Digital Commons Network^™

Historical Land Cover Impacts On Water Quality In The Provo River Watershed, 1975 - 2002, Fredric James Donaldson

Theses and Dissertations

The Provo River watershed has experienced land cover change over the past several decades. Land cover influences water quality inasmuch as land cover determines the type and quantity of non-point source (NPS) pollutants that may enter the water. This study examines the historical impacts of land cover changes on water quality in the Provo River using remote sensing and statistical analysis. Statistical correlations and linear regressions were used to study the relationship between various land cover types and water quality variables for six years between 1975 and 2002. This thesis supports research finding myriad impacts of urban land cover on …

Murals And The Development Of Merchant Activity At Chichen Itza, De Luna Lucha Aztzin Martinez

Theses and Dissertations

The militaristic interpretations of the art of Chichen Itza, Yucatán, Mexico, fails to sufficiently describe its entire decorative program. Absent from discussions of the art tradition is the apparent focus on merchant activity in the city. The influence and power of merchants strengthened during the transition from the Classic to Postclassic in Mesoamerica. With an increase in demand of foreign goods, new exchange relationships developed between centers in Central Mexico, the Gulf, and Maya region. As a result, several cultural regions participated in a vast economic network that created political alliances and syncretic art styles. Focusing on the mural tradition …

Rate-Adaptive Runlength Limited Encoding For High-Speed Infrared Communication, James Cyril Funk

Theses and Dissertations

My thesis will demonstrate that Rate Adaptive Runlength Limited encoding (RA-RLL) achieves high data rates with acceptable error rate over a wide range of signal distortion/attenuation, and background noise. RA-RLL has performance superior to other infrared modulation schemes in terms of bandwidth efficiency, duty cycle control, and synchronization frequency. Rate adaptive techniques allow for quick convergence of RA-RLL parameters to acceptable values. RA-RLL may be feasibly implemented on systems with non-ideal timing and digital synchronization.

No Child Left Behind And Its Communication Effectiveness In Diverse Communities, Benjamin L. Daniel

Theses and Dissertations

The study sought to define the communication techniques and channels 15 school superintendents from randomly selected socioeconomically diverse school districts use to communicate the major provisions of federally mandated No Child Left Behind legislation to parents and the most effective techniques to communicate NCLB to parents in those districts most likely affected by the legislation. The author employed a Delphi technique and personal interviews to gather primary data.

Findings indicate that superintendents considered print media and group settings the most effective means through which to communicate NCLB provisions to target audiences. Additionally, the researcher determined that parents remain uncertain about …

Migrating Latinas And The Grief Process, Daiana Anahir Gonzalez

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examines the migratory experience of immigrant Latina married women. It looks at their experience from both an individual and a systemic perspective. It compares their experience to that of grief due to bereavement using Parkes' theory of the grief process. This research also presents findings as to the effects of migration on the marital system. Analysis of interview data provided by 12 Latin American women who resided in the United States ranging from 2 years to 10 years, allowed a comparison between the experience of these women and the grief process theory. The findings of the study …

The Most Effective Pr/Advertising Techniques In Disseminating An Alcohol Social Norms Campaign, Christine Anna Diblasi

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the most effective PR/Advertising techniques to disseminate an Alcohol Social Norms Campaign at college campuses. The techniques used were analyzed for their effectiveness in reaching students and decreasing binge drinking rates. Three New Jersey colleges were studied: Rowan University, Ramapo College of New Jersey and The College of New Jersey.

The researcher collected primary data from the brag books of the three colleges for the fiscal year 2004 Alcohol Social Norms Campaigns, personal interviews with the Project Directors of these campaigns, and focus groups comprised of college students. The research supported the …

Operator State Estimation For Adaptive Aiding In Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicles, Christopher A. Russell

Theses and Dissertations

This research demonstrated the first closed-loop implementation of adaptive automation using operator functional state in an operationally relevant environment. In the Uninhabited Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) environment, operators can become cognitively overloaded and their performance may decrease during mission critical events. This research demonstrates an unprecedented closed-loop system, one that adaptively aids UCAV operators based on their cognitive functional state A series of experiments were conducted to 1) determine the best classifiers for estimating operator functional state, 2) determine if physiological measures can be used to develop multiple cognitive models based on information processing demands and task type, 3) determine …

Challenging Policies That Do Not Play Fair: A Credential Relevancy Framework Using Trust Negotiation Ontologies, Travis S. Leithead

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis challenges the assumption that policies will "play fair" within trust negotiation. Policies that do not "play fair" contain requirements for authentication that are misleading, irrelevant, and/or incorrect, based on the current transaction context. To detect these unfair policies, trust negotiation ontologies provide the context to determine the relevancy of a given credential set for a particular negotiation. We propose a credential relevancy framework for use in trust negotiation that utilizes ontologies to process the set of all available credentials C and produce a subset of credentials C' relevant to the context of a given negotiation. This credential relevancy …

The Effect Of A Lingual Magnet On Fricative Production: An Acoustic Evaluation Of Placement And Adaptation, Andrea Lynn Weaver

Theses and Dissertations

Much of speech kinematics research is conducted by attaching a device to the articulators. However very little research has been conducted to determine what influence these devices may have on the perceptual and acoustic characteristics of speech. This study examined the effect of placing a small magnet on the tongue of ten normal adult speakers while reading a sentence containing /s/ and "sh" in initial, medial and final position. Two different placements of 10 and 15 mm from the tip of the tongue were analyzed. Data were taken before magnet placement, immediately after magnet placement, after 5 minutes of conversation, …

How Individuals With Parkinson's Disease Modify Their Speech In A Repetition For Clarification, Lynn Marie Watkins

Theses and Dissertations

The speech of individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) is typically characterized as lacking in proper prosody because of its monopitch and monoloud quality, in addition to its reduced intensity. These qualities make it difficult for others to understand speakers with PD. The purpose of the current study was to identify what individuals with PD would do vocally, if anything at all, to improve speech production following a simulated misunderstanding of what they had just said. The study evaluated the performance of 5 individuals with PD and compared their performance to 5 age- and sex-matched controls. Specifically, measures of vocal intensity …

Evaluation And Optimization Of Control Strategies For Management Of Disinfection Byproduct Precursors Within The Northeast Mississippi Water District, W Jeffrey Horne

Theses and Dissertations

As a result of the EPA?s Disinfection Byproduct Rule, the Northeast Mississippi Regional Water Supply District requested that the Environmental Technology and Applications Laboratory at Mississippi State University conduct a study to develop techniques to comply with new TOC regulations. This study involved the use of jar testing and Enhanced Coagulation in a laboratory setting over a period of twelve months to optimize the various coagulants evaluated in this study. Iron (III) sulfate, aluminum sulfate, aluminum chloride, aluminum chlorohydrate, and a number of polyaluminum chlorides were evaluated in this study. Coagulants were evaluated on both a treatment effectiveness and economical …

Educating For Democracy: Reviving Rhetoric In The General Education Curriculum, David M. Stock

Theses and Dissertations

This study is, in part, a response to arguments that claim higher education fails to prepare students with fundamental communication skills necessary for everyday life and indicative of "educated" persons. Though the validity of such arguments is contestable, they nonetheless reflect fundamental inadequacies in current educational theories and practices that have evolved over centuries of curricular, cultural, and socioeconomic change. Current theories and practices in higher education, specifically general education, reflect a misunderstanding of both the purpose of education in a democracy and the role of the liberal arts, specifically rhetoric, in accomplishing that purpose. The consequences of rhetorically-impoverished general …

Synthesis And Characterization Methods Of Palladium-Doped Ceria-Zirconia Compounds, Melissa Kaye Graves-Brook

Theses and Dissertations

The main automotive catalytic media, precious metal-doped ceria-zirconia oxides, fundamental system character is unknown. Understanding the catalytic system properties should allow for the production of an optimal model catalyst. This goal of this study is to gain understanding of ceria-zirconia-palladium systems and to determine a reproducible method for preparing catalysts with minimal surface-carbon. This study investigates ceria-zirconia-palladium catalyst preparation via aqueous chemistry methods and a sputter deposition technique for doping ceria-zirconia oxide mixtures. Prepared catalysts are characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). XPS allows the surface species, after catalyst doping and …

Impact Of A School-Home Partnership Model At A Small Rural Elementary School In Georgia, Janice Davis Waters

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the impact of the School-Home Partnership Model at Metter Intermediate School, a small rural school in southeast Georgia. The subjects of this student were parents, students, and teachers of the school. In particular, this study investigated the impact of the School-Home Partnership Model on "at-risk" students. For the purpose of this study the term "at-risk" student is defined to mean a student identified as being below grade level in reading and/or math based on the guidelines of Georgia's Early Intervention Program (EIP). The term "at-risk" student as used in this study also means a student identified as …

Gender-Based Education: The Pilot Year Of Single-Gender Classes At A Public Elementary School, Myra Bryant Gillis

Theses and Dissertations

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires public schools to be highly accountable for dollars spent on education and for the achievement of students. To support this mandate, the law expanded local control and allowed schools to explore innovative ways to enhance student learning (U.S.D.E., 2004). Given the opportunity, some public schools have experimented with single-gender classes as an avenue for improving the way students are taught. Studies have indicated that separating students according to gender has a positive impact on learning (e.g., Haag, 2000; Maslen, 2001; and Sommers, 2001). Single-gender settings have also been reported to have …

The Use Of Remote Sensing And Geographical Information Systems To Create Land Use And Land Cover Maps And To Determine The Changes In The Land Use And Land Cover Over A Ten Year Period, Adam Bradford Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Construction of land use and land cover (LULC) maps was accomplished through the use of remote sensing and GIS. Remote sensing and GIS were used to classify 1990 Landsat 5 and 2000 Landsat 7 Mississippi Gulf Coast imagery into six LULC classes: urban, barren, forested vegetation, non-forested vegetation, marsh, and water. An accuracy assessment was performed on the 2000 LULC map to determine the reliability of the map. Finally, GIS software was used to quantify and illustrate the various LULC conversions that took place over the ten year span of time. The paper concludes that remote sensing and GIS can …

Speleogenesis Of Large Flank Margin Caves Of The Bahamas, Ioan Lascu

Theses and Dissertations

Flank margin caves of the Bahamas are formed by mixing dissolution in a fresh-water lens. As they evolve, the probability of intersecting neighboring voids increases, and they enlarge in a nonlinear fashion. Large flank margin caves become constrained by surface topography and their morphology is influenced by the shape of the enclosing land mass as a result. High phreatic ceilings can be dissolved if the fresh-water lens is distorted by lithological heterogeneities or hydrologic loading due to storm events. Early diagenesis of the host rock causes the reorganization of porosity and permeability through dissolution and cementation processes. Meteoric overprinting occurs …

Documentation Of Ad/Hd Diagnostic Practices In High Impact Korean Psychology And Psychiatry Journals, Ji Hee Hong

Theses and Dissertations

Diagnostic and sampling practices documented in studies of participants with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Korean journals were investigated. A reliable coding system was used under the supervision of a Korean psychology professor to analyze the diagnostic and sampling documentation practices in articles from high impact Korean journals. Interrater agreement was 88%. Articles in the Korean Journal of Clinical Psychology and the Journal of Korean Neuropsychiatry Association were reviewed and compared with one another and with archival data (Hartley, 2003) from leading American journals. Statistical comparisons were made between Korean psychology and psychiatry journals, Korean and American psychology journals, and Korean and …

Exploration Of Lip Shape Measures And Their Association With Tongue Contact Patterns, Jessica Lynn Wagner

Theses and Dissertations

A variety of tools and techniques have been developed to measure the movements of the vocal tract, specifically of the tongue and lips. In recent years, computer technology has allowed for extensive exploration of these precise movements and for the development of speech recognition systems. However, there has been relatively little work on the combination of visible facial movements and internal articulatory activity. In this study, two different technologies were used to explore the internal and external movements of speech production in eight speakers: palatometry quantified tongue contact patterns and computerized video image analysis was used to derive lip shape …

Endovascular Repair Of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: Considerations In Anesthesia Nursing, Tammy Hoganson

Theses and Dissertations

The nature of the study involves endovascular repair of aortic aneurysms and anesthesia considerations. Endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm is a new, noninvasive procedure to repair abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Abdominal aortic aneurysm was once considered high risk with patients spending one to two weeks in the hospital following surgery. This new, less invasive procedure allows patients to go home in as little as two days. Along with new technology brings new challenges for the nurse anesthetist. The researcher will review current literature regarding AAA repair and involve the anesthesia care. The paper will review preoperative, intraopeative, and postoperative …

Alchohol And Recognition Of Novel Faces: Does Alcohol Ingestion Increase The Rate Of False Identifications?, Brent M. King

Theses and Dissertations

The present study sought to investigate how alcohol, retention time, and presentation of stimuli lineups impact the rate of correct and incorrect identifications within an eyewitness recognition task. Sixty (60) male participants were divided into 4 different alcohol or placebo conditions. Two of the conditions are such that the participants were blind to what they were being given (alcohol or a placebo fruit drink). The final two conditions were such that the participants were either told falsely that they were receiving alcohol (misled placebo) or truthfully that they were only getting a fruit drink (informed placebo). Participants were shown 6 …

In-Group/Out-Group Dynamics Of Native American Mascot Endorsement, John Gonzalez

Theses and Dissertations

The use of Native American names and mascots by professional and college sports teams has become a controversial issue. However, very litde research has investigated attitudes towards Native Americans, regarding relationships between team names and mascots on prejudice and discrimination. This study proposed that the multiple social categories created by manipulating the endorsement/opposition of Native mascots by Native and White college students at a university with a Native mascot, would allow for the identification of possible prejudice and discrimination based on race and the mascot issue. It was hypothesized that the manipulation of Native American Mascot Endorsement (NAME) in Native …

Predicting Body Mass Index In Northern Plains American Indian Children, Tami Jollie-Trottier

Theses and Dissertations

Obesity has become a major health concern for American Indians. Obesity prevalence is higher for minority groups, however American Indians consistently have higher rates than any other U.S. population. Of more concern is the trend towards higher rates of overweight and obesity in American Indian children. Obesity has been associated with many health concerns such as coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes mellitus in both American Indian adults and children. The purpose of this study is to identify predictor variables that may be contributing to the development or possibly maintenance of obesity in American Indian children. …

Outcomes Of A Bariatric Surgery Program, Ann Lansing

Theses and Dissertations

The incidence of obesity in the U.S. is alarming. There are serious comorbid conditions associated with morbid obesity. These include hypertension, diabetes type-2, and sleep apnea. Although much money and effort is spent on weight loss programs, only 5% of the people meet with success.

This study is a retrospective examination of outcomes of a bariatric surgery program. Charts were reviewed between the years of 2000 and 2003. The population included over 100 patients who had Roux-en Y gastric bypass in a town in the Western United States.

The variables examined were the resolution of hypertension, diabetes type-2, and sleep …

Knowledge And Perception Of North Dakota Nurses Regarding Palliative Care, Nancy Joyner

Theses and Dissertations

Palliative care, also known as comfort care, involves the holistic care of patients when curative treatment is not effective. The principal factors of palliative care include the aggressive treatment of pain and other symptoms, including physical, psychological, emotional, social and spiritual problems. Nurses spend more time with patients and their families than any other health care professional, placing them in a position to provide palliative care in a variety of different settings. This requires nurses to have a sound knowledge base in this specialty. Not all nurses, however, are adequately prepared for or comfortable with palliative care.

The purpose of …

Frequency Of Instrumental Delivery Associated With Epidural Analgesia, Nicole D. Abrahamson

Theses and Dissertations

Presently, approximately two-thirds of all women in the United States receive obstetric analgesia for pain relief during labor. Much research has been done on the effects of epidural analgesia on the mother and infant including prolonged labor, lower rate of spontaneous delivery and increased risk of instrumental delivery. There is agreement in the research that epidural analgesia prolongs stage 2 labor, however, debate continues regarding the association of instrumental delivery and epidural analgesia. There is also lack of substantial research regarding discontinuing epidural analgesia late in labor and whether this affects rate of instrumental delivery.

The purpose of this study …

Hyperventilation And Its Effects On The Neurosurgical Patient, Melissa L. Laspi

Theses and Dissertations

Neurosurgical procedures continue to be a challenging and intricate part of an anesthesia provider’s career. The anesthesia provider can control the physiological effects of improper auto-regulation of the brain that can occur with abnormal neurological pathology. The control of hyperventilation is one way that the anesthesia provider can manipulate cerebral physiology. This paper addresses the physiology of impaired brain autoregulation and the role in which carbon dioxide affects that physiology. Simply stated, carbon dioxide (C02) is the number one physiological factor that controls cerebral blood flow; increasing C02 dilates cerebral vessels thus increasing flow while decreasing C02 constricts cerebral vessels …

Optimizing Bispectral Index (Bis) Use In The Intensive Care Unit: Development Of A Procedure And Skill Competency Validation For Critical Care Nurses, Twyla G. Kouba

Theses and Dissertations

The Bispectral Index (BIS) technology developed by Aspect Medical Systems is Food and Drug Administration approved and commercially available to monitor the effects of anesthetics and sedatives on the level of consciousness in the Operating Room, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), and in special procedure environments where sedation is administered. Sedation management is a challenge in the ICU with serious consequences resulting from oversedation or undersedation. A literature review provides evidence that the BIS is a reliable, valid tool for objective sedation assessment in the ICU. However, critical care nurses must be able to first identify which patient populations can benefit …

Anesthesia Guide To Help Increase Parental Knowledge And Reduce Anxiety For Parents Bringing Children To The Operating Room, Kristine A. Eckert

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined parents’ anxiety levels of bringing their children to the operating room (OR) and also explored the choices they have available to them given the facility they are using for services. The extensive literature review explored these issues, resulting in the creation of a teaching brochure designed to give information and options to parents as they bring their child to the operating room. The brochure design and development is thoroughly discussed in the study. The literature review also explored suggested methods to decrease anxiety, including increasing parental knowledge related to the anesthesia process. The anesthesia providers’ responsibilities and …

Factors That Effect Prolonged Intubation Of Postoperative Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Patients, Sheri L. Triepke

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify contributing factors that cause coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients to remain intubated longer than eight hours. Current practice in CABG anesthesia advocates tracheal extubation within one to eight hours after surgery. With the advances made in anesthetic techniques and post-operative analgesia, the CABG population should consistently be extubated within the eight hour time frame.

A retrospective medical chart review of 30 CABG patients remaining intubated longer than eight hours was conducted. A study group of 30 patients extubated within eight hours was used for comparison.

The subjects reviewed for both groups …