Seroprevalence Of Malarial Antibodies In Galapagos Penguins (Spheniscus Mendiculus), Jamie Lynn Palmer

Theses

Introduced diseases such as avian malaria can severely impact the health of small populations and have been the cause of species extinctions. Island species are thought to be more highly susceptible to introduced diseases. These populations have likely evolved in the absence of various pathogens making them immunologically naïve to diseases that occur regularly in mainland species. The Galapagos archipelago still preserves 95% of its species diversity known to have occurred there. The introduction of Haemosporidian parasites in the genus Plasmodium, which cause avian malaria, have had detrimental impacts on naïve populations in other island systems. Until recently, avian malarial …

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You Look Just Like Her, Sara Tkac Nov 2011

You Look Just Like Her, Sara Tkac

Theses

You Look Just Like Her is a process-based photographic installation exploring the limitations of any one media as a means to build a complete narrative. When I discovered that little accurate information could be gleaned about my deceased mother from her collection of family photographs, I interviewed the other participants in the visual family histories. Once the stories were complete, I transformed the visual truth into a fiction of my own by using digital manipulation to become a by-proxy participant in the early years of my mother's life. In order to create an panoptic experience for the viewer, this thesis …

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Hypothetical Thermodynamic Properties: Application Of Correlation Gas-Chromatography To The Evaluation Of The Vaporization Enthalpies Of Fluorinated Compounds, Darrell Wayne Hasty Nov 2011

Hypothetical Thermodynamic Properties: Application Of Correlation Gas-Chromatography To The Evaluation Of The Vaporization Enthalpies Of Fluorinated Compounds, Darrell Wayne Hasty

Theses

Relatively little vaporization enthalpy data has been published for fluorinated compounds. The increasing commercial use of fluorinated chemicals and their rapid spreading within our biosphere necessitates a better understanding of their thermodynamic properties and long-term stability. This paper presents an initial attempt at applying correlation gas chromatography (C-GC) to investigate its possible use in deriving the enthalpy of vaporization at 298 K for twenty-seven partially or fully fluorinated compounds. Additionally, the behavior of the n-perfluoroalkanes are examined and compared to their hydrocarbon analogues. Although published data for the n-perfluoroalkanes as a function of the number of carbons appears to be …

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The Specialization Of Foreign Assistance In Sub-Saharan Africa, Kevin Michael Richardson Nov 2011

The Specialization Of Foreign Assistance In Sub-Saharan Africa, Kevin Michael Richardson

Theses

This study uses time-series cross-sectional logistic and OLS regressions to analyze data on foreign assistance and governance in Sub-Saharan Africa to determine the impact of different methods of foreign aid on democracy and democratic characteristics in Sub-Saharan Africa. Even though all foreign assistance has the end goal of promoting democratic growth, different aid targeted sectors have varying effects on democracy. The research has found that aid targeting social infrastructure, specifically health and government sectors, in Sub-Saharan Africa has a substantial, positive effect on democracy and democratic characteristics while economic infrastructure aid has no effect. This analysis could have an impact …

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War Letters: A Thematic Approach And Comparison Of Military Letters From World War Ii And The Vietnam War, Jeanne Yamonaco Nov 2011

War Letters: A Thematic Approach And Comparison Of Military Letters From World War Ii And The Vietnam War, Jeanne Yamonaco

Theses

Letters, a form of mediated interpersonal communication, provide readers and writers the opportunity to transcend space and time. Letters can also serve as a permanent record of communicated information. The present study compares themes of selected letters written by soldiers from two wars: World War II and Vietnam. Two research questions are posed: What are the themes expressed in soldiers` letters? Is there a difference in themes that relate to the particular war fought? This study analyzed 202 letters written by military personnel from both World War II and the Vietnam War. After content analysis of the 10 most prevalent …

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Let’S Go Viral ! Bye-Bye Graffiti Vandalism : Using Outdoor Building Projection To Secure Attention About Scribbling Habits On Public Properties, Jae Yeon Song Nov 2011

Let’S Go Viral ! Bye-Bye Graffiti Vandalism : Using Outdoor Building Projection To Secure Attention About Scribbling Habits On Public Properties, Jae Yeon Song

Theses

The synthesis of design with human behavior in everyday life is a designer's fate. Overall, designers have been seeking the most effective approaches to communicate with humans. As a designer, observing human behavior and finding relationships between patterns of human behavior and my current design field is the most significant concern. In my thesis project, I pointed out one of the human behaviors that has an immoral and careless aspect such as scribbling habits on public properties. Additionally, I tested how I could bring and spread this issue more effectively by utilizing computer graphic design discipline. "Bye-Bye Graffiti Vandalism" is …

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Feasibility Of Integrating Multiple Types Of Electroactive Polymers To Develop A Biomimetic Inspired Muscle Actuator, William Spath Nov 2011

Feasibility Of Integrating Multiple Types Of Electroactive Polymers To Develop A Biomimetic Inspired Muscle Actuator, William Spath

Theses

The focus of this project is to see if it is possible to integrate multiple EAP materials in an electro- mechanical system to produce a closer representation of a biological muscle with smooth varying motion. In this preliminary study, two common types of EAPs, ionic and dielectric, were investigated to determine their mechanical and electrical properties in order to assess their potential to be combined into a working artificial electromechanical muscle prototype at a later time. A conceptual design for an artificial electromechanical muscle was created with biomimetic relationships between EAP materials and the human bicep muscle. With the assistance …

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Characterizing Adaptive Capacity To Climate Change In Developing Countries: A Case Study On Peru, Rosa Mitsumasu Heredia Nov 2011

Characterizing Adaptive Capacity To Climate Change In Developing Countries: A Case Study On Peru, Rosa Mitsumasu Heredia

Theses

Climate change is expected to impact biodiversity, global temperatures and the water cycle resulting in changes that affect communities in the social system. The capacity to adapt to such climatic fluctuations will vary across social groups, depending on the group's socio-economic and demographic characteristics. This thesis constructs a methodology that bridges existing approaches to study adaptation, providing an alternative that includes high level deterministic approaches to quantify adaptive capacity (AC) and case-by-case strategies to enhance region-specific AC. The proposed methodology consists of an exploratory model and a principal component analysis. The goal of the methodology is to create a sub-national …

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