Digital Commons Network^™

Guanophilic Fungi In Three Caves Of Southwestern Puerto Rico, Ángel M. Nieves-Rivera, Carlos J. Santos-Flores, Frank M. Dugan, Thomas E. Miller

International Journal of Speleology

Fifty species of guanophilic (bat guano-loving) fungi were isolated from field-collected samples within three caves in southwestern Puerto Rico; most were mitosporic fungi (23 species). The caves studied were Cueva La Tuna (Cabo Rojo), Cueva de Malano (Sistema de Los Chorros, San Germán), and Cueva Viento (El Convento Cave-Spring System, Guayanilla-Peñuelas). The most conspicuous fungus by far was the zygomycete Circinella umbellata (Mucorales). Circinella umbellata dominated the bat guano incubation chambers (Petri dishes lined with sterile filter paper moistened with sterile water) at ambient laboratory conditions. Nineteen species of basidiomycetes (e.g., Ganoderma cf. resinaceum, Geastrum cf. minimum, Lepiota …

A Terminological Matter: Paragenesis, Antigravitative Erosion Or Antigravitational Erosion?, Giancarlo Pasini

International Journal of Speleology

In the speleological literature three terms are utilized to designate the “ascending erosion”: paragenesis (= paragénésis, coined in 1968), antigravitative erosion (= erosione antigravitativa, coined in 1966) and antigravitational erosion (wrong English translation of the Italian term erosione antigravitativa, utilized later on). The term paragenesis should be abandoned because of the priority of the term erosione antigravitativa - on the ground of the “law of priority” – and because of its ambiguous etimology. On the other hand, the term antigravitational erosion should be forsaken in favour of the term antigravitative erosion, given the meaning that the terms gravitation and gravity …

First-Grade Reading Gains Following Enrichment: Phonics Plus Decodable Texts Compared To Authentic Literature Read Aloud, Brenda L. Beverly, Rebecca M. Giles, Keri L. Buck

Brenda L. Beverly Publications

Purpose: Phonics instruction with decodable texts reading practice was compared to alternate reading enrichments.

Method: Thirty-two first-graders participated. One group practiced reading decodable texts after phonics instruction. Another group heard authentic literature read aloud, and the third group participated in phonics combined with authentic literature. Additionally an untreated classroom was compared to a treated classroom for a school-based reading measure, DIBELS.

Results: Significant gains on DIBELS were found for the treated classroom compared to an untreated classroom following the semester of the enrichment. All treatment groups showed measurable reading gains, but the effect of the treatment text varied by reading …

An Exploratory Case Study Of Students' Perceptions Of Online Graduate Education, Hou Chun Kuong

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to investigate graduate students' perceptions of online education. Online learning has grown tremendously over the past several years and has made learning and teaching opportunities more available to many people throughout the world. As an increased number of higher education institutions use online education as a means of delivering courses and programs, educational researchers have been working tirelessly to uncover and delineate the factors that facilitate and enhance success in online learning. One major factor that researchers (e.g., Pérez Cereijo, 2006) have established as a predictor of success is students' perceptions of online learning. …

Using Language To Navigate The Infant Mind, Laura Wagner, Laura Lakusta

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

How do infants represent objects, actions, and relations in events? In this review, we discuss an approach to studying this question that begins with linguistic theory—specifically, semantic structures in language. On the basis of recent research exploring infant cognition and prominent linguistic analyses, we examine whether infants representations of motion events are articulated in terms of the components proposed by Talmy (1985; e.g., path, manner) and whether infants’ event representations are defined in terms of broad semantic roles (agent, patient, source, goal) as proposed by Jackendoff (1990) and Dowty (1991). We show how recent findings in infant cognition are consistent …

Aesthetics In The Ecotheology Of Sallie Mcfague: A Critique And A Proposal For A Theological Aesthetics Of Nature, Mary-Paula Cancienne

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the ecological theology of Sallie McFague, who, as part of her work, employs the use of aesthetics. This study recognizes her contribution and then seeks to build upon it.
In aim of this goal, a limited history of aesthetics in the Western tradition is surveyed and attention is given to three significant contemporary scholars in the field of aesthetics and nature/environment (Emily Brady, Allen Carlson, and Arnold Berleant). While this work intended to propose the rudiments of a Theological Aesthetics of Nature, we find that nature and culture are so intertwined that what is initially called …

Two Tongues For A Dream: A Hermeneutic Study, Marta Bachino

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although bilingualism is a common feature of clinical work with patients, the specific aspects of working with the dreams of the bilingual patient have not been much discussed. This qualitative study explored the discrepancies that arise in the linguistic expressions of the psychological complexes when dreams are worked simultaneously in the dreamer's native and second language. The aim was to learn more about the significance of including the bilingual patient's native tongue when working with dreams in a dreamer's second language. Key concepts on the study of language, dreams, psychological complexes, linguistics and psychoanalysis situated the research using various theoretical …

Employability Skill Acquisition Of Career And Technical Education Students, Michele Marie Orner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe and compare the acquisition of employability skills of Cooperative Education students participating in an employability skills training program with those students who chose not to participate in Cooperative Education at the Franklin County Career and Technology Center in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Additionally, the study described the factors that affected employability skill acquisition, specifically gender, career major, grade point average, and post graduation plans. Employer and student perceptions of acquisition of employability skills were also described. While a considerable amount of information has been written about workplace skills that warrant employability success, little has …

The Effects Of A Discourse Community Model On Promoting Intentional Conceptual Change To Increase Understanding Of School Climate And Its Importance, David Parker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Framed within intentional conceptual change theory, this study looked at the effects of a discourse community model on promoting intentional conceptual change to increase understanding of school climate and its importance. A highly-motivated group of 11 teachers from one elementary school participated in this discourse community designed to promote an intentional conceptual change regarding school climate. Initial interviews, artifact collection, and journal responses were the methods of data collection. Within the discourse community setting, the teachers interacted with a series of activities and discussions to construct new knowledge pertaining to school climate. Themes and patterns of climate understanding emerged and …

Bringing The Real World Into The Classroom: Career Change Business Educators And The Pedagogies Of Engagement, Bonnie Pazin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the influences of prior work experience in the classroom of career change secondary business educators. The 21st century workforce is rapidly evolving due to increases in innovative technology and global competition. Educators are expected to prepare a digital generation of students to face the challenges that lie ahead as they transition into this new workforce. To meet the needs of this new generation, teachers are increasingly being expected to teach 21st century skills that include technology literacy, collaboration, and communication. High attrition rates and an increasing teacher demand continue to be …

New Conceptual Understanding Of Lewis Acidity, Coordinate Covalent Bonding, And Catalysis, Joshua A. Plumley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this dissertation is to correct misconceptions about Lewis acidity, uncover the physical nature of the coordinate covalent bond, and discusses how Lewis acid catalysts influence the rate enhancement of the Diels-Alder reaction. Large-scale quantum computations have been employed to explore many of Lewis' original ideas concerning valency and acid/base behavior. An efficient and practical level of theory able to model Lewis acid adducts accurately was determined by systematic comparison of computed coordinate covalent bond lengths and binding enthalpies of ammonia borane and methyl substituted ammonia trimethylboranes with high-resolution gas-phase experimental work. Of all the levels of theory …

Culture Care Beliefs, Meanings And Practices Related To Health And Well-Being Of South Sudanese "Lost Boy And Lost Girl" Refugees, Margaret Bowles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this ethnonursing study was to describe, analyze and interpret the culture care beliefs, meanings and practices related to health and well-being of South Sudanese "Lost Boy and Lost Girls" following resettlement in the United States. Leininger's theory of culture care diversity and universality and the ethnonursing method provided the organizing framework for studying the domain of inquiry. Interviews were conducted with nineteen general informants and ten key informants, all who lived in the Midwest United States. Extensive analysis of digitally recorded interviews together with the researcher's participant observations and field notes revealed nine data categories and five …

The Reader Of Milton's "Higher Argument" In Paradise Lost, Patricia A. Callahan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Milton has a literary place within the Christian understanding of grace, entangles his reader into Paradise Lost, and embeds a "higher Argument" of an economics of salvation of grace within the text which thus forms a transcendent reader who responds by a choice for the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of mammon. Paradise Lost as a tertiary stage in epic development maintains a grand style, but modern critics have problems with Milton's God. Autobiographical elements in The Reason of Church-Government indicate Milton's sense of a divine calling in poetry, but Professors Grierson and Tillyard disagree regarding Milton's prophetic powers …

Classification Tree Models For Predicting Cancer Status, Pu Chen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Early detection of cancers might improve the clinical outcomes. Multiple biomarkers with a novel LabMAP technology were used as the laboratory method to develop the diagnostic assay for ovarian, breast, endometrial, and lung cancer. To evaluate the accuracy of early stage detection, logistic regression (with forward selection) and classification tree models were applied as statistical methods. Furthermore, complexity parameters and the number of bootstrap samples were varied to assess the effect on sensitivity and specificity. The receiver operating characteristic curves reflected high sensitivities and specificities.

Zinc-Mediated Dimerization Of Proteins Through A -Cxcxxxxcxc- Sequence, Tyler Collins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dimerization of cellular proteins has become an intense field of study due to its importance in signal transduction and gene expression, amongst many other functions. Arguably the most intriguing quality regarding dimerization is the high incidence of simultaneous dimeric events occurring within the cell, where each constructed dimer individually controls a single pathway with high specificity. Additionally, the discoveries of new motifs possessing this seemingly common functionality participate in truly unique and often poorly understood mechanisms. CopY, a metal-responsive bacterial repressor from Enterococcus hirae possesses distinctive dimerization properties. We show that this cysteine metal-binding motif, which contains a metal-reactive C-terminal …

An Evaluation Of The Global Institute For Leadership Development - Gild 2008 As A Provider Of Custom Executive Education, Don Digirolamo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine how participants perceived the effectiveness of their experience in the 2008 Global Institute for Leadership Development – GILD as a provider of custom executive education. GILD is an intensive one-week institute sponsored by Linkage, Inc. GILD has been presented as an accelerated growth experience designed to differentiate superior leaders from average leaders. During its twelve-year history, the Global Institute for Leadership Development (GILD) has not yet been comprehensively evaluated.

GILD 2008 was held from October 12 – 17 in Palm Desert, California. Two hundred eighty nine people from around the world participated …

Discerning Redeeming Communities: Rita Nakashima Brock And Elizabeth A. Johnson In Dialogue, Alison Downie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rita Nakashima Brock's Journeys by Heart: A Christology of Erotic Power and Elizabeth A. Johnson's Friends of God and Prophets: A Feminist Theological Reading of the Communion of Saints offer resources for reflecting upon what redemptive community is, how it functions, and how women, in particular, experience redemption.

With deep roots in Trinitarian creation theology and a strong trunk of feminist theological anthropology, the branches of Christian feminist reconstructionist theology produce rich soteriological fruits. Without rootedness in creation theology, theological anthropology is anthropocentric, not sufficiently holistic or ecologically aware. Similarly, without development of a feminist theological anthropology, soteriology inevitably reflects …

Selective Lesion Of Cholinergic Neurons Of The Septal-Hippocampal Tract: Memory And Learning, Nicholas Fitz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It is hypothesized that the loss of cholinergic function in the medial septum (MS), observed early in many forms of dementia, contributes to memory losses characterized in these diseases. The studies of this dissertation examined whether the selective loss of cholinergic neurons in the MS impairs acquisition of a delayed matching-to-position (DMP) spatial memory task. The results suggest a significant contribution of MS cholinergic neurons in acquisition of the DMP task. Specifically, 192 IgG-saporin SAP lesioned rats acquired the task at a slower rate and required more days to reach criterion. The results also suggest that male rats typically adopt …

Graduate Recital, Saxophone, Colette Hall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This M.M. Thesis demonstrates the breadth of literature for the saxophone by including works from the Romantic, 20th Century, and Contemporary Periods. This thesis also features pieces that utilize the saxophone as a solo and chamber music instrument, and showcases a piece by female composer Libby Larsen.

Principles For Developing Inculturated Theology In The Diverse African Context: Steps Beyond Traditional Heritages, Jane Catherine Hagaba

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation critically examines the foundational significance of Christ for contextual theologies in the African Catholic Church. It begins with a presentation of Benezet Bujo's approach and contextual methodology. As a critical study, this dissertation is premised on the principle that the object of Christianity is the transformation of peoples and their societies. Therefore, the study examines the ways in which African societies founded on an immutable principle of blood kinship can open to the Christian faith and to the globalizing world today. The dissertation grapples with this issue to unravel the weaknesses and limitations of African theologies of inculturation. …

Counselor Trainee Perceived Supervisory Effectiveness: An Investigation Of Counselor Trainee Cognitive Style And Supervisor Supervisory Style, Melinda Jean Heher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Supervision during practicum and internship is crucial to the continued professional development and growth of the novice counselor. As counselor trainees are immersed in their field placement sites, they rely on their field site supervisors for guidance and continued training as aspiring counselors. It is imperative that a positive interpersonal supervisory relationship sets the foundation for successful supervision and training. Among the many personality variables that influence the interpersonal relationship and dynamics of supervision, cognitive style has been scarce in the counselor education and supervision literature. In addition to cognitive style, the supervisor's supervisory style influences the interpersonal supervisory relationship. …

The Experiences Of Japanese Men During The Transition To Fatherhood, Hiroko Iwata

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the meaning of the lived experience of the Japanese men during the transition to fatherhood. Review of the literature revealed a lack of men's own perspective and justified the need of this study. Hermeneutic phenomenology was chosen because it was most useful to answer questions of meaning of the lived experience. Participants were 12 Japanese men who had a first-time healthy child younger than 1-year of age, who were sought by using a purposeful sampling technique. Data generation and data analysis were guided by philosophy of hermeneutic phenomenology. The findings revealed the …

From Forfeited Agency To Communities Of Hope: Reinventing Ethos Through Narratives Of Remembering And Forgetting, Linda Janus

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

If an offender's credibility is the first and last victim of an offense, by what communication processes may credibility be recovered by the offender, and with what responsibility from the victim to the process? What responsibilities do other stakeholders have to the offender in defense of the common narrative? Based on phenomenological reflection for stakeholder ethics that requires a quadraic dialogue framed in the topics of harms and rights, but also the reluctant testimony of benefits and responsibilities credited to the offense, each stakeholder in the event becomes culpable to it, responsibility not necessarily for the prologue to violence, but …

Human Development As Integral Development: The Social Teaching Of The Church In An African Context, Joseph Kariuki Kamau

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It has been commonly held that the main cause of underdevelopment is the lack of capital. This dissertation is based on the observation that underdevelopment still persists in Kenya despite billions of dollars in foreign aid from Western Europe and North America. The main focus of this dissertation is an attempt to understand an effective remedial action to such an economic situation of underdevelopment. The dissertation seeks to find the remedy for underdevelopment by the methodological means of demonstrating how a holistic understanding of human development entails integral development in Kenya.

The thesis and the overview of this dissertation are …

Slaying The Dragon: An Analysis On How To Dismantle Terrorist Organizations, Caroline Kelly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Terrorism has become a rising threat to international peace and security all over the world. It is not a new problem to the world scene, but increasingly crucial to the United States. While al-Qaeda is the most current threat to many countries in the world and may seem impossible to put down, terrorist organizations have been defeated throughout history. Understanding the major causes of other group's demise may teach us useful skills in how to defeat the current problems. The most useful policies that have been effective in defeating terrorism have been policing, politicization, and military actions in corporation with …

Ecology Of Neotropical Arboreal Snakes And Behavior Of New World Mollusk-Eating Snakes, Julie M. Ray

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

The Neotropics is a biologically diverse region that provides man opportunities for ecological and behavioral studies. I utilized the speciose ophidian fauna of central Panama to explore the general ecology of arboreal snakes, the defensive behaviors of the snake community, and the diet of mollusk-eating snakes. I studied arboreal species to understand interspecilic relationships in several morphometric characters and to examine preferences in habitat. There were significant morphometric differences in relative length of jaw, mass, tail length, and size at midbody. The arboreal realm was partitioned among species by distance to ground, distance to water, and diameter of the perch. …

Wireless Personal Area Network-Based Assistance For The Visually Impaired, Kurt Matthew Peters

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

In this dissertation, a system allowing a visually impaired person to interact with his environment is developed using modern, low-power wireless communications techniques. With recent advances in wireless sensor networks, open-source operating systems, and embedded processing technology, low-cost devices have become practically feasible as a personal notification system for impaired people. Additionally, text-to-speech capabilities can now be employed without special application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), allowing low-cost, general-purpose processors to fill a niche that once required expensive semiconductors.

The system takes advantage of 802.15.4 and media access control (MAC) protocols offered by the open source operating system TinyOS. Important characteristics …

International Common Law: The Soft Law Of International Tribunals, Andrew T. Guzman, Timothy L. Meyer

Chicago Journal of International Law

This Article proceeds in four parts, including this introduction. Section II defines what we mean by soft law and lays out a theory explaining why states would choose to delegate to international tribunals the ability to make soft law. Section III explores the theory in the context of the UN Human Rights Committee. The Committee, whose jurisdiction is controlled by an Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ("ICCPR"), lacks the power to issue binding rulings interpreting states' obligations under the ICCPR. Its rulings interpreting the binding obligations contained in the ICCPR are thus a form …

Lorentz Violation And Alpha-Decay, Brett David Altschul

Faculty Publications

Relating the effective Lorentz violation coefficients for composite particles to the coefficients for their constituent fields is a challenging problem. We calculate the Lorentz violation coefficients relevant to the dynamics of an α particle in terms of proton and neutron coefficients. The α-particle coefficients would lead to anisotropies in the α decays of nuclei, and because the decay process involves quantum tunneling, the effects of any Lorentz violations could be exponentially enhanced.

Applying Mechanistic Understanding Of Optical Absorption And Scattering Phenomena To Enhance The Spectroscopic Analyses Of Pharmaceutical Materials, Zhenqi Shi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The dissertation uses spatially-resolved spectroscopy to separate absorption and scattering behaviors when NIR light interacts with pharmaceutical materials. The separated absorption and scattering were utilized to enhance mechanistic understanding of NIR diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and improve practical spectroscopic analysis in pharmaceutical applications.

Near-Infrared (NIR) chemical imaging based spatially-resolved spectroscopy was used to measure radially-diffused reflectance on pharmaceutical materials. A Monte Carlo simulation based partial least square (PLS) model was constructed to determine the absorption and reduced scattering coefficients in pharmaceutical samples from the measured radially-diffused reflectance.

The separated absorption and reduced scattering coefficients were combined with Monte Carlo simulation to …