Digital Commons Network^™

Breaking The Multi Colored Box: A Study Of Captcha, Sumit Khanna

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Communication is faster than ever. Innovations in low cost network computing have brought an era in which people can effortlessly and instantaneously view and post opinions collaboratively with others across the world. With such an infrastructure of public message boards, chat rooms and instant messaging systems, there is also a large potential for abuse by people wishing to capitalize on such open services by posting unsolicited advertisements. An entire industry has been constructed around the prevention of unsolicited electronic advertisements (SPAM). This thesis examines various techniques for preventing SPAM, focusing on Completely Automated Public Turing Tests to Tell Computers and …

Writer’S Workshop: Promoting Peer Relationships On Early Literacy, Jim Labrie

All Graduate Projects

Writer's Workshop and the influence of peer relationships and art on young children's literacy development were explored. There was found to be a direct correlation between children's art/drawings on their literacy development. Peer interactions during writing were also found to positively impact young writers. Peers and art do impact early literacy and have influences on Writer's Workshop and children's attitudes toward writing. Based on this research a handbook was developed to aid educators in planning a Writer's Workshop model, developing peer relationships during writing, and assessing student writing.

The Compatibility Of Democracy And The Human Condition: The Quest For Objective Values, Vince Ambrose

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Protozoan Vaccine Candidate Homologues In Tetrahymena Thermophila, Justin Schumacher

Senior Honors Projects

Tetrahymena thermophila is a member of the phylum Ciliophora (the ciliated protozoa) and is currently of great interest due to its unique qualities that make it useful as a model for research directed towards understanding how eukaryotic cells function. Recently, the T. thermophila genome was sequenced, and made available online. Since Tetrahymena is a member of the Alveolata, the major eukaryotic clade that also contains the apicomplexan parasites that cause a number of serious human and animal diseases, we sought to determine whether the genes coding for apicomplexan vaccine candidates were represented in the genome of Tetrahymena. In addition, we …

Categorizing Humans, Animals, And Machines In Mary Shelley’S Frankenstein, Martha Bellows

Senior Honors Projects

From Plato to Descartes and Kant and now to modern day, there is a general idea that pervades Western society. This idea is about the uniqueness and superiority of the human being. We are rational and conscious beings that apparently stand alone in the world, separated intellectually from animals and biologically from machines. The relationship between humans, animals, and machines is a tumultuous one and it is not easily definable. For many classical philosophers, this relationship has always been a hierarchy. Humans are on the top and animals and machines fall somewhere below. These beliefs have created a distinct category …

The Use Of The Music Therapist’S Principal Instrument In Clinical Practice, Angela Voyajolu

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The purpose of this study is to determine the use of the music therapist’s primary instrument in clinical practice. Specifically, the interest lies in whether there is a relationship between the type of primary instrument reported and the degree to which it is used with clients. In the current study two-hundred and twenty-two therapists completed a survey concerning the use of their principal instrument in clinical practice. The use of the principal instrument was limited to the timeframe of one year so as to obtain results on current practices. Results suggest that many music therapists do use their principal instrument …

Unruly Wives And Dancing Girls : The Objectification Of Women In Aristophanic Comedy, Jessica Marie Berhang

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Though the plays of the early Greek comedian Aristophanes are replete with crude humor and buffoonish behavior, it is important to examine the works through a more critical lens rather than discounting them as mere entertainment. Aristophanes expounds upon political conflict and leaders, scoffs at social mores, and highlights the many facets of human nature. In addition, the dynamic between men and women is a central theme in many of Aristophanes’ plays. Comedies such as the Lysistrata, Assemblywomen, and Women at the Thesmophoria feature women who appear to be empowered as they try to fight against patriarchal systems; however, examining …

“A Woman’S Story At A Winter’S Fire”: Gender Performativity And The Intrinsic Power Of The Feminine In Shakespeare’S Macbeth, Whitney Sperrazza

English

No abstract provided.

Our Greatest Want: An Examination Of The Rhetorical Tendencies Employed By African American Female Abolitionist Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911), Lauren Deborah Nye

English

You are standing at the doorway of a church in Philadelphia. Looking in, you see a mass of heads, all turned toward the podium, waiting for someone to get behind that podium. Then you see her. She is an attractive African American with “a fair figure, long, lustrous hair, and facial features pleasant to behold” (Logan 49). You overhear one person comment that she looks like “a bronze muse” (Logan 31). A reporter will later write that she has “a strong face, with a shadowed glow upon it, indicative of thoughtful fervor, and of a nature most femininely sensitive, but …

The Synagogue Of Dura Europos: An Inclusive Narrative, Joanna Smith

Art & Art History

In 1932, the discovery of the Synagogue of Dura Europos in Syria presented a turning point in the study of art, architecture, and Art History in general. The reason behind the turning point was the fact that this discovery yielded the first ever examples of Jewish art and architecture. Within the Synagogue were fresco panels telling stories from the Hebrew bible. The report of this discovery was felt throughout the entire Art History world not only at this point in time, but in the modern day as well. In addition to the continued discussion surrounding the frescoes, their legitimacy as …

Oncolog Volume 54, Number 05, May 2009, John Lebas

OncoLog MD Anderson's Report to Physicians (All issues) Archives

• Targeting Inflammation in Cancer Prevention
• Treating Radiation Necrosis of the Brain
• Preclinical Studies Reveal Effectiveness of Therapies for Pediatric Cancers
• House Call: Protect and Check Your Skin

2008 Virginia Beach Tourism Economic Impact Study, Gilbert R. Yochum, Vinod Agarwal

Economics Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is to estimate the total economic impact and the direct taxes and fees generated by the 2008 in-flow of visitors to the City of Virginia Beach's tourist industry. Total tourism economic impact is defined as the sum of direct, indirect and induced output, employment and earnings that result from visitor spending in Virginia Beach.

Ecological Constraints And Life History Tradeoffs Among Human Foragers And Their Prey, Oskar Burger

Anthropology ETDs

This dissertation attempts to identify ecological relationships useful for understanding large-scale patterns in human-environment interaction that can be applied to archaeological studies. It uses three established bodies of theory to understand ecological constraints and life history tradeoffs, applying the same basic framework to human adaptations and the demographic trends of other mammals. First, a model from optimal foraging theory (the marginal value theorem), which posits a tradeoff between resource availability and resource processing, is applied to zooarchaeology to understand human butchery patterns. Humans tend to butcher prey according to the predictions of the model in both ethnographic and archaeological settings: …

The Biological Evidence Of The San-Pau-Chu People And Their Affinities, Hsiu-Man Lin

Anthropology ETDs

Austronesian is one of the major language groups spoken. It is believed that Taiwan, Indonesian (east of Wallace line), or Bismarck Archipelago is the starting point for Austronesian migrations. It is also suggested that prehistoric cultures of Taiwan were established by the ancestors of the modern Taiwanese indigenous populations, who are also Austronesian speakers. The goals of this project are to estimate biological relationships of the San-Pau-Chu (SPC) to other Asian populations (especially Polynesians) and to evaluate if Taiwan indeed plays a major role in the history of Austronesian migrations by using both dental morphological data (metric and nonmetric dental …

Nebline, May 2009

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Bed Bugs Come Back with a Vengeance: Controlling Them Quickly is Key to Slowing Their Spread
Bird Watching: A Little Backyard Therapy
May is Time to Control Leafy Spurge
Recognize/Control Phragmites
Getting the Most Out of CRP
Gluten-Free Sorghum Recipes
Eat a Variety of Vegetables
Family & Community Education (FCE) Clubs: Presidents’ View—Bonnie’s Bits
FCE News & Events
Household Hints: Removing Pollen Stains
May is Clean Air Month: Important Asthma Triggers
Encourage Communication Within the Family
Hand Picking Bagworms an Effective Control
ReTree Nebraska: Important to Diversify When Replanting
Managing Aquatic Plant Life
Using Animal Manure in the Garden
Control …

National Primary Drinking Water Regulations

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

NOTES

1 Definitions

• Maximum Contaminant Level Goal (MCLG): The level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health. MCLGs allow for a margin of safety and are non-enforceable public health goals.

• Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL): The highest level of a contaminant that is allowed in drinking water. MCLs are set as close to MCLGs as feasible using the best available treatment technology and taking cost into consideration. MCLs are enforceable standards.

• Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level Goal (MRDLG): The level of a drinking water disinfectant below which there is …

Mourning Dove Banding Needs Assessment, Dave Otis

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

Introduction

The primary justification for an operational national mourning dove banding program is to provide data necessary for a long‐term informed harvest management strategy as envisioned in the National Mourning Dove Strategic Harvest Management Plan (Anonymous 2005). This strategy requires development of demographic population models which in turn depend on estimates of population survival and recruitment rates as well as harvest rates. These estimates are derived wholly or in part from banding data.

Ideally, a formal banding needs assessment would be developed given an explicitly defined harvest strategy framework. At the current time such a strategy has not yet been …

The Dormant Commerce Clause: Adopting A New Standard And A Return To Principle, Timothy J. Slattery

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Legume Cover Crops Are More Beneficial Than Natural Fallows In Minimally Tilled Ugandan Soils, Drake N. Mubiru, Mark S. Coyne

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

It is important to establish the various effects of legume cover crops on soil physicochemical properties because they have been considered for use as improved fallows (with shorter rest periods) to enhance development and maintenance of soil productivity. Our objectives were to assess: (i) aboveground dry matter yields of legume cover crops; and (ii) cover crop effects on weed infestation and soil physicochemical properties in a minimum tillage management system. Trials were conducted for 2 yr at Kawanda Agricultural Research Institute and on farmers’ fields in Mbale and Pallisa districts, eastern Uganda. Th e experiment layout was a Randomized Complete …

Health Consequences Of Rural Women’S Productive Role In Agriculture In The Philippines And Other Developing Countries, Ma. Elena Chiong-Javier

Journal of International Women's Studies

Agriculture is central to developing countries like the Philippines and rural women contribute a substantial share of the labor that goes into this sector as food producers or agricultural workers. In the wake of numerous studies conducted worldwide about women since the United Nations’ Decade for Women (1976-1984), data appear sparse on the relationship between women’s work and women’s health in the agricultural setting to enable policy makers and program implementors to adequately address their health needs. Thus this study aimed to determine the nature of available information in the gender literature to enable us to understand the link between …

The Role Of Women In Providing And Improving Household Food Security In Sudan: Implications For Reducing Hunger And Malnutrition, Fatma Osman Ibnouf

Journal of International Women's Studies

Relevant and consistent with the recent growing interest to assess the contribution of women to economic activities in Sudan, this study seeks to assess women’s contribution to their household food supply and nutrition status in rural Sudan. As for the contribution of the research, the research is expected to contribute to improve the understanding of the important contribution of women to economic activities and in particular in providing and improving household food security in Sudan and thus valuing the potential role of women in reducing hunger and malnutrition.

Agricultural production (farm and livestock products) with supplemental resources (processed and preserved …

Potential For Introduced-Range Expansion Of Chinese Tallow Tree (Triadica Sebifera) In The Southeastern United States, Isaac Park

All Theses

The potential for populations of invasive plants to differ in their response to stressful environmental conditions or in their invasiveness is an underexplored issue in determining introduced species' range limits. Introduced genotypes might differ in their response to freezing temperatures, soil type, or differing biotic factors within their introduced range. We examined the potential of Chinese tallow tree seeds (Triadica sebifera (L.) Small) collected from two genetically distinct areas of its introduced range in the United States (North Carolina and South Carolina) as well as from the northern and southern portions of its native range in China to germinate and …

Comparative Power Of The Independent T, Permutation T, And Wilcoxontests, Michéle Weber, Shlomo S. Sawilowsky

Theoretical and Behavioral Foundations of Education Faculty Publications

The nonparametric Wilcoxon Rank Sum (also known as the Mann-Whitney U) and the permutation t-tests are robust with respect to Type I error for departures from population normality, and both are powerful alternatives to the independent samples Student’s t-test for detecting shift in location. The question remains regarding their comparative statistical power for small samples, particularly for non-normal distributions. Monte Carlo simulations indicated the rank-based Wilcoxon test was found to be more powerful than both the t and the permutation t-tests.

High-Rate Channel Catfish Fingerling Production In The Partitioned Aquaculture System, Tim Wells

All Theses

The objective of this 4-year research project was to evaluate the performance of channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) fingerling production in the Partitioned Aquaculture System (PAS). The goal was to demonstrate production of 80-gram minimum sized fingerlings in a single growing season, allowing for 100% market-size fish production after one additional season in the grow-out PAS.
A series of 2-inch airlift pumps fed by a single 3-hp low-head blower was found to be capable of supplying sufficient water flow-rate (in 2005, 2006, and 2007) of gpm per container to 9 cohorts. A series of 0.75-hp axial flow pumps (in 2005, 2006, …

Jane, The Quene, Kathleen Wrinn

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

I wrote and performed a one-woman show entitled Jane, the Quene, about the life, reign, and death of Lady Jane Grey, the 9-day Queen of England in 1553. With the help of my advisor, Lauren Unbekant, I created my piece in a physical storytelling style in which I played all of the characters, adopting different voices, physicalities, and slight costume modifications to distinguish between them. I collaborated with film, costume, set, lighting, and sound designers to create my final product, and the whole project took about a year to complete. I had begun my research in London the previous …

The Lovely Invader: A Documentary On Lonicera Research, Danielle S. Houghton

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

For over a year a half, I followed Steve Maheux, a Biology major, throughout his journey to conduct a research study on honeysuckle, an invasive plant. He posed a question regarding the possibility of predicting the occurrence of an invasive plant based on certain environmental factors: soil depth, soil pH, neighboring plants and other aspects that would make up an ideal environment for this menacing plant. The focus of my documentary was to show what true research looks like in all of its tedious glory. Research isn’t fancy. It often doesn’t make for “sexy film,” but it is vital for …

Inkstinct Tattoo-Lifestyle Magazine, Celina Rosita Tousignant

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Inkstinct, an American tattoo-lifestyle magazine, covers a broad assortment of editorial content in six regular sections: “Inkternet,” “Fokus,” “Kulture,” “Inkternational,” “Lokal,” and “Your Ink.” Created as a regularly published magazine, Inkstinct’s sections allow for fresh content every month, while enabling consistency in theme and reader expectations.

The target demographic of Inkstinct falls between the age of 18 and 35, has interest in tattoos and body manipulations, and is both male and female. Inkstinct assumes readers have at least a very basic knowledge of tattoos and body manipulations, and avoids explaining basic information in detail. However, Inkstinct’s editorial …

The B Street Residence Biophilic Design And The Colorado Home, Colin E. Fanning

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The main focus of this Capstone has been exploratory—self-educational. After having learned, during the course of my studies in interior design, about the methodology of biophilic design (literally, “life-loving”)—which deals with the human psychological affinity for the natural world and attempting to reconcile that with the built environment, in order to create spaces that protect both body and mind—I wanted to experiment within that philosophy, to build my own biophilic design skills. This matched well with my long-running passion for sustainable design—the two methodologies are distinct but closely related, and when used in concert they represent a progressive vision for …

Senior Collection And Fashion Industry Experience, Amanda Coyne

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

My goal upon completing my Honors Capstone Project was to explore the process I went through over the course of the year as I completed my senior collection in the Fashion Design program at the School of Visual and Performing Arts. My senior collection incorporated inspiration I gathered over the past four years to show how I have evolved as a designer. It was a unique experience in that it has allowed me to express my personal design aesthetic through my clothing.

My senior collection consists of six looks that were constructed and styled individually to be ready for two …

The Spiritual Value Of Poetic Expression, Sally Waggoner

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This project explores the nature of the self’s relationship to language, particularly creative linguistic expression, and aims to illustrate the ways in which creative linguistic expression or, in other words, poetic expression, can be spiritually beneficial to the speaker, writer, reader, or listener. Of course, this could mean a variety of things. In this project, I take it to mean that poetic expression has the potential to subvert ego discourse (expression that only serves to create, reinforce, and protect the ego or self-identity).

First, in the introduction, I use Gilles Deleuze’s text, Bergsonism, along with a quotation by Paul …