Digital Commons Network^™

Understanding The Relationship Between Income And Voting: Are One Nation Voters Influenced By Economic Factors?, Glenda Bourne

Theses

While economic voting has been analysed in detail in international studies, the phenomenon has been under-studied in the Australian context. This dissertation investigates the link between economic voting and the minor party vote in Australia by analysing the vote share for One Nation in Queensland at the 2016 Senate election and 2017 state election. Using linear regression, the relationship between income, unemployment and the One Nation vote proves to be statistically significant, but the relationship does not apply to areas with large populations of Indigenous people or voters from non-English speaking backgrounds. This study offers broad insights into the link …

Martuwarra First Law Multi-Species Justice Declaration Of Interdependence: Wellbeing Of Land, Living Waters, And Indigenous Australian People, Anne Poelina

Theses

The thesis is comprised of experiential research, poetry, film and peer reviewed publications, and book chapters culminating in twelve chapters and two appendices. The study is in the Kimberley region of northern Western Australia. The study used an Indigenous decolonising research paradigm. It calls for a powerful policy and investment approach to the planning and development of regional governance. The author engaged ‘cooperative participative inquiry’ with leaders from six independent Indigenous Nations. These Nations are connected through Warloongarriy, the First Law for Martuwarra, the Fitzroy River.

First law is the spirit that connects all things and promotes multispecies justice through …

Exposure To Pesticides And Hepatocellular Carcinoma (Hcc) Risk In And Around Monroe County, Ny, Theodros Woldeyohannes

Theses

The impact of long-term exposure and persistence of pesticides in the environment on human biology is not completely understood. With the proliferation of pesticide application technologies, there have been documented associations between exposure to every major functional group of pesticide and adverse health effects in humans such as cancer and neurological disease. Of observed pesticide-induced cancer health-risks, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has shown some of the most significant associations. Epidemiological study is complex, especially when examining pesticide health risks. It is difficult to understand the significance behind interactions between the large list of pesticide compounds, external environmental factors, and biological variables. …

Algal Wrack Community Composition And Succession On A Sandy Beach In San Diego, Ca, Marisol Palomares

Theses

Sandy beaches are high-energy impact zones that produce little to no organic material. Much of the organic matter on beaches is washed up on shore in the form of algal wrack, providing a vital source of nutrients, food, and habitat for a variety of organisms on the sandy beach. Over time wrack will decay and decompose, releasing nutrients including nitrogen and phosphorus, which are consumed by benthic microalgae and bacteria. The type of wrack and geomorphology of the beach environments affect decomposition, which in turn supports a variety of different wrack associated macrofaunal communities. Different species of algal wrack will …

Customer Allocation Targeted For Broadband Services In South Africa Using Predictive Analytics, Hamad Jassem Mohammad Alhelo

Theses

In this capstone project, we propose a solution to the business problem being facing by one of the satellite companies in UAE, Yahsat. They are providing broadband (internet) services through satellite for wide area in the world including Middle East, Asia and Africa. Specifically, in South Africa, they noticed that they are losing some customers and at the same time the number of customers is not as what was anticipated when they entered the business there. So, increasing the number of customers will increase the revenue, which is the main goal of the company. For Yahsat Company to achieve their …

Native Activism And Materiality Through The Work Of Cannupa Hanska Luger: A 21st Century Indigenous Artist, Rachel Daniela Vera

Theses

This thesis focuses on a specific work by Cannupa Hanska Luger called This is Not a Snake. This project examines the materiality of the artwork, including beads, crochet, sewing, ceramics, and non-traditional materials. The materials used in this work address 21st-century indigenous issues while also promoting activism from the Water is Life movement, which is centered at Standing Rock Reservation, North Dakota. The materials of this work are relative to Luger’s 21st-century contemporary style. The use of repurposed heavily merchandized inorganic materials refers to the protests in Standing Rock. This is Not a Snake was inspired by these events, activism …

Shutdown University: Comparing Video Content Performance Against Non-Video In Digital Crisis Communications At Institutions Of Higher Learning During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Brian Patrick Vorce

Theses

This thesis project examines best practices in crisis communications at institutions of higher learning during the beginning stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. With a large amount of literature stating the importance of video content in the digital realm, video communications were closely examined and compared with non-video communications in terms of efficacy and successful engagement on social media platforms. The final deliverable for the project is a website where communications professionals can access resources, data, and research on these crisis communications, all delivered through accessible blogs and videos.

Iot Smart Parking, Anas Hamdan

Theses

A Smart City is designed to improve the quality of life of its residents by utilizing the forefront innovations. Embedded within the smart city is the fundamental innovation using the Internet of Things (IoT) to provide novel solutions to residents, prompting to the enhancement of everyday life while promoting sustainability. This project highlights smart parking management that is a key pillar of a smart city. It implements IoT, sensors, and software to track the availability of parking spaces, the number of vehicles parked in a parking lot, the time for which these vehicles have been parked, and the real-time pricing …

Plan 2014: A Case Study On Shared Water Governance, Bobby Moakley

Theses

Coastal areas of the United States are highly populated due to their richness in natural resources and economic opportunity. With this opportunity comes increasing competition for development. This places intensive strains on natural resources and land along coasts, resulting in damage to ecosystem health. In addition to competitive development, climate change poses a major threat to coastal communities as they are vulnerable to a variety of environmental factors (EPA, 2016). Many coastal communities have formed coordinated approaches to manage water levels and build resilience along shorelines. However, many of these approaches result in a variety of problems and are not …

Conducting A Feasibility Study For Generating Power From Renewable Energy Resources And Utilizing High Voltage Direct Current For Interconnection In The Middle East And North Africa, Rashid Al Maazmi, Mahmood Broushan

Theses

Electricity consumption is on the rise as the global population is increasing. The need of energy has been discussed in length over the years. Oil and gas have been the primary resource for generators fuel. As oil and gas are a finite resource, an alternative resource that does not harm the environment is needed to generate energy. The Middle East and North Africa have a huge potential for using solar and wind energy to generate electricity as MENA region has one of the highest levels on solar irradiation. A new system of transferring the power through the MENA region is …

Trilepisium (Moraceae): Four New Species From Madagascar, Shawn Kelley

Theses

Trilepisium is a genus of tree with two member species: T. madagascariense and T. gymnandrum. This genus shows diversity in habit and morphology greatly exceeding that expected of a genus with two member species. Concerted collection efforts since the last revision have suggested there are several unrecognized species within Trilepisium and a revision is needed. Chapter one of this thesis details the history of this taxanomically challenging genus and presents the results of our study of 600 Malagasy herbarium specimens. Trilepisium is more adequately circumscribed as containing 17 species, 11 of which are new to science. Chapter two contains …

A Model For Achieving Sustainable Commercial Complexes In Shanghai, China, Yudong Yan

Theses

In recent years, political and social concerns have risen in China related to green energy utilization and sustainable architecture. Architectural development in China has increased dramatically since the 2000s, and there is an increasing demand for and focus on energy-saving and sustainable architecture. However, there are few commercial complexes in China that apply sustainability standards. This research explores the future development of sustainable commercial complexes as the next step of architectural development in China, green technology evolution, and appropriate solutions for local conditions to provide a suitable sustainable commercial complex in Shanghai, China. The documentary analysis will be performed based …

Wait., Kayla Cantu

Theses

Wait explores concepts of discomfort and acceptance through the use of the human body, glass, and honey. The artwork and this thesis both use personal experience of physical insecurities and scholarly investigations into psychology related to unruly bodies. The work and research allude to the material qualities of glass such as its malleability, susceptibility, and softness to draw a parallel between the materials and the human identity. Parallels between glass and body create conversations investigating acceptance of identity and questions ideas about resistance of unruly bodies.

Nurse Staffing And Quality Care In Long-Term Care Nursing Facilities: Differences In Rural And Urban Settings, Dorcas E. Kunkel

Theses

Public and congressional concern induced the Institute of Medicine (1996) to recommend increasing registered nurse (RN) staffing levels in nursing homes (NHs) to improve quality of care. The purpose of this study was to answer the question, does the relationship between nurse staffing in long term care nursing facilities and bladder and bowel incontinence for low risk nursing home residents differ by nursing facilities located in rural and urban settings? This study used a secondary database that included aggregate data of all 615 NHs in Minnesota, South and North Dakota including nurse staffing levels, facility descriptives, and the quality measure …

Development Of Frenet-Serret Frame And The Apollonian Window, Syeda Fareeza Karimushan

Theses

The present study focuses on developing a Frenet-Serret frame and the Apollonian Window. In the first part of the study Apollonian disks are generated for first four generations by developing visual basic codes in excel. For the second part of the study, three orthonormal basis vectors, namely, tangent, normal, and binormal vectors have been calculated for the tangent points of Apollonian discs for the first three generations. Equations of the Normal, Osculating and Rectifying planes and Taylor Series approximation have been calculated for specific theta. Because Apollonian Window consists of planar curves with constant curvature, torsion is nowhere present. The …

Contributions Of Optical Remote Sensing To Permafrost Mapping In Donnelly Training Area, Alaska, Kiran Thapa

Theses

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OFKiran Thapa, for the Master of Science degree in Geography and Environmental Resources, presented on April 8, 2020, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.TITLE: CONTRIBUTIONS OF OPTICAL REMOTE SENSING TO PERMAFROST MAPPING IN DONNELLY TRAINING AREA, ALASKA MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Guangxing Wang Permafrost occupies about a quarter of the northern hemisphere land with 25.5 million ha. Global warming and anthropogenic activities affect the dynamics of permafrost. Snow and permafrost, in turn, serve as an indicator of climate change and human activity disturbance. The dynamics of permafrost are often estimated using interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) methods. …

Phylogenomic Analysis Of Evolutionary Relationships In Ranitomeya Poison Frogs (Amphibia: Dendrobatidae) Using Ultraconserved Elements, Morgan Renee Muell

Theses

Knowledge of phylogenetic relationships among organisms is essential for anchoring evolutionary studies. Phylogenomic studies use large amounts of genetic data in analyses, which is particularly important for highly phenotypically variable taxa that are difficult to distinguish from one another without the use of genetic data, due to the abundance of homoplasy in morphological characters typically used in morphological classification. Use of genome-scale molecular data has thus become the gold standard for identifying these phylogenetic relationships, specifically in comparison to past studies based on fewer genes. Greater quantities of genetic data, in addition to finer taxon sampling, may lead to different …

Va-U: Addressing The Gaps In Respiratory Protection Through A Holistic Open-Sourced Design Alternative, Aishwarya Uniyal

Theses

With industrialization and urbanization, more populations, whether at the workplace or outside in the streets, find themselves exposed to contaminated air. Respiratory hazards and illnesses arising thereof are prevalent across most industries and economies. Beyond developed economies with strong labor laws, a large part of the workforce faces the lack of access to respiratory protection, which also is evident in the gaps of knowledge of its correct use. Even among the groups with access to respirators, incorrect use arising out of miscommunication or comfort is common. Evaluating the design and use of the different types of respirators while also studying …

Ritthe Contributions Of Traffic Management Centers In Life Enhancement, Mohammed Hamdan Khalifeh

Theses

This study focuses on investigating the contributions of traffic management centers to enhancing people’s driving experiences and impacting their level of satisfaction and happiness. Data was collected in the United Arab Emirates through two distinct surveys; the first aimed at drivers (number of respondents: 155), and the second aimed at traffic management center operators (number of respondents: 15). The drivers survey aimed to collect data about drivers’ pain points experienced while driving in the United Arab Emirates and showed that slow drivers on fast lanes and sudden lane changing are the biggest challenges reported. On the operators’ side, the data …

Evaluating The Impact Of Gun Involved Violence Elimination (Give) Initiative Within The City Of Rochester, Michael Nicholas Surtel

Theses

Within the city of Rochester, gun violence has become something of a common occurrence within local neighborhoods and streets where violent crime continues to flourish. Between 2010 and 2018 the recorded number of shootings that have occurred in the city of Rochester were around 1,679, with around 200 being categorized as fatal shootings (https://data-rpdny.opendata.arcgis.com/). Many of the issues plaguing the Rochester Police Department in addressing the issue of gun violence are due to a misperceived idea of what causes gun violence in the first place and how to go about it without having to waste their resources on ineffective tactics. …

The U.S. Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement: Towards A Justice-Based Paradigm Of Sustainability At Higher Education Institutions, Dylan John Gibson

Theses

In the last ten years, the fossil fuel divestment movement at higher education institutions has emerged as a key component of the global climate movement. It has also posed a challenge to the dominant paradigm of sustainability in higher education by calling on institutions to help incite outward systemic change to ensure justice for those most impacted by environmental problems, rather than simple efforts to green the campus. As the movement sees a resurgent escalation in the U.S., this study uses data from active and inactive campaigns across the country to assess the key characteristics of institutions and campaigns that …

Institutions As The Main Determinant Of Economic Development: With A Focus On Economic Freedom Index As Proxies, Aizat Yasmin

Theses

This paper hopes to serve as a primer, firstly for this Author, regarding the concept of Institutional Economics; a foundation and an enabling environment, which allows economics to function and to be free. Firstly, we focus on the topic of institutions within the scope of economic development, and ask the simple question, “Why some countries are poor, and why some countries are rich?” In terms of set up, this paper is guided by Dani Rodrik & Arvind Subramanian’s 2003 article, “The Primacy of Institutions (and what this does and does not mean).” I looked at how institutions, market openness and …

Epics At The Bottom Of The River: Narratives Of Economic Development In French Louisiana, Kat Spears

Theses

A use of narrative and biographical history to describe how economic creolization developed French Louisiana.

Assessing The Status Of Autonomous Vehicles Innovation Using Patent Data, Mamy Traore

Theses

The transportation industry is undergoing an unprecedented revolution as researchers in the field expect the adoption of autonomous vehicles (AV) in a not-too-distant future. Even though there is no fully automated vehicle on the road currently, several features of driver’s assistance (e.g., lane departure warning, rear cameras, blind-spot warning) are integrated into most of the recent vehicles. It is therefore fundamental for industry leaders and policymakers to comprehend the state-of-the-art of AV innovation. The main purpose of this study is to assess the current status of AV innovations in the U.S. market. My analysis, based on more than 2,000 patents …

Anti-Normative Women And Queer Space In Early Modern Drama, Chelsea Brooks

Theses

The most interesting oddity about the Early Modern English stage is the overwhelming presence of the female form despite the obvious lack of female performers. Male actors performed female characters and sometimes those female characters were subversive and tested the boundaries of their constructed heteronormative society. A common comedic trope followed the crossdressed crossgendered heroine, or the boy actor dressed as women dressed as a man. This trope appears in the plays discussed in this thesis: Thomas Heywood’s Fair Maid of the West, Part 1 and John Lyly’s Gallathea. By adapting Michel de Certeau’s concept of space, wherein space …

Cruces, Carlos Mario Tobon Franco

Theses

Cruces is a multimedia installation depicting immigrant conditions and experiences throughout landscapes, Latinx communities, and borderlands. Made during the last two years, it is constructed as a multivocal ethnography of immigrants with varying legal statuses, countries of origin, and stages in their journey. The imagery, sounds, and narratives are composed of the distributed yet relational geographies of immigrants’ experience and the pieces are structured to highlight the constitutive elements of human mobilities, such as trains, rivers and immigration hubs, as well as the natural obstacles they face in their perilous transit, such as forests and deserts.

The fieldwork was carried …

Dog Days On The Chaparral, Hugo Teixeira

Theses

Dog Days on the Chaparral is an installation comprised of three photographic sculptures made in response to the question “where are you from?” Although I define myself as both Portuguese and American, as someone who immigrated as a child, my identification as either ebbs and flows. The work embodies this slipperiness—a complicated emotional geography—in fabricated sculptures which collage images of two landscapes, the California chaparral and Portuguese montado, as proxies for these two homes and identities. I employ vernacular building materials and tools, such as lumber, engineered wood, common fasteners, house paint and steel clamps to create a literal and …

Effects Of Heterogeneity, Technological Progress And Interaction On Carbon Mitigation Costs, Saptarshi Das

Theses

As many societal needs compete with sustainability for a finite pool of public resources, understanding the cost of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions has become a critical sustainability question. The Marginal Abatement Cost Curve (MACC) is a widely used approach to characterize mitigation costs. It is constructed by ordering technological and other interventions to mitigating an emission from lowest to highest cost, indicating the cumulative mitigation possible for each intervention. It is clearly a simplification of a complex techno-economic system and has been criticized for neglecting factors such as dynamics, consumer behavior, non-cost barriers to adoption, and interactions between technologies. However, …

Let's Go Camping: A Physical Experience On A Virtual Platform, Monica Conary

Theses

Camp Kawanhee is celebrating its 100th Anniversary in 2020. How can creating an Esri Story Map using archival materials from the camp at its 100th Anniversary help individuals connect to their own time at camp, engage with the camp’s history, and offer present experiences? By utilizing the software Story Maps, I have created a platform that shares special moments in Camp Kawanhee’s history. Digitized items from my summer at Camp Kawanhee (brochures, pamphlets, letters, and photographs) are utilized in my story map to create a narrative of the past and present. By drawing upon literature on digital tourism and history, …

High – Rise Housing And Social Interaction Study Under Current Chinese High-Rise Residential Situation, Yao Yao

Theses

High-rise residential buildings, accommodating the significant amount of Chinese population in urban areas, has been the most primary housing style in great cities of China today, due to the conflict between severe Chinese land use and huge population. However, after moving to high-rise housing, Chinese residents in high-rise buildings barely have social interaction with each other compared with the past decades. Additionally, less social interaction in residential housing could lead to a series of problems which have a negative influence on people’s daily lives.

Through a summary of previous research and a questionnaire, to investigate the current situation of social …