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A Qualitative Study Of The Lived Experiences Of Adults With African American And Korean Heritages, Elizabeth Sue Bradshaw

Dissertations

Scholarship on biracial persons has been primarily focused on those of African American and White heritages. The dominance of research on this one segment of the biracial population has in turn led to the myth of a universal biracial experience. There is a critical need to hear the voices and experiences of those who are members of two or more communities of color. While many researchers have recommended that more studies be done with biracial participants from two or more communities of color, few studies have been conducted. The purpose of this study was to explore exclusively the lived experiences …

Transgender People On University Campuses: A Policy Discourse Analysis, Doris Andrea Dirks

Dissertations

The goal of this study is to examine the language used to discuss transgender people on university campuses. My main research question was: What do university reports describe as problems and solutions for transgender people in universities? The primary data for this study consists of 16 reports issued at four Big Ten schools from 1992-2010. These reports address the inclusion of gender identity and expression in nondiscrimination policies, the status of transgender people on university campuses, or both. This study employs policy discourse analysis, a hybrid methodology that analyzes written documents using feminist, critical, and poststructural theories in order to …

Evaluating The Impact Of Small-Group Discussion On Learning In Anorganizational Psychology Class Utilizing A Classroom Response System, Thorhallur Orn Flosason

Dissertations

A classroom response system is a technology that allows individual students to clickers favorably. The second study showed that clicker use during lecture was associated with higher exam scores, but that relationship can be interpreted in several different ways, some of which are not tied to active responding. The implications of these findings with respect to previous research are discussed. provide answers to questions posed by the instructor during lecture using hand held remotes (clickers) that transmit a signal to the instructor's computer via a receiver and computer software (Judson & Sawada, 2002). This instructional technology is widely used in …

Advanced Placement Courses And College Student Success: Evidence From Bps: 96/01, Jinhai Zhang

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is, based on the application of Tinto's student persistence theory, to explore whether AP course taking, as one pre-collegiate student background characteristic, impacts college students' persistence, academic achievements, and college completion. This study used the national Beginning Postsecondary Study 96/01 longitudinal data set collected by the National Center of Education Statistics (NCES), which includes 12,100 first-time postsecondary beginners over a period of 6 academic years from 1995/96 to 2000/01.

In this study, students were categorized into three groups by their SAT scores. Logistical regression analysis indicated that overall students who took any AP course in …

Estimation Of Dariy Particulate Matter Emission Rates By Lidar And Inverse Modeling, C. C. Marchant, Kori D. Moore, Michael D. Wojcik, Randy S. Martin, R L. Pfeiffer, K H. Prueger, J L. Hatfield

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Particulate matter (PM) emissions from agricultural operations are an important issue for air quality and human health and a topic of interest to government regulators. PM emission rates from a dairy in the San Joaquin Valley of California were investigated during June 2008. The facility had 1,885 total animals, including 950 milking cows housed in free-stall pens with an open-lot exercise area, and 935 dry cows, steers, bulls, and heifers housed in open lots. Point sensors, including filter-based aerodynamic mass samplers and optical particle counters (OPC), were deployed at select points around the facility to measure optical and aerodynamic particulate …

The Influence Of A Personal Practice Of Meditation On One’S Therapeutic Practice, William W. Fitzgerald

Dissertations

The focus of this study was to examine counseling professionals’ personal experience with meditation and how it influences their clinical work, including the formation of a therapeutic relationship. Using phenomenological methods, data were gathered from 10 psychotherapists and then analyzed.

There has been a great deal of effort devoted to investigating what contributes to positive counseling outcome for clients. One constant in the therapeutic process is the person of the therapist. While the person of the therapist is frequently mentioned in the literature, much less attention has been given to the examination of personal development paths of the therapist. Little …

Physiology And Biochemistry Of The Tropical Seagrass Thalassia Testudinum In Response To Hypersalinity Stress And Labyrinthula Sp. Infection, Stacey Marie Trevathan-Tackett

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Seagrass meadows are essential to coastal ecosystems and have experienced declines in abundance due to a series of environmental stressors including elevated salinity and incidence of disease caused by the pathogen Labyrinthula sp. This thesis evaluated the dynamics between T. testudinum and Labyrinthula concerning the impacts of short term elevated salinity stress on the early stages of infection in Thalassia testudinum (Chapter 2) as well as the presence of anti-labyrinthulid secondary metabolites produced by the tropical seagrass (Chapter 3). The results showed that short term exposure to hypersalinity alters some cellular processes but does not necessarily lead to an immediate …

Preliminary Report: Investigation Of Castor Bean Investment In Extra-Floral Nectary Glands And Reproduction, Victor D. Carmona-Galindo, Kavita Goss, Tina Marie Moger, Ashton Nielson

Biology Faculty Works

The castor bean plant, Ricinus communis has EFN (extrafloral nectary) glands that attract ants which provide defense for the plant. From this, we proposed the idea that the more EFN glands a plant has, the more ants will visit the plant, and therefore provide more defense to the plant. Using the principle of allocation, we deduced that a plant using this strategy would invest less energy in reproduction than in defense, given that growth is fixed. In this experiment we examined the number of reproductive flowers that a plant produces (male and female) in relation to the number of EFN …

Relationship Between Soil Sodium Concentration And Plant Height In Salicornia Virginica In The Ballona Wetlands In Los Angeles, California, Victor D. Carmona, Molly Bogeberg, Stephanie Vivanco

Biology Faculty Works

Previous studies have shown a positive relationship between biomass of the common wetland halophyte, Salicornia virginica, and salinity. This study implements a new technique that is less invasive than measuring total plant biomass that involves uprooting the plant. Instead, plant height was used as an indicator of sodium content in surrounding soils. This technique is based on the hypothesis that plant height of S. virginica corresponds to soil sodium concentrations. There was a significant variation in plant height at higher soil sodium concentrations than at lower soil sodium concentrations. Furthermore, in areas of higher soil water content (%), sodium concentration …

A Preliminary Study Of Heteromeles Arbutifolia Fruit Morphology At Ballona Wetlands And Temescal Canyon, Los Angeles, California, Victor D. Carmona, Phil Simmons, Elise Vo, Elizabeth Wight

Biology Faculty Works

Heteromeles arbutifolia, the California holly, is an evergreen shrub native to chaparral habitats of Southern California that fruits from November to January. Fruit species morphology has been shown to be a good indicator of habitat quality among other plants. The variation in fruit morphology was examined for the native plant at two diverse Southern California sites, a wetland and a canyon. California Holly fruits had a significantly greater volume in Ballona Wetlands than at Temescal Canyon (Z= 4.367, P

Interaction Between Differentiating Cell- And Niche-Derived Signals In Hematopoietic Progenitor Maintenance, Bama Charan Mondal, Tina Mukherjee, Lolitika Mandal, Cory J. Evans, Sergey A. Sinenko, Julian A. Martinez-Agosto, Utpal Banerjee

Biology Faculty Works

Maintenance of a hematopoietic progenitor population requires extensive interaction with cells within a microenvironment or niche. In the Drosophila hematopoietic organ, niche-derived Hedgehog signaling maintains the progenitor population. Here, we show that the hematopoietic progenitors also require a signal mediated by Adenosine deaminase growth factor A (Adgf-A) arising from differentiating cells that regulates extracellular levels of adenosine. The adenosine signal opposes the effects of Hedgehog signaling within the hematopoietic progenitor cells and the magnitude of the adenosine signal is kept in check by the level of Adgf-A secreted from differentiating cells. Our findings reveal signals arising from differentiating cells that …

Synthesis Of Chiral Ferrosalen Ligands And Their Applications In Asymmetric Catalysis, Xiang Zhang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

A new series of chiral ferrosalen ligands was designed and synthesized. The special feature of the ferrosalen ligands is that the chirality originated from the planar chiral ferrocenyl structure. For most known salen ligands, chirality comes from central and axial chiral centers. The key building block for the construction of these ferrosalen ligands was synthesized stereoselectively by a chiral auxiliary approach. This approach does not consume any chiral material, and does not require chiral HPLC resolution. Using this method, nine ligands were prepared using ferrocene as the starting material. In addition, the steric hindrance was modulated by changing the cyclopentadienyl …

"Army Of One" To "Army Strong" : Visual Media And U.S. Army Recruitment During Bush"S "War On Terror", Shawn Paul Apostel

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

From Bush’s September 20, 2001 “War on Terror” speech to Congress to President-Elect Barack Obama’s acceptance speech on November 4, 2008, the U.S. Army produced visual recruitment material that addressed the concerns of falling enlistment numbers—due to the prolonged and difficult war in Iraq—with quickly-evolving and compelling rhetorical appeals: from the introduction of an “Army of One” (2001) to “Army Strong” (2006); from messages focused on education and individual identity to high-energy adventure and simulated combat scenarios, distributed through everything from printed posters and music videos to first-person tactical-shooter video games. These highly polished, professional visual appeals introduced to the …

Warming Alters Photosynthetic Rates Of Sub-Boreal Peatland Vegetation, Arvo Aljaste

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Boreal peatlands are important in the global carbon cycle. Despite covering only 3% of the global land area, peatlands store approximately one third of all soil carbon. Temperature is one of the major drivers in peatland carbon cycling as it affects both plant production and CO₂ fluxes from soils. However, it is relatively unknown how boreal peatland plant photosynthesis is affected by higher temperatures. Therefore, we measured plant photosynthetic rates under two different warming treatments in a poor fen in Northern Michigan. Eighteen plots were established that were divided into three treatments: control, open-top chamber (OTC) warming and infrared …

Open Top Chambers And Infrared Lamps : A Comparison Of Heating Efficacy And Co₂/Ch₄ Dynamics In A Lake Superior Coastal Peatland, Christopher P. Johnson

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Experimental warming provides a method to determine how an ecosystem will respond to increased temperatures. Northern peatland ecosystems, sensitive to changing climates, provide an excellent setting for experimental warming. Storing great quantities of carbon, northern peatlands play a critical role in regulating global temperatures. Two of the most common methods of experimental warming include open top chambers (OTCs) and infrared (IR) lamps. These warming systems have been used in many ecosystems throughout the world, yet their efficacy to create a warmer environment is variable and has not been widely studied. To date, there has not been a direct, experimentally controlled …

Planting And Production Of Switchgrass (Panicum Virgatum L.) As A Bioenergy Crop In Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Kassidy Nikole Yatso

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a perennial grass holding great promise as a biofuel resource. While Michigan’s Upper Peninsula has an appropriate land base and climatic conditions, there is little research exploring the possibilities of switchgrass production. The overall objectives of this research were to investigate switchgrass establishment in the northern edge of its distribution through: investigating the effects of competition on the germination and establishment of switchgrass through the developmental and competitive characteristics of Cave-in-Rock switchgrass and large crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinalis L.) in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula; and, determining the optimum planting depths and timing for switchgrass in …

Effects Of Instructional Changes On Student Learning Of Electrochemistry In An Ib Chemistry Course , Deborah Corriveau

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

This study investigated the effectiveness of incorporating several new instructional strategies into an International Baccalaureate (IB) chemistry course in terms of how they supported high school seniors’ understanding of electrochemistry. The three new methods used were (a) providing opportunities for visualization of particle movement by student manipulation of physical models and interactive computer simulations, (b) explicitly addressing common misconceptions identified in the literature, and (c) teaching an algorithmic, step-wise approach for determining the products of an aqueous solution electrolysis. Changes in student understanding were assessed through test scores on both internally and externally administered exams over a two-year period. It …

Is Virtuality Close Enough To Reality? A Comparison Of The Effectiveness Of Simulations With Traditional Laboratory Activities In A High School Biology Class , Wendelien K. Benya

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Some schools do not have ideal access to laboratory space and supplies. Computer simulations of laboratory activities can be a cost-effective way of presenting experiences to students, but are those simulations as effective at supplementing content concepts? This study compared the use of traditional lab activities illustrating the principles of cell respiration and photosynthesis in an introductory high school biology class with virtual simulations of the same activities. Additionally student results were analyzed to assess if student conceptual understanding was affected by the complexity of the simulation. Although all student groups posted average gain increases between the pre and post-tests …

Comparing Remote Sensing And Ground-Based Methods Of Quantifying Cover Type And Carbon Storage In An Urban Forest, Christine L. Jones

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Understanding the canopy cover of an urban environment leads to better estimates of carbon storage and more informed management decisions by urban foresters. The most commonly used method for assessing urban forest cover type extent is ground surveys, which can be both timeconsuming and expensive. The analysis of aerial photos is an alternative method that is faster, cheaper, and can cover a larger number of sites, but may be less accurate. The objectives of this paper were (1) to compare three methods of cover type assessment for Los Angeles, CA: handdelineation of aerial photos in ArcMap, supervised classification of aerial …

Analysis Of The Making Our Mark Project, Shaughn Kern

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Technique For Achieving An Optimum Bsfc For Laf Engine, Shreyash S. Ukidave

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The reserves of gasoline and diesel fuels are ever decreasing, which plays an important role in the technological development of automobiles. Numerous countries, especially the United States, wish to slowly decrease their fuel dependence on other countries by producing in house renewable fuels like biodiesels or ethanol. Therefore, the new automobile engines have to successfully run on a variety of fuels without significant changes to their designs. The current study focuses on assessing the potential of ethanol fuels to improve the performance of 'flex-fuel SI engines,' which literally means 'engines that are flexible in their fuel requirement.'

Another important area …

Local Degradation Of Structural, Mechanical, Electrical And Chemical Properties Of Membrane Electrode Assembly In Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell, Nishith Parikh

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEMFC) is promising source of clean power in many applications ranging from portable electronics to automotive and land-based power generation. However, widespread commercialization of PEMFC is primarily challenged by degradation. The mechanisms of fuel cell degradation are not well understood. Even though the numbers of installed units around the world continue to increase and dominate the pre-markets, the present lifetime requirements for fuel cells cannot be guarantee, creating the need for a more comprehensive knowledge of material’s ageing mechanism. The objective of this project is to conduct experiments on membrane electrode assembly (MEA) components of PEMFC …

Four-Window Technique For Measuring Optical-Phase-Space-Time-Frequency Tomography, Rachel A. Blaser

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

A new approach, the four-window technique, was developed to measure optical phase-space-time-frequency tomography (OPSTFT). The four-window technique is based on balanced heterodyne detection with two local oscillator (LO) fields. This technique can provide independent control of position, momentum, time and frequency resolution. The OPSTFT is a Wigner distribution function of two independent Fourier transform pairs, phase-space and time-frequency. The OPSTFT can be applied for early disease detection.

Nanofluid Optical Property Characterization: Towards Efficient Direct Absorption Solar Collectors, R. A. Taylor, P. E. Phelan, Todd Otanicar, R. Adrian, R. Prasher

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Works

Suspensions of nanoparticles (i.e., particles with diameters < 100 nm) in liquids, termed nanofluids, show remarkable thermal and optical property changes from the base liquid at low particle loadings. Recent studies also indicate that selected nanofluids may improve the efficiency of direct absorption solar thermal collectors. To determine the effectiveness of nanofluids in solar applications, their ability to convert light energy to thermal energy must be known. That is, their absorption of the solar spectrum must be established. Accordingly, this study compares model predictions to spectroscopic measurements of extinction coefficients over wavelengths that are important for solar energy (0.25 to 2.5 mu m). A simple addition of the base fluid and nanoparticle extinction coefficients is applied as an approximation of the effective nanofluid extinction coefficient. Comparisons with measured extinction coefficients reveal that the approximation works well with water-based nanofluids containing graphite nanoparticles but less well with metallic nanoparticles and/or oil-based fluids. For the materials used in this study, over 95% of incoming sunlight can be absorbed (in a nanofluid thickness >= 10 cm) with extremely low nanoparticle volume fractions - less than 1 x 10(-5), or 10 parts per million. Thus, nanofluids could be used to absorb sunlight with a negligible amount of viscosity and/or density (read: pumping power) increase.

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Erotic Entitlements Part I: A Reply To Sex Therapy In The Age Of Viagra: “Money Can’T Buy Melove”, Adrienne D. Davis

Scholarship@WashULaw

This is the first of three inquiries into what might be thought of as erotic entitlement. It explores the role of the erotic in regulatory and distributive regimes. Conceived as a reply to Susan Stiritz and Susan Appleton‘s provocative and rich essay Sex Therapy in the Age of Viagra, it starts by summarizing the innovations of their argument. It next uses their paper to pose some questions. First, in this time of contentious feminist, constitutional, and human rights sexual discourse, how is the erotic defined? How is the erotic related to and distinct from desire, the sexual, and even the …

The Leaf Anatomy Of Naturally Distributed Juniperus L. (Cupressaceae) Species In Turkey, Ayşegül Güvenç, M. Mesud Hürkul, Ali̇ Erdem

Turkish Journal of Botany

In this study, the anatomical characteristics of the leaves of the Juniperus section of the Juniperus L. species [Juniperus drupacea Lab.; J. communis L. var. communis; J. communis var. saxatilis Pall.; J. oxycedrus L. subsp. oxycedrus; and J. oxycedrus subsp. macrocarpa (Sibth. & Sm.) Ball] are reported for those samples naturally distributed in Turkey. Microscopic views of the transverse and surface sections from the leaves of each species were examined and described. Differentiations were made between 3 species as a result of observations of the arrangement of the palisade parenchyma and the location of the secretory canals.

Molecular Phylogeny And Divergence Times Estimates Of Lilium Section Liriotypus (Liliaceae) Based On Plastid And Nuclear Ribosomal Its Dna Sequence Data, Nursel İki̇nci̇

Turkish Journal of Botany

In the present study the phylogeny and the biogeography of the genus Lilium L. section Liriotypus Asch. et Graebn. were investigated and divergence times for the section Liriotypus were calculated. The study group covers Lilium species from Europe, the Italian and Balkan peninsulas, Anatolia, and the Caucasus. Plastid DNA sequence data (the trnC-petN intergenic spacer and petN gene) and nuclear DNA ITS sequence data were used to infer the phylogenetic history of the section Liriotypus. Molecular phylogenetic dating using the molecular clock hypothesis with sequences of nrDNA ITS region was used to calculate the time of diversification within the section …

A Synopsis Of The Genus Pulsatilla (Ranunculaceae) In Turkey, Ahmet Emre Yaprak, Selçuk Tuğrul Körüklü, Ali̇ Osman Ketenoğlu

Turkish Journal of Botany

In this study, Pulsatilla Mill., which was considered a subgenus of the genus Anemone L. in Flora of Turkey, is accepted as a separate genus. Pulsatilla albana (Steven) Bercht. & J.Presl subsp. albana and P. violacea Rupr. subsp. violacea are declared as new records for the flora of Turkey. Anemone albana Steven subsp. armena (Boiss.) N.Busch, which was already known from Turkey, is accepted as a synonym of Pulsatilla violacea subsp. armena (Boiss.) Luferov. Descriptions, distribution maps, and identification keys are provided for these taxa in order to aid in the distinguishing of the genera Anemone and Pulsatilla as well …