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Asperger's Syndrome And Metamemory:How Well Can One Child Predict His Knowledge Of The World Around Him?, Jacqueline Brooks Bell Aug 2007

Asperger's Syndrome And Metamemory:How Well Can One Child Predict His Knowledge Of The World Around Him?, Jacqueline Brooks Bell

Theses and Dissertations

We investigated whether a child with Asperger?s Syndrome would demonstrate deficits in awareness of cognitive processing similar to those demonstrated for awareness of social interactions. The cognitive processes examined were memory and metamemory, or knowing about knowing. With regard to procedural metamemory, the child was unable to accurately predict his own memory, particularly which items he would not be able to recall. Declarative metamemory also was impaired. Tasks requiring imitation of the researcher or that were largely nonverbal resulted in particularly poor performance. The findings indicate that the child?s social deficits related to Asperger?s Syndrome extended to the cognitive domain. …


A 15-Year Evaluation Of The Mississippi And Alabama Coastline Barrier Islands, Using Landsat Satellite Imagery, Ryan T. Theel Aug 2007

A 15-Year Evaluation Of The Mississippi And Alabama Coastline Barrier Islands, Using Landsat Satellite Imagery, Ryan T. Theel

Theses and Dissertations

The Mississippi and Alabama barrier islands are sensitive landforms that are affected by hurricanes, longshore currents, and available sediment, yet these effects are difficult to quantify with traditional ground-based surveying. In this study, Landsat satellite imagery was used to evaluate changes in barrier island area and centroid position from 1990 and 2005. When hurricanes are infrequent (1999?2003), barrier islands generally increased in total area and showed only moderate repositioning of their centroid locations. However, when hurricanes were frequent (1994?1999 and 2004?2005), barrier islands showed substantial decreases in area and dramatic repositioning of their island centroid locations. This was especially true …


An Investigation Of Mexican Immigration In Itawamba And Tishomingo Counties, Northeast Mississippi, Anna Elizabeth Pounders Aug 2007

An Investigation Of Mexican Immigration In Itawamba And Tishomingo Counties, Northeast Mississippi, Anna Elizabeth Pounders

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the research presented the spatial and demographic patterns of Mexican immigrants in Itawamba and Tishomingo Counties, which are located in northeast Mississippi. The migration patterns and migrant demographics have not been previously investigated in this region. Interviews in Spanish were given to all willing Mexican migrant participants during the summer of 2006. Source regions of the northeast Mississippi migrants are substantially different from the migrant populations elsewhere in the United States. The majority (60%) of the participants are from Veracruz, Mexico rather than the traditional west-central Mexico as seen elsewhere in the United States. Most immigrants (61%) …


The Use Of Geospatial Technologies To Quantify The Effect Of Hurricane Katrina On The Vegetation Of The Weeks Bay Reserve, Adam Wayne Murrah Aug 2007

The Use Of Geospatial Technologies To Quantify The Effect Of Hurricane Katrina On The Vegetation Of The Weeks Bay Reserve, Adam Wayne Murrah

Theses and Dissertations

This study looks at the changes to NDVI value in the Weeks Bay Reserve following the impact by Hurricane Katrina. Four Landsat images from March 24, 2005 (Pre-Katrina), September 16, 2005/ April 26, 2006 (Post-Katrina) and August 7, 2002 (Control) were classified into different landcover types and run with the NDVI vegetation index. Those images were compared against each other and showed that the September image had a NDVI value drop of 49% and the April image had a 47% drop as compared to the previous March. The emergent vegetation surrounding the shoreline was most susceptible to changes in NDVI …


Tafoni Caves In Quaternary Carbonate Eolianites: Examples From The Bahamas, Athena Marie Owen Aug 2007

Tafoni Caves In Quaternary Carbonate Eolianites: Examples From The Bahamas, Athena Marie Owen

Theses and Dissertations

Tafoni have been confusingly defined in many ways: variations in size, rock type, and forming mechanisms. This study addresses tafoni in Quaternary eolian carbonates to help better define the term. Large tafoni were differentiated from other coastal caves in the Bahamas, specifically flank margin and sea caves, using morphometric analyses. The differentiation is important as all three cave types form in the same area, but flank margin and sea caves can be used as paleo-sea level indicators, while tafoni cannot. Small tafoni show a growth rate of 0.022 m3/yr; and may amalgmate to form larger tafoni, which grew at 0.65 …


Julius Caesar And The Rhine River: The Evolution Of A Border During The Gallic Wars, Todd Roman Aug 2007

Julius Caesar And The Rhine River: The Evolution Of A Border During The Gallic Wars, Todd Roman

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis descusses the use of the Rhine River by Julius Caesar in his commentaries, De Bello Gallico, covering the Gallic Wars of approximately 58 to 52 B.C., to identify the peoples and territories separated by its current. This thesis addresses the issue of how Caesar understood this division of space, what criteria he employed to support his use of the river, and his protrayal of these matters within his account. It seeks to clarify the foundation of a major national border of western history in the context of its initial involvement in the context of the Roman Late …


An 828 Year Streamflow Reconstruction For The Jordan River Drainage Basin Of Northern Utah, Bryan P. Tikalsky Jul 2007

An 828 Year Streamflow Reconstruction For The Jordan River Drainage Basin Of Northern Utah, Bryan P. Tikalsky

Theses and Dissertations

Bryan Tikalsky Department of Geography Master of Science Mountain water resources are essential to those living along the Salt Lake City urban corridor. Water resource planners base their policy on twentieth century climate conditions and streamflow records. Often these records only account for a small amount of the natural variability in streamflow and climate. By utilizing dendrochronology this study seeks to better understand variability of streamflow in the Jordan River Drainage Basin over the last 828 years. A GIS model was used to identify potential sampling sites where tree growth would be sensitive to climate and factors affecting stream run-off. …


Handling And Analysis Of Public Comments In Natural Resource Planning, Lisette Borchert Thurgood Jul 2007

Handling And Analysis Of Public Comments In Natural Resource Planning, Lisette Borchert Thurgood

Theses and Dissertations

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1970 required public input in any federal planning process or action. Consequently, natural resource planning can be characterized as more of a complex situation in recent years due to the increasing involvement of the number of constituents who want to be heard. Likewise, the public wants to know their ideas have been heard and considered. Unfortunately, there is very little information available which identifies how the BLM handles and analyzes public scoping comments that are required under NEPA. The purpose of this research is to identify the handling and analysis methodology used by …


Planning Gone Hog Wild: Mega-Hog Farm In A Mountain West County, Jeffrey Melvin Sanders Jul 2007

Planning Gone Hog Wild: Mega-Hog Farm In A Mountain West County, Jeffrey Melvin Sanders

Theses and Dissertations

Lacking the natural amenities “New West" counties, some rural communities have attempted to attract land use activities that are normally seen as undesirable. One example of these undesirable industries is the hog concentrated animal feeding operation, or CAFO. While a number of studies have explored the socio-economic and environmental aspects of hog farms, few studies have focused on the planning process and evaluated its effectiveness in dealing with the threats and challenges that a CAFO poses. This qualitative study used interviews, observations, public meeting minutes, and other written sources of data to evaluate whether or not a rural, western community, …


James E. Talmage And The Nature Of The Godhead: The Gradual Unfolding Of Latter-Day Saint Theology, Brian William Ricks Jul 2007

James E. Talmage And The Nature Of The Godhead: The Gradual Unfolding Of Latter-Day Saint Theology, Brian William Ricks

Theses and Dissertations

Since the beginning of Christianity, the debates over the nature of God have been frequent and ardent. Augustine, John Calvin, and John Wesley, with others, supplemented the generally accepted view of the Godhead as established at the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. Correctly understanding the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost is one of the most critical aspects of religious worship. The Savior said, "And this is life eternal, that they may come to know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). Joseph Smith, the first Latter-day Saint Prophet, taught a …


Microfacies Analysis, Sedimentary Petrology, And Reservoir Characterization Of The Sinbad Limestone Based Upon Surface Exposures In The San Rafael Swell, Utah, Caleb R. Osborn Jul 2007

Microfacies Analysis, Sedimentary Petrology, And Reservoir Characterization Of The Sinbad Limestone Based Upon Surface Exposures In The San Rafael Swell, Utah, Caleb R. Osborn

Theses and Dissertations

The Lower Triassic Sinbad Limestone Member of the Moenkopi Formation has produced minor amounts of oil in the Grassy Trail Creek field near Green River, Utah and is present below much of central Utah including the recently discovered Covenant field. Superb outcrops of this thin (15 m), mixed carbonate-silicilastic unit in the San Rafael Swell permit detailed analysis of its vertical and lateral reservoir heterogeneity. Vertically, the Sinbad Limestone comprises three facies associations: (A) a basal storm-dominated, well-circulated skeletal-oolitic-peloidal limestone association, (B) a storm-dominated, poorly-circulated hummocky cross-stratified siliciclastic/peloidal association, and (C) a capping peritidal cross-bedded oolitic dolograinstone association. Eleven microfacies …


Development And Characterization Of Microsatellite Markers For The Grain Amaranths (Amaranthus Spp. L.), Melanie Ann Mallory Jul 2007

Development And Characterization Of Microsatellite Markers For The Grain Amaranths (Amaranthus Spp. L.), Melanie Ann Mallory

Theses and Dissertations

The grain amaranths (Amaranthus hypochondriacus L., A. cruentus L., and A. caudatus L.) are important pseudocereals native to the Americas that have received increased attention for their nutritional content, specifically their balance of amino acids. The objective of this project was to produce and characterize a set of highly informative, reproducible microsatellite markers for the grain amaranths. A total of 1457 clones were sequenced from three genomic libraries enriched for the microsatellite motifs AAC, AAT and AC. Of these, 353 (24%) contained unique microsatellites. An additional 29 microsatellite loci were identified among 728 BAC-end sequences of a newly developed amaranth …


Taking Mormons Seriously: Ethics Of Representing Latter-Day Saints In American Fiction, Terrol Roark Williams Jul 2007

Taking Mormons Seriously: Ethics Of Representing Latter-Day Saints In American Fiction, Terrol Roark Williams

Theses and Dissertations

My paper examines the ethics of representing Mormons in serious American fiction, viewed through two primary texts, Bayard Taylor's nineteenth-century dramatic poem The Prophet and Maureen Whipple's epic novel The Giant Joshua. I also briefly examine Walter Kirn's short stories “Planetarium” and “Whole Other Bodies.” Using Werner Sollors' and Matthew Frye Jacobson's writings on ethnicity as foundational, I argue in that Mormonism constitutes an ethnicity, which designation accentuates the ethical demands of those who represent the group. I also use W.J.T. Mitchell's theories of representation as the basis of my arguments of the ethics of representing ethnicity. As ethical theorists, …


Scandinavia After The Fall Of The Kalmar Union: A Study In Scandinavian Relations, 1523-1536, Kenneth Steffensen Jul 2007

Scandinavia After The Fall Of The Kalmar Union: A Study In Scandinavian Relations, 1523-1536, Kenneth Steffensen

Theses and Dissertations

As the Kalmar Union came to an end in 1523 the balance of control and power shifted in Scandinavia. Due to the tyranny of Christian II, Sweden rebelled and broke away under the leadership of Gustav Vasa while Norway remained in union with Denmark. Although Danes and Norwegians shared common traits and identifiers; including religion, language and cultural aspects, they had a stronger sense of identity to their own country rather to the union. Because of their political and economic influence in Norway prior to 1523, Danish nobles had increased Norwegian's sense of being Norwegians rather then Danish. Frederik I, …


The Writing On The Wall: Chinese-American Immigrants' Fight For Equality: 1850-1943, Elizabeth Lyman Jul 2007

The Writing On The Wall: Chinese-American Immigrants' Fight For Equality: 1850-1943, Elizabeth Lyman

Theses and Dissertations

Early in the 1850s, a greater number of Chinese immigrants began to enter the United States, leading to a Sinophobic frenzy that would continue for decades. Throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, Americans sought to exclude the Chinese literally and figuratively. Americans employed negative imagery to demonstrate the necessity of excluding the Chinese in order to “protect" white America. The negative imagery that became Americans' common view of the “Chinaman," enabled the United States to enact discriminatory laws without compunction. In the face of intense persecution and bitter discrimination, many …


Carlo Cattaneo: The Religiosity Of A Relunctant Revolutionary, Carolyn Bennett Ugolini Jun 2007

Carlo Cattaneo: The Religiosity Of A Relunctant Revolutionary, Carolyn Bennett Ugolini

Theses and Dissertations

Carlo Cattaneo (1801-1869) would have been a remarkable man in any time period. He was interested in everything, and as a man of ideas was involved in the astonishing technological and stimulating political events of the nineteenth century. He encouraged the building of railways as a way to unite the Italian peninsula, and he was involved in connecting Italy to the rest of Europe through the St. Gothard Tunnel. An innovator of gas lighting in his native Milan, the great Lombard thinker was a prolific writer, and kept prodigious notes and copies of his correspondence. His economic and scientific involvement …


An Evaluation Of How Elementary School Teachers Perceive Library Media Specialists' Responsibilities In Gloucester County, New Jersey, Kathleen M. Farrington May 2007

An Evaluation Of How Elementary School Teachers Perceive Library Media Specialists' Responsibilities In Gloucester County, New Jersey, Kathleen M. Farrington

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not teachers expected a higher level of responsibility from the library media specialist in schools that employed at least one full-time library media specialist (n=47). Additionally, it investigated whether or not those teachers had a more in-depth understanding or acceptance of the roles of the library media specialist. Specifically it addressed the following research questions: 1.) What roles and responsibilities of the library media specialist did classroom teachers deem important? 2.) Was there a difference in teacher understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the library media specialist between schools …


Entrepreneurship And Economic Development And Growth In America: An Investigation At The County Level, Erick Paulo Cesar Chang May 2007

Entrepreneurship And Economic Development And Growth In America: An Investigation At The County Level, Erick Paulo Cesar Chang

Theses and Dissertations

America is a nation where a strong entrepreneurial culture establishes favorable conditions that create approximately 600,000 new firms per year (SBA Office of Advocacy, 2006). Individuals? decisions to pursue entrepreneurship are influenced by environmental conditions such as demographics, economic factors, and prior entrepreneurial activity in their communities (Minnitti & Bygrave, 1999). Proponents of the endogenous growth model (Lucas, 1988; Romer, 1986) indicate that the notion of knowledge spillovers and investment in human capital lead to the formation of new businesses that improve the economic development and growth of a region. The purpose of this dissertation is twofold. First, a conceptual …


An Evaluation Of A 3d Sampling Technique And Lidar For The Determination Of Understory Vegetation Density Levels In Pine Plantations, Matthew Thomas Clarkson May 2007

An Evaluation Of A 3d Sampling Technique And Lidar For The Determination Of Understory Vegetation Density Levels In Pine Plantations, Matthew Thomas Clarkson

Theses and Dissertations

A three dimensional sampling technique was used to compare field understory conditions in Southeastern Louisiana using a laser range finder at three height levels (0.5m, 1.0m, and 1.5m) to LiDAR generated understory conditions to determine if a relationship existed. A similar comparison was made between densitometer crown closure measurements and understory LiDAR vegetation counts. A comparison between overstory LiDAR counts and understory LiDAR counts was also performed. LiDAR and understory counts exhibited a significant linear relationship but were poorly correlated at each sample level (Level-1 R2 = 0.34 ? 0.38, Level-2 R2 = 0.36 ? 0.43). The Level-3 LiDAR slope …


An Investigation Of Thermodynamic Characteristics Associated With California Tornadoes And Us Landfalling Tropical Cyclone Tornadoes, Gregory James Nordstrom May 2007

An Investigation Of Thermodynamic Characteristics Associated With California Tornadoes And Us Landfalling Tropical Cyclone Tornadoes, Gregory James Nordstrom

Theses and Dissertations

Limited tornado research has been conducted across the state of California, especially when looking at the low-level thermodynamics of tornado genesis. In comparison much more research has been undertaken across the United States. This study examines low-level thermodynamic parameters associated with California tornadoes between 1960 and 2005. The study also examines similarities within the low-level thermodynamic parameters associated with California tornadoes and tornadoes associated with landfalling hurricanes between 1960 and 2005. The effect of the ocean on the low-levels of the atmosphere seems to be a strong tornado discriminator when analyzing California tornadoes. This discriminator is especially evident when breaking …


County Level Suicide Rates And Social Integration: Urbanicity And Its Role In The Relationship, Jacob Travis Walker May 2007

County Level Suicide Rates And Social Integration: Urbanicity And Its Role In The Relationship, Jacob Travis Walker

Theses and Dissertations

This study adds to the existing research concerning ecological relationships between suicide rates, social integration, and urbanicity in the U.S. Age-sex-race adjusted five-year averaged suicide rates for 1993-1997 and various measures of urbanicity are used. Some proposed relationships held true, while others indicate that social integration and urbanicity are so intertwined in their effects on suicide that no clear, unidirectional pattern emerges. The religious affiliation measure captured unique variations in the role religion plays in this relationship; depending on how urbanicity was measured. Findings suggest closer attention needs to be paid to how both urbanicity and religious affiliation are measured. …


The Effect Of Selected Student Profile Variables In The 2005 American College Test (Act) On Academic Performance Of Mississippi High School Graduates As Measured By The Sub-Scales In The Act, Gregory Demond Stephens May 2007

The Effect Of Selected Student Profile Variables In The 2005 American College Test (Act) On Academic Performance Of Mississippi High School Graduates As Measured By The Sub-Scales In The Act, Gregory Demond Stephens

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of selected student profile variables in the 2005 American College Test (ACT) on academic performance of Mississippi high school graduates as measured by the subscales in the ACT. The sample consisted of 16,779 high school graduates that completed the ACT in Mississippi in 2005. The variables that were studied were the ACT subscores: English, mathematics, reading, and science reasoning subscales; race/ethnicity, size of graduating high school class, high school curriculum, and gender, which were completed on the student profile section when the student registered for the ACT. Analysis of variance …


Relationship Between Alcohol Consumption, Bmi, And Weight Perception In Women Aged 20-29 Years, Andrea Renee Komm May 2007

Relationship Between Alcohol Consumption, Bmi, And Weight Perception In Women Aged 20-29 Years, Andrea Renee Komm

Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol consumption and overweight in women are both becoming more prevalent in the United States. Data from NHANES 1999-2000 and 2001-2002 was collected consisting of non-pregnant women between the ages of 20 and 29 years. Variables measured were BMI, drinking occasions, drinking consumption per week, and women?s perception of their weight. Data was analyzed using chi-square in application to SUDAAN to test significance between variables. Results indicated a correlation between weight perception and drinking occasions per week (p-value 0.013). Nutrition implications suggested that individuals who were classified as overweight had more drinking occasions than individuals classified as underweight.


Morphometric Differentiation Of Flank Margin Caves And Littoral, Or Sea Caves, Willapa James Waterstrat May 2007

Morphometric Differentiation Of Flank Margin Caves And Littoral, Or Sea Caves, Willapa James Waterstrat

Theses and Dissertations

Caves on carbonate islands are useful indicators of past sea level because cave formation is dependent on sea-level controlled freshwater lens position (flank margin caves), or form in direct contact with coastal processes (sea caves). Sea-level curves present a useful proxy for glacioeustatic and paleoclimate studies, so caves offer useful data. Once a flank margin cave is breached, it may be modified and eroded by waves. This overprinting leads to morphology similar to that of sea caves. While both indicate past sea level, they reveal differing information about the amount of denudation that has occurred to expose them (a paleoclimate …


Magnolia Star Route, Ryan Lynn Henderson May 2007

Magnolia Star Route, Ryan Lynn Henderson

Theses and Dissertations

Magnolia Star Route is a collection of short fiction named for a road that connects the town of Nederland to the city of Boulder, Colorado. The stories share the common aspect of all being set in and around Nederland and contain overlapping scenes and characters that unite the stories into the form of a composite novel. The critical introduction, ?My Unreliability? describes how I used the format from Sherwood Anderson?s Winesburg, Ohio and James Joyce?s Dubliners to structure a collection heavily influenced by the writings of Salman Rushdie and Paul Auster. The introduction begins by describing the influence growing up …


Gravity Model To Detect Forest Fire Prone Areas In The Southeast Fire District Of Mississippi, Raviraj Sadasivuni May 2007

Gravity Model To Detect Forest Fire Prone Areas In The Southeast Fire District Of Mississippi, Raviraj Sadasivuni

Theses and Dissertations

The human risk as a spatial component using Newton?s Gravity model is explored for the first time in this research along with fuels and road density variables to predict the fire occurrences for Southeast Mississippi fire district. The fire risk map indicated that fires occur in clusters and are dependent on fire size and distance from roads. The results proved that fire size increases as fire locations increase. Fire locations decrease significantly beyond 160 meters with increasing road distance. The Gravity model proved to be a better estimator of fire risk while a similar road density model proved to be …


North Dakota K-12 Principals' Perceptions Of Arts Integration In Schools, Roger Allen Abbe May 2007

North Dakota K-12 Principals' Perceptions Of Arts Integration In Schools, Roger Allen Abbe

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to research integration of the arts into other areas of the curriculum as a teaching tool in North Dakota’s K-12 classrooms. Emphasis was placed on the perceptions of North Dakota’s K-12 principals relating to integration of the arts, the current state of arts programs in North Dakota’s K-12 schools, and principals’ perceived barriers to integration of the arts. Attention was also given to the degree to which teachers in North Dakota’s K-12 schools currently integrate the arts into lesson plans as a tool to enhance and reinforce learning in other areas of the curriculum. …


Religion And The Everyday Ritual Of Home Life: A Comparison Of Higher And Lower Family Functioning Groups, Rachel Wadsworth Loser Apr 2007

Religion And The Everyday Ritual Of Home Life: A Comparison Of Higher And Lower Family Functioning Groups, Rachel Wadsworth Loser

Theses and Dissertations

As scholarly interest in family religiosity has grown, scholars have called for a closer look at proximal measures of religiosity that are more connected to the individual and familial daily experience (Mahoney et al., 1999). The purpose of this paper is to explore in detail how religion and family religious rituals relate to, interface with, and affect the day-to-day activity of family life. It includes qualitative analysis of interviews with highly religious parents and children in 67 families that belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Grounded theory was employed to analyze the data and a conceptual …


Internet Protocol Geolocation: Development Of A Delay-Based Hybrid Methodology For Locating The Geographic Location Of A Network Node, John M. Roehl Mar 2007

Internet Protocol Geolocation: Development Of A Delay-Based Hybrid Methodology For Locating The Geographic Location Of A Network Node, John M. Roehl

Theses and Dissertations

Internet Protocol Geolocation (IP Geolocation), the process of determining the approximate geographic location of an IP addressable node, has proven useful in a wide variety of commercial applications. Commercial applications of IP Geolocation include market research, redirection for performance enhancement, restricting content, and combating fraud. The potential for military applications include securing remote access via geographic authentication, intelligence collection, and cyber attack attribution. IP Geolocation methods can be divided into three basic categories based upon what information is used to determine the geographic location of the given IP address: 1) Information contained in databases, 2) information that is leaked during …


Geospatial Informational Security Risks And Concerns Of The U.S. Air Force Geobase Program, Scott A. Bryant Mar 2007

Geospatial Informational Security Risks And Concerns Of The U.S. Air Force Geobase Program, Scott A. Bryant

Theses and Dissertations

Technological advancements such as Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) and the Internet have made it easier and affordable to share information, which enables complex and time sensitive decisions to be made with higher confidence. Further, advancements in information technology have dramatically increased the ability to store, manage, integrate, and correlate larger amounts of data to improve operational efficiency. However, the same technologies that enable increased productivity also provide increased capabilities to those wishing to do harm. Today’s military leaders are faced with the challenge of deciding how to make geospatial information collected on military installations and organizations available to authorized communities …