed as today's society is in critical need of improving water management, minimizing developmental impacts and preventing environmental hazards. In particular, the study of the spatial, temporal and volumetric characteristics of annual pollutant loading caused by variations in precipitation, land use and other anthropogenic factors is of great significance due to their relation to future global water demands. The research presented here falls in three parts. In the first part of the dissertation, an acoustical Doppler velocity profiler installed in a submerged …

Feature Pruning For Action Recognition In Complex Environment, Adarsh Nagaraja

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A significant number of action recognition research efforts use spatio-temporal interest point detectors for feature extraction. Although the extracted features provide useful information for recognizing actions, a significant number of them contain irrelevant motion and background clutter. In many cases, the extracted features are included as is in the classification pipeline, and sophisticated noise removal techniques are subsequently used to alleviate their effect on classification. We introduce a new action database, created from the Weizmann database, that reveals a significant weakness in systems based on popular cuboid descriptors. Experiments show that introducing complex backgrounds, stationary or dynamic, into the video …

Ray Collection Bounding Volume Hierarchy, Kris Krishna Rivera

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents Ray Collection BVH, an improvement over a current day Ray Tracing acceleration structure to both build and perform the steps necessary to efficiently render dynamic scenes. Bounding Volume Hierarchy (BVH) is a commonly used acceleration structure, which aides in rendering complex scenes in 3D space using Ray Tracing by breaking the scene of triangles into a simple hierarchical structure. The algorithm this thesis explores was developed in an attempt at accelerating the process of both constructing this structure, and also using it to render these complex scenes more efficiently. The idea of using "ray collection" as a …

Modeling Human Group Behavior In Virtual Worlds, Fahad Shah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Virtual worlds and massively-multiplayer online games are rich sources of information about large-scale teams and groups, offering the tantalizing possibility of harvesting data about group formation, social networks, and network evolution. They provide new outlets for human social interaction that differ from both face-to-face interactions and non-physically-embodied social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter. We aim to study group dynamics in these virtual worlds by collecting and analyzing public conversational patterns of users grouped in close physical proximity. To do this, we created a set of tools for monitoring, partitioning, and analyzing unstructured conversations between changing groups of participants …

Effective Task Transfer Through Indirect Encoding, Phillip Verbancsics

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An important goal for machine learning is to transfer knowledge between tasks. For example, learning to play RoboCup Keepaway should contribute to learning the full game of RoboCup soccer. Often approaches to task transfer focus on transforming the original representation to fit the new task. Such representational transformations are necessary because the target task often requires new state information that was not included in the original representation. In RoboCup Keepaway, changing from the 3 vs. 2 variant of the task to 4 vs. 3 adds state information for each of the new players. In contrast, this dissertation explores the idea …

Viability Study Of A Residential Integrated Stormwater, Graywater, And Wastewater Treatment System At Florida's Showcase Green Envirohome, Matthew Allen Goolsby

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The subject of water scarcity and the rate of water consumption has become popular topics over the last few decades. It is possible that society may consume or contaminate much of the remaining readily available water if there is not a paradigm shift. This deep rooted concern has prompted investigations to identify alternative water use and treatment methods. Within this report, information is presented from the use of innovative water harvesting and on-site sewage treatment and disposal systems (OSTDS) at Florida’s Showcase Green Envirohome (FSGE.net), while also addressing low impact development (LID) practices. FSGE is a residential home that demonstrates …

Spatio-Temporal Negotiation Protocols, Yi Luo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Canonical problems are simplified representations of a class of real world problems. They allow researchers to compare algorithms in a standard setting which captures the most important challenges of the real world problems being modeled. In this dissertation, we focus on negotiating a collaboration in space and time, a problem with many important real world applications. Although technically a multi-issue negotiation, we show that the problem can not be represented in a satisfactory manner by previous models. We propose the "Children in the Rectangular Forest" (CRF) model as a possible canonical problem for negotiating spatio-temporal collaboration. In the CRF problem, …

Data-True Characterization Of Neuronal Models, Jose Suarez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, a weighted least squares approach is initially presented to estimate the parameters of an adaptive quadratic neuronal model. By casting the discontinuities in the state variables at the spiking instants as an impulse train driving the system dynamics, the neuronal output is represented as a linearly parameterized model that depends on filtered versions of the input current and the output voltage at the cell membrane. A prediction errorbased weighted least squares method is formulated for the model. This method allows for rapid estimation of model parameters under a persistently exciting input current injection. Simulation results show the …

High Linearity 5.8 Ghz Power Amplifier With An Internal Linearizer, Yiheng Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A 5.8 GHz RF Power Amplifier (PA) is designed and fabricated in this work, which has very high linearity through a built-in linearizer. The PA is designed, post-layout simulated by Agilent Advanced Design System (ADS) software and fabricated by Win-Semiconductors 0.15µm pHEMT process technology. The post-layout simulation results illustrate the power amplifier can obtained an output power of 23.98 dBm, a power gain of 32.28 dB and a power added efficiency (PAE) of 29% at saturation region, the 3rd intermodulation distortion (IMD3) of -37.7 dBc at 0 dBm input power is attained when operation frequency is 5.8 GHz. We finally …

Models To Estimate Arrival Counts And Staffing Requirements In Nonstationary Queueing Systems Applied To Long Distance Road Races, Lindon P. Fairweather

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

We examine the problem of staffing refreshment stations at a long distance road race. A race is modeled as a mixed queueing network in which the required number of servers at each service station has to be estimated. Two models to represent the progress of runners along a long distance road race course are developed. One model is a single-class model that allows a road race manager to staff service stations assuming the runners are identical to those in some historical dataset. Another model is a multi-class simulation model that allows a road race manager to simulate a race of …

Analysis Of The Relationship Between The Level Of Educational Computer Game Use And Milken Exemplar Teacher Instructional Strategies, Yaela Dahan Marks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the nature and level of educational computer-based game techniques adoption by Milken Educator Award winning teachers in achieving success in their classrooms. The focus of the research is on their level of acceptance of educational computer-based games and the nature of game usage to increase student performance in the classroom. With Davis' (1985) Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1985) as the conceptual framework, the research also examines how teachers' perceptions of educational computer-based games influence their willingness to incorporate these teaching methods in their classroom. The approach utilizes a descriptive survey to develop and evaluate responses from exemplar …

Positive Youth Development Among Latino/A Youth In A Service Learning Program, Christopher Fox Drescher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the potential of a service-learning program to cultivate positive developmental strengths among Latino/a youth participating in a school-based program in Los Angles County. Youth (N=112) in grades 5–12, who were primarily from low SES backgrounds, participated in an environmental and humanitarian education program, the Jane Goodall Institute's, Roots & Shoots (R&S) program. Three positive youth development (PYD) variables, including civic responsibility, ethnic identity, and connection to nature were assessed before and after participation. Challenges in program implementation and data collection resulted in a small subset of participants that completed measures at the pre and posttest (n = …

Korsgaard On Reason And The Normativity Of Rationality, Robert Colin English

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Korsgaard (2009) argues, against Kolodny (2005) and Broome (2007), that rational requirements are in fact normative. In her view the normativity of rational requirements is a function of their constitutive role in the deliberative activity of reason. After surveying the treatment of this question in the relevant literature, I explain Korsgaard's theory using pure constructivism as a framing device. I then argue that not only is her account of deliberative reason as an activity unsatisfactory (specifically, it fails to defeat the intuition that charges of boot-strapping are deeply problematic, and makes the adoption of reasons for belief from the deliberative …

Developing A Retrofitting System To Mitigate Floodwall Failures Of New Orleans, James Tyler Kidd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Response Of Riparian Plant Communities To Hydrological Alteration: Are Seed Banks A Means Of Restoration?, Siobhan Boyer Gorham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The effects of anthropogenic modifications of stream systems on in situ plant community composition and seed bank composition were examined at five riparian sites in the Yazoo River watershed in northern Mississippi. This analysis was performed to determine if the soil seed bank can provide a means for the restoration of riparian floodplain plant communities. The study sites represented five different kinds of hydrological alteration: a highly incised riparian terrace isolated from the stream channel, a deforested original stream with reduced flow due to channelization and standing water due to levees, a forested original stream with reduced flow due to …

Use Of Structure-And Ligand-Based Drug Design Tools For The Discovery Of Small Molecule Inhibitors Of Cysteine Proteases For The Treatment Of Malaria And Sars Infection, Falgun Shah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A wide array of molecular modeling tools were utilized to design and develop inhibitors against cysteine protease of P. Falciparum Malaria and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). A number of potent inhibitors were developed against cysteine protease and hemoglobinase of P. falciparum , referred as Falcipains (FPs), by the structure-based virtual screening of the focused libraries enriched in soft-electrophiles containing compounds. Twenty one diverse, non-peptidic, low micromolar hits were identified. A combined data mining and combinatorial library synthesis approach was performed to discover analogs of virtual screening hits and establish the structure-activity relationships (SAR). However, the resulting SAR of the …

New Synthetic Methodologies For The Construction And Optimization Of Natural Products, Amir E. Wahba

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Toxicity associated with bioactive natural products is considered as a major obstacle in the process of drug discovery. Manzamine A (MA) is one such candidate that requires optimization to overcome the toxicity problem. The manzamine alkaloids represents a unique class of natural products that have shown a diverse range of bioactivities including antimicrobial, antiparasitic, cytotoxicity, anti-inflammatory, pesticidial, and was shown to possess activity against HIV-1 and AIDS opportunistic infections. The greatest potential for the manzamine alkaloids appears to be against malaria and neuroinflammation. Experimental and modeling studies suggested that the planer ?-carboline moiety can act as DNA intercalator and hence …

Do Statins Improve Outcomes In Patients With Asthma On Inhaled Corticosteroid Therapy? A Retrospective Analysis Of The Mississippi Medicaid Database 2002-2004., Tasneem Taher Lokhandwala

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Animal model studies and clinical trials have looked at the potential benefits of the anti-inflammatory properties of statins in asthma management with contradictory results. Therefore, the objective of this study is to determine if asthma patients on concurrent statin therapy are less likely to have asthma-related hospitalizations and emergency room (ER) visits. We conducted a retrospective cohort study using Medicaid data for 2002–2004. Asthma patients ?18 years old were identified using the ICD9 code 493.xx, from Jul 1, 2002 through Dec 31, 2003. The index date for an exposed subject was any date within the identification period, 180 days prior …

Population Biology Of A Coastal Dune-Dwelling Spider (Arctosa Sanctaerosae) Along The Hurricane Disturbed Northern Gulf Of Mexico Coast, Robert A. Hataway

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the continued increase in the number of tourists visiting the Northern Gulf coast in the last century and the resulting development of this coastline the habitat of Arctosa sanctaerosae has become fragmented; and the sprawl of large cities along the coast has further degraded available habitat. In addition to anthropogenic disturbance to this coastal region, hurricanes are an additional and natural perturbation to the ecosystem. This habitat has seen a number of major tropical storms over the last decade and I have sought to explore the impact of habitat destruction and storm-induced disturbance on a species of spider endemic …

Biopharmaceutical Approaches For Improved Drug Delivery Across Ocular Barriers, Ketan Hippalgaonkar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The eye is protected from the external environment by various physiological and anatomical barriers. These barriers through there protective actions drastically diminish the ocular bioavailability of drugs. The corneal epithelium acts as a major barrier towards the permeation of hydrophilic agents, whereas poor aqueous solubility presents a formulation challenge for lipophilic compounds. Additionally, P-glycoprotein (P-gp) expressed on the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE P-gp) limits the penetration of substrates, in therapeutically relevant concentrations, into the back-of-the-eye.

In the present research, use of penetration enhancers (chitosan, benzalkonium chloride (BAK) and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)) and formulation approaches (cyclodextrins and solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs)) …

Novel Approaches To The Control Of Infectious Diseases, Damaris Agathe Meujo Foping

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As part of our ongoing efforts to find new drug leads against infectious diseases, several terrestrial and marine macro- and microorganisms were investigated. Several bioactive molecules, presented below, were isolated from these natural products. The mass-screening of dozens of marine Actinomycetes was completed and several Streptomyces with interesting biological activity profiles identified. A few examples are the Streptomyces code H747 and the Streptomyces code H668, a bacterium from which a new (5) and two known polyethers, the antimalarial agent K41-A (6) and its C-29 analog (7) were isolated. Five new six-membered ring cyclic peroxides: plakinastreloic acid A (8), methyl plakinastreloate …

Postglacial Sandy Hill: A Regional Manifestation Of The Gulf Of Maine Archaic Tradition, Benjamin Russell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over twenty years of archaeological excavations at Sandy Hill, in Mashantucket, CT, have provided an incredibly rich assemblage of artifacts. Yet some of the most basic questions about Sandy Hill's Early Archaic inhabitants remain unanswered. This thesis will synthesize the results of major excavations at Sandy Hill by analyzing site morphology, lithics, and hard tissue macrobotanical remains from several radiocarbon dated contexts. Macrobotanical artifacts recovered from Sandy Hill indicate a preference for hazelnut as well as wetland roots and tubers. The lithic assemblage is related to the Gulf of Maine Archaic Tradition and the predominance of quartz flakes technology and …

The Effects Of Chronic Prophylactic Naproxen Sodium On Skeletal Muscle Adaptation To Resistance Exercise In Recreationally-Trained College-Aged Males, Christi Brewer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Resistance exercise causes exercise-induced muscle injury (EIMI), triggering an acute local inflammatory response associated with delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS). DOMS is characterized by a predictable discomfort and decreased level of muscle performance and is believed to be the product of both mechanical and inflammatory processes. From the latter perspective, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been investigated for their potential to alleviate DOMS-associated symptoms. Such analgesics exert their effects by blocking the formation of prostaglandins; however, prostaglandins, specifically prostaglandin F 2?, also play an important role in skeletal muscle regeneration. While some have advocated the use of NSAIDs for the relief …

Effect Of Uv-A Irradiance On Lipid Accumulation In Nannochloropsis Oculata, Rathy Srinivas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The marine microalgae Nannochloropsis spp. are of both ecological and economic importance as they contribute to the base of the food chain of marine systems, and can accumulate a considerable amount of lipids. Their lipids can be grouped into two categories, storage lipids, which are mainly triglycerides (TGs), and structural lipids, which are composed of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). PUFAs are essential nutrients for both aquatic animals and humans, while TGs can be transesterified to produce biodiesel. Lipid formation in microalgae depends on several environmental factors and Nannochloropsis spp. have been shown to accumulate excess storage lipids under stressful conditions. …

With Malice Towards None: Six Stories And A Novella, Burke Nixon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A fiction collection consisting of six short stories folloby a novella. The pieces attempt to be comic, but also--with debatable success--to be more than just comic. As the title suggests, one of the collection's thematic concerns is mercy and its absence. Most of the pieces are set in Texas; characters in the collection include a female student in an absurdly incompetent public high school, a parking cop, the best friend of a stand-up comedian, an Abilene man whose life goal is to be struck by lightning, and an unselfconscious grandfather character, who bookends the beginning and end of the collection. …

Epigenetic Effects Of Benzo(A)Pyrene In Fundulus Heteroclitus And Danio Rerio, Xiefan Fang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

DNA methylation is one of the epigenetic mechanisms that controls gene expression and is vulnerable to early life environmental toxicant exposures. Our goal was to use two fish models, Fundulus heteroclitus and Danio rerio (zebrafish), to study the benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) effects on DNA methylation status and whether the alterations could contribute to BaP-mediated reproductive and developmental toxicities. Initially, we used Fundulus to study BaP effects on glycine N-methyltransferase (GNMT) expression throughout development. Fundulus embryos were exposed to waterborne BaP at nominally 10 or 100 μg/L and both GNMT mRNA expression and enzyme activity were measured. Quantitative PCR and whole mount …