Digital Commons Network^™

Jailhouse Informants & Empathic Cross-Examination, Megan Hillgartner

Theses

The current study aimed to evaluate the influence of jailhouse informant testimony on juror-decision making through the manipulation of cross-examination techniques as well as the presence and absence of an inconsistent statement concerning a specific crime detail. Thus, this study evaluated whether the method in which the defense attorney presented his cross-examination influenced jurors’ overall perception of the jailhouse informant. Participants listened to an audio-recording of a trial transcript in which method of cross-examination was manipulated in terms of an Aggressive, Neutral, and Empathic approach to determine if the addition of empathic understanding resulted in cross-examination serving as a more …

Differentiating Pre-Capillary And Post-Capillary Pulmonary Hypertension By Doppler Echocardiography In A Large Realworld Database, Pyi Naing

Theses

Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is common, dangerous and has multiple causes. Vasodilator therapy has significantly improved the prognosis of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), but the diagnosis can be challenging, requiring right heart catheterisation (RHC). Differentiating pre-capillary PH (prePH) and postcapillary PH (postPH) and measuring pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) are key steps for diagnosing PAH. A novel echocardiographic parameter, the pulmonary to left atrial ratio (ePLAR), which is derived from the tricuspid regurgitation velocity (TRV) divided by the ratio between the early diastolic filling velocity and the early mitral annulus velocity (E/e’), i.e., ePLAR=TRV/E/e’, has been described as a …

The Course Changes In Maximal Strength Velocity Following A Traditional Strength- Or Power Orientated Training Session, Alexander Vernon

Theses

The primary aim of this study was to investigate the return to baseline of movement velocity and maximal strength following a typical strength-orientated and power-orientated session in the full depth, free-weight back squat performed with maximal concentric velocity. Fourteen strength-trained males completed a power-orientated session (3-sets of 6-repetitions @50% of a one-repetition maximum [1RM]) and a strength-orientated session (5-sets of 5-repetitions @80%1RM) in randomised order over two weeks. At 24, 48, 72 and 96-hours following the training session stimulus, sessions were completed with loads of 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, 90% and 100%1RM lifted. Prior to the completion of the training …

Assessment Of Pre-Eclampsia Risk In Early Pregnancy, Ziad T.A Al-Rubaie

Theses

My thesis aims to improve pre-eclampsia prevention and outcomes in Australian women by providing evidence that can be used to enhance pre-eclampsia risk assessment in broad antenatal settings. I conducted the thesis in three stages. In stage 1, a systematic review identified major limitations in the existing evidence for current guideline approaches and ‘simple’ risk models incorporating maternal characteristics to identify women at increased risk of pre-eclampsia in early pregnancy. While the review demonstrated models including specialised tests such as uterine artery Doppler and serum biomarkers improved sensitivity to predict pre-eclampsia compared to simple models, there was insufficient evidence to …

Literacy And Educational Development Programs For Arab Refugee Women In The Piedmont Area Of North Carolina, Noor Al-Samraai

Theses

Arab refugee women experience incomprehensible acts of violence and war that drive them out of their homelands. According to Greenwood (2013), among the 4.8 million Arab refugees, women and children comprise approximately three-fourths of those displaced and compound the conditions of gender-based violence, poverty, lack of economic opportunities, and a dire lack of the most basic educational programs. Arab refugee women are more likely to face further violence and marginalization because of economic pressures (UNICEF, 2001).

The purpose of this study was to document and analyze the factors, barriers, and learning needs of Arab refugee women with low-level language and …

Collaboration Pattern Model For Student Participation In Problem-Solving Typed Chat, Duy Quang Bui

Theses

This project measures different collaborative dialogue acts between students who are working together to solve problems in a computer programming class. In COMPS (Computer-Mediated Problem Solving) exercises students work together via online typed-chat. Transcripts of these conversations were annotated with four categories of collaborative utterance: sharing ideas, negotiating ideas, regulating problem-solving, and maintaining communication. The annotated transcripts were then applied to answer four different research questions. A) Among the several students in a conversation, there are measurable quantitative differences in dialogue behavior that correlate with the relative preparedness for solving the problem. The most prepared student not only talks more …

Comparison Study Of Supervised Machine Learning Algorithms For Real Time Prediction Of Uav Behaviors, Brian Baity

Theses

An American scientific writer/critic of the mid-20th century, Joseph Wood Krutch, stated, “Technology made large populations possible: large populations now make technology indispensable.” Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become a vital part of society, evolving from solely military use to commercial and even personal day-to-day use. UAV application has grown for mobility on demand, increasing the number of UAVs in the sky. Consequently, more UAVs increases the possibility of aerial collisions, challenging the safety of passengers flying and bystanders on the ground. Understanding the behavior of UAVs and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in general, therefore, will decrease the possibility of …

Conqueror, Lei Wu

Theses

This thesis primarily focuses on the shooting of a documentary about Lun Qiu, a shy and ordinary ethnic Tibetan boy from China. His family is poor, and he is a boxer who was injured when he was defeated in a competition. These events did not cause him to lose confidence because his experience has been very helpful for him. He dreams of participating in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and earning his own gold belt.

The original idea for my thesis had nothing to do with its final conception. In fact, the original idea was not even to make a documentary, …

Life In The Noodles, Junnan Xia

Theses

One day, a Chinese international student, Zhou Yu, is considering his going home to China, since he doesn’t have a good life in America. That day, when Yu is in the supermarket shopping, he sees his ex-girl friend, Chen Xue. Xue is friendly and asks Yu to come to her home and she wants to treat Yu a bowl of noodles, which is her special treat that she made for Yu before. Yu struggles but finally he is moved by Xue’s great passion. When they arrived at Xue’s place, they start to eat and talk. Xue is curious about Yu’s …

Point Spread Function Determination In The Scanning Electron Microscope And Its Application In Restoring Images Acquired At Low Voltage, Mandy C. Nevins

Theses

Electron microscopes have the capability to examine specimens at much finer detail than a traditional light microscope. Higher electron beam voltages correspond to higher resolution, but some specimens are sensitive to beam damage and charging at high voltages. In the scanning electron microscope (SEM), low voltage imaging is beneficial for viewing biological, electronic, and other beam-sensitive specimens. However, image quality suffers at low voltage from reduced resolution, lower signal-to-noise, and increased visibility of beam-induced contamination. Most solutions for improving low voltage SEM imaging require specialty hardware, which can be costly or system-specific. Point spread function (PSF) deconvolution for image restoration …

Passive Cooling In Non-Residential Nearly Zero Energy Buildings: A Thermal Comfort Analysis Based On Measurement, Modelling And Simulation, Adam O'Donovan

Theses

Overheating in non-residential nearly zero energy buildings (nZEBs) presents a major risk to the well-being, productivity and thermal satisfaction of the people who occupy them. As global temperatures are expected to increase in the future, the overheating risk and cooling demand is also expected to increase. Therefore, low cost and low energy solutions that are able to maintain thermally comfortable conditions without the need for mechanical systems will be vital in decarbonising the building stock and ensuring that buildings are comfortable and remain low carbon now and in the future. Passive cooling has long been championed as a low cost …

A Study Of Stakeholder Power Relations, Governmentality And Capital In Vocational Education And Training Policy In Australia, Jonathon Mascorella

Theses

The purpose of this study was to observe the perspectives of stakeholders on Vocational Education and Training (VET) policy in Australia. The intention was to explore the interplay of policy implementation, stakeholder perspectives on policy and VET activities, and theoretical notions of power relations, governmentality and capital, utilising frameworks by Foucault and Bourdieu. The problem, as it was established in literature review, is the potential influence of policy relations, governmentality and capital on VET activities and VET policy formation and implementation. The outcome was to better understand stakeholder perspectives of VET and to add a facet of knowledge to the …

St Thomas Aquinas On Affectivity: A Way Forward For Seminary Formation, Bernard Gordon

Theses

St Thomas Aquinas on Affectivity: A Way Forward for Seminary Formation, is a theological argument that St Thomas’ teaching can be applied to the affective formation of men preparing to be Catholic priests. St Thomas’ teaching provides a very helpful understanding of affective maturity and its integral importance for a truly Christian and priestly life in the service of others. It flows from a theological anthropology that recognizes proper affective growth as an integral part of human life and interpersonal relationships. Affective maturity is an essential attribute for the seminarian to acquire because he is preparing to be a priest …

Perceptions Of Parental Awareness, Knowledge And Anxiety Levels Regarding Infant Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Training Amongst Parents Residing In Southern Tasmania, Nakita Stephens

Theses

Prenatal and postnatal education help to prepare parents to care appropriately for their newborn child. This education however, rarely includes learning infant cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR. CPR for Infants differs from both adult and paediatric resuscitation techniques, and most people who do learn CPR usually only learn adult techniques. Research shows that bystander intervention with CPR improves the chances of both survival and survival without sequelae in out of hospital arrests. Including Infant CPR education as part of the general parent education could assist in scenarios of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) or other emergency situations. Some concern has been …

Christmas Island: A Question Of Self-Determination, Kelvin Matthews

Theses

The notion of self-determination for Christmas Island has been considered for many years. There have been a range of reports, studies, inquiries and indeed protests (on the Island and in Canberra) over the years that have failed to provide a solution which is satisfactory to residents of Christmas Island and Australia’s Commonwealth Government. Accordingly, the purpose of this thesis is to explore and investigate the possibilities and options of the Territory of Christmas Island:

a) becoming an autonomous self-governing region (Parliamentary Legislative Assembly);
b) being incorporated into the legislative arrangements of West Australia (WA) or Northern Territory (NT);
c) developing …

Don’T Mention Dark Tourism: An Irish Perspective, Emilie-Kate O'Mahony

Theses

This study investigates dark tourism in the Irish context with international supporting research. Dark tourism is connected to sites of death, the macabre and suffering and there are many sites in Ireland that fit this description. Examples include prisons, famine sites, graveyards, sites of terrorist attacks and many more. In this document the term dark tourism is thoroughly researched via secondary sources to provide a foundation of understanding. By including this academic research from journals and books, the researcher is provided with the background information necessary to understand the importance of dark tourism and to identify gaps in knowledge suitable …

Modelling And Simulation Of Renewable Technologies For Economic And Environmental Analysis And Optimization Of Dairy Farms, Michael Christopher Breen

Theses

The aim of this thesis was to develop a dairy optimisation platform to optimise investments in dairy farm technology and changes to on-farm management practices and electricity tariffs, in order to maximise profitability and minimise environmental impacts. Increased dairy herd sizes and milk production levels in Ireland as well as changing regulations concerning emissions, renewable penetration and energy efficiency have necessitated a means of financial decision support for farmers. Therefore this body of work focused on the creation of a comprehensive method for optimising dairy farm technology selection, management practices and electricity tariffs. The measures which could be implemented on …

Isolation, Identification And Characterisation Of Enterococcus Faecalis Isolates For The Generation Of Multifuctional Bioactive Peptides From Milk, Kenneth Patrick Graham

Theses

Enterococci are lactic acid bacteria (LAB) that have the paradoxical position of possessing biochemical properties of technological importance, but are also considered as opportunistic pathogens capable of causing infection in immunocompromised patients. However, they have a long history of safe use in foods and have been evaluated in several studies for their role as starter, adjunct, probiotic and protective cultures. They show higher proteolytic activities than other LAB and have demonstrated the ability to produce bioactive peptides during the fermentation of milk. The aim of this project was to identify proteolytic Enterococcus faecalis isolates capable of generating health-promoting bioactive peptides …

A Research Study On The Impact Management Have On Employee Engagement In A Manufacturing Company, Alice Murphy

Theses

The purpose of this paper is to discover can management have an impact on employee engagement. Many companies put millions into creating the best fit policies for their organization without focusing on management behaviour and how it affects employees alone. Leadership theories have evolved over the years and will continue to change from generation to generation. The evolving term of the meaning of 'leadership' suggests to the researcher that there will never be enough studies done in this field. Despite the vast amount of research done, there seems to be a paucity in the area of leadership in the manufacturing …

Evaluation Of The Impact Of A Low Dose Subcutaneous Lignocaine And Ketamine Infusion Utilising Nerve Excitability Studies In A Chronic Migraine Population., Christopher Rofe

Theses

Migraine is a common condition in which the diagnosis is based on clinical grounds. There is no clinically available biophysical marker that can evaluate migraine. Migraines are linked to functional brain changes in the absence of structural abnormalities. A clinically useful tool capable of evaluating functional changes in patients with migraine could be used to aid diagnosis and management.

Patients with chronic migraine have frequent or continuous headache which is accompanied by significant morbidity. There are limited data available regarding treatment options for curtailment of chronic migraine. In this prospective observational study, patients suffering from chronic migraine underwent a prolonged …

"Taming The Beast": Exploring The Lived Experience Of Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Using A Life History Approach, Therese Burke

Theses

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a complex neurological disease affecting the central nervous system and is driven by a complex autoimmune cascade. The peak age of onset is between the ages of 20 and 40 years and shows a female preponderance of 3:1. The most common form of the disease affecting 85% of people living with the illness is called relapsing remitting MS (RRMS), and is characterised by unpredictable relapses or exacerbations which usually last a few weeks before returning to baseline function. There is the possibility of disease progression and non-reversible disability after many years. RRMS is also characterised by …

Hearing And Understanding: Vernacular Liturgical Reform At Holy Trinity Abbey New Norcia 1963-1970, Christopher Kan

Theses

The first fruit of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) was Sacrosanctum Concilium – the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. Within eight years of its promulgation Roman Catholic worship across the world was transformed, as the language and practice of the rites of the Church underwent significant change. One of the most noticeable changes was the relaxation of the requirement for the Church’s liturgy to be celebrated in Latin and instead be in the local language of the people, the vernacular.

Case studies of the implementation of the post-conciliar reform, as advocated by the Council, are infrequent, especially in the context …

Evaluating Local, National, Regional And International Interventions In Northern Uganda Using A Human Security Approach, Davis Kawooya

Theses

Since gaining independence from Britain in 1962, Uganda has been beset by conflicts, the worst of which took place between the Ugandan government and the Lord’s Resistance Army in northern Uganda (1988-2006), causing a massive humanitarian crisis. The central argument of the thesis is that the government’s programmes in response would have been more successful if they had been people-centred, directly responsive to the suffering of the people, rather than centralised in the hands of a small Kampala-based elite, which controlled access to funding and political power, without transparency or accountability. This research uses human security as an umbrella concept …

The Unesco Creative City Network - A Case For Cork City, Colette Scariff-Lalor

Theses

We are all creative, but by the time we are three or four years old, someone has knocked the creativity out of us ~ Maya Angelou

This research study will examine the potential interest and perceived benefits of the UNESCO Creative City designation for Cork City as well as exploring the concept of the Creative City concept and what it may mean for Ireland’s second city. At present, Cork City Council have the intention of applying for Creative City status. Comprising of a network of 180 members with Dublin and Galway currently holding the status, it is important for Cork …

Applications Of Earth Observations For The Monitoring Of Deforestation Dynamics In The Peruvian Amazon, Andrea Puzzi Nicolau

Theses

In the context of global environmental change, deforestation in the Amazon is a major concern for sustainable resource management, biodiversity conservation, and climate change mitigation. Understanding the processes of land use and land cover that drive deforestation is relevant towards more sustainable land management and will aid global initiatives such as the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+). This thesis addresses the use of Earth Observations to monitor deforestation dynamics in the Madre de Dios region of Peru. Two papers are presented; the first analyzes the spatial patterns of forest …

Indoor Positioning Using Multiple Signal Sources (Modes), Vishal Chummar Perekadan

Theses

Computation of accurate indoor positioning information is important in several application areas like mobile robotics, navigation, virtual reality and ubiquitous computing. In spite of its importance we still do not have an indoor positioning system equivalent to the Global Positioning System~(GPS), which is the standard for large scale outdoor positioning, but is unreliable or unavailable in indoor environments. In this work, we present a multi-source radio frequency(RF) based system for automatic indoor positioning using the received signal strength (RSS) and demonstrate its efficacy by simultaneously using broadcast FM radio & GSM signals for position estimation. This method is data driven …

Structural Engineering Of The Antifungal High Mannose Binding Lectin Myxovirin, Jessica L. Osier

Theses

The pathogenic encapsulated yeast Cryptococcus neoformans causes a majority of fungal disease related deaths worldwide from pulmonary infections, meningitis, or meningoencephalitis. Loss of efficacy in current treatment options against C. neoformans and the emergence of antifungal drug resistance call for the development of new therapeutics. High mannose binding lectins such as Scytovirin have been shown to be promising anticryptococcal drug candidates. In this work, a homologous antifungal lectin, Myxovirin, was structurally engineered in an effort to improve both its carbohydrate binding affinity and its anticryptococcal activity. Carbohydrate binding was studied using both isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and nuclear magnetic resonance …

Ground-Based Remote Sensing And Excavations At A Middle Woodland Platform Mound (1la111) In Lawrence County, Alabama, Travis Rael

Theses

A common goal of many archaeological studies is to locate anthropogenic features, which provide occupational and chronological information. Anomalies detected in ground-based geophysical remote sensing data assist in locating such features and provide guidance for placement of excavations. Research conducted on a large platform mound located in northwest Alabama utilized a quantitative method for detecting and interpreting anomalies in gradiometer data collected on the structure’s summit. Results from systematical ground truthing and subsequent excavations of several of the anomalies suggest that this method provides an effective approach for locating areas containing significant subsurface archaeological deposits within the mound. Soil core …

Evaluating And Forecasting Development Within Riparian Corridors In North Alabama For Conservation, Leah Parker

Theses

As urban development continues to spread from urban centers, natural riparian corridors and their ecosystem services are becoming at risk. This study utilized the Riparian Buffer Delineation Model, the National Land Cover Database, and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to evaluate and summarize historical land cover changes and vegetation health within variable-width riparian corridors between 2001 and 2016 in Madison County and Limestone County of North Alabama. The TerrSet Land Change Modeler was used to predict the risk of urban development by 2030 based on historical land cover trends and driver variables. The predicted future risk of urban development …

Sharp Arrows Of Censorious Tongues : Alexander Pope's Psalms And The Dunciad Controversy, Hannah Michelle Thomas

Theses

Psalm imitation and paraphrase for the purpose of modernizing and meditating upon the word of God was a common practice in eighteenth-century England; however, Alexander Pope’s A Roman Catholick Version of the First Psalm, for the Use of a Young Lady and the more obscure Psalm XCI function differently from the typical psalm paraphrases done by Isaac Watts and Christopher Smart. Rather than participate in devotional meditation, Pope’s two psalms demonstrate a performance of devotion while at the same time revealing a rejection of true religious sentiment. This performance of religiosity and irreligiosity is later leveraged by Pope in the …