Digital Commons Network^™

Nineteen Years In The Wilderness : A Study Of Fur Trader Daniel Williams Harmon And His Responses To The Landscapes Of The Western Canadian Interior, Jean M. Trenbeath

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Climatological Analysis Of Soil Frost Depth At Fargo, North Dakota, Usa : 1981-2001, Brian Torborg

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Geographic Perspectives On Youth Out-Migration From Grafton, North Dakota, Kristen Benidt

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Ecosystem Services Assessment Of Grand Forks County, Hom J. Adhikari

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Characteristics Of Search And Rescue At Mount Rainier National Park, Benjamin L. Prusa

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Geographic Distribution Of Natural And Anthropogenic Noise In Selected Grand Forks Parks, Erin A. Pederson

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Place, Politics, And Gay And Lesbian Life In Grand Forks, North Dakota, Alison J. Rood

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

No Child Left Behind: Perspectives And Knowledge Of Parental Involvement Component Section 1118 Among Administrators And Parents In Elementary Schools, Jill Yvette Brooks

Theses and Dissertations

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requires states, districts, and schools develop and implement parental involvement policies, yet, the extent of implementation remains largely unmeasured (United States Department of Education, 2002). Thus, the researcher surveyed 142 elementary school administrators and 639 parents in a southern state to determine if a statistically significant difference existed between parent and administrator perceptions and practices and current knowledge of parental involvement as outlined in NCLB and whether parental responses differed by demographics. The survey utilized a four-point Likert-type Scale with 12 questions measuring perceptions and practices (Cronbach's alpha = .84) and 8 measuring current knowledge …

Inferring Dispersal Of Aquatic Invertebrates From Genetic Variation: A Comparative Study Of An Amphipod (Talitridae Hyalella Azteca) And Mayfly (Baetidae Callibaetis Americanus) In Great Basin Springs, Heather Lynn Stutz

Theses and Dissertations

Whether active or passive, dispersal accompanied by gene flow shapes the population genetics and evolutionary divergence of species. Indirect methods which use genetic markers have the ability to assess effective dispersal—that which resulted in gene flow. My objective was to see if an aquatic insect and an obligate aquatic invertebrate show similar phylogeographic patterns and genetic uniqueness. Hyalella azteca and Callibaetis americanus were collected from 4-5 springs in each of six basins in the Great Basin of western North America. No dispersal or genetic studies of C. americanus have been conducted to date. However, several studies focusing on mtDNA diversity …

Analysis Of Electromagnetic And Seismic Geophysical Methods For Investigating Shallow Sub-Surface Hydrogeology, Eric M. Parks

Theses and Dissertations

An integrated electromagnetic (EM) and seismic geophysical study was performed to evaluate non-invasive approaches to estimate depth to shallow groundwater in arid environments with elevated soil salinity where the installation of piezometers would be impractical or prohibited. Both methods were tested in two study areas (semi-arid and arid respectively), one in Palmyra, Utah, USA near the shore of Utah Lake where groundwater is shallow and unconfined in relatively homogeneous lacustrine sediments. The other area is Carson Slough, Nevada, USA near Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Amargosa Valley. The area is underlain by valley fill, with generally variable shallow depths …

The Importance Of Soft Skills In The Workplace As Perceived By Community College Instructors And Industries, Laura Suzanne Tribble

Theses and Dissertations

Soft skills include communication skills, problem-solving skills, conflict resolution, working well with other people, and ensuring customer satisfaction. Employers need employees who have adequate technical skills but who also have soft skills. There is limited information about the perceptions of which soft skills are needed in the workplace. This study attempted to close the gap in the literature concerning the perceptions of instructors and employers in the area of soft skills in the workplace. For this study, the Soft Skills Survey for Instructors and Employers was used to gather the perceptions of information technology instructors and employers in five community …

Advancements In Power System Monitoring And Inter-Operability, Vinoth Mohan Mohan

Theses and Dissertations

In a typical utility control center, there could be hundreds of applications running to take care of day-to-day functionality. In many cases, these applications are custom-built by different vendors. With the expectation for high reliability of the electric power grid, many utilities are increasingly moving towards sharing data with each other and with security coordinators. But this data exchange is hampered by incompatible electrical applications built on proprietary data formats and file systems. Electric Power Research Institute's (EPRI‟s) Common Information Model (CIM) was envisioned as a one-sizeits-all data model to remove incompatibility between applications. This research work utilizes the CIM …

Visual Perception And Gestalt Grouping In The Landscape: Are Gestalt Grouping Principles Reliable Indicators Of Visual Preference?, Mark Reinhardt Levy

Theses and Dissertations

Landscape visual preference research has indicated many potential indicators of preference; however a comprehensive framework concerning the relationship between visual preference and perception has not been solidified. Gestalt psychology, the predecessor to visual perception, proposes certain visual grouping tendencies to explain how humans perceive the world. This study examines if Gestalt grouping principles are reliable indicators of preference, and if they may be used to develop a broad context for visual assessment. Visual preference for 36 landscape scenes testing the proximity and similarity of landscape elements were ranked one through five by 1,749 Mississippi State University undergraduate, graduate, and faculty …

Ged Students Versus Traditional High School Students: How Do The Ged Graduates Perform After The First Semester Of Attendance At A Rural Community College?, Ericka Akins

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if freshman students based on their age, ethnicity, and gender who enter a community college with a GED credential will have a higher cumulative grade point average (GPA) after their first semester than traditional high school graduates. Findings from this study will aid individuals in developing a more accurate perception of the academic abilities of GED graduates. The academic performance of GED graduates was compared with traditional high school graduates after their first semester at a rural community college in the Fall 2007 semester. Intact data from the students f academic records …

Implementation And Impact Of A School-Based Intervention Program To Combat Obesity And Cardiovascular Disease In A Predominantly African-American High School, Brenda White Campbell Jenkins

Theses and Dissertations

This study addressed obesity of youth in a predominantly African-American school and was concerned with the implementation of a CVD intervention program, Project Health Curriculum, for high school students, focusing on early health promotion and support to children at risk of developing adult diseases. A health promotion program was implemented at a high school in Canton, Mississippi, to equip students with information to help reduce risk behaviors that could lead to health problems. This intervention was conducted in the health and physical education classes. Students were given the opportunity to report their knowledge and behaviors by participating in a pretest. …

Research Experiences For Undergraduates: An Evaluation Of Affective Impact, Brian N. Chantry

Theses and Dissertations

Each year the National Science Foundation (NFS) grants funding for universities in the United States to provide a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) summer program. The Department of Physics and Astronomy at Brigham Young University (BYU) has been a recipient of NSF REU grants for several years. This year the administrators of the REU program at BYU requested an evaluation be conducted to determine if their program was effective at helping participants have a significant research experience, as well as determine the impact the program is having on student's attitudes towards the field of physics, graduate school, and research. This …

Ascents And Descents: Personal Pilgrimage In Hieronymus Bosch's The Haywain, Alison Daines

Theses and Dissertations

At the end of the fifteenth century, Hieronymus Bosch provided the foremost expression of the strict religious piety embodied by the Devotio Moderna and the impending embrace of secular humanism. As a result, Bosch's seemingly complex images provided viewers with positive messages concerning the journey of life through the use of binary symbolism. He utilized the pilgrimage motif as a guide throughout his paintings and in relation to the liminal spaces surrounding his works. This article will examine his important triptych, The Haywain, (c.1495-1516) as an example of spiritual paths taken simultaneously by both religious and contemporary figures, along …

The Impact Of Opencourseware On Paid Enrollment In Distance Learning Courses, Justin K. Johansen

Theses and Dissertations

Since MIT launched the first OpenCourseWare (OCW) initiative in 2002, responses from the academic community have ranged from exuberance to angst. Some institutions have been reluctant to adopt a program of open publishing because of concerns about long-term funding and possible adverse effects on paid enrollment. Money is an issue, forcing some organizations that initially created OCW programs to furlough them due to funding challenges. This study examined the cost of converting online distance learning courses to OCW, the impact of opening these courses on paid enrollments, and the long-term sustainability of OCW through the generation of new paid enrollments. …

Seeing Through The Clouds, Sandra Louise Bakke

Theses and Dissertations

A memoir written in vignettes shows how the writer's childhood, family, and faith connect the past with the present. In searching for words to express memory, the writing uncovers and discovers what needs to be said. The selected narratives attest to events and influences that reveal the ever hovering shadow of the past as I see it. Through the clouds of memory, the stories mold themselves until they become the truth, a portrait of the author's self identity as daughter, mother, wife, Christian, and storyteller.

Susette La Flesche: Indian Rights And Rural Activism In 19th Century America, Amanda L. Paige

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on the life of Susette La Flesche, a 19th century Omaha woman. La Flesche challenged views Anglo Americans held of American Indians as she spoke out against failed U.S. government policy towards the American Indians. A champion for allotment, Susette was one of the few to realize its potential shortcomings. She continued her pursuit for American Indian equality throughout her life but found agrarian reform equally important and rewarding. Writing was important to Susette from her letters to friends in the east, her speeches, short stories, and newspaper articles she wrote in her relatively brief lifetime. It …

Warning Based Browser Extension To Protect User Data Against Phishing Attacks, Sree Rama Konduri

Theses and Dissertations

There are currently many anti-phishing tools to combat against the phishing and web scams. Many of which are browser extensions that warn users when they are using suspected phishing websites. But most of the users are ignoring the warnings of the phishing site and providing their valuable credentials. Therefore, the focus of this research is to develop a browser extension, which manipulates the user credentials, whenever a user ignores anti-phishing tools warnings about malicious websites. This browser extension will protect user's information from being handed to attackers.

Teacher Candidates' Experience Of Ubd In A Social Studies Methods Course, Patricia K. Gulsvig

Theses and Dissertations

Teacher candidates in secondary social studies education come to their methods course eager to share their passion for the subject. Enthusiasm often turns to confusion and frustration when they are confronted with unforeseen decisions about the content they will teach before they determine the instructional strategies for teaching that material. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of Understanding by Design (UbD) as a model in a social studies methods course for preparing teacher candidates to make purposeful curricular and instructional decisions.

This study took place at a small private Midwestern college and involved 10 participants between …

A Study Of Land Use Planning Practices And The Relationship Between Population Distribution And Transportation Infrastructure In Kathmandu, Nepal., Walter Suwal

Theses and Dissertations

This particular paper is meant to investigate planning in Kathmandu, Nepal specifically land use planning practices and the implications on the transportation network(s). Very early on in the research including existing land use (if any), and current transportation networks, it was clear that investigations must be made into the political and planning situation leading up to the modern era in Nepal. The overview of past political events is necessary to explain current planning trends and techniques, and also the mindset of the people of Kathmandu towards planning. Of course universal planning truths can be applied in various international contexts, but …

Impact Of Microfinance And Remittances On The Livelihood Of Nepali People, Bishal B. Kasu

Theses and Dissertations

This research is about the impact of microfinance and remittances on the livelihood of Nepali people. The research has adopted a quantitative approach and used the Nepal Living Standard Survey 2003-04 dataset. The research shows that microfinance and remittances have a clear effect on percent of expenses made on food, health, education, and the housing quality of Nepali people. Out of four dependent variables, microfinance is significantly associated with percent of expenses on food, health and housing quality. Amount of microfinance loans received is negatively associated with percent of expenses on food and quality of housing but positively associated with …

Synthesis And Evaluation Of Anibamine And Its Analogs As Novel Anti-Prostate Cancer Agents, Kendra Haney

Theses and Dissertations

The chemokine receptor CCR5 has been implicated in the pathogenesis of prostate cancer. A novel natural product, anibamine, was isolated and found to be a micromolar inhibitor of the receptor. Anibamine was used as a new anti-prostate cancer lead compound. To discover the pharmacophore, analogs of anibamine were designed using the “deconstruction-reconstruction-elaboration” approach and synthesized. The establishment of a stereoselective route to only one isomer was explored, to increase yield and eliminate elaborate purification procedures. Analogs were found to have anti-prostate cancer activity at levels higher than the parent compound. The molecular modeling studies of the deconstructed analogs indicate that …

Improving Accuracy In Microwave Radiometry Via Probability And Inverse Problem Theory, Derek Lavell Hudson

Theses and Dissertations

Three problems at the forefront of microwave radiometry are solved using probability theory and inverse problem formulations which are heavily based in probability theory. Probability theory is able to capture information about random phenomena, while inverse problem theory processes that information. The use of these theories results in more accurate estimates and assessments of estimate error than is possible with previous, non-probabilistic approaches. The benefits of probabilistic approaches are expounded and demonstrated. The first problem to be solved is a derivation of the error that remains after using a method which corrects radiometric measurements for polarization rotation. Yueh [1] proposed …

Revisiting The Desert Sublime: Billy's Ecotheological Journey In Cormac Mccarthy's The Crossing, Michael J. Riding

Theses and Dissertations

While McCarthy studies have emphasized elements of the sacred in his writing, this thesis adds a new historical perspective and synthesis to reading paradigms of Cormac McCarthy. The Crossing combines the patterns of the ancient pre-Hebraic genre of the desert sublime with the basic formula of the American Western genre to interrogate McCarthy's question of whether in the postmodern moment one can still divest oneself in the desert and find access to the sublime. In an era of an invisible or absent God where post-humanist thought erases the anthropocentric supremacy of human over animal and the earth itself, the one …

Predictive Modeling Of Sulfur Flower Buckwheat (Erigonum Umbellatum Torrey) Using Non-Parametric Multiplicative Regression Analysis, David B. Davis

Theses and Dissertations

Impacts of humans on ecosystems in western United States have necessitated ecological restoration, which includes the development of native seed that can be used for revegetation efforts. Development of such seed sources are costly and time consuming. This study describes the use of non-parametric multiplicative regression analysis (NPMR) to develop a predictive model for occurrence of sulfur-flower buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum Torrey) population seed collection. This perennial forb species is of interest for seed source development in the western United States. Presence and absence data for E. umbellatum was taken from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Big Game Range …

Monkey Pots: Inferring Meaning Through Time And Space From Function, Decoration, And Context, Benjamin Jacob Skousen

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I interpret the meaning of “monkey pots,” a pottery vessel found throughout the Maya world. This study looks at three kinds of monkey pots recovered from the Mirador Basin. Carmelita Incised and Zacatal Polychrome monkey pots date to the Late Classic period (AD 680-800) and were manufactured in the Basin; Telchac Composite monkey pots date to the Terminal Classic period (AD 780-830) and were made in the Usumacinta River region. These monkey pots are described, followed by an analysis and comparison of the function, the monkey genus on the vessels, and the contexts from which the vessels …

Intraspecific Phylogeography Of Cycladenia Humilis (Apocynaceae), Mariana P. Last

Theses and Dissertations

Cycladenia humilis (Apocynaceae) is a rare perennial herb native to western North America and has a fragmented distribution in California, Utah, and Arizona. Populations in Utah and Arizona are federally listed as threatened, while there is no conservation status applied to California populations. Using genetic (three chloroplast and two nuclear DNA loci) and morphological characters, intraspecific variation between populations of C. humilis and current taxonomic conventions were assessed. Nested Clade Phylogeographic Analysis and Bayesian phylogenies were used to assess patterns within C. humilis and supported three main population groupings: a northern California, southern California, and Colorado Plateau group. The northern …