Digital Commons Network^™

Technical Efficiency Of Farmers In Ethiopia: A Stochastic Production Frontier Approach, Askal Ayalew Ali

Masters Theses

This study is to investigate the farmer's efficiency in Ethiopia. The stochastic production function is applied to estimate the technical efficiency of farmers. Using 2006 survey data conducted by the World Bank in collaboration with Ethiopian Economic Policy Research Institute, shows that farmers produce under the production frontier, and the average technical efficiency of the farmers is 62.4 percent. Variation in efficiency comes from many factors, however, this study focuses on extension program participation, education, and land ownership. Lack of extension program and education cause inefficiencies of 59.8 percent and 60.21 percent respectively. Land ownership is found to have mixed …

Rhetorical Grammar And You: A Study Of First-Year Composition Papers, Kristi Mcduffie

Masters Theses

Traditional grammar instruction prescribes that you should be used only to address the actual reader of the text in academic writing; even the direct address is to be used sparingly. Yet an examination of published writing in a variety of genres shows that experienced writers use you in a variety of ways-to refer to the writer, a third person, anyone, and to illustrate a hypothetical, habitual, or proverbial situation, and more. Based on previous scholarship and published examples, I create categories of the referents and functions of you that are used today in spoken and written English. Then, I apply …

Frederick Douglass: The Man, His Words And His Legacy As A Master Rhetorician, Tameka Lashean Johnson

Masters Theses

This thesis offers a synthesis of existing research regarding not only Frederick Douglass· literacy in the slave narrative genre. but also an Aristotelian analysis of his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself (1845). Dougiass' challenge is to reach an audience not only of abolitionists, but also of free blacks who are more grounded in the vernacular tradition than equal to his own considerable skills in rhetorical literary construction.

My research addresses the problem that existing research inadequately considers the degree to which Douglass uses his awareness of the audience and employs rhetoric in …

You're Not Really Black Unless You've Been Shot-- Or So Says Black Urban Fiction, Erin A. Talley

Masters Theses

This essay seeks to identify the injurious and hedonistic patterns that emerge from contemporary black urban fiction, reinforcing negative stereotypes. This essay comments on codes that establish a sense of authenticity as well as trends of isolationism and essentialist narratives published as the unsuccessful progeny of didactic novels written to highlight conditions in underrepresented minority communities. Through a critical examination of earlier literary movements, this essay proposes that contemporary black urban literature grows less culturally conscious and less aesthetically aware in its pursuit of commercial success than the African American canonical texts that grounded cultural realism and literary experimentation.

Performance, Spectacle, Text: The Court Masques Of Samuel Daniel, Donica Martin Miller

Masters Theses

This thesis is an examination of two early seventeenth century court masques commissioned by Queen Anna and composed by the court poet and playwright, Samuel Daniel. The thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter presents a brief history of the court masque as a genre and examines the context of each of Daniel's masques. The second and third chapters focus on The Vision of the Twelve Goddesses and Tethys' Festival in relation to the dancers, costumes, sets and politics surrounding the performances. By exploring the political events behind the composition of each masque, readers may gain a more …

Influential Factors Contributing To Compliance And/Or Non-Compliance With The Gluten-Free Diet For Celiac Disease Individuals, Jill Barnes

Masters Theses

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the influential factors of compliance and/or non-compliance with the gluten-free diet (GFD) for celiac disease (CD) individuals.

Methods: The data collection instrument was a self-developed survey using kwiksurveys.com. The data were collected via online survey distribution to CD support group facilitators in nine Midwestern states. CD support group facilitators assisted snowball sampling by distributing the online survey to other members of the support groups. Qualitative data from survey question 12 was reviewed for themes and patterns and discussed in a narrative form. Statistical analysis of the data was done using SPSS …

Food Selection Trends And Requirements Of Students Participating In The National School Lunch Program, Patrick Ona

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine if students that participated in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) were receiving an excessive or inadequate amount of macronutrients and micronutrients set by SMI nutrient standards and 2005 Dietary Guidelines. There were four research objectives regarding food selection trends, School Meals Initiative (SMI), 2005 Dietary Guidelines, and competitive foods. The researcher hypothesized the food selections by school-aged children would not meet the SMI nutrient standards and 2005 Dietary Guidelines.

The study was a cross-section observational study that used a self-developed observation checklist. Quantitative data was gathered over the course of 5 …

The Relative Age Effect In Junior College Baseball, Thomas C. Beals

Masters Theses

Previous research has suggested that older athletes within age groupings are often perceived to be more talented simply due to advanced maturity. This perception leads to biased selection to higher levels of competition and skewed participation rates favoring the oldest participants among groups. This resulting skewed distribution is termed Relative Age Effect (RAE). While RAE has been studied in various sports and multiple settings, college athletics has not been extensively studied. In addition, athletic organizations associated with academic institutions often group their participants according to their academic status, not strictly by age. This factor, termed Academic Timing, can result in …

Beautiful Torment: Interpreting Dissonance And Text-Painting In Selected Sacred Choral Works Of William Byrd And Carlo Gesualdo, Janet M. Mccumber

Masters Theses

The end of the sixteenth century was filled with social, religious, and political turmoil; and yet, the musical atmosphere in England and Italy was conducive to new ideas in text-setting and chromatic inflection that had not been seen in previous eras. This thesis takes an interdisciplinary approach in looking at two late sixteenth-century composers, William Byrd and Carlo Gesualdo, and describes their personal and political sufferings and how these torments may have affected their compositional styles.

Brief explorations of England and Catholicism in the time of the Protestant Reformation, the Mannerist movement in the arts, the movement toward chromaticism in …

Abdominal Muscle Activation And Caloric Expenditure: Ab Circle Versus Traditional Exercise Modalities, Maranda Rehg

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to compare the activation of the rectus abdominis, external oblique abdominis, lower abdominal stabilizers, and lumbar erector spinae during performance of traditional exercises (i.e. abdominal crunch, side bridge, and quadruped) versus the Ab Circle device. The caloric expenditure during an absolute work level on a treadmill versus the Ab Circle was also investigated. Twelve volunteers (6 men, 6 women) between the ages of19 and 37 were recruited to participate in this study. Prior to the experiment, subjects attended one familiarization session during which demographic information (age, height, body mass) was recorded and body fat …

Triad Fantasy: Score And Analysis, Wayne A. Buck

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Of Computer-Assisted And Peer-Partner Practice In Treble-Staff Note Recognition, Pammala K. Goodenough

Masters Theses

This study compared the effectiveness of computer-assisted practice and peer-partner practice in treble-staff note recognition. Six 3rd-grade classes participated in 3 sessions, each including a 2-minute pre-test, a lesson on treble staff notes, a 10-minute practice drill, and a 2-minute post-test. During practice, half the students used the online Note Trainer from Ricci Adams ' Musictheory. net to practice identifying notes, while the other half practiced with a partner using flashcards of the notes of the treble staff. Results showed the computer students averaged over twice as many correct answers as the peer practice group at the end of the …

Childe Rowland: Fairy Tale To Tone Poem: An Original Composition And Analysis, David Trent Mason

Masters Theses

My thesis project is an orchestral tone poem on the fairy tale "Childe Rowland," and an analysis of the piece. In this document, I discuss the history and evolution of program music, as well as analyze my composition. In the analysis, I examine form, programmatic elements, harmonic structure, melodic structure, and rhythm and meter. In the form analysis, I show leitmotifs I created to represent characters and places, discuss motives and figures, and illustrate the form of the piece in graphs. To examine the programmatic aspects of the composition, I discuss the function of each leitmotif. Techniques such as thematic …

Halfway Around The World In 33 Days: The Creation Of Short Videos, Tasha Brown

Masters Theses

This project reports on the development and execution of a series of webisodes to promote study abroad through the discussion of pre-production, production, and post-production phases of video production. The target countries were New Zealand and Australia. The pre­production phase includes a review of previous research on study abroad with an emphasis on the issues and tactics used to encourage students to venture overseas. It also includes a summary report of qualitative and quantitative research conducted to identify specific Eastern Illinois University student's concerns about study abroad. The production section summarizes the actual fieldwork for this project. The post-production section …

Ready, Set, Grow!: Planting The Seeds For A Targeted Networking Approach For Rural Businesses In Clark County, Illinois, Nora L. Swalls

Masters Theses

The purpose of this creative thesis consisted of starting a targeted networking approach for businesses in Clark County, Illinois. A plan was designed and the first activity was accomplished by having a "Clark County Business Networking Dinner" which involved a complimentary meal, focus group discussions, a guest speaker and representatives from local, regional and state resources. The focus group discussion provided me and Community and Economic Development leaders with information regarding the specific needs and concerns of area businesses. After assessing the information provided from the focus groups at the dinner an educational follow-up workshop called "Ready, Set, GROW!" was …

Harnessing The Power Of Social Media: Understanding The Use Of Social Media For Crisis Communication, Amanda Fountain

Masters Theses

Organizations have been facing crises for years. However, the nature of crisis is changing with the onset of social media. Therefore, organizations need to understand, adapt to, and monitor social media sites to better prepare for crises. Additionally, social media can be used to respond to crises. By harnessing the power of social media, organizations can develop a more comprehensive and effective crisis communication plan. This thesis focuses on two case studies to illustrate the dangers and benefits of social media. The first case focuses on an uproar within a specific community on Twitter in response to a Motrin advertisement. …

Does Evolutionary Exposure Mediate Allelopathic Effects?, Nikki Leigh Pisula

Masters Theses

Allelopathy most commonly refers to chemically mediated plant interference, though the effects may range from beneficial to inhibitory. Allelopathy has been suggested as a potential mechanism for invasion success because invasive species may produce allelochemicals that are evolutionarily novel to recipient communities. To test for evolutionary mediation of allelopathy, six target species were grown in a factorial experiment with and without activated carbon or a native allelopathic species, Solidago canadensis (Canada goldenrod). I used activated carbon to remove allelochemicals to separate allelopathic effects from resource competition. The species represented pairs of evolutionary experienced (native - N) and evolutionarily na'ive (non-native …

Effects Of Forest Edges On Population Dynamics In A Successional System, Kimberly Anne Lang

Masters Theses

Abandoned agricultural land is often bound by remnant woodlands which may locally influence successional dynamics. The primary objective of this study was to examine the effect of an old-growth forest edge on plant population dynamics within a successional system. Data from the Buell-Small Succession Study (BSS) in New Jersey were used to analyze population dynamics in relation to the forest edge during the first 50 years of succession following agriculture. It was hypothesized that edge responses would be driven by either differential colonization (dispersal and establishment) or differential performance (increase within plots).

By looking at individual species' edge responses, I …

Soil Variability And Its Influence On Plant Performance, Jeremy R. Klass

Masters Theses

During recorded history, nearly all temperate deciduous forests in eastern North America have seen extensive agricultural land-use conversions. Persistent influences of agricultural disturbance continue to shape the diversity and composition of the plant community long after agriculture has ceased. While some measures of ecosystem functioning may recover relatively quickly from agricultural disturbance, other characteristics such as levels of organic matter, carbon, and phosphorus, may remain different from primary forests for much longer periods. The alteration of the original ecosystem due to agriculture practices has far reaching impacts on biotic and nutrient dynamics along with causing significant shifts in community composition …

Degradation Of Organic Matter In Water In The Presence Of Catalyst And Uv Radiation, Bimali Bandaranayake

Masters Theses

Organic contaminants specially dyes, presents in water is a major environmental problem. Organic compounds can be degraded completely in the presence of photocatalysts and UV radiation. The kinetics of degradation of three dyes was studied using a variety of UV photocatalytic materials. The dyes (methylene blue, malachite green, chrysodoine R) were chosen based on their polarity differences. Catalysts consisting of pure TiO2, mixed oxides of TiO2 containing SiO2, and others containing SiO2 and iron oxide, SiO2/ ZrO2/ CeO2, and CeO2/SiO2 were studied. The TiO2/ SiO2 and SiO2/ZrO2/CeO2 catalysts exhibited the highest degradation rates for methylene blue. The more hydrophobic pure …

Nanoporous High Surface Area Silicas With Chelating Groups For Heavy Metal Ion Adsorption From Aqueous Solution, Kothalawalage Nuwan Kothalawala

Masters Theses

Nanoporous high surface area silicas are an ideal substrate for the design of materials with useful properties via chemical surface modification. The adsorption of heavy metals for contaminated water detoxification is one potential application. In this work we have used three different kinds of silica substrates with varying pore structures; commercially available narrow pore and wide pore silica gels, as well as surfactant templated mesoporous SBA-15 exhibiting a relatively narrow pore size distribution. These silicas have each been subjected to post-synthesis modification with an organosilane consisting of ethylenediamine triacetic acid functionalities for chelation/adsorption of metal ions from aqueous solution. The …

Ditopic Dithiophosphonates And Their Related Rotaxanes, Robert Ray Baum Jr.

Masters Theses

Grafting dithiophosphonate groups onto a naphthalenediimide core yields anionic axles, which in conjunction with the 15DN38C10 crown ether and cationic metallic systems generate neutral bimetallic rotaxanes. The association constant for the rotaxane system was calculated by the single-point method using 1H NMR spectroscopy. Metallic systems reacted with our anionic axles were SnMe3, SnPh3, Cu(PPH3)i, SnMe2, and SnPh2. The structures of several axle-metal complexes and one rotaxane were obtained by X-ray crystallography.

Ask The Professor: Portfolio Margining – How Will Dodd-Frank Impact Its Utilization?, Ronald Filler

Articles & Chapters

This article analyzes the background and current status of portfolio margining, how it has evolved over the past several years, and how the recent Dodd-Frank Act will impact its utilization and effectiveness. Portfolio margining allows a broker-dealer to analyze a client's total overall portfolio from a risk-based analytical model, establishing the proper minimum initial margin requirements for the entire portfolio applying certain parameters. To be a more effective tool, changes to the U.S. Bankrupcty Code were needed. The Dodd-Frank Act made those legislative changes. It's now up to the regulators to make portfolio margining an even more effective and utilized …

Introduction: In Praise Of Martin Chanock, Stephen Ellmann, Heinz Klug, Penelope Andrews

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Global Justice, Poverty And The International Economic Order, Robert Howse, Ruti G. Teitel

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

The Undergraduate 2010, Saint Mary's College Of California

The Undergraduate Spectrum

No abstract provided.

Spectrum 2010, Saint Mary's College Of California

The Undergraduate Spectrum

No abstract provided.

Arkansas Soybean Performance Tests 2009, D. G. Dombeck, R. D. Bond, I. L. Eldridge, R. M. Pryor

Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Series

Soybean variety and strain performance tests are conducted each year in Arkansas by the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Arkansas Crop Variety Improvement Program. The tests provide information to companies developing varieties and/or marketing seed within the state, and aid the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service in formulating variety recommendations for soybean producers.

Population Ecotoxicology Of The Common Snapping Turtle In Agriculturally Impacted Lotic Ecosystems, Derrick L. Douros

Masters Theses

Anthropogenic impacts on lotic systems, including pollutants, have had both direct and indirect negative effects on the aquatic habitats of the world. Goals of this study are: (1) Quantify atrazine, the atrazine metabolite diaminochlorotriazine (DACT), and glyphosate burdens in common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) tissue from individuals collected within the Embarras River in Coles County, Illinois. (2) Quantify the atrazine, DACT, and glyphosate loads in water from the aquatic habitats in which common snapping turtles reside. (3) Quantify the relative abundance of all turtle species and movement patterns of common snapping turtles in this lotic ecosystem. Hoop nets and modified …

Sex Differences In Cyberbullying In Schools, Tyson Holder

Masters Theses

The following study investigated sex differences in regards to cyberbullying beliefs and experiences. The study also sought to determine whether there was a relationship between level of self-esteem and the frequency in which one was cyberbullied. I hypothesized that girls would be more likely than boys to be cyberbullied, cyberbully others, tell an adult after being cyberbullied, and believe that an adult could do something to stop future acts of cyberbullying. The relationship between sex and cyberbullying was measured with two surveys. The researcher found that although there was no relationship between sex and rate of cyberbullying, there was a …