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"If A Passage Could Be Found": The Power Of Myth (And Money) In North American Exploration, Brenden Rensink

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The popular lore of North American exploration and westward expansion has oft been woven with themes of heroic bravery, divine providence and Manifest Destiny. These tales indeed relate portions of actual history, but also offer insight into the self-perception and culture of the societies perpetuating them. As larger-than-life figures braved the "unknown" in the name of nation or creed, the motives behind their ventures often were not so singular. The ever-driving force of economic gain stood as a foundation for most expeditions. Simultaneously justifying the current expedition and providing support for future endeavors, explorers interested in self-preservation placed a premium …

Sci-Tech Book News Reviews, Susan Fingerman

Sci-Tech News

This section consists of 100 book reviews selected from Sci-Tech Book News, reprinted with the permission of Book News, Inc.

Opt Out: Women With Children Leaving Mid-Level Student Affairs Positions, Dana Hebreard

Dissertations

This phenomenological study is about the decision-making process of women with young children at the mid-level student affairs position who decide to opt out of their career for a minimum of one year, and for some, return to higher education. The study is based on interviews with 17 mid-level college administrators and mothers of young children, infant to pre-teen, who chose to opt out of their careers rather than continuing to balance family and career. Though the individuals interviewed were each unique in their socioeconomic status, education, and career path, their issues and concerns were similar. They openly revealed the …

The Rhetorical Significance Of Gojira, Shannon Victoria Stevens

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Gojira, commonly known as the "original" Godzilla movie, is a clear commentary on the horrors the Japanese people suffered during and after the dropping of nuclear bombs in their country at the end of World War II. The intent of this thesis is to demonstrate that Gojira is a rhetorical experience that permitted the Japanese to discuss the un-discussable--namely, the destruction of Japan caused by the awakening of the American "monster" of war and nuclear weapons. The thesis is argued in four chapters. Chapter one is the prospectus, chapter two provides historical context of the emergence of nuclear culture, …

Islands In The Stream: Searching For Structure In The Aboriginal Fishery Along The Snake River, Travis Jay Pitkin

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The ethnographic literature describing indigenous groups that traditionally inhabited the course of the Snake River commonly cites anadromous fish as an integral and seasonal part of their subsistence pursuit. This study maps known fishing sites and associated landscape variables along the Snake River. A Geographic Information System (GIS) is used to analyze known fishing sites within the framework of surrounding physiographic features as they related to fishing strategy, salmon behavior, and decisions regarding fishing site selection. Examining the immediate stretch of adjacent river, relevant physiographic features are identified, inventoried, and their intervals recorded. The locations of Snake River fishing sites …

Ucc Agenda, May 25, 2010, University Curriculum Council

UCC Agendas/Minutes

No abstract provided.

Today And Yesterday, Vol. 34, Summer 2010, Illinois State University, Department Of History

Today and Yesterday

Newsletter of the Illinois State University Department of History

Urban Crime In Latin America: A Case Study From Medellín, Colombia, Brian Kenneth Blickenstaff

Master's Theses

Medellín, Colombia, once among the most dangerous cities in the world has seen a sharp decrease in homicides since 2002. This thesis explores the geography of violence in Medellín from 2001 through 2005 with specific emphasis on two factors thought to have contributed to the city's drop in violence: Operación Orión, a police and military response to the bloodshed, and the 2003 disarmament and demobilization of the Bloque Cacique Nutibara paramilitary organization. A series of Paired Sample T-Tests show that Operación Orión and the paramilitary demobilization seem to have contributed to falling human rights abuses and homicides, respectively. Additionally, …

Economics Of Using Biomass Electric Power For Energy Application Of Light Commercial Building, Madan M. Nellore

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Due to increased concern on global warming coupled with dwindling supply of conventional fuels, attention has been focus ed recently on use of renewable energy resources. The energy derived from biomass has a great potential in meeting this challenge by use of the state of art technology in gasifiers. Commercial units recently placed in the market have a potential of using the energy available in the biomass in producing electric power as well as in meeting the other building loads most efficiently, with negligible environmental effect. Woody mass, switch grass, hazzle nut shells and other biomass wastes can be utilized …

Negotiating Everyday Islam After Socialism: A Study Of The Kazakhs Of Bayan-Ulgii, Mongolia, Namara Brede

Geography Honors Projects

Using ethnographic interviews and participant observations from the Kazakh community of Bayan-Ulgii, Mongolia in June 2009, this study examines how Islamic discourses, practices, experiences, and scales of influence are negotiated in post-socialist Central Asia. To do this, local, national, and transnational dynamics of Mongolian Kazakh religious practice are considered alongside the individual-scale mediating roles of personal preference, social position, life course, power, and social networks. Islam in Bayan-Ulgii is shown to be integral to community and ethnic identity but also multifaceted, dynamic, and multi-scalar, militating against essentialist portrayals of Islam as monolithic or dichotomously split between “high” and “low” forms.

The Suitability Of Lidar-Derived Forest Attributes For Use In Individual-Tree Distance-Dependent Growth-And-Yield Modeling, Hilary Alexis Londo

Theses and Dissertations

Studies have not been conducted examining the influence of the spatial distribution of LiDAR-derived tree measuresments and their affects the predictive ability of LiDAR-derived forest metrics as input for growth-and-yield analysis on individual trees. This study addresses both of these voids in current knowledge and determines the suitability, concerns and application of LiDAR for time-series analysis, specifically forest growth-and-yield. LiDAR datasets of the same site acquired in 1999, 2000, 2002, and 2006 by different vendors using different specifications were utilized in this study. Directional differences of Lidar-identified tree top locations were examined. Minimal location differences were noted, but no bias …

Assessing The Demand For Simplified Stormwater Modeling Tools Within The Design Profession To Facilitate The Adoption Of Sustainable Stormwater Practices, Austin Malone Moore

Theses and Dissertations

Stormwater runoff is a major environmental concern, particularly in urban environments. Trends in managing stormwater have evolved (and continue to evolve) from a quantity only approach into a sustainable approach, which integrates quantity, quality, the environment, and aesthetics. Best management practices (BMPs) and Low Impact Development (LID) are two well-documented techniques capable of managing to sustainable standards. There are a number of stormwater models available to design professionals today. However, there are few which integrate site-scale BMP/LID analysis in a simplified fashion. The purpose of this study is to determine if there is a demand in the design profession for …

Beyond Bigger And Better: Gilbert White And America's New Approach To Floodplain Management, Brian Edward Rumsey

Theses and Dissertations

Until the early twentieth century, Americans generally responded to the risk of floods by building protective levees. By the late 1800s, this approach was firmly entrenched in federal policy. Because of the singular focus on levees, floods actually became more severe, with a prime example occurring in 1927. The floods of 1927 demonstrated that levees-only was an untenable policy, but a new approach to managing flood risk took several decades to fully materialize. The geographer Gilbert Fowler White played a central role in developing the nation’s new approach to floods. In his 1945 doctoral dissertation, White laid out a multiaceted …

The Effect Of Guided Reading Instruction On Reading Achievement, Vanda Lea Underwood

Dissertations

Although reading achievement correlates highly with a student’s ability to do well in school, not all children achieve in reading. The purpose of this mixed-method study was to investigate whether reading instruction provided in small groups at the child’s own reading level, known as guided reading instruction, would result in significant improvement in the reading achievement of fourth- and fifth-grade students. Teachers’ commitment to and perception of guided reading instruction were also examined in the study district. The hypothesis was: Have student reading scores improved on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) in 2007 and 2008, after implementing guided reading …

Towards A U.S. Army Officer Corps Strategy For Success: Employing Talent, Casey Wardynski Colonel, Michael J. Colarusso Dr., David S. Lyle Colonel

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

Efficient talent employment is at the core of the Army Officer Human Capital Model. However, the Army’s current employment paradigm is unequal to the needs of a professional, volunteer Army facing the twin challenges of a competitive labor market and an increasingly complex global operating environment. It unduly prioritizes "fairness" when making assignments, has a narrowly defined pathway to senior leadership ranks, cannot see the talent it possesses, and suffers from severe principal-agent problems. Optimal employment theories, information age tools, and well-regulated market mechanisms can help the Army match individual officer talents against specific work requirements, reducing risk and achieving …

Implications Of A Changing Nato, Phillip R. Cuccia, Col (Ret) Dr

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

NATO officials plan to unveil the new NATO Strategic Concept during the Alliance’s summit in Portugal at the end of this year. This monograph focuses on the impact of what the Strategic Concept will have on the Alliance. This analysis describes recent trends within NATO and their implications. The monograph provides senior military and political leaders with a discussion of the changing composition of the NATO nations and the impact of these changes on the nature of the Alliance. This monograph describes four possible scenarios of what NATO could look like in the future in order to give senior leaders …

In The Most Friendly & Conciliatory Manner: A Proposed Final Version Of The Treaty Of Fort Laramie With Sioux, Etc., 1851, Charles D. Bernholz, Brian Pytlik Zillig

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

The Treaty of Fort Laramie with Sioux, etc., 1851 was one of the most important contracts formed between the federal government and the Indian tribes of the Great Plains. It served as more than just a continuation of federal Indian policy, initiated by the Lewis and Clark Expedition at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Rather, it was an attempt to protect those involved in the ever-increasing American expansion into the West by eliminating intertribal animosities and by setting rigid territorial boundaries for the tribes. Unfortunately, this critical document was never published in a correct final state. A Web site …

A General-Purpose Parallel Raster Processing Programming Library Test Application Using A Geographic Cellular Automata Model, Qingfeng Guan, Keith C. Clarke

Geography Program: Faculty Publications

A general-purpose parallel Raster Processing programming Library (pRPL) was developed and applied to speed up a commonly used Cellular Automaton model with known tractability limitations. The library is suitable for use by geographic information scientists with basic programming skills, but who lack knowledge and experience of parallel computing and programming. pRPL is a general-purpose programming library that provides generic support for raster processing, including local-scope, neighborhood-scope, regional-scope, and global-scope algorithms as long as they are parallelizable. The library also supports multi-layer algorithms. Besides the standard data domain decomposition methods, pRPL provides a spatially-adaptive quad-tree-based decomposition to produce more evenly distributed …

Understanding The Values Of Mobile Technology In Education: A Value-Focused Thinking Approach, Hong Sheng, Keng Siau, Fiona Nah

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Mobile technology has mobilized the human interaction in all dimensions by supporting mobile collaboration. As collaboration is key to learning in today's educational environment, mobile technology has tremendous potential in supporting and improving education and its delivery. Given that mobile technology for education is a new phenomenon that is gaining popularity, the values of using mobile technology to support education need to be further researched and better understood. In this research, we used the Value-Focused Thinking approach to interview students and instructors to identify the values of education that are enabled by mobile technology. These values are represented in the …

Observing And Modeling The Nocturnal Park Cool Island Of An Arid City: Horizontal And Vertical Impacts, Winston T. L. Chow, Ronald L. Pope, Anthony J. Brazel

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

We examined the horizontal and vertical nocturnal cooling influence of a small park with irrigated lawn and xeric surfaces (∼3 ha) within a university campus of a hot arid city. Temperature data from 0.01- to 3-m heights observed during a bicycle traverse of the campus were combined with modeled spatial temperature data simulated from a three-dimensional microclimate model (ENVI-met 3.1). A distinct park cool island, with mean observed magnitudes of 0.7–3.6°C, was documented for both traverse and model data with larger cooling intensities measured closer to surface level. Modeled results possessed varying but generally reasonable accuracy in simulating both spatial …

A Realistic Mobility Model For Wireless Networks Of Scale-Free Node Connectivity, Sunho Lim, Chansu Yu, Chita R. Das

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Recent studies discovered that many of social, natural and biological networks are characterised by scale-free power-law connectivity distribution. We envision that wireless networks are directly deployed over such real-world networks to facilitate communication among participating entities. This paper proposes Clustered Mobility Model (CMM), in which nodes do not move randomly but are attracted more to more populated areas. Unlike most of prior mobility models, CMM is shown to exhibit scale-free connectivity distribution. Extensive simulation study has been conducted to highlight the difference between Random WayPoint (RWP) and CMM by measuring network capacities at the physical, link and network layers.

Influence Of Anchoring On Miscarriage Risk Perception Associated With Amniocentesis, Regina A. Nuccio

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

INFLUENCE OF ANCHORING ON MISCARRIAGE RISK PERCEPTION ASSOCIATED WITH AMNIOCENTESIS Publication No. ___________ Regina Nuccio, BS Supervisory Professor: Claire N. Singletary, MS, CGC Amniocentesis is the most common invasive procedure performed during pregnancy (Eddleman, et al., 2006). One important factor that women consider when making a decision about amniocentesis is the risk of miscarriage associated with the procedure. People use heuristics such as anchoring, the action of using a prior belief regarding the magnitude of risk as a frame of reference for new information to be synthesized, to better understand risks that they encounter in their lives. This study aimed …

Citizenship Education In Kenya: A Content Analysis Of State-Sponsored Social Studies Instructional Materials, Anna Mukhongo

All Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not the principal citizenship issues identified by scholars as significant with regard to the African experience were addressed in state-endorsed Kenyan social studies instructional materials. This study also determined whether or not the treatment of the principal citizenship issues was consistent with the recommendations in the citizenship literature. In addition, this study analyzed and evaluated the pedagogical exercises present in social studies instructional materials.
A qualitative content analysis was used for the study. Content in the social studies materials was read iteratively to determine patterns and generate themes. The generated …

The Regulatory Roots Of The 2007 Financial Crisis, Jane Coetsee

All Dissertations

ABSTRACT
The rate of home ownership in the US had remained around 65% since the end of the Second World War. Between 1994 and 2006 the rate of home ownership climbed to 69%. In 2006, the combined assets of the top 5 bank holding companies were $6 trillion. Between 2007 and 2009 almost $2 trillion of bank assets evaporated as widespread mortgage defaults triggered a crisis. The pressing question is why were so many bad loans originated in the first place and what induced firms and investors to hold them? The primary mortgage market is intensely regulated and the secondary …

May 2010 Commencement Program, Bowling Green State University

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Comm-Entary, Spring 2010 - Full Issue

Comm-entary

In this issue:

Voluntary Surveillance: Privacy, Identity and the Rise of Social Panopticism in the Twenty-First Century by Jake Nevrla

Dialogic Advancements in Psychotherapy by Michelle Laffoon

Corey Johnson: A Football Captain and a Gay Male by Nina DiCenso

Dexter: Multiple Personalities by Dustin Somero

Intersexuality in Women’s Sports: The Case of Caster Semenya by Kayla Timmons

Perspectives: The Culture of Underage Drinking at UNH by Sabrina Clark, Kelley Stenberg, Hope Fortier, & Camille Quarles

Performing Maternity: Limiting the Role of the Individual Woman in Abortion Discourses by Katie Ramsay

The Mass Media Deity: the Repercussions of Barack Obama’s Campaign …

Post-Copenhagen Negotiation Issues And The North-South Divide, John Whalley, Sean Walsh

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Tetrahydroisoquinoline Neurotoxins In Parkinson Disease, Michael G. Decuypere

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

The goal of this dissertation work was to (1) determine the distribution of several tetrahydroisoquinoline (TIQ) derivatives in rodent, normal human and Parkinson disease (PD) brain, (2) quantify the levels of these TIQ derivatives in common food sources in an effort to link specific food intake patterns with the development of PD and (3) examine the neurotoxicity of select TIQ derivatives in human dopaminergic cell culture. The TIQs are a family of monoamine alkaloids that share structural homology with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahyrdropyridine (MPTP), can be formed from dopamine or its oxidized metabolites and may be involved in the pathogenesis of monoaminergic cell …

T-Cell Receptor Cdr3 Sequence But Not Recognition Characteristics Distinguish Autoreactive Effector And Foxp3+ Regulatory T-Cells, Xin Liu

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Regulatory T-cells (Treg) play an important role in maintaining immune tolerance to self-antigens and in suppressing excessive immune responses in the host. The source, specificity, and plasticity of the forkhead box transcription factor 3 (Foxp3⁺) Treg and conventional T (Tconv) cell populations active at sites of autoimmune pathology are not well characterized. To evaluate this, we combined global repertoire analyses and functional assessments of isolated T-cell receptors (TCR) from TCRa retrogenic mice with autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Treg and Tconv cell TCR repertoires were distinct, and autoantigen-specific Treg and Tconv cells were enriched in diseased tissue. Autoantigen sensitivity and …

A Spatio-Temporal Analysis Of Landscape Change Within The Eastern Terai, India: Linking Grassland And Forest Loss To Change In River Course And Land Use, Tanushree Biswas

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Land degradation is one of the most important drivers of landscape change around the globe. This dissertation examines land use-land cover change within a mosaic landscape in Eastern Terai, India, and shows evidence of anthropogenic factors contributing to landscape change. Land use and land cover change were examined within the Alipurduar Subdivision, a representative of the Eastern Terai landscape and the Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary, a protected area nested within Alipurduar through the use of multi-temporal satellite data over the past 28 years (1978 – 2006).

This study establishes the potential of remote sensing technology to identify the drivers of landscape …