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The Bison: 2011: Part 2, Howard University

Howard University Yearbooks

This digital object was funded in part through a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The digitalization of this object was part of a collaborative effort with the Washington Research Library Consortium and George Washington University.

A Cross Cultural Study Of Disability In The United States And Brazil, Emily Kirsten Stortz

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Disability is not only a biological issue, it is an inherently social one. People are only as disabled as their society allows them to be. Enhancing our understanding of the social processes affecting the disabled will allow for their increased participation within society. The researcher employed qualitative methods including semi-structured interviews and participant observation to perform case studies at fieldwork sites providing care to the disabled in Chicago, IL, USA and Santarém, Pará, Brazil. The researcher spent two consecutive weeks in each location. The former location is a residential facility for people with developmental disabilities and the latter is a …

Determining A Patient Recovery From A Total Knee Replacement Using Fuzzy Logic And Active Databases, Robert Azarbod

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of the knowledge-based system is to predict the rehabilitation timeline of a patient in physical therapy for a total knee replacement. All patients have various attributes that contribute to their rehabilitation rate such as: weight, gender, smoking habit, medications, physical ability, or other medical problems. A combination of any one or several of these attributes will affect the recovery process. The proposed FRTP (Fuzzy Rehabilitation Timeline Predictor) is a fuzzy data mining model that can predict the recovery length of a patient in physical therapy for a total knee replacement and provide feedback to experts for revision of …

Lawyers, Guns, And Money: The Governance Of Business Activities In Conflict Zones, Simon Chesterman

Chicago Journal of International Law

There is a proliferation of literature discussing human rights and business, but far less that looks at the issue of businesses operating in conflict Zones and the applicability of international humanitarian law. This is understandable in terms of the prominence and dynamism of human rights as a sub-discipline, contrasted with the conservatism of international humanitarian law. But from a doctrinal perspective it is somewhat odd, as the direct applicabiIity of human rights norms to business is far less clear than the applicability of international humanitarian law. Section II of this paper describes the normative regime that is set up by …

A Psychological Investigation Of The Expressed Attitudes Of Middle School Aged Adolescents Toward School Bullying, Jodi Marie Daly

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

International research on bullying suggests that bullying is pervasive in schools and the workplace. Most researchers concur that bullying behavior is a disruptive factor to the social and educational well-being of students. Previous research, grounded in social and family systems theory, has indicated those who bully tend to be involved in self-destructive and delinquent behaviors. Additionally, in the only-large scale study on bullying behaviors, 29% of the 10th-grade student body admitted to being bullied that school year. Further, in a new study conducted by the Josephson Institute of Ethics, half of all high school students reported that they have bullied …

Promoting Inclusive Schools: A Case Study Of Leadership Experiences Of The Middle School Chairpersons For Special Education Service, Juvinell Baylis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Federal and state guidelines direct students with disabilities to the least restrictive environment (LRE). The inclusion of students with disabilities in the LRE (general education) has been an issue for many public schools. In an effort to promote inclusive education for students with disabilities, many special education teacher--chairpersons experience opposition from the general education teacher and their administrator regarding LRE placement. The purpose of this qualitative case study, grounded in the theory of leadership, was to examine the leadership experiences of chairpersons of special education services in middle schools and their perception of the LRE decision-making process for placement for …

A Q Methodology Analysis Of Individual Perspectives Of Public Decision Making Influences Of Collaborative Processes, Perry D. Gross

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Suboptimal public policy formulation and implementation often result from traditional representative democratic practices. Increasing government fragmentation, eroding trust among policy actors, and an increasingly complex policy making environment contribute to this problem. Collaborative decision making is considered to be a pragmatic alternative by its advocates. The purpose of this research was to explore the claim that process dynamics lead participants to prefer collaborative approaches to decision making among local and regional transportation plans in a western state. The conceptual framework was the diversity, interdependence, and authentic dialogue (DIAD) theory-based model of collaboration in decision making. The research questions focused on …

Correlates Of Resilience Among American Indians In A Northwestern Us State, Bruce M. Bradway

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite low life expectancy, high suicide and homicide rates, and excessive levels of poverty and violence, American Indians continue to survive. However, few researchers have assessed the correlates of resilience among adult American Indians. Current researchers assessing American Indian resilience have focused primarily on adolescents and preadolescents, resulting in a definition of resilience that is more often than not defined by the lack of negative youth outcomes. In this quantitative survey study, data were collected from 103 American Indians living off-reservation in a northwestern state. Gender, age, education level, degree of enculturation (using the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure), level of …

The Perspectives Of African American Nonprofit Female Executives From The Northeastern Region Of The United States About The Work-Family Balance, Tammy Evans-Colquitt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although many studies have been conducted on the increased pressure and stress facing women who are trying to fulfill work and family demands, little is known about African American women in executive positions and their perspectives about work-life balance. A particular gap in the research literature exists on the lived experience of African American nonprofit executive women in maintaining work-life balance. The conceptual framework of this phenomenological study was the bidirectional frame of both work interfering with family and family interfering with work. Data were collected through semistructured telephone interviews of 12 African American women ages 30 to 45 and …

The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence And Literacy Achievement Of Secondary Students, David P. Jones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Proficiency in language arts and communication skills is essential to success in the global workforce. Most states assess students in language arts literacy (LAL) through standardized tests that assess a student's ability to read, interpret literature, and write expressively. Although educational reformers strive to improve the foundations that prepare students in literacy, reforms have not fully incorporated the theory of emotional intelligence (EI), which explains a student's ability to use, understand, perceive, and manage their emotions in order to think critically, make decisions, and solve problems. Although it is not known whether EI directly correlates to literacy, emotional skills are …

Lawyers, Guns, And Money: The Governance Of Business In Conflict Zones, Simon Chesterman

Chicago Journal of International Law

There is a proliferation of literature discussing human rights and business, but far less that looks at the issue of businesses operating in conflict Zones and the applicability of international humanitarian law. This is understandable in terms of the prominence and dynamism of human rights as a sub-discipline, contrasted with the conservatism of international humanitarian law. But from a doctrinal perspective it is somewhat odd, as the direct applicabiIity of human rights norms to business is far less clear than the applicability of international humanitarian law. Section II of this paper describes the normative regime that is set up by …

Mrna Transcript Quantification In Archival Samples Using Multiplexed, Color-Coded Probes, Patricia Reis, Levi Waldron, Rashmi S. Goswami, Wei Xu, Yali Xuan, Bayardo Perez-Ordonez, Patrick Gullane, Jonathan Irish, Igor Jurisica, Suzanne Kamel-Reid

Publications and Research

Background: A recently developed probe-based technology, the NanoString nCounter™ gene expression system, has been shown to allow accurate mRNA transcript quantification using low amounts of total RNA. We assessed the ability of this technology for mRNA expression quantification in archived formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) oral carcinoma samples.

Results: We measured the mRNA transcript abundance of 20 genes (COL3A1, COL4A1, COL5A1, COL5A2, CTHRC1, CXCL1, CXCL13, MMP1, P4HA2, PDPN, PLOD2, POSTN, SDHA, SERPINE1, SERPINE2, SERPINH1, THBS2, TNC, GAPDH, RPS18) in 38 samples (19 paired fresh-frozen and FFPE oral carcinoma tissues, archived from 1997-2008) by both NanoString and SYBR Green I fluorescent dye-based quantitative …

Water Wars Down South An Analysis Of The Tri-State Battle Over The Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin, Marilyn Payne

Theses & ETDs

This thesis examines the southeastern water war among Alabama, Georgia, and Florida over the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin. It focuses on the political and legal issues at hand, while analyzing the circumstances of each that contributed to the current resource battle. I argue that the political factors associated with the ACF River Basin, coupled with the environmental and economic aspects at stake, have over time led to an inefficient use of water that created the battle over the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin. Furthermore, this thesis examines the three main possibilities for a resolution: congressional apportionment, judicial apportionment and interstate compact. After analyzing …

Discovering Signaling Events In The Actinorhizal Symbiosis, Nicholas J. Beauchemin

Master's Theses and Capstones

Although the symbiosis between Frankia and actinorhizal host plants has been widely studied, very little is known about the initial molecular interactions. To address this issue, Casuarina cunninghamiana root exudates were collected and tested on Frankia Ccl3. Frankia growth yield was enhanced by root exudates but Frankia could not utilize them as a sole carbon and energy source. Exposure to root exudates caused Frankia hyphal curling and surface property changes in fatty acids and carbohydrates. Pre-exposure to root exudates also decreased the time required for nodule initiation. The results show that root exudates and Frankia physiological changes for symbiosis are …

Assessing Relationships Of Moose Populations, Winter Ticks, And Forest Regeneration In Northern New Hampshire, Daniel Henry Bergeron

Master's Theses and Capstones

This study examined relationships among winter ticks, weather, and the nutritional and reproductive status of moose, and the impact of moose on regeneration of commercial forests in northern New Hampshire. Three methods were evaluated to assess their usefulness as indices of relative winter tick abundance, and predictors of tick epizootics: tick counts on harvested moose and roadside, spring hair-loss surveys were considered time and cost effective to index winter tick abundance. Physical characteristics of harvested moose (1988--2009) indicated ovulation rates (∼20%), and mean body weight (<200 kg) of yearlings declined since 1988; because adult body weight and ovulation rates remained stable, habitat quality was unlikely related. Winter tick epizootics are likely influenced by abnormal large scale weather events, as evident in the widespread die-off in 2002 associated with warm snowless conditions into mid-December 2001 that extended tick transmission to moose. Spring and fall weather should be monitored for unusual conditions causing high tick abundance and tick loads, particularly warm and snowless conditions in April and December. Mean stocking rate of all age classes of commercial tree species was above the threshold in all regions (49--87%); forest regeneration was not considered a regional problem at any moose density.

Interactions Between Adaptive Mutations In The Environment And The Consequences For Adaptation In Escherichia Coli, Kenneth Mark Flynn

Master's Theses and Capstones

Phenotypic plasticity, epistasis or both are expected to influence the adaptive value of mutations and, by extension, how organisms adapt to new environments. We investigated interactions among five mutations that arose and fixed in a laboratory-evolved population of E. coli in a variety of different external environments. Overall, we found that positive pleiotropy tended to be positive rather than antagonistic and that epistatic interactions were common regardless of the external environment. The nature of the epistatic interactions depended strongly on the external environment and altered which adaptive paths were selectively accessible. Ultimately, achieving high fitness in a new environment was …

Herbage Mass Accumulation In An Intensive Rotational Grazing System At Unh's Organic Dairy Research Facility, Ashley Green

Master's Theses and Capstones

Pasture-based animal management in the Northeast U.S. relies on the ability to efficiently estimate pasture production and animal intake. Accuracy and precision of a rising plate meter, NDVI meter, and height measurements for estimating pasture biomass were compared relative to hand-clipped samples. Pasture measurements were used to describe biomass accumulation, lactating dairy herd intakes, and re-growth patterns for intensively rotated pastures. Pastures were measured from May-September, 2009 at the UNH Organic Dairy Research Facility in Lee, NH. The rising plate meter provided the most robust estimates of biomass (R²=0.58, SEE=2.73). Forty-seven paddocks were measured for 82 total grazing events; grazing …

The Effects Of Historic Earthen Barriers On Northern New England Tital Marshes, Jordan W. Mora

Master's Theses and Capstones

Berms, defined as historic earthen barriers, represent one type of hydrological modification introduced by humans in the tidal marshes of northern New England. Three different research approaches were applied to study the impact of berms on various tidal marsh dynamics. The descriptive study shows that restricted flooding from berm interference can result in significantly altered physical gradients in addition to landward subsidence and pool development. The results from the transplant experiment indicate that the altered landward structure affects the relative importance of biological interactions, namely herbivory, in controlling plant species distribution. The predictive GIS analyses illustrate the location of 34 …

Nonlinear Evaluation Of Stock Assessment And Marine Ecosystem Models, Laura Storch

Master's Theses and Capstones

In fisheries management, single-species stock assessment models use fisheries-dependent catch and landings data along with fishery-independent estimates of relative or absolute abundance to make estimates of species biomass for a given area. This output is used by the Atlantis marine ecosystem model as input. Atlantis uses an array of physical, biological, and anthropogenic factors to predict biomass for individual species or functional groups of species. Nonlinear analysis was used to assess the output for both the stock assessment, and Atlantis models for the marine ecosystem off the California coast. The number of time series displaying nonlinear characteristics decreases from raw …

The Spatial And Temporal Distribution, Population Growth Strategies And Options For The Removal Of The Invasive Shore Crab Carcinus Maenas In Two New Hampshire Estuaries, Beth Allison Fulton

Master's Theses and Capstones

The spatial and temporal distribution of the green crab, Carcinus maenas, along with various green crab population parameters, were studied in two New Hampshire estuaries over a one-year period from November 2009 to October 2010. Results show that foraging activity in Great Bay Estuary peaked in December and March, and in HSE, in April and November. Crabs in both estuaries experienced synchronous breeding periods. Males experienced two molts per year in April and November, while females molted synchronously in June. Embryogenesis was accomplished within the month of June. Minimum size at maturity for females in New Hampshire was larger than …

Effects Of Habitat Fragmentation And Water Quality On Wood Frog Population Genetic Structure In Vernal Pools, Charlotte Gabrielsen

Master's Theses and Capstones

Habitat fragmentation associated with suburbanization can have negative consequences on population persistence through the reduction of dispersal and concomitant gene flow. Using nine polymorphic microsatellite loci, I assessed the effects of forest fragmentation and water quality on the genetic structure of a vernal pool-breeding amphibian, the wood frog ( Lithobates sylvaticus), across 20 ponds in an unfragmented, forested landscape and 45 ponds in a fragmented landscape. Analyses were performed at the broad-scale of the study area and at a fine-scale, with spatially independent clusters of ponds selected within each landscape. Bayesian clustering approaches and AMOVA identified little population structure at …

A Two-Dimensional Hexagonal Network Model Of Alveolar Mechanics, Danielle Nangle

Master's Theses and Capstones

Pulmonary micromechanics (at the scale of alveoli) involves a delicate balance among tissue material properties, geometry, surface tension, pressure and stress distribution. To date, there is not a consensus among alveolar mechanics researchers about how these factors interact, in part because alveoli are so difficult to image and study in vivo. Here, we propose a basic mathematical model of a two-dimensional hexagonal network of mechanically coupled alveoli. We investigate equilibrium configurations of both dry and wet, internally pressurized elastic networks. Specifically, we compute pressure-area curves to quantify the differences among networks with different spring constants, internal pressures, network size and …

Effect Of Carex Rostrata Removal On Methane Emissions From A Temperate Peatland, Genevieve L. Noyce

Master's Theses and Capstones

Peatlands are a large natural source of atmospheric methane (CH4). Carex rostrata, a sedge species, has a critical role in the production, oxidation, and emission of CH4 from these systems. This study examined the changes in CH4 emissions from a temperate peatland after removing all aboveground C. rostrata biomass. Methane flux, dissolved CH4 concentration at various depths, C. rostrata green leaf area, temperature, and water table depth were measured from June 2008 to November 2010.

There is a strong positive correlation between C. rostrata green area and CH4 flux and the mean summer CH4 flux from the control plots was …

Saprotrophic Fungi As A Mechanism For Vertical Nitrogen Transport In A Chronically Fertilized Northern Hardwood Forest, Katharine M. Burnham

Master's Theses and Capstones

Decay studies often observe that plant litter increases in the amount of nitrogen within the first year of decomposition, yet sources are uncertain. The Harvard Forest Chronic Nitrogen Amendment Experiment, Petersham, MA, was utilized to quantify vertical N translocation from soil up into decomposing litter and determine if long-term, chronic N application has affected this process. Litter bags were designed to facilitate or restrict fungal hyphal connectivity between the soil-litter interface and placed in control, low N+S and high N plots. After five or 12 months, a 15N-(NH 4)2SO4 solution was horizontally injected into organic soil beneath bags. 15N enrichment …

Identification And Characterization Of Photorhabdus Temperata Mutants Altered In Hemolysis And Virulence, Christine A. Chapman

Master's Theses and Capstones

Photorhabdus temperata is an invertebrate pathogen and nematode symbiont that is commonly used as a biological control agent in the management of commercial crop pests. The focus of this study was to investigate the poorly understood molecular elements involved in the expression of hemolysis and virulence in this bacterium. A 10,000 transposant library was screened using a blood agar plate assay to identify mutants altered in hemolytic activity. A total of 74 mutants displaying defective, delayed, or early hemolysis were identified and subsequently tested for altered virulence in the Greater Waxmoth, Galleria mellonella, using an in vitro mortality assay. Ten …

Studies Of Net Community Productivity In A Near-Coastal Temperate Ecosystem, Olivia De Meo

Master's Theses and Capstones

Understanding the biological contribution to the carbon cycle is important to accurately calculate oceanic carbon budgets. The biological contribution to air-sea flux can be expressed as net community productivity (NCP), or the difference between gross primary production and community respiration. This study conducted two experiments to constrain NCP in a near-coastal region. The first experiment conducted in the western Gulf of Maine (GoM) sought to identify an indirect optical proxy for NCP that would allow for the determination of NCP remotely by satellite in the future. NCP results indicated that the GoM was near equilibrium during our study. Changes in …

Identification And Characterization Of Photorhabdus Temperata Mutants Altered In Cell Surface And Symbiosis, Cintia R. Felix

Master's Theses and Capstones

Photorhabdus temperata forms a mutualistic association with the entomopathogenic nematode Heterorhabditis bacteriophora. Nematode growth and development has an obligate requirement for the bacterial symbiont. The objective of this study was to identify and understand cell surface properties that are required for symbiosis. A previously generated library of 10,000 P. temperata transposon mutants was screened for altered surface properties via a calcofluor dye-binding assay. Seventeen mutants were identified and tested in vitro for symbiosis. Key mutants were tested for symbiosis and insect pathogenesis in vivo with Galleria mellonella larvae. Five mutants showed at least a 10-fold decrease of IJ yield. Four …

Optimized Identification Of Fecal Pollution Sources In A Rural Tidal Watershed In Coastal New Hampshire, Sana B. Hussain

Master's Theses and Capstones

Escherichia coli ribotyping was used to identify fecal contamination sources in Grommet Creek- a tidal creek that drains into Great Bay and contaminates shellfishing beds. Water samples were collected during late summer through late fall. Fecal samples were collected to establish a local source species database. Fecal indicator bacteria were enumerated from water samples and ribotyping was conducted by using EcoR1 restriction enzyme digestion and an automated RiboPrinter(c). There was consistent relative abundance between source types with wild animals and birds as the primary sources. An optimized approach for maximizing source identification involved using a 90% similarity threshold and prioritizing …

Assessing Innovative Zero-Valent Iron Separation Processes In An Arsenic Treatment Scheme, Nathan H. Little

Master's Theses and Capstones

Arsenic contamination in drinking water is a worldwide public health concern associated with serious acute and chronic health effects. Listed as a "Group A" human carcinogen, arsenic is regulated in drinking water at 0.010 mg/L by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Arsenic contamination stems from both natural and anthropogenic sources, and areas with high levels of arsenic can be found in countries throughout the world, including the United States (Smedley and Kinniburgh 2002). In the past decade, interest in iron-based sorbents, particularly zero-valent iron (ZVI), has developed for their use as an arsenic-removal technique due to the lack of …

Net Resiliency: A Study Of Risk And Protective Factors In Single And Two-Parent Familes, Chad E. Depasquale

Master's Theses and Capstones

The main goal of this study was to discover how family makeup affects net resiliency scores of children. This quantitative study uses Two-Tailed t-tests, and Pearson correlation to uncover any relationships between net resiliency and living in a single or two-parent household. A sample of 91 children ranging from eleven to eighteen years old was utilized for the study's data collection. Their net resiliency scores, risk factors, protective factors, and family makeup were analyzed to discover any potential relationships between them. The analysis of these factors showed children living in single-parent families have: lower net resiliency scores, fewer protective factors, …