Digital Commons Network^™

Avoiding Tough Policy Choices In An Influenza Pandemic: The Role Of Kettl's Rocket Science Model In Public Health, Danny Lambert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The security and social inequality approaches to public health present distinct answers to policy objectives relative to a pandemic. However, each approach leaves us with tough choices between the most valued objectives. I demonstrate how the networked approach, which Kettl's Rocket Science Model (RSM) exemplifies, does not leave us with such choices. Furthermore, I connect the epidemiological concepts public health practitioners apply toward communicable disease pandemics to RSM concepts. Finally, drawing on the disease parameters of a worst-case scenario influenza pandemic, I demonstrate how the networked approach helps public health practitioners expand capacity such that tough choices are unnecessary.

Investigating Instructors' Conceptions Of Evolution Through The Development Of The Classroom Test Of Evolutionary Reasoning, Patricia Eileen Palko

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In order to assess the evolutionary understanding of high school biology teachers, an instrument entitled the Classroom Test of Evolutionary Reasoning (CTER) was developed. Content, response process, relations to another variable (the Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection, or CINS), and internal structure evidence were compiled. The second version of the CTER was found to have adequate reliability and validity estimates to allow it to continue to be used as a measurement tool for an understanding of evolution. When assessing a sample of teachers (n = 724), the mean score was 6.35 out of a possible 13 points. The sample was …

Ruling With Rules: Electoral Institutions And Authoritarian Resilience In The Middle East, Andrew Barwig

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

What explains the resilience of authoritarian regimes in the face of regular competitive elections that ostensibly should promote democratic transitions? This dissertation examines both why and how parliamentary elections in Jordan and Morocco have served to reinforce these two Arab monarchies. In doing so, it develops a framework in which the degree of cohesion among incumbent and opposition elites shape electoral system design and, in turn, particular electoral rules structure mass political attitudes and elite configurations. The main argument is that lower electoral thresholds generate unique electoral environments in which patronage politics thrive and opposition-based politics falter, thus producing a …

A Pastoral Theology Of Congregational Care And Leadership: Nurturing Emergence, Carol P. Jeunnette

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As with all bodies, congregational bodies experience challenges to their health, well-being, and ability to function as they desire. Problems in faith communities range from severe, intractable conflict to lethargy and decline, with far-ranging effects. The practice of offering pastoral care to individuals experiencing difficulties is rooted deeply in the Judeo-Christian tradition. There is, however, no explicit tradition of pastoral care for corporate congregational bodies experiencing difficulties. This dissertation draws on Bowen Family Systems Theory and its application by Edwin Friedman to congregations and leadership, in conjunction with aspects of process theology, to develop a pastoral theology of congregational care …

The Role Of The Epistemic Community In Influencing Privacy Legislation: The United States And The European Union, George Edward Richie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Threats to individual privacy from computer information, database, and surveillance technologies of the mid-20th century prompted the formation of a privacy epistemic community that informed and influenced privacy policy and legislation in the United States and the European Union. Because the United States was more advanced in computer technology than the European nations, awareness of privacy issues, and the privacy epistemic community, emerged first in the United States---and migrated to Europe a generation later. The United States legislated the Privacy Act of 1974, which became the benchmark for individual privacy protection in the United States. While several European nations passed …

Deconstructing Collective Identities And Violence: Analytical Perspectives From Indonesia, Brandon Scott Sternquist

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study is to establish a more applied, analytical approach to analyses of collective identity and violence while providing insights into the dynamics of the regions of Indonesia considered. By focusing on two regions of Indonesia - Aceh and Kalimantan - which are populated by distinct peoples and have experienced violence in contemporary times, this study contributes to the expanding literature on the social dynamics of identity and violence. To ensure a more practical approach within the study, concepts and frameworks which have contributed to discussions of the nature of identity and acts of violence are utilized. …

Authenticating Người Mỹ Gốc Việt: Vietnamese Americans And The Struggle For Identity, Jennifer Huynh Thi Anh Morrison

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a critical investigation of the politics of identity among the U.S. diasporic Vietnamese community, in particular, the discourse of authenticity that has been prevalent in the community and its (in)adequacy as a means of displacing racialization and othering as a minoritized community. Using a critical phenomenological approach, the study consisted of interviews with 14 Vietnamese subjects currently living in the U.S. whose family heritage(s) are traceable, in part or in whole, to Vietnam and/or who are racially marked as bearers of Vietnamese culture. A thematic analysis of the interviewees' personal stories uncovered three ideological challenges to authenticating …

Dancing Power: Examining Identity Through Native American Powwow, Kresta-Leigh Opperman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study considers how inter-tribal Indian identity formed though historic circumstances and how it is negotiated and maintained by contemporary Native Americans. Specifically, it considers identity formation and negotiation through the inter-tribal dance event, powwow. Further, it considers how and if men and women participate in this identity formation and negotiation differently. Finally, it considers how this identity is useful for urban Indian populations living outside of tribal lands and who, in some cases, have little involvement in more traditional, or tribal, settings.

William Shakespeare And Chinua Achebe: A Study Of Character And The Supernatural, Kenneth N. Usongo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how Shakespeare and Achebe use supernatural devices such as prophecies, dreams, beliefs, divinations and others to create complex characters. Even though these features are indicative of the preponderance of the belief in the supernatural by some people of the Elizabethan, Jacobean and traditional Igbo societies, Shakespeare and Achebe primarily use the supernatural to represent the states of mind of their protagonists.

Through an essentially New Historicist approach to the study of character and the supernatural in the tragedies and novels of Shakespeare and Achebe respectively, I argue that both writers, besides using supernatural features to explore the …

Closer To The Heart: An Exploration Of Caring And Creative Visual Arts Classrooms, Juli B. Kramer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study demonstrates how caring and creative secondary level visual arts classes facilitate the development of learning environments that enliven and expect the best of students; help them develop as autonomous and creative learners; provide them opportunities to care for others and the world around them; and keep them connected to their schools and education. It highlights how the intentions and operations of teachers impact student learning, creative risk taking, and interpersonal relations within and beyond the classroom. It also uncovers novel ways of thinking about arts education as a means to enhance positive individual and social development and vividly …

Divination In 1 Samuel 28 And Beyond: An African Study In The Politics Of Translation, J.Kabamba Kiboko

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the language of divination in the HB, particularly in 1 Samuel 28:3-27--the oft-called "Witch of Endor" passage. My thesis is that much of the vocabulary of divination in this passage and beyond has been mistranslated in authorized English and other translations used in Africa and in scholarly writings. I argue that the woman of Endor is not a witch, which is a label that has a long negative social history and has often led to violence against those so labeled. The woman of Endor is, rather, a diviner, much like other ancient Near Eastern and modern African …

Constructing A Neuroscientific Pastoral Theology Of Fear And Hope, Jason C. Whitehead

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Contemporary therapeutic circles utilize the concept of anxiety to describe a variety of disorders. Emotional reductionism is a detriment to the therapeutic community and the persons seeking its help. This dissertation proposes that attention to the emotion of fear clarifies our categorization of particular disorders and challenges emotional reductionism. I propose that the emotion of fear, through its theological relationship to hope, is useful in therapeutic practice for persons who experience trauma and PTSD.

I explore the differences between fear and anxiety by deconstructing anxiety. Through this process, I develop four categories which help the emotion of fear stand independent …

From Frat To Fraternity: An Evolutionary Model For 21st Century Greek-Letter Organizations, Matthew Charles Brinton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fraternities and sororities have been fixtures of American collegiate campuses since the founding of Phi Beta Kappa in 1776. Since that time the wants, needs, aspirations and desires of the college student has continually evolved. In an effort to keep up with the evolution of the student, Greek-letter organizations (GLOs) have needed to find ways of evolving as well. As we jump head-first into the 21st century and beyond these great bastions of the collegiate experience are again in need of a face-lift to meet the needs of the latest generation of students. Now, more than ever, it is time …

Images Of Sub-Saharan Africa And Africans In Western Media, Cherice Joyann Estes

Theses Digitization Project

This study will show that news coverage of Africa is very limited and not proportional to either the continent's population or the number of African countries. Popular culture tends to portray Africa and Africans as primitive and uncivilized. This thesis will show how these representations have severe political consequences in a case study of the Rwandan Genocide. The Western media's portrayal of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide was mischaracterized by the use of old colonial tropes that facilitated western countries' failure to act.

Using Technology To Enhance Back To School Night, Heidi Balatico Dacio

Theses Digitization Project

This project was intended to build communication between the school and the home. With the use of a multimedia presentation, DVD, school and classroom expectations were communicated to the parents. A survey was given to first grade parents to determine whether this DVD would be beneficial. The results of that survey showed that there was a need, and parents were wanting information in areas of school and classroom expectations, academic standards, disciplining students, and character development. Through the Assessment, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation process (ADDIE), a DVD presentation was designed, developed, and implemented to communicate these learning objectives.

Environmental Enrichment Attenuates Nucleus Basalis Lesion Induced Impairments To Attention, Brandee Leianne Kinney-Hurd

Theses Digitization Project

This experiment examined the effects of environmental enrichment on performance in an attention-dependent learning task in rats with selective lesions of the cholinergic nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM). The findings demonstrate that environmental enrichment can enhance attention-dependent learning performance in normal animals as well as attenuating NBM lesion-induced impairments otherwise seen following rearing in standard conditions.

A Review Of Emerging Pollutants Of Concern In Drinking Water And Wastewater, Rebekah Corinne Guill

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project is to identify emerging pollutants of concern in wastewater and drinking water and the challenges associated with their discovery. The most frequently detected contaminants taking the spotlight included pharmacueticals, personal care products, and endocrine disprupting chemicals at ultra trace levels.

An Open Source Graphics Engine For Three-Dimensional Video Games, David Lee Gardner Stover

Theses Digitization Project

The focus of this project is creating a new three dimensional (3D) game called Mythic which was developed at CSUSB. To support Mythic, a new game engine called Geng which is derived from "game" and "engine" is also being developed in the School of Computer Science and Engineering at CSUSB. MAGE, called the Multi-platform All purpose Graphics Engine provides support for keyframe animation, Cg, vertex and fragment shaders GLSL vertex and fragment shaders, loading static models stored in the Collada file format. The architecture of MAGE is based on a unified 3D graphics API that hides the specific implementation details …

Men's Subjective Distress To A Partner's Imagined Indifelity: Testing Evolutionary And Social-Cogntive Hypotheses, Tanner Michael Carollo

Theses Digitization Project

Despite the ability of evolutionary psychology to account of sex differences in infidelity distress, it is challenged to explain the repeated finding that a large number of men do not select sexual infidelity as more distressing than emotional infidelity. The research goal of this thesis was to examine theoretically relevant individual difference variables in men that could possibly account for their reported distress to imagining a romantic partner's sexual and emotional infidelity.

An Evaluation Of Lead Concentrations In Surface Soils And Sediments Within Lytle Creek Drainage Basin, Harvey Clark Norton

Theses Digitization Project

This paper represents a master's project that is a preliminary surface soil survey of the Lytle Creek sub-Watershed, near Devore, California. The sub-Watershed is a recreational site within the San Bernardino National Forest. This study was undertaken to determine the concentration of lead and lead salts within the soils and sediments within the watershed, and to determine if these products pose a threat to the health of the local environment and human consumers from the watershed. Possible sources of lead contamination include natural background geology, contamination of historical use of gasoline with lead additives, and the presence of outdoor shooting …

Implementing The 2005 American Heart Association Guidelines, Including Use Of The Impedance Threshold Device, Improves Hospital Discharge Rate After In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest, Ken Thigpen, Scott Davis, Roberta Basol, Peggy Lange, Sandeep Jain, John Olsen, Bernard Erickson, Timothy Schuchard, Tom P. Aufderheide

Articles

OBJECTIVE:

To determine the impact of the 2005 American Heart Association cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) guidelines, including use of an impedance threshold device (ITD), on survival after in-hospital cardiac arrest.

METHODS:

Two community hospitals that tracked outcomes after in-hospital cardiac arrest pooled and compared their hospital discharge rate before and after implementing the 2005 American Heart Association CPR guidelines (including ITD) in standardized protocols. In CPR we used the proper ventilation rate, allowed full chest-wall recoil, conducted continuous CPR following intubation, and used an ITD. We compared historical control data from a 12-month period at St Cloud Hospital, St Cloud, Minnesota, …

Indiana State University Financial Report 2010, Indiana State University

Financial Reports

No abstract provided.

In-Vivo Testing Of Vertically Aligned Nanowire Implantable Titanium Electrodes In The Rattus Norvegicus Hippocampus, Lauren Kegley

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

Miniaturized multielectrode arrays are MEMS devices that have found use as neural prosthetics (Neuro-MEMS). As implants, they can interface with neurons as sensors or actuators and help compensate for loss of sensory input, motor control, or cognitive functions. The microelectrodes studied here were developed in-house. They have a vertically aligned gold nanowire array and are mounted on a sturdy titanium needle with a fine gauge. Hence, the bill of materials and design characteristics encourage their use as a neural probe. For this study, a probe was tested in vivo for signal acquisition in the hippocampus of a Rattus Norvegicus (Sprague …

The Development Of The Role Of The Spectator In Kant’S Thinking: The Evolution Of The Copernican Revolution, Gerard Kuperus

Philosophy

In this paper I discuss the development of Kant’s Critical project in the pre-critical writings. I am particularly focusing upon the problems that Kant encounters in developing the idea of a transcendental subject. This helps us to understand the radical nature of Kant’s project in which he not merely turns around the relationship between subject and object, but also has to redefine the nature of the subject. The development of the subject starts with Kant’s idea of an observer who actively determines qualities in the object (instead of passively taking it in). Ultimately the spectator becomes a subject that is …

2010 Annual Report, The Jackson Laboratory

Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

The Luminous Halo: The Place Of Language In The Waves And The Years, Rachel Luban

Honors Papers

Can words ever express a truth beyond language? Virginia Woolf explores this persistent question most directly in two of her late novels, The Waves and The Years. The two appear to sit at opposite ends of the spectrum of her writing, The Waves embodying interiority and vision and The Years embodying exteriority and fact. The apparent realism of The Years, following on the heels of the impressionism of The Waves, has caused many critics to dismiss it as an aberration. But in fact the later novel is far from a regression to traditional realism: it takes up where its predecessor …

Snakes Alive, Mary W. Bridgman

The Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Journal of Florida Literature

No abstract provided.

Codium Fragile Ssp. Fragile (Suringar) Hariot Summary Document, Samantha D. Bridgwood

Fisheries Research Reports

Codium fragile ssp. fragile is a large branching green alga which typically grows between 15 to 60 cm tall but can attain almost 1 m in length and weigh up to 3.5 kg. In wave exposed areas the C. fragile ssp. fragile plants tends to be shorter as they undergo more frequent fragmentation (D’Amours & Scheibling 2007).

Discerning Differences Among Producer Groups And Organic Adoption Barriers In Texas, Michael Lau, Roger Hanagriff, Douglass Constance, Mary York, Brian Vandelist, Lindsey M. Higgins

Agribusiness

While nationwide growth in the production of organic agricultural products has seen rapid expansion, the number of certified organic operations in Texas has remained relatively stagnant. Evidence shows a shift in consumer’s demands toward organic products, yet Texas producers have been comparatively slow to respond to this shift. A survey was distributed to a random sample of 4,006 Texas producers as a means of understanding the perceived barriers of adoption of organic production practices in Texas,. Emphasis was placed on perceived production and market barriers to organic production and differences in perceived barriers among producer groups. The results provide guidance …

Moral Agency In Mammalia, Mark D. Reid

Between the Species

About the extent of moral agency in the animal kingdom, one view is that only humans are moral agents. Holding a different view, I argue that moral agency depends on the capacity for other-regard and the capacity to be attuned to significance—such that things matter to one. I derive a criterion where a creature is a moral agent if she performs an action that promotes others’ significant interests and brings great costs to herself where she is aware of these significant interests and imposed costs. Failure to confirm that she has this awareness is a weakness of examples of moral …