Digital Commons Network^™

Evaluation Of Nutritional Factors That Influence The Efficacy Of Tributyrin As A Feed Additive For Broilers, Brooke Bodle

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Tributyrin (TB) is a glyceride ester of butyrate that has the potential to improve broiler performance and intestinal development. Therefore, to fully evaluate this potential, three experiments were conducted to evaluate effect of tributyrin (TB) on broiler growth performance, nutrient digestibility, carcass characteristics, intestinal morphology, and gastrointestinal function in birds fed diets varying in composition reared in battery cages and floor pens. Experiment 1 explored the supplementation of graded doses of TB and its impact upon growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and carcass characteristics in a step-down program when added to a reduced energy and amino acid diet. A linear reduction …

Disgust Versus Anger-Relevant Trauma Analogues: Associations With Affect And Disclosure Behavior, Teah-Marie Bynion

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Due to high prevalence rates of sexual assault experienced by college-aged women, it remains important to consider factors associated with negative posttraumatic outcomes (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder). One factor consistently linked to negative outcomes following sexual assault is elevated peri- and posttraumatic disgust. Particularly, when such feelings are self-focused, peri- and posttraumatic disgust is linked with feelings of dirtiness (mental contamination). The current study extends this line of research to disclosure behavior. Disclosing a sexual assault to another person can be beneficial, however many survivors will never disclose. Theoretical accounts suggest that specific feelings associated with a sexual assault may …

The Interconnectedness Of Jonathan Edwards's Ontology And Trinitarianism, Holly Davis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Jonathan Edwards scholarship has been divided in recent years on the correct interpretation of his work. Scholars like Sang Hyun Lee and Amy Plantinga Pauw maintain that Edwards used a radically new dispositional ontology to understand the fundamental realities of nature. Oliver Crisp, Kyle Strobel, and Steve Studebaker have argued that Edwards used an essentialist ontology. I will defend the latter position and explain how it is tied to Edwards’s Trinitarianism. I argue for an interpretation of Edwards that situates him in his historical and theological context. The early modern philosophy of his day was marked by essentialist ontology. The …

Oxone® Mediated Tempo-Oxidized Cellulose Nanomaterials: Material Characterization, Ultrafiltration Membrane Separations, And Thin Film Composite Gas Transport Analysis, John Phillips Moore

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cellulose nanomaterials (CNMs) are derived from plant matter and are comprised of nanoscopic cellulose crystals and fibers. They have a diverse set of applications, from cosmetics to oil recovery. This study focuses on the properties of Oxone® mediated TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanomaterials (OTO-CNMs) and their use in controlling the transport properties of polymeric substrates. Synthesis and characterization of cellulosic nanoparticles have resulted in the creation of OTO-CNMs with properties that increase hydrophilicity. With added hydrophilicity, OTO-CNMs possess lower fouling propensity, making them ideal membrane additive for transport limited separations such as hemodialysis.

To utilize the material and unique properties thereof, this …

Evaluation Of Irrigation And Nutrient Management Strategies In Rice Using Alternative Irrigation Methods, Justin Lee Chlapecka

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As water resources gain value across the Mid-South, alternative irrigation strategies of rice (Oryza sativa L.) have garnered increasing attention. In 2015, an estimated 1.7% of Arkansas rice hectarage used alternate wetting and drying (AWD) irrigation and 0.9% used furrow irrigation. As of 2020, 2.5% used AWD and 16.9% used furrow irrigation, the latter accounting for near 99,000 ha in Arkansas. Little information exists in the scientific literature in relation to management of rice grown in the Mid-South without a conventional flood. This fact coupled with the rapid adoption rate, especially for furrow-irrigated rice (FIR), during the last five years …

Replication And Tribological Engineering Of Physical Surfaces Using Two-Photon Lithography, Shelby Robert Maddox

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Up to one-fifth of all energy consumed each year goes directly to overcoming frictional effects. This waste will remain even if renewable energy becomes feasible as a large-scale replacement for conventional fuel sources. If that wasted energy could be saved instead, then overall energy consumption could either decrease or be redirected to where it would be most beneficial to human and environmental flourishing. To this end, there is a need for strategies and techniques to reduce frictional energy loss. It is well established that surface texturing can be used to reduce friction. There are many industrial methods in current use …

Analyzing Purchase Behavior For Domestic And Imported Dry Wines In The U.S. Market Using Panel Data, Nadica Koskarovska

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study is to explore wine purchase behavior in the United States market, including different off-premise channels using AC Nielsen panel data and wine prices and rankings from the Wine Enthusiast database of wine reviews. The purpose of this thesis is to identify factors that impact customer loyalty to retail wine brands. In so doing my goal is to provide information that can be used to improve marketing efforts of small wineries that are seeking to grow into mainstream retail formats. The results suggest that efforts to build brand equity will be more successful if the brand …

Description Of Job Embeddedness In Arkansas County Extension Agents, Anika Parks

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Cooperative Extension System (CES) has had a long-standing problem with the retention of its county Extension agents (CEAs), who are in charge of running various programs in over 3,000 counties within the United States. When a CEA leaves a county, voluntarily or involuntarily, the community members are left without that leader, and their needs go unmet, which was proposed to increase voluntary turnover among CEAs even further. Arkansas CES has had its problems with turnover, and studying this issue through the lens of Job Embeddedness Theory was identified as a gap in the literature.

Job Embeddedness Theory is a …

Methods And Effects Of Shadowing Using Online Authentic Videos On L2 Acquisition Of Mandarin Chinese Tones, Ai-Ling Lu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mandarin Chinese tones are notoriously difficult for second language (L2) learners. Previous research focuses on tone training methods that can help learners produce monosyllabic lexical tones, and studies about the production of multisyllabic lexical tones at the sentence level in spontaneous speech are limited. This study applies shadowing—a method where the learners repeat what they heard with as little delay as possible—to tone training and compares the effects of using authentic videos and textbook audios as shadowing materials for beginner L2 Mandarin learners’ tone improvement at the sentence level. Fourteen students in elementary Chinese classes at an American university participated …

The Biochemical Characterization Of Aza197 And A Ras Related Protein Cdc42, Alix Montoya-Beltran

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Eukaryotic cells contain an extensive amount of GTP/GDP binding proteins. Proteins known as Ras GTPase primary function as a binary switch, where they cycle from an on and off state when GTP or GDP are bound, respectively. They are known to play a critical role in many cellular functions where a dysregulation could potentially lead to oncogenic behavior or other malignancies. In our laboratory, our focus is the study of a Ras related protein Cell division control 42 homolog (Cdc42) which belongs to the Rho subfamily. Cdc42 plays a critical role in many biological signaling processes; therefore, its uncontrol gene …

A 3-Dimensional Approach To Projectile Point Classification, Kayden Dennis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Typologies have long been used by archaeologists to answer questions about the past, ranging from issues of site chronology to tool function. However, current methods are hampered by subjective misclassifications as well as a loss of the range of variability among different tool forms due to a process that forces them into singular types. This thesis looks to create a simple and reliable technique of projectile point classification. It is also the author’s goal to use a classification system that monitors cultural transmission over time. This objective is addressed with an Archaic projectile point sequence from the Albertson site in …

Understanding Gender Gaps In Student Achievement And Stem Majors: The Role Of Student Effort, Test Structure, Self-Perceived Ability, And Parental Occupation, Lina Anaya Beltran

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Increasing women’s participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) has become a policy goal for many countries. This dissertation focuses on the origin and measurement of gender gaps in student achievement and self-perceived ability, as well as their potential role in predicting college career choices in STEM.

The first two chapters provide an international overview of gender achievement gaps and focus on issues around measurement using data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). These chapters study the role of student effort in predicting gender gaps in achievement and whether or not test structure, defined as question difficulty …

Caring Against The Carceral: How Families Mediate The Social Death Of Incarceration, Jessica Claire

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Incarceration, especially in the United States, is deeply related to issues of racism, poverty, and citizenship. These particular experiences are the result of a history of biopolitical control affecting Black and brown communities and have a quintessential origin in enslavement. Those who are incarcerated are isolated, dishonored, and powerless as a result of the criminalization of race and poverty. These observations led to questions surrounding the particular impact families may have on the experiences of those who are incarcerated. Families of Incarcerated Loved ones, or FOILs, mediate incarceration through intentional socialization which has the potential to counteract the realities of …

Alcohol Abuse And Misuse Amongst Homeless Persons In Northwest Arkansas, Reilly Gibson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol misuse and abuse has been found to be a detrimental risk to individuals having significant impact on their overall health and well-being. Any comprehensive attempt at examining the intersection of alcohol abuse history along with one’s risks and resources as it relates to abuse history among homeless individuals is missing. Using in-depth interviews among homeless adults in Northwest Arkansas (n=168), the current study examines the role of social vulnerabilities, individual risks, and social and psychological resources in explaining alcohol abuse history. Findings support the hypothesis that a person’s vulnerabilities and risks are associated with alcohol abuse histories. Persons who …

Integrating Systems, Processes, And Human Judgment: Three Essays On Value Creation With Supply Chain Analytics, Rebekah Inez Brau

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Big-data, analytics, automation, and machine learning are changing the role of managers in supply chain and operations functions. Extant research indicates that effective value creation by analytics is achieved through careful attention to three components: technology, people, and processes. As such, the purpose of my dissertation is to improve the integration of people in current supply chain and operations management systems with ever-changing technologies and processes. I focus on one critical function—demand planning—since it is increasingly influenced by predictive analytics yet can still require human judgment. My dissertation is comprised of three essays as follow.

In Essay 1, I implement …

An 8-Bit Analog-To-Digital Converter For Battery Operated Wireless Sensor Nodes, Marvin Wayne Suggs Jr.

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Wireless sensing networks (WSNs) collect analog information transduced into the form of a voltage or current. This data is typically converted into a digital representation of the value and transmitted wirelessly using various modulation techniques. As the available power and size is limited for wireless sensor nodes in many applications, a medium resolution Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) is proposed to convert a sensed voltage with moderate speeds to lower power consumption. Specifications also include a rail-to-rail input range and minimized errors associated with offset, gain, differential nonlinearity, and integral nonlinearity. To achieve these specifications, an 8-bit successive approximation register ADC is …

Digital Marketing And The Culture Industry: The Ethics Of Big Data, Jonathan Michael Bowman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Instead of the steady march of the one percent growth in ecommerce as compared to total retail revenues in the last decade (to comprise about nine percent of the industry at the close of 2019), we have witnessed leaps now to over twenty percent in just the last year. Scott Galloway marks the pandemic as an accelerant not just of digital marketing posting a year of growth for each month of quarantine but as an accelerant of each major GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple) firm from market dominance to total dominance (Galloway 2020). Viewing these trends from the standpoint …

Classroom Physical Activity Breaks Effect On Executive Function And Academic Achievement In Elementary School Students, Mark A. Bjornsen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Objectives: There were three aims in conducting this pilot study. First, determine the Plus Minus Task assessment's reliability to measure the executive function of shifting. Second, determine the feasibility and acceptability of CPAB by students and teachers. Finally, determine the preliminary dose-response of acute physical activity on shifting in elementary students. Methods: This was a pilot study of a classroom physical activity break intervention. Utilizing a withinsubject, cross-over design, students participated in a practice day and then all three treatment conditions: a 10-minute seated lesson (control condition) and 5 and 10 minutes (experimental conditions) of classroom physical activity breaks. A …

Facts From Fiction: Packaging Misinformation, Angel Ray Houts

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous research established that readers learn both accurate and inaccurate information from fictional stories. The current study explored factors that might moderate the impact of misinformation. Participants read fictional stories that contain three assertions; the first two were labeled as set-up assertions, and the last were labeled as the critical assertion. First, there was a manipulation of plausibility of information within the stories by presenting either assertions with truthful information, assertions with small lies (plausible misinformation), or assertions with big lies (implausible misinformation). Second, there was manipulation of reliability of the fictional stories by presenting big lies or truthful information …

Characterization Of Protein Aggregation Using A Solid-State Nanopore Device, Mitu Chandra Acharjee

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Protein aggregation has been linked to many chronic and devastating neurodegenerative human diseases and is also strongly associated with aging. In the case of neurodegenerative diseases, α, β tubulins and tau proteins dissociate in a neuron cell and aggregate both intra and extra-cellularly. Tau and tubulin aggregations were found as one of the major causes of many neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s, Picks, Alzheimer’s, Huntington, and Prion. Finding the state and mechanism of protein aggregation is significant. In this work, tau and tubulin aggregations were detected in ionic solutions using the solid-state nanopore technique. Besides tau and tubulin, aggregations of …

Andragogy For All? A Look At Arkansas Community College Students' Preferences For Andragogical Assumptions, Emilee Sides

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Community colleges are tasked with juggling multiple missions. They provide open access to education for adults in their community, work with industry partners to educate the local workforce, and provide relevant programming to the communities they serve. When compared with students at four-year institutions, community college students are older, more ethnically and racially diverse, come from lower socioeconomic statuses, and less academically prepared.

Like other community colleges across the country, one of the primary goals of Arkansas community colleges is to help their students succeed. Unfortunately, the state has historically performed poorly in regard to educational outcomes. To get the …

Testing Spiral Density-Wave Theory In Disk Galaxies Using Multi-Wavelength Image Data, Star Formation History Maps And Spatially Resolved Stellar Clusters, Mohamed Shameer Abdeen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Studying galaxy structures using different wavebands enables us to observe a varietyof intrinsic galactic features and to test the validity of underlying theories in detail. Density wave theory, originally proposed by C.C. Lin and F. Shu (Lin & Shu 1964), explains the nature of the spiral arm patterns in disk galaxies as density waves that propagate through the galactic disk. From spiral galaxies to the rings of Saturn, density wave theory has had success in providing qualitative explanations of disk dynamics. However, it is now widely believed that galactic disks are dissipative systems which raises the question of whether they …

Three Essays On The Performance Evaluation Of Actively Managed Investment Funds, Qing Yan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the performance of hedge funds and actively managed U.S. equity mutual funds.

The first chapter examines the relation between hedge funds and the low beta anomaly. Different conditions in the mutual fund and hedge fund industries should lead to different approaches with respect to the low beta anomaly. I find that, unlike most mutual funds, the average hedge fund tends to benefit considerably from the anomaly. About 2.3% per year of apparent alpha for the average hedge fund can be attributed to the low beta anomaly rather than manager skill. Low skill managers are the most reliant …

Relationship Of Underline Scores And Production Traits In Beefmaster Cattle, Bryan R. Kutz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study was to establish the relationship of underline scores (UDLS), production traits, and conformation scores in Beefmaster cattle born between 1976 through 2008. Records provided by Beefmaster Breeders United (BBU) were analyzed. Certified classifiers approved by the BBU recorded scores. Sizes and shapes of the underlines differentiated the scores (1-4). A score of one was used to designate the least amount of navel flap or sheath and a score of four represents the maximum amount of naval flap or sheath accepted for registration in the BBU. In this study the relationship of the traits was determined …

Characterization Of Problematic Red Clay Soils In Arkansas For The Purpose Of Onsite Wastewater System Placement, Bailey Darnell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Distinguishing between red-clay soils that are non-expansive and can reduce and red-clay soils developing in problematic red parent material, which are expansive, but also non-reducing, is key for proper on-site wastewater system placement. The Arkansas Department of Health allows for the placement of on-site wastewater systems in certain red-clay soils that have the potential to reduce, but only in the Ozark Highlands [Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) 116A], which is referred to as the red-soil exception. There is currently little scientific data to support the geographic restriction of the red-soil exception. The objectives of this study were to: i) confirm …

Recovering From Substance Abuse In Arkansas: The Accessibility And Affordability Of Drug Treatment Programs, Whitney King

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is going to examine how people recover from drug addiction and see if there are any similarities due to their socioeconomic statuses at the time of recovery. This research addresses the following questions: How accessible and affordable are drug addiction recovery programs and rehabilitation facilities in Arkansas for mid- to low-income individuals? What are the social costs for people who can’t obtain drug rehabilitation services? The goal of this research is to explore whether there is a lack of affordable recovery programs in the state of Arkansas. This project utilizes survey responses as well as in-depth interviews with …

Achieving Differential Privacy And Fairness In Machine Learning, Depeng Xu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Machine learning algorithms are used to make decisions in various applications, such as recruiting, lending and policing. These algorithms rely on large amounts of sensitive individual information to work properly. Hence, there are sociological concerns about machine learning algorithms on matters like privacy and fairness. Currently, many studies only focus on protecting individual privacy or ensuring fairness of algorithms separately without taking consideration of their connection. However, there are new challenges arising in privacy preserving and fairness-aware machine learning. On one hand, there is fairness within the private model, i.e., how to meet both privacy and fairness requirements simultaneously in …

Design And Assembly Of High-Temperature Signal Conditioning System On Ltcc With Silicon Carbide Cmos Circuits, Sajib Roy

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of the work described in this dissertation paper is to develop a prototype electronic module on a low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) material. The electronic module would perform signal conditioning of sensor signals (thermocouples) operating under extreme conditions for applications like gas turbines to collect data on the health of the turbine blades during operation so that the turbines do not require shutdown for inspection to determine if maintenance is required. The collected data can indicate when such shutdowns, which cost $1M per day, should be scheduled and maintenance actually performed. The circuits for the signal conditioning system within …

Network-Based Detection And Prevention System Against Dns-Based Attacks, Yasir Faraj Mohammed

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Individuals and organizations rely on the Internet as an essential environment for personal or business transactions. However, individuals and organizations have been primary targets for attacks that steal sensitive data. Adversaries can use different approaches to hide their activities inside the compromised network and communicate covertly between the malicious servers and the victims. The domain name system (DNS) protocol is one of these approaches that adversaries use to transfer stolen data outside the organization's network using various forms of DNS tunneling attacks. The main reason for targeting the DNS protocol is because DNS is available in almost every network, ignored, …

Love Paint And Other Private Vegetables, Victoria Hudson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite her remarkably low score on the Morse Fall Scale, Dolores shattered her femur in August of 2018. Some studies suggest that grief began there: a fracture, a wail—but the mechanism by which we came to recognize it, to plant it in our beds, remained unexplained, and the role of the daughter was controversial. Who gardens? What is the optimal depth for this sort of burial? Rootbound women with a clinical presentation of imminent loss were eligible to participate; we had thought to control the study but found no suitable placebo. The vegetables were necessarily randomized, the paint stratified according …