Digital Commons Network^™

Early Childhood Educator Knowledge: An Exploratory Study Regarding Giftedness And Students Of Color, Stephanie A. Peralta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine general early childhood educator knowledge and perceptions of curricula relevant for early childhood gifted students of color. The research questions that guided the study were the following: How does preschool through second grade curricula support or impede academic success for gifted students of color? How does preschool through second grade curricula support or impede social emotional learning for gifted students of color? What are the perspectives of educators regarding inclusive practices including Critical Race Theory, within a preschool through second grade gifted curricula?

In reviewing the literature and national data concerning representation …

An Economic Analysis Of Cyber Warfare Governance Models, Kevin M. Kelleher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Allusions to death delivered by bits and bytes have been in vogue since the Reagan administration. Yet, as the internet and its connected devices have since proliferated, cyber violence remains far more fiction than fact. Nevertheless, prominent U.S. officials have all but assured the eventuality of a devastating attack. In anticipation, political, legal, and industry experts are now seeking to codify and inculcate international norms to govern acts of war prosecuted via cyberspace. Two of the most prominent governance models to emerge are the Tallinn Manual and Microsoft’s Digital Geneva Convention. The driving thesis of this research argues that within …

A Spectropolarimetric Study Of Southern Wr + O Binaries, Andrew G. Fullard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The classical Wolf-Rayet (WR) state is the evolved stage of a massive star, post main-sequence. They are characterized by their strong emission line spectra and stellar winds that are often more than 10 times denser than that of their progenitor O-type stars, which have mass loss rates of 10^-6 M_Θyr^-1. The evolution of WR stars and their connection to specific types of supernovae (SNe) is an open question. Current theory suggests that rapidly rotating massive stars may be the progenitors of SNe that produce long-duration gamma-ray bursts. The interaction between WR stars and their companion …

Social Support Among Undergraduate Students: Measure Development And Validation, Heather M. Blizzard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Being born into circumstances of low-income, having a racial minority status, and/or non-college educated families dwindle the opportunities for many students to obtain a college degree (Cox, 2016; Engle & Tinto, 2008; Jenkins et al., 2013). While many institutions of higher education have diligently worked to develop programs geared towards attending the educational inequalities among diverse student populations, there is still a great need for programs centered on the inequalities surrounding social support (Cox, 2016; Ward et al., 2012; Soria & Stebleton, 2012).

The purpose of this study was to develop and assess a measure to examine perceived social support …

Urban Green Space: Mitigator Or Multiplier Of Inequality In The Denver Metropolitan Area?, Joshua Charles Baldwin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Studies have shown that communities of color and low-income populations are likely to live in neighborhoods that lack access to quality green spaces, unable to directly benefit from the environmental, recreational, and cultural services they provide. The goal of this research was to determine if the green space inequality patterns seen globally and nationally exist in the Denver Metropolitan Area. Using an existing green space dataset, ecosystem services fieldwork, GIS digitizing, and bivariate correlation analysis I uncovered numerous green space inequalities based on proximity, acreage, and quality. Key findings included 1) Lakewood’s Hispanic and less-educated populations have relatively little access …

Impacted Youth: Why School Psychologists Need To Consider Diverse Approaches Of Support, L. Morgan Beidleman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines trends among youth who are highly impacted by multiple adverse experiences. It outlines potential patterns of risk and protective factors often experienced by this population and encourages school psychologists to recognize, consider, and advocate for the needs of these youth. It goes on to describe and interpret the cultural practices of Leadership Coffeehouse, a Denver-based social enterprise that seeks to support disconnected youth through professional development and hands-on learning. Finally, because of the unique training school psychologists receive, considerations for expanding the role into non-traditional educational settings are proposed.

Assessing Robustness Of The Rasch Mixture Model To Detect Differential Item Functioning - A Monte Carlo Simulation Study, Jinjin Huang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Measurement invariance is crucial for an effective and valid measure of a construct. Invariance holds when the latent trait varies consistently across subgroups; in other words, the mean differences among subgroups are only due to true latent ability differences. Differential item functioning (DIF) occurs when measurement invariance is violated. There are two kinds of traditional tools for DIF detection: non-parametric methods and parametric methods. Mantel Haenszel (MH), SIBTEST, and standardization are examples of non-parametric DIF detection methods. The majority of parametric DIF detection methods are item response theory (IRT) based. Both non-parametric methods and parametric methods compare differences among subgroups …

Rab39 And Klp98a Are Required For Furrow Formation During Early Drosophila Embryogenesis, Megan R. Millage

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The formation of a plasma membrane furrow is an essential process during development. Furrow formation is necessary for successful cell division and cytokinesis in addition to the ability to create multicellular tissues. Here, I will explore the role of the Golgi-associated Rab protein Rab39 in furrow formation during early Drosophila embryogenesis. Rab39 is one of eight Rab proteins that has been shown to localize to discrete puncta by live imaging in early Drosophila embryos, but its function and pathway have not been well characterized. In this thesis will I show that Rab39 forms dynamic, tubular structures that colocalize with trans-Golgi …

The Impact Of A High School Theatre Arts Program On Students’ Academic And Non-Academic Learning Outcomes: A Case Study, Grant H. Goble

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research suggests that theatre arts participation benefits students’ academic and non-academic learning outcomes. The purpose of this single case study was to explore the impact of a theatre arts program on academic and non-academic for high school students by addressing the following overarching research question: How does student participation in a theatre arts program impact students’ learning outcomes? The subquestions are: (a) how do students describe the impact of a theatre arts program in relation to academic learning outcomes?, (b) how do students describe the impact of a theatre arts program in relation to non-academic learning outcomes? The study follows …

Renewable Energy Integration In Distribution System With Artificial Intelligence, Yi Gu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the increasing attention of renewable energy development in distribution power system, artificial intelligence (AI) can play an indispensiable role. In this thesis, a series of artificial intelligence based methods are studied and implemented to further enhance the performance of power system operation and control.

Due to the large volume of heterogeneous data provided by both the customer and the grid side, a big data visualization platform is built to feature out the hidden useful knowledge for smart grid (SG) operation, control and situation awareness. An open source cluster calculation framework with Apache Spark is used to discover big data …

Sorting Of Cargo Proteins Within The Regulated Secretory Pathway: The Peripheral Membrane Protein Hid-1 As A Sorting And Vesicle Biogenesis Factor, Blake H. Hummer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Large dense core vesicles (LDCVs) form at the trans-Golgi network (TGN) and mediate the regulated release of neuropeptides and peptide hormones. Despite their central role to physiology, the mechanisms controlling biogenesis and sorting to LDCVs is not well understood. Optimizing the retention using selective hooks (RUSH) method in neuroendocrine cells, we show it is possible to visualize sorting to the constitutive and regulated secretory pathways in real-time and that the bulk of transmembrane LDCV cargoes do not sort directly onto LDCVs, but exit the TGN into non-regulated vesicles to be incorporated to LDCVs at a later step. Additionally, we characterize …

Discrepancy Inequalities In Graphs And Their Applications, Adam Purcilly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Spectral graph theory, which is the use of eigenvalues of matrices associated with graphs, is a modern technique that has expanded our understanding of graphs and their structure. A particularly useful tool in spectral graph theory is the Expander Mixing Lemma, also known as the discrepancy inequality, which bounds the edge distribution between two sets based on the spectral gap. More specifically, it states that a small spectral gap of a graph implies that the edge distribution is close to random. This dissertation uses this tool to study two problems in extremal graph theory, then produces similar discrepancy inequalities based …

Nurturing Excellence: A Case Study Of High School Learning Environments For The Gifted, Ryan A. Mcclintock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The nuanced and complex cognitive and social-emotional needs of high school gifted learners are not sufficiently met through accelerated coursework like Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate alone. Addressing their needs requires the design, implementation, and leadership of programming that maximizes their agency, curiosity, and confidence. Such programming should be fully modern in its conception and allow gifted high school students to construct and share products of their learning with respect to issues of global importance. The purpose of this study was to explore high school learning environments designed to maximize the agency, confidence, and curiosity of gifted and talented secondary …

Sensitivity Of Radical Sam Enzyme Mftc To Molecular Oxygen, Vishnu Govindarajan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

MftC is a radical S-adenosyl L-methionine (SAM) enzyme that catalyzes the first step in the production of mycofactocin. It is a ribosomally synthesized post-translationally modified (RiPP) redox cofactor shown to be essential for the survival of bacteria in the Mycobacterium genus in the presence of cholesterol as a carbon source and for the sequestration of ethanol. MftC catalyzes the C – terminal decarboxylation of tyrosine and the subsequent cross-linking of tyrosine to the penultimate valine on the precursor peptide MftA. The product formed out of the reaction is processed into mycofactocin in downstream processes. The bacteria in the Mycobacterium tuberculosis …

Climate Change And Seed Security Among Smallholder Farmers In Northern Ghana, Michael Biwalib Madin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Smallholder agriculture is highly susceptible to climate variability and change. According to recent projections by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, this sensitivity would likely increase in the coming decades, with more erratic rainfall, prolonged dry periods, shorter growing seasons, and seed germination failures. In the African context, the mechanisms through which these ecological stressors would affect seed security are poorly understood. Drawing upon a case study of semi-arid Ghana, this study examines climate change impacts on seed security among smallholder farmers. It adopts a mixed-methods approach with intensive fieldwork in two farming communities. Conceptually, the study uses a political …

Quantification Of Dynamic Epithelial Sheet Architecture In Botryllus Schlosseri Using 2-D & 3-D Image Analysis, Roopa Madhu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Epithelial tubules form critical structures in various body tissues; how- ever, since they are difficult to access experimentally, their architecture and dynamics are not well understood. Here we examine the dynamic remodeling of epithelial tubes in vivo using a novel and uniquely accessible model system: the extracorporeal vasculature of Botryllus schlosseri (sea squirt). In Botryllus, massive retraction of blood vessels can be triggered without loss of barrier function, through (i) disrupting collagen crosslinking in the basement membrane using β-aminopropionitrile (BAPN); or (ii) disrupting the integrin pathway through inhibition of focal adhesion kinase (FAK). We performed stereographic projections of 3-dimensional …

Rock Glacier Development In The San Juan Mountains, Brandon K. Bailey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rock glaciers are common landform features found in deglaciated alpine areas. They are commonly used in the study of climatic changes throughout the Holocene and the reconstruction of neoglacial chronologies. For this research, Schmidt hammer rebound values, weathering rind thicknesses, and the length of lichen thalli diameters found on rock glacier surfaces are used to investigate their effectiveness as field-based relative age determination techniques. Additionally, the ability to identify periods of neoglacial activity using these methods is assessed in two neighboring cirque basins in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. 41 field sites across three rock glaciers are established with …

Automated Recognition Of Facial Affect Using Deep Neural Networks, Behzad Hasani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Automated Facial Expression Recognition (FER) has been a topic of study in the field of computer vision and machine learning for decades. In spite of efforts made to improve the accuracy of FER systems, existing methods still are not generalizable and accurate enough for use in real-world applications. Many of the traditional methods use hand-crafted (a.k.a. engineered) features for representation of facial images. However, these methods often require rigorous hyper-parameter tuning to achieve favorable results.

Recently, Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have shown to outperform traditional methods in visual object recognition. DNNs require huge data as well as powerful computing units …

Using Multi-Source Data To Assess The Dynamics Of Socioeconomic Development In Africa, Xuantong Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Frequent and rapid spatially explicit assessment of socioeconomic development is critical for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at both national and global levels. In the past decades, scientists have proposed many methods for monitoring human activities on the Earth’s surface on various spatiotemporal scales using Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Operational Line System (DMSP-OLS) nighttime lights (NTL) data. However, the DMSP-OLS NTL data and the associated processing methods have limited their reliability and applicability for systematic measuring and mapping of socioeconomic development. This research utilizes Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) NTL and the Isolation Forest (iForest) machine learning algorithm …

Cellular And Organismal Ramifications Of De Novo Purine Synthesis Dysregulation, Randall Craig Mazzarino

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purines are a class of nitrogenous bases and are essential small molecules to life. Purines are used within the cell as genetic information carriers, energy currency, signaling molecules, and cofactors for multiple processes. They are formed through de novo and salvage pathways found in cells across the phylogenetic tree. The substrates of enzymes within de novo purine synthesis are known to influence other processes within the cell, such as energy homeostasis. In humans, de novo purine synthesis disorders are rare, with around 100 people identified. These patients exhibit a range of phenotypes, with varying degrees of mental retardation, seizure activity, …

How 6-12th Grade Staff Support Students With Depression: A Pilot Study To Develop Measures Of Implicit Associations, Explicit Attitudes And Helping Behavior, Paul M. Thompson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Students with emotional disabilities are disproportionately suspended and expelled in K-12 schools. Attribution theory suggests individuals are less likely to provide assistance to others if they believe the individuals are responsible for their own difficulties. To test attribution theory, this study created new measures of explicit attitudes and implicit associations of licensed 6-12th grade staff regarding students with depression as well as a helping behavior measure of staff toward students with depression. The survey was distributed within a single school district in the western United States. A majority of the sample (N = 52) held a mental health license (60%), …

A Series-Elastic Robot For Back-Pain Rehabilitation, Elhussein Shata

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Robotics research has been broadly expanding into various fields during the past decades. It is widely spread and best known for solving many technical necessities in different fields. With the rise of the industrial revolution, it upgraded many factories to use industrial robots to prevent the human operator from dangerous and hazardous tasks. The rapid development of application fields and their complexity have inspired researchers in the robotics community to find innovative solutions to meet the new desired requirements of the field. Currently, the creation of new needs outside the traditional industrial robots are demanding robots to attend to the …

Volcanic Impact On Stratospheric Chlorine Chemistry And Perchlorate Formation: Evidence From Ice Cores, Joshua Andrew Kennedy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Perchlorate, suspected to be chemically formed in both the troposphere and stratosphere, has been recently measured in Arctic snow and ice cores. These comprise both discontinuous snow and ice cores from the Canadian Arctic and a continuous record of perchlorate was compiled from an analysis of Greenland ice cores. While the background perchlorate concentration typically is very low, a few spikes in concentration coinciding with deposition of volcanic sulfate were observed in the Greenland record, suggesting that perchlorate levels in the atmosphere may be impacted by volcanic eruptions. As of yet, no work has been done to investigate the connection …

Understanding How Agricultural Intensification Impacts Ring-Necked Pheasant Distribution And Survival In Eastern South Dakota, Hilary R. Kauth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Historically, pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) have thrived in South Dakota in conjunction with successful land retirement programs or early farming practices through the 1950s, which created interspersions of agriculture and native landscapes that were ideal for pheasants. Recently, the Prairie Pothole ecosystem has undergone rapid agroeconomic expansion, effectively reducing ideal interspersions of native prairie and cropland into agriculturally homogeneous landscapes. Indices of pheasant abundance have suggested persistent population declines since 2008, raising concerns regarding landscape suitability. Our goal was to understand how agriculture intensification impacts pheasant ecology. The objectives were to: 1) estimate overwinter hen probability of survival, resource …

Distribution, Density, Movement, And Support For Management Of Mountain Sucker, Pantosteus Jordani, In The Black Hills Of South Dakota, Seth J. Fopma

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mountain Sucker, Pantosteus jordani, is a cold-water species native to the Intermountain West. Fringe populations of Mountain Sucker have experienced declines in recent decades. The population of Mountain Sucker found in the Black Hills of South Dakota represents the eastern fringe of the species’ native range. Recognized as both an indicator of biologic health and as a species of greatest conservation need in South Dakota, recent studies have suggested significant declines in both distribution and abundance. Despite the recent study of Mountain Sucker in the region, increased understanding of Mountain Sucker ecology is needed to effectively manage for the conservation …

Understanding South Dakota Farmers’ Intentions To And Adoption Of Conservation Practices: An Examination Of The Theory Of Planned Behavior, Edem Avemegah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Conservation agriculture practice is a sustainable farming method based on three principle: crop diversification, minimal soil disturbance or movement and permanent or semi-permanent of soil cover. Government and stakeholders within the agricultural sector in the United States are promoting conservation farming practices but limited voluntary adoption still exists among producers at the farm level. This research study investigated the factors that influence the adoption of conservation practices among producers in the eastern and central parts of South Dakota (SD). A modified theory of planned behavior (TPB) is used as a framework alongside socioeconomic and demographic indicators to understand farmers’ current …

Influence Of Mink Predation On Brown Trout Survival And Size-Structure In Rapid Creek, South Dakota, Austin Galinat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I compared movement, home range, habitat selection, and mortality among radio-tagged Brown Trout (Salmo trutta) at an American Mink (Neovison vison)-removal site, improved habitat site, and an undisturbed stream site in Rapid Creek, South Dakota. I observed high, post-surgery (> 26 days) survival rate (90%) of radio tagged Brown Trout. Average gross movement of Brown Trout was greater at the improved habitat site (127 m) compared to the mink removal (31 m) site, while average home range size (i.e., stream distance) among all three sites was not significantly different indicating strong site fidelity (125 to 200 m). Brown Trout movements …

Crop Rotations, Tillage And Cover Crops Influences On Soil Health, Greenhouse Gas Emissions And Farm Profitability, Jasdeep Singh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study assessed the effects of three levels of crop rotation: [2-yr; corn (Zea mays L.)- soybean (Glycine max L.), 3-yr; corn-soybean-oat (Avena sativa L.) or 4-yr; cornsoybean- oat-winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)], two tillage [conventional-till (CT) and no-till (NT)], and two winter cover cropping systems [cover crop (CC) or fallow control (NC)] on soil biochemical and physical properties, greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), microbial community composition, crop yield and farm profitability under silty clay loam soil of south eastern South Dakota. Experimental design was a randomized complete block design in a split-split plot treatment arrangement with four replications. Rotations, tillage …

Management Implications Of A Rye Cover Crop On Nutrient Cycling And Soybean Production In Southeast South Dakota: Focus On Rye Seeding Rates And Termination Timing, Benjamin Brockmueller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Winter rye (Secale cereale L.) has become an important cover crop in South Dakota; yet, concerns over negative impacts on cash crop yields is one important limitation to the widespread adoption of winter rye in cropping systems. Two field studies were implemented at the Southeast Research Farm near Beresford, SD investigating the impacts of five seeding rates (0-90 kg ha^-1) and termination timings (April 19th- May31st) with the objectives of examining the roles of winter rye management practices on soybean production and yield from nutrient cycling of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) in the agroecosystem. Plant, residue, …

Pig Pose Estimation Based On Extracted Data Of Mask R-Cnn With Vgg Neural Network For Classifications, Sang Kwan Lee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper proposes a pig pose estimation operating with Region Proposal Network (RPN) of Mask Region based Convolutional Neural Network (Mask R-CNN) and Visual Geometry Group (VGG) Neural Network (NN). Object pose estimations generates from the associations of different key points. Key points could be explained as specific location of an object such as different joints of a human body or joints of different object. Hourglass network is one of a NN delivering key points of an object. Associating the different key points with the hourglass network results could be represented as instance-level detection [3]. However, the instance-level detection shows …