Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Discipline
Keyword
Publication Year
File Type

Articles 3571 - 3600 of 5166

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Comparing Mothers And Fathers On Acceptability Of Parent-Training Approaches, Knowledge Of Behavioral Principles, And Parenting Behaviors, Jennifer D. Tiano Jan 2006

Comparing Mothers And Fathers On Acceptability Of Parent-Training Approaches, Knowledge Of Behavioral Principles, And Parenting Behaviors, Jennifer D. Tiano

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Although most child research is conducted with mothers as the primary source of data, results often are applied to fathers. Yet, mothers and fathers engage in different interactions with children and may have varying attitudes and knowledge of parenting. This project compared mothers and fathers on a variety of parenting measures. Participants included a community sample of 80 parents (40 mother-father pairs) and their male child between the ages of two and seven. This study evaluated potential differences between mothers and fathers on treatment acceptability, knowledge of behavioral principles, and observed parenting behaviors. Results indicated that mothers prefer response cost …

Go to article

The Effects Of Interactive Video (Ddr) On Heart Rate, Perceived Exertion, Step Count, Self -Efficacy, And Enjoyment In Elementary School Children, Barbara J. Olmsted Jan 2006

The Effects Of Interactive Video (Ddr) On Heart Rate, Perceived Exertion, Step Count, Self -Efficacy, And Enjoyment In Elementary School Children, Barbara J. Olmsted

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Rising levels of obesity continue to challenge physical educators to engage their students in activities sufficiently vigorous to accrue health-related benefits. Physically active video games are now recognized as a way to enhance physical activity levels in children. A school-based intervention in fifth- and sixth-grade participants (N=33) compared six lessons each of Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), volleyball, and an exercise video (Tae-Bo) according to the following dependent variables: heart rate, step count, active time, rate of perceived exertion, enjoyment, and self-efficacy. Repeated measures within-subjects comparisons revealed significant main effects for activity type across five dependent variables, and significant interactions for …

Go to article

Shoeprint Analysis: A Gis Application In Forensic Evidence, Michael Anthony Walnoha Jr. Jan 2006

Shoeprint Analysis: A Gis Application In Forensic Evidence, Michael Anthony Walnoha Jr.

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The overall intent of this study is to illustrate how GIS and crime mapping methods can be applied to forensic evidence to better understand and comprehend spatial patterns that exist in these data. This study bridges common crime mapping principles such as hot spot mapping, exploratory data analysis, and spatial statistics to spatial forensic evidence investigation. In particular, forensic shoeprint evidence is examined and spatial relationships are analyzed using both exploratory and confirmatory statistical analysis. It is found that crime mapping principles can be indirectly related to shoeprint evidence mapping. Exploratory spatial data analysis is extremely helpful in breaking up …

Go to article

Model And Software Development For Predicting Fish Growth In Trout Raceways, Yin-Han Wang Jan 2006

Model And Software Development For Predicting Fish Growth In Trout Raceways, Yin-Han Wang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A software program was built using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) in MicrosoftRTM Excel. The purpose of the software is to allow users to manage their raceways more efficiently by providing a tool to simulate the performance of an existing raceway or to predict the behavior of a raceway under a wide variety of operating scenarios. The program considers the behavior of a system of multiple raceways arranged both in series and parallel configurations, and allows for the addition, removal and combination of different cohorts at different times in different raceways. Input data required include properties of the incoming water …

Go to article

Comparison Between Human Perception Of Risk Of Injury And Niosh Wpg For Lifting Tasks, Viviana Carolina Baggio Jan 2006

Comparison Between Human Perception Of Risk Of Injury And Niosh Wpg For Lifting Tasks, Viviana Carolina Baggio

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Low back injuries are highly prevalent in industry, recreational environs and in work at home. It is believed that humans are not able to judge the biomechanical risk of injury inherent with performing lifting tasks. This experiment studies the impact of lifting geometry (e.g., the horizontal, vertical and travel distances of a lift), frequency, gender and age upon an observer's perception of injury risk when looking at a task before attempting a lift. Subjects completed a questionnaire with a series of 54 pictures showing different lifting tasks; subjects then ranked their perceived risk of injury on a scale of 0 …

Go to article

Relationship Between Damper Resistance And Damper Insertion Depth, Ranjit Jangam Jan 2006

Relationship Between Damper Resistance And Damper Insertion Depth, Ranjit Jangam

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Experiments were performed to determine a predictive model for sliding gate damper resistance (Xdamper). Independent variables included eight ratios of insertion depth (I) to duct diameter (D), two different values of D, four different levels of air velocity, two damper orientations, and two damper edges (Concave/Straight). Analysis of Log (Xdamper) values showed a highly linear relationship with I/D and high statistical significance (p<0.05) for all independent variables and for most two-way interactions. Nearly the entire regression model (R2 = 0.985) was explained by I/D, so all but I/D and Edge were dropped from the final model: Y Log(Xdamper) = -1.434 + 0.089*(Edge) + 4.30*( I/D) (R2 = 0.978). The resulting predictive model: Xdamper = 0.037*10(0.089*(Edge )+4.3*I/D). However error for untransformed Xdamper increased sharply with increasing (I/D) and percent errors were as high as 125% across all values of (I/D). Hence the predictive models are useful for only initial rough adjustment and should be followed by final trial and error adjustment to goal air flow.

Go to article

“The War On Terror Begins At Home” The Impact Of Domestic Violence Policy On Homicide Rates In The United States, Jami L. Myers Jan 2006

“The War On Terror Begins At Home” The Impact Of Domestic Violence Policy On Homicide Rates In The United States, Jami L. Myers

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study examines state domestic violence policies and their affect on state domestic homicide rates. This research builds on the literature in the area of policy strength and its impact on policy implementers, specifically examining seven of the domestic violence policies recommended by the 1994 and 2000 Violence against Women Acts. Policies were categorized as "coercive," "hortatory," or "catalytic" and data were collected from all fifty states and the District of Columbia. Descriptive statistics are used to determine the effectiveness of the policies on the probability that a state would fall above or below the average national domestic homicide rate …

Go to article

Perspectives Of Key Stakeholders With Regard To Extended School Year Programs, Billie E. Bonnett Jan 2006

Perspectives Of Key Stakeholders With Regard To Extended School Year Programs, Billie E. Bonnett

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

There is growing concern about the impact of summer vacation on the academic achievement of our children, especially those with special needs. In recognition of the magnitude of this problem, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 1999, described the need for extended school year services. Additionally, IDEA, 2004, sought to clarify and further define extended school year services. This addition to IDEA provides guidance, but it does not change the previous provisions. Research suggests that effective extended school year programs include essential components: child centeredness, family involvement, community involvement and school commitment. Despite these regulations, key stakeholders including teachers, …

Go to article

Performance Measurements Of Web Services, Sarita Damaraju Jan 2006

Performance Measurements Of Web Services, Sarita Damaraju

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Web services are rapidly evolving application-integration technologies that allow applications in heterogeneous environments to communicate with each other. In this thesis we perform a measurements-based study of an e-commerce application that uses web services to execute business operations. We use the TPC-W specification to generate a session-based workload. The component level response times and the hardware resource usage on the different machines are measured. The component level response times are extracted from the application server logs. From the results it is seen that as the workload increases the response times of the web services components increase. From the hardware resource …

Go to article

Design Of Composite Sandwich Panels For Lightweight Applications In Heavy Vehicle Systems, Thomas H. Evans Jan 2006

Design Of Composite Sandwich Panels For Lightweight Applications In Heavy Vehicle Systems, Thomas H. Evans

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Vehicle systems such as cargo freight and platform trailers are a primary source of transporting heavy cargo loads. The construction and materials used in a standard trailer design contribute significantly to the overall weight. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and West Virginia University have conducted joint research to reduce the amount of fuel consumption of cargo transportation trailers by initiating a lightweight materials program. This study is aimed at the utilization of Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites and Composite Sandwich technology in conjunction with innovative joining concepts to reduce trailer weight. Finite element modeling and experimental analysis reveal the …

Go to article

Geosynthetic-Soil Interface Properties For Cohesionless And Cohesive Media, Ronald J. Ingram Jan 2006

Geosynthetic-Soil Interface Properties For Cohesionless And Cohesive Media, Ronald J. Ingram

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Applications of geosynthetics have undergone extensive growth over the past 50 years. This study was focused on developing a better understanding the soil---geosynthetic interface properties. Two pullout test devices were built as a part of this study to investigate interface properties during pullout experiments. The objective of the study was to investigate the influence of soil type, geosynthetic type, moisture content, pullout box size, and sample size on the experimentally determined properties of the geosynthetic-soil interfaces. Three types of geosynthetic materials and three types of soils, namely natural sand, silty sand, and clayey sand were used. Geosynthetic materials A and …

Go to article

Theory Of Mind And The Assessment Of Suggestibility In Preschoolers, Aryn C. Karpinski Jan 2006

Theory Of Mind And The Assessment Of Suggestibility In Preschoolers, Aryn C. Karpinski

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Researchers have been examining the relation between theory of mind and suggestibility with mixed results. Recently, researchers have suggested that theory of mind is not a dichotomous construct, but instead develops in a sequence (Wellman & Liu, 2004). This view, when combined with an examination suggestibility, may clarify the relation. The purpose of this study was to validate the Video Suggestibility Scale for Children (VSSC; Scullin & Ceci, 2001) and a theory of mind scale as predictors of suggestibility in an interview about an experienced and a non-experienced event. Ninety-one preschoolers, ages 3 to 5 years old, completed the 3-week …

Go to article

An Investigation Of Supports And Barriers Experienced By Students With Learning Disabilities As They Transition To And Persist In The Postsecondary Setting, Shawn Mahoney Kuba Jan 2006

An Investigation Of Supports And Barriers Experienced By Students With Learning Disabilities As They Transition To And Persist In The Postsecondary Setting, Shawn Mahoney Kuba

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This inquiry investigated supports and barriers experienced by students with learning disabilities as they transitioned to, and persisted in, a four-year liberal arts college setting. The goal of the inquiry was twofold: first, to understand from the perspective of the students themselves, the experience of being in and working through the postsecondary environment, especially what facilitates and what obstructs continued participation; and second, to extrapolate from these data, recommendations to inform postsecondary programming for students with learning disabilities.;Over a 3 year period, two cohorts of students with learning disabilities, transition and persistence phase students, volunteered to participate in semi-structured face-to-face …

Go to article

The Effects Of A Specifically Designed Pre-School Inclusion Course On The Attitudes Of Early Childhood Personnel, Kellie J. Morgan Jan 2006

The Effects Of A Specifically Designed Pre-School Inclusion Course On The Attitudes Of Early Childhood Personnel, Kellie J. Morgan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The intent of this study was to examine the attitudes of early childhood personnel on preschool inclusion before and after participating in a preschool inclusion class that was specifically designed for preschool teachers. The attitudes of teachers were measured using a 7 point Likert type pre and post-assessment scale. The items on the scale dealt with the inclusion of children with disabilities in a typically developing classroom. The participants in the study included 96 early childhood personnel working in West Virginia. In this pre-experimental design, the total scores of each item for the pre-test were compared to total scores on …

Go to article

Fmri Studies Of Binocular Suppression In Human Amblyopic Subjects, Yuenan Sun Pitrolo Jan 2006

Fmri Studies Of Binocular Suppression In Human Amblyopic Subjects, Yuenan Sun Pitrolo

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Binocular suppression has been previously studied psychophysically and with VEPs. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to image activity in visual cortex while human subjects with normal vision or amblyopia experienced binocular integration. One eye viewed a dynamic grating pattern. The other eye viewed one of four stimuli, i.e., black mask, gray mask, or two grating masks that varied in contrast. We observed a luminance masking effect, that is, when the gray mask is compared to the black mask, there was less activation in many retinotopic areas (consistent with previous VEP studies). The result was observed in all …

Go to article

Thermal Stress In Concrete Slabs Under Different Constraints, Dhananjay Rao Hejamadi Jan 2006

Thermal Stress In Concrete Slabs Under Different Constraints, Dhananjay Rao Hejamadi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Previous research has shown that thermal stresses developed in concrete pavements due to daily and seasonal temperature variations may be larger than those induced due to traffic loading. Dowel bars that are used for load transfer at the transverse joints of concrete pavements introduce high stresses at their interfaces with concrete leading to various forms of transverse joint distress. To solve this problem, Shoukry et al. (2001) developed an alternative design of dowel bars called "Shok Bar" that was installed by Shoukry and his team in a concrete pavement section placed at the parking lot of WVDOT Maintenance Shop at …

Go to article

Three Essays On Ipo, Liquidity, And Corporate Governance, Saurav Roychoudhury Jan 2006

Three Essays On Ipo, Liquidity, And Corporate Governance, Saurav Roychoudhury

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The first essay looks at the issue of long run performance of initial public offerings (IPOs). We provide a liquidity based explanation for why certain IPOs underperform in the long run. By separating IPOs into sub-samples based on excess liquidity, considered relative to benchmarks based on size, we find that IPO underperformance from 1993 to 2005 differs significantly based on the excess liquidity of an IPO. In general, positive excess liquidity portfolios tend to underperform compared to negative excess liquidity portfolios one to two years after the initial post IPO portfolio formation period. A potential explanation of the magnitude and …

Go to article

Suggestibility In An Adolescent And Young Adult Sample: Age And Individual Differences, Rebecca G. Ryan Jan 2006

Suggestibility In An Adolescent And Young Adult Sample: Age And Individual Differences, Rebecca G. Ryan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The current study was an investigation of age differences in interrogative suggestibility and its components; Yield, Shift, and Total Suggestibility. Adolescents and young adults were compared on these measures and it was found that young adults Yield significantly less than adolescents and that Total Suggestibility was lower for the young adults compared to the adolescents. Young adults were also found to display significantly higher levels of both memory and source monitoring ability. Regressions were conducted with individual difference factors associated with Yield, Shift, and Total Suggestibility. For Yield, memory was found to be a unique contributor. For Shift and Total …

Go to article

Three Essays On International Trade: Strategic Trade Policies, Intra-Industry Trade, And Income Convergence, Aziz Ibrahim Saglam Jan 2006

Three Essays On International Trade: Strategic Trade Policies, Intra-Industry Trade, And Income Convergence, Aziz Ibrahim Saglam

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation illustrates the effects of managerial delegation on strategic trade policies and the relationship between intra-industry trade and income convergence. In the first essay strategic trade policy under duopoly is investigated in a multistage game model with endogenous timing of trade policy. The analysis also includes the separation of ownership and management for each firm. The study is integrated in a single analytical framework. The results show that in the subgame perfect equilibrium of the trade policy game, the home government commits not to use countervailing duties: the home government sets its tariff and production subsidy at stage one …

Go to article

The Framing Effect And Breast Cancer Treatment Options: Do Individual Characteristics Play A Role?, Kelly L. Schuller Jan 2006

The Framing Effect And Breast Cancer Treatment Options: Do Individual Characteristics Play A Role?, Kelly L. Schuller

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The effect of frame, or the way in which options are worded, has been shown to influence decisions in many domains; however, the literature lacks studies that examine the effect of age and other individual characteristics on susceptibility to the framing effect. Sixty-eight college-aged women ( M age = 19.10 years, SD = 1.54) and sixty-six women over the age of 60 years (M age = 70.76 years, SD = 7.10) were presented with breast cancer vignettes that varied by frame (i.e., gains option worded in terms of number of women who would be cured and loss option worded in …

Go to article

Iqgap1 Knockdown Enhances The Endothelial Barrier In Vitro, Wentao Zhang Jan 2006

Iqgap1 Knockdown Enhances The Endothelial Barrier In Vitro, Wentao Zhang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

IQGAP1 overexpression inhibits E-cadherin-mediated epithelial cell-cell adhesion by distabilizing the adherens junctions, and activated Rac1 and Cdc42 may prevent these effects by removing IQGAP1 from the adherens junction complex. In the present study, we determined if IQGAP1 associates with the adherens junction of endothelial cells and affects endothelial barrier function. In human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), IQGAP1 associated with VE-cadherin, the catenins, beta, gamma, alpha, and p120, but not with N-cadherin or the tight junction proteins, occludin, claudin-5, and ZO-1. Detergent extracted most of the IQGAP1 associated with VE-cadherin. Treatment of endothelial cells with sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), which increases the …

Go to article

Finding Meaning In Sustainability And A Livelihood Based On Tourism: An Ethnographic Case Study Of Rural Citizens In The Aysen Region Of Chile., Trace E. Gale Jan 2006

Finding Meaning In Sustainability And A Livelihood Based On Tourism: An Ethnographic Case Study Of Rural Citizens In The Aysen Region Of Chile., Trace E. Gale

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Development. Livelihood. Sustainability. Tourism. The post-positivistic approach of this study helped to illuminate the complexity that underscores these four simple words. It helped to fill knowledge gaps through exploration of the lived experience of tourism-based livelihoods within the Aysen region of southern Chile. With an understanding of this lived experience, the identification of more feasible and meaningful development interventions and policies becomes more likely. Results were organized around seven key areas of focus: (1) shaping factors for tourism-based livelihoods, (2) how tourism-based livelihood strategies added meaning, (3) the role that alternative forms of tourism played, (4) tourism livelihood tactics, (5) …

Go to article

Late Cenozoic Stratigraphy And Landscape Dynamics In The Unglaciated Central Appalachians: A Case Study From The Northern Blue Ridge, South-Central Pennsylvania, United States., Todd Grote Jan 2006

Late Cenozoic Stratigraphy And Landscape Dynamics In The Unglaciated Central Appalachians: A Case Study From The Northern Blue Ridge, South-Central Pennsylvania, United States., Todd Grote

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Surficial deposits and soils along the northwestern footslopes of the Northern Blue Ridge in south-central Pennsylvania illustrate the geomorphic evolution of unglaciated landscapes that experienced late Cenozoic climate fluctuations. Geologic, geomorphic, and pedogenic investigations were used to document soil-landform-parent material relationships and create surficial geology maps. Deep exposures within three sand and gravel pits suggest fluvial processes, primarily tractive fluvial transport and valley aggradation, were the dominant mechanisms for alluvial fan development. Fan architecture suggests multiple depositional events, intermixed with episodes of landscape stability and weathering, were responsible for complex facies assemblages. Field and laboratory data revealed three lithostratigraphic units …

Go to article

The Relationship Between Leadership, Efficacy Belief, And Performance Among Boys' High School Basketball Players., Joe Frontiera Jan 2006

The Relationship Between Leadership, Efficacy Belief, And Performance Among Boys' High School Basketball Players., Joe Frontiera

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Sport broadcasters and analysts use the term “players coach” when discussing what coach might be a good fit for a team, or whether a player would perform well for a certain coach. Implied is that a coach’s leadership style has an impact on a player’s and a team’s performance. Evidence in sport literature points to relationships between leadership and performance (Weiss & Friedrichs, 1986), as well as self- and collective-efficacy and performance (Bandura, 1986, 1997; Feltz, 1982; George, 1994; Moritz, Feltz; Wood, Bandura, & Bailey, 1990). Yet, research literature is unclear as to the relationship between players’ perceptions of coaching …

Go to article

Shoes First: The Process Of Designing Costumes For Shakespeare's "Measure For Measure"., Lesley Sorenson Jan 2006

Shoes First: The Process Of Designing Costumes For Shakespeare's "Measure For Measure"., Lesley Sorenson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This paper documents the deepening of my understanding of the costume design process for Measure for Measure. Prior to this journey of discovery there was little recognition of all steps or their impact on the final product. While analyzing the results during the thesis process I re-learned the importance of organization, problem solving, multi-tasking and communication in the evolution of making art. Part of this discovery also included the greater awareness of how detailed each aspect must be; how focused and how committed one must be to take design to a higher level. These ideas are documented throughout the processes …

Go to article

Aqueous Geochemistry Of Springs Along Peters Mountain In Monroe County, West Virginia., Brian G. Richards Jan 2006

Aqueous Geochemistry Of Springs Along Peters Mountain In Monroe County, West Virginia., Brian G. Richards

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A hydrologic and hydrochemical investigation of aquifer characteristics beneath Peters Mountain in Monroe County, West Virginia is presented. Hydrologic zones were classified into three groups based on surface geology. Springs and seeps were located within the Second Creek and Indian Creek watersheds and their waters analyzed for chemistry to interpret the similarities and differences between springs. The three geological classes were Silurian/Devonian clastic rocks on the east slopes of Peters Mountain (Group 1), the Martinsburg Formation near the top of Peters Mountain (Group 2), and Ordovician carbonate aquifers on the west slopes of Peters Mountain (Group 3). Groundwater chemistry differed …

Go to article

Epr And Endor Studies Of Point Defects In The Nonlinear Optical Crystals Rubidium Titanium Oxide Phosphate And Potassium Titanium Oxide Arsenate., Yongquan Jiang Jan 2006

Epr And Endor Studies Of Point Defects In The Nonlinear Optical Crystals Rubidium Titanium Oxide Phosphate And Potassium Titanium Oxide Arsenate., Yongquan Jiang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Four studies of point defects RbTiOPO4 and KTiOAsO4 crystals are described in this dissertation. In the first study, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and electronnuclear double resonance (ENDOR) are used to characterize the complex hyperfine patterns exhibited by the primary radiation-induced trapped hole center in single crystals of RbTiOPO4 (commonly referred to as RTP). These defects are produced at 77 K by irradiating with x rays, and they are destroyed by raising the temperature above approximately 170 K. In this center, the hole resides on a bridging oxygen ion located between two titanium ions and is stabilized by a nearby rubidium …

Go to article

The Effect Of Experimentally-Provided Supportive Messages On Middle-Aged And Old Adults' Performance On Everyday Problems., Kristopher J. Kimbler Jan 2006

The Effect Of Experimentally-Provided Supportive Messages On Middle-Aged And Old Adults' Performance On Everyday Problems., Kristopher J. Kimbler

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

It has been suggested that instructional supportive messages consisting of positive emotional content or an offer of practical support have been linked to increased cognitive performance in a variety of domains (Denney, Tozier, & Schlotthauer, 1992; Isen, Daubman, & Nowicki, 1987; Kennedy, Mather, & Carstensen, 2004; Sarason, 1981; Sarason & Sarason, 1986; Tardy, 1992). The exposure to instructional supportive messages has also been linked to the amount of anxious and task-irrelevant thoughts (cognitive interference) that individuals report experiencing during a cognitive task (Sarason, 1981; Sarason & Sarason, 1986). Research assessing the effect of instructional input on performing everyday problems has …

Go to article

Democracies And Foreign Policy, Conflict Or Cooperation? The Leadership /Institutions Nexus., David J. Plazek Jan 2006

Democracies And Foreign Policy, Conflict Or Cooperation? The Leadership /Institutions Nexus., David J. Plazek

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Democratic peace theory holds a homogenous view of democracy. Leadership studies and institutions literature have demonstrated that variation does exist across democracies, which suggests that democratic peace theory in underspecified. Taking a monadic approach to democratic peace, I examine the effect variations in leadership, institutional structures, and the interaction between leadership and institutions have on foreign policy outputs in democracies. The chapter on leadership reviews US administration belief sets from 1945-1992 to assess their effect on foreign policy decision-making. The findings are that belief sets do impact the conflict-proneness of administrations and that beliefs often shift over time. The institutions …

Go to article

Organic Poultry Production And Forage Digestibility, Nancy P. Buchanan Dec 2005

Organic Poultry Production And Forage Digestibility, Nancy P. Buchanan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The current experiments were conducted to evaluate organic poultry production and the digestibility of organic feeds and pasture forages. A performance study was conducted to determine the effect of exogenous non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) enzyme supplementation on the performance and carcass characteristics of organically-reared broiler chickens. The addition of an exogenous NSP enzyme cocktail improved the performance and carcass characteristics of organically-reared broilers given access to pasture only in spring months. Pasture forages may contribute digestible nutrients to poultry; however, this contribution has not been evaluated in past research. A digestibility study was conducted to determine the nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last