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2011

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Analyzing Of Tort Claims And Lawsuits Against South Carolina Department Of Transportation Through Classification And Regression Tree Analysis, Sara Familian Dec 2011

Development Of A Dynamic In Vitro Model Of A Stented Blood Vessel To Evaluate The Effects Of Stent Strut Material Selection And Surface Coating On Smooth Muscle Cell Response, Bradley Winn Dec 2011

Development Of A Dynamic In Vitro Model Of A Stented Blood Vessel To Evaluate The Effects Of Stent Strut Material Selection And Surface Coating On Smooth Muscle Cell Response, Bradley Winn

All Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality in The United States and Europe, accounting for approximately half of all deaths. The most common form of cardiovascular disease is atherosclerosis, which is characterized by the formation of fatty atheromatous plaques that can grow to occlude the vessel lumen, thus causing ischemia distal to the occlusion. This is commonly treated using balloon angioplasty, which is usually done in conjunction with the deployment of a stent. Stent deployment helps hold the vessel open following the local injury caused by balloon inflation and prevents elastic recoil and subsequent negative remodeling. Stenting has been …

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The Toxicity Of Carbon Nanotubes To Daphnia Magna, Aaron Edgington Dec 2011

The Toxicity Of Carbon Nanotubes To Daphnia Magna, Aaron Edgington

All Dissertations

A particle is classified as nano in size if it has at least one dimension less than 100 nm which gives them chemical and physical characteristics that are different from the bulk material. Over the last twenty years nanotechnology has exploded as an industry. It has been estimated that there are 1000 consumer products on the market today that contain nanomaterials and 2 million jobs worldwide will be devoted directly to nanotechnology research, development, and product manufacturing by 2015. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can be visualized as sheets of graphene rolled into a cylinder. Carbon nanotubes small diameter (nanometer scale) and …

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An Examination Of Treatment Effects With A Focus On Postsecondary State Merit Aid Programs, Sherry Jensen Dec 2011

An Examination Of Treatment Effects With A Focus On Postsecondary State Merit Aid Programs, Sherry Jensen

All Dissertations

With a focus on the impact of postsecondary merit aid programs, this body of research uses a variety of econometric methods to evaluate treatment effects. Since the introduction of Georgia's HOPE (Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally) scholarship in 1993, a large number of U.S. states have introduced merit-based financial aid programs. As a growing emphasis is placed on higher education and an increased level of scrutiny is directed toward postsecondary charges, it is important to formally investigate the impact of such programs on the behavior of higher education institutions and students.

Using multiple state merit aid programs introduced over the period …

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Thermal Inactivation Of Stress Adapted Pathogens In Compost, Randhir Singh Dec 2011

Thermal Inactivation Of Stress Adapted Pathogens In Compost, Randhir Singh

All Dissertations

In the United States, 1.3 billion tons of animal wastes are produced annually. Disposal of this huge amount of waste on agricultural land without proper treatment is a public health safety issue as animal waste is a potential source of several human pathogens. Therefore, composting of animal wastes is an economical solution to this problem. The high temperature reached during this process also brings about inactivation of pathogens in the waste. However, survival of pathogens has still been reported from different composting studies, indicating the complex nature of this process. The objectives of this study were to: 1) study thermal …

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Optimization-Based Power Management Of Hybrid Power Systems With Applications In Advanced Hybrid Electric Vehicles And Wind Farms With Battery Storage, Hoseinali Borhan Dec 2011

Optimization-Based Power Management Of Hybrid Power Systems With Applications In Advanced Hybrid Electric Vehicles And Wind Farms With Battery Storage, Hoseinali Borhan

All Dissertations

Modern hybrid electric vehicles and many stationary renewable power generation systems combine multiple power generating and energy storage devices to achieve an overall system-level efficiency and flexibility which is higher than their individual components. The power or energy management control, ``brain' of these ``hybrid' systems, determines adaptively and based on the power demand the power split between multiple subsystems and plays a critical role in overall system-level efficiency. This dissertation proposes that a receding horizon optimal control (aka Model Predictive Control) approach can be a natural and systematic framework for formulating this type of power management controls. More importantly the …

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Automated Digital Machining For Parallel Processors, Joshua Tarbutton Dec 2011

Automated Digital Machining For Parallel Processors, Joshua Tarbutton

All Dissertations

When a process engineer creates a tool path a number of fixed decisions are made that inevitably produce sub-optimal results. This is because it is impossible to process all of the tradeoffs before generating the tool path. The research presents a methodology to support a process engineers attempt to generate optimal tool paths by performing automated digital machining and analysis. This methodology automatically generates and evaluates tool paths based on parallel processing of digital part models and generalized cutting geometry. Digital part models are created by voxelizing STL files and the resulting digital part surfaces are obtained based on casting …

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Interfacial Force Field Parameterization Using The Dual Force Field Charmm Program For The Accurate Simulation Of Peptide-Surface Interaction, Nadeem Vellore Dec 2011

Interfacial Force Field Parameterization Using The Dual Force Field Charmm Program For The Accurate Simulation Of Peptide-Surface Interaction, Nadeem Vellore

All Dissertations

Protein adsorption to solid material surfaces is a complex phenomenon and various factors play a role in controlling these processes. Inherent limitations to understand these biological interactions using experimental approaches alone have led to the possibility of exploring these systems using computational molecular simulation methodologies. Before confidence can be placed on these computational protocols, however, rigorous validation of the applicability of these methods to accurately represent protein adsorption processes is needed. In this research, we evaluated the use of all-atom empirical force field (FF) based simulations using the CHARMM simulation program and FF for the study of peptide adsorption processes …

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Light-Emitting Nanocomposites And Novel Amorphous Polymers For Optical Applications, Kyle Gipson Dec 2011

Light-Emitting Nanocomposites And Novel Amorphous Polymers For Optical Applications, Kyle Gipson

All Dissertations

Polymeric optical materials generally are comprised of amorphous polymers that are transparent in at visible wavelengths but exhibit strong absorption bands in the near-infrared making them less useful for many optical applications. Attenuation, which is the absorption per unit length, largely results from the high vibrational energy associated with carbon-hydrogen bonds contained in the polymer backbone. Attenuation can be mitigated by optical amplification utilizing light emitting additives. Investigated in this dissertation are synthesis techniques for the fabrication of light-emitting polymer nanocomposites and their resultant thermal and rheological characteristics for potential use as polymer optical fibers or films.
Inorganic nanocrystals doped …

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The Design & Implementation Of An Abstract Semantic Graph For Statement-Level Dynamic Analysis Of C++ Applications, Edward Duffy Dec 2011

The Design & Implementation Of An Abstract Semantic Graph For Statement-Level Dynamic Analysis Of C++ Applications, Edward Duffy

All Dissertations

In this thesis, we describe our system, Hylian, for statement-level analysis,
both static and dynamic, of a C++ application. We begin by extending the
GNU gcc parser to generate parse trees in XML format for each of the
compilation units in a C++ application. We then provide verification that the
generated parse trees are structurally equivalent to the code in the
original C++
application. We use the generated parse trees, together with an augmented
version of the gcc test suite, to recover a grammar for the C++ dialect that
we parse. We use the recovered grammar to generate a schema …

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Does Faith Matter? A Comparison Of Faith-Based And Secular International Nongovernmental Organizations Engaged In Humanitarian Assistance, Jill Mcleigh Dec 2011

Does Faith Matter? A Comparison Of Faith-Based And Secular International Nongovernmental Organizations Engaged In Humanitarian Assistance, Jill Mcleigh

All Dissertations

Over the past three decades, there has been a significant increase in international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) participating in humanitarian assistance, and thus, an increase in the study of these organizations. In part because of former President George W. Bush's faith-based initiative, interest in a particular subset of INGOs - religious INGOs (ROs) - has been on the rise. Among the gaps in this literature is a quantitative approach to understanding the types of activities and funding opportunities INGOs pursue based on whether they are religious and what makes an organization religious. To address these omissions, this dissertation examines the religious …

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Avian Assemblages And Red-Eyed Vireo Nest Survival Within Mineland Forest, Jeremy Mizel Dec 2011

Avian Assemblages And Red-Eyed Vireo Nest Survival Within Mineland Forest, Jeremy Mizel

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Since the passage of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) in 1977, mined lands have generally been reclaimed to an environment characterized by severely compacted minesoils, a growth medium comprised largely of unweathered materials, and a predominance of aggressive groundcovers that inhibit native species colonization. Under these conditions, succession is arrested. Within landscapes that are fragmented by traditionally reclaimed surface mines, forest patches are smaller and forest cover on the landscape scale is reduced. As a result, forest songbirds that require large, continuous blocks of forest are negatively affected.;Some pre-SMCRA abandoned minelands contain areas of uncompacted minesoils on …

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Issues In The Care Of Farm Animals: Current History Of The Movement In Selected States, Jennifer N. Dunn Dec 2011

Issues In The Care Of Farm Animals: Current History Of The Movement In Selected States, Jennifer N. Dunn

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Many animal care practices commonly accepted as a regular part of the agricultural industry are being questioned by organizations advocating for the care of farm and companion animals. The use of gestation crates for pregnant sows, veal crates for veal calves, and battery cages for egg-laying hens are being banned in some states in the United States. While appearing to be a modern phenomenon, animal rights/animal welfare issues actually can be found throughout history. The purpose of the study was to trace the history of the care of farm and companion animals movement in the United States. This included the …

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Modeling Of Utility Distribution Feeder In Opendss With Steady State Impact Analysis Of Distributed Generation, Vaidyanath Ramachandran Dec 2011

Modeling Of Utility Distribution Feeder In Opendss With Steady State Impact Analysis Of Distributed Generation, Vaidyanath Ramachandran

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

With the deregulation of the electric power industry and the advancement of new technologies, the attention of the utilities has been drawn towards adopting Distributed Generation (DG) into their existing infrastructure. The deployment of DG brings ample technological and environmental benefits to the traditional distribution networks. The appropriate sizing and placement of DGs which generate power locally to fulfill consumer demands, helps to reduce power losses and avoid transmission and distribution system expansion.;The primary objective of this thesis is to model a utility distribution feeder in OpenDSS. Studies are conducted on the data obtained from American Electric Power utility. This …

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West Virginia 4-H Camp Songs And Music Traditions, Jason A. Burnside Dec 2011

West Virginia 4-H Camp Songs And Music Traditions, Jason A. Burnside

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this study was to determine the role of music in 4-H traditions from the beginning of the organization to the present. In addition to the overall 4-H traditions, the research focused on traditions in the 4-H camping program. The research examined songs, song quality, and the role they played in the 4-H tradition and/or the 4-H camp experience. Differences and similarities of 4-H music from the beginning of the 4-H program in West Virginia to the present day were explored. The study also examined the origins of the songs used in the West Virginia 4-H program discerning …

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A Statistical Approach For Shadow Detection Using Spatio-Temporal Contexts, Yiyang Liu Dec 2011

A Statistical Approach For Shadow Detection Using Spatio-Temporal Contexts, Yiyang Liu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Background subtraction is an important step used to segment moving regions in surveillance videos. However, cast shadows are often falsely labeled as foreground objects, which may severely degrade the accuracy of object localization and detection. Effective shadow detection is necessary for accurate foreground segmentation, especially for outdoor scenes. Based on the characteristics of shadows, such as luminance reduction, chromaticity consistency and texture consistency, we introduce a nonparametric framework for modeling surface behavior under cast shadows. To each pixel, we assign a potential shadow value with a confidence weight, indicating the probability that the pixel location is an actual shadow point. …

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Mechanical Property Evaluation Of Torrefied Biomass Materials With Correlation To Grinding Efficiency, Xin Zhou Dec 2011

Mechanical Property Evaluation Of Torrefied Biomass Materials With Correlation To Grinding Efficiency, Xin Zhou

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Motivated by the transition to a more sustainable society, biomass, currently the largest renewable energy source in the world, could therefore in principle become a key energy source in the future. Co-combustion of these materials and coal can lead to a significant reduction in carbon dioxide net emissions in new and existing power plants while potentially reducing capture costs as well. However, many challenges remain to be solved before biomass can be used on a much larger scale as a sustainable energy source. Some of these challenges are related to biomass production, land management, and competition with food production; but …

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Modeling And Flight Testing Of Differential Thrust And Thrust Vectoring On A Small Uav, Zachary J. Merceruio Dec 2011

Modeling And Flight Testing Of Differential Thrust And Thrust Vectoring On A Small Uav, Zachary J. Merceruio

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The primary objectives of this research are to mathematically model the propulsion forces applied to the aircraft during nominal, differential thrust, and thrust vectored flight configurations, and verify this modeling through simulation and flight testing experiments. This thesis outlines the modeling process, simulator development, design, and implementation of a propulsion assisted control system for the WVU Flight Control Systems Lab (FCSL) research aircraft. Differential thrust and thrust vectoring introduce additional propulsive terms in the aircraft force equations that are not present when the thrust line passes through the center of gravity. These additional forces were modeled and incorporated into a …

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Experimental Analysis Of The Post-Failure Behavior Of Coal And Rock Under Laboratory Compression Tests, Dachao Neil Nie Dec 2011

Experimental Analysis Of The Post-Failure Behavior Of Coal And Rock Under Laboratory Compression Tests, Dachao Neil Nie

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A major aspect of coal mine design is the structural stability of the mine. For establishing structural stability, the strength of the strata is determined by recovering the cores. The strength is determined through various methods and one method in particular is the Uniaxial Compressive Strength of the rock, which is commonly adopted as the standard strength indicator. However, in-situ behavior by past researchers have shown that rock and coal show significant residual strength contrary to the failure path observed in a conventional compression tests. Researchers in past had used stiff system for generating the post failure behavior of the …

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Mine Safety Impoundment Inspection And Verification Tool: Mining And Industrial Safety Technology And Training Innovation, Eric W. Baker Dec 2011

Mine Safety Impoundment Inspection And Verification Tool: Mining And Industrial Safety Technology And Training Innovation, Eric W. Baker

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this investigation primarily focuses on coal impoundment safety and early hazard potential awareness as well as addressing the need for adapting a field hardened computer so that its more advanced technology may be applied to the mining industry. The purpose was to develop a protocol based on West Virginia State and federal laws and regulations and use a mobile field computer into the inspection system for coal waste impoundments. The inspection template was constructed using paper forms presently used by MSHA and the West Virginia Water Research Institute and iterated after conducting a number of field trials. …

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Response Elimination, Reinforcement Rate And Resurgence Of Operant Behavior, Carlos Renato Xavier Cancado Dec 2011

Response Elimination, Reinforcement Rate And Resurgence Of Operant Behavior, Carlos Renato Xavier Cancado

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The effects of reinforcement rates of alternative responding on resurgence were studied in six experiments with pigeons. In Experiment 1A, key pecking was maintained on a multiple variable-interval (VI) VI schedule during the first, Training, phase. In the second, Response-Elimination, phase, variable differential-reinforcement-of-other-behavior (DRO) schedules were in effect in each component and reinforcement rates were equal and then, higher in one (rich) component, and lower in the other (lean), than in the Training phase. In the third, Resurgence, phase, reinforcers were discontinued and more resurgence occurred in the lean than in the rich component. Differences in Training-phase response rates between …

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Electron Paramagnetic Resonance And Electron-Nuclear Double Resonance Characterization Of Point Defects In Titanium Dioxide Crystals, Adam Brant Dec 2011

Electron Paramagnetic Resonance And Electron-Nuclear Double Resonance Characterization Of Point Defects In Titanium Dioxide Crystals, Adam Brant

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and electron-nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) are used to characterize several point defects in titanium dioxide (TiO2) single crystals in the rutile phase. A defect reported in 1961 by P. F. Chester called the "A Center" is assigned to a neutral hydrogen donor. Many researchers believe that the model for this S = 1/2 defect is an interstitial titanium ion (Ti3+) and that Ti3+ interstitials are the most dominant shallow donor in TiO 2. I show that the model for the A center is a neutral hydrogen donor and suggest that the Ti3+ interstitial model is not …

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Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis Methods For Prediction Of Brook Trout Salvelinus Fontinalis Percent Dry Weight, Andrew William Hafs Dec 2011

Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis Methods For Prediction Of Brook Trout Salvelinus Fontinalis Percent Dry Weight, Andrew William Hafs

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Reliable fish condition estimates are valued by fisheries ecologists and managers. Fish condition is used as an indicator of ecosystem health or to assess the population status for a species of interest. In aquaculture, proximate composition estimates are often wanted because of their relationship to fillet quality. Past researchers have used bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) to provide nonlethal mass based estimates of proximate composition for fish. Percent dry weight (PDW) of a fish is highly correlated to proximate composition values and energy density, therefore reliable predictions of PDW would eliminate the need for costly and laboratory analyses lethal to the …

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Restoration Of Forested Ecosystems On The Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia, Melissa A. Thomas-Van Gundy Dec 2011

Restoration Of Forested Ecosystems On The Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia, Melissa A. Thomas-Van Gundy

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The focus of resource management on National Forests is slowly changing to restoration of ecosystems and habitats. In West Virginia, the revised Land and Resource Management Plan for the Monongahela National Forest (MNF) guides resource management on the MNF. The MNF revised Forest Plan restructured management areas and goals toward restoration of red spruce dominated forests and oak and oak-pine forests in two separate management prescriptions that cover approximately 48% of the MNF. Incorporating ecosystem restoration in forest management may be guided by goals and objectives based on known previous conditions and the range of natural variability of those conditions. …

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Repression Of Phlpp By Mir-190 Contributes To Arsenic-Induced Akt Activation And Carcinogenesis, Kevin John Beezhold Dec 2011

Repression Of Phlpp By Mir-190 Contributes To Arsenic-Induced Akt Activation And Carcinogenesis, Kevin John Beezhold

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Arsenic is a well-studied human carcinogen. The mechanism by which arsenic induces cancer, however, is not fully understood. It is known that as a general stress inducer, arsenic can activate kinases, such as mitogen-activated protein kinases, leading to over activation of transcription factors. These transcription factors, including AP-1, NF-kB and Myc, are known to regulate the expression of early response genes, and likely to regulate miRNAs. The expression of miRNAs is often altered in cancer and other proliferative disorders. It is highly probable that miRNAs whose expressions are altered by arsenic will play a significant role in carcinogenesis. To test …

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The Arts-Integrated Curriculum (Aic) And Its Possible Impact On The Self-Concepts Of Adolescent Girls And Their Perceptions Of Beauty: A Phenomenological Study, Miriam Roth Douglas Dec 2011

The Arts-Integrated Curriculum (Aic) And Its Possible Impact On The Self-Concepts Of Adolescent Girls And Their Perceptions Of Beauty: A Phenomenological Study, Miriam Roth Douglas

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study examines what phenomena may be associated with the self-concept and perceptions of beauty of adolescent girls who completed an Arts-Integrated Curriculum (AIC) in Elementary School. It is designed to add to the descriptive data on the perceptions of beauty that students, teachers, and parents have, especially with regard to girls' concept of self in relation to the AIC learning experiences. This work is driven by a qualitative research method known as phenomenology, which describes the lived experiences of a phenomenon for a group of people (Patton, 2005). The main research data were collected from interviews with ten participants: …

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The Lived Experience: Stories From Those Who Have Encountered Catastrophic Loss From Flood, Margaret R. Rateau Dec 2011

The Lived Experience: Stories From Those Who Have Encountered Catastrophic Loss From Flood, Margaret R. Rateau

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Natural disasters including flood affect thousands of people all over the world each year. As a direct result, millions of dollars in widespread damage occur in the regions directly impacted by such disasters. Analyzing stories from those who have suffered catastrophic loss from flood may offer a means to better understand what is important to the survivor from their perspective and may assist in the recovery process. The purpose of this research was to examine the lived experience of those who have experienced catastrophic loss from flood. The importance of this research and its impact on nursing knowledge development, research, …

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Anisotropic Particles: Preparation And Study, Shengrong Ye Dec 2011

Anisotropic Particles: Preparation And Study, Shengrong Ye

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Anisotropic particles have received significant attention in self-assembly for the large scale fabrication of hierarchical structures. Janus particles, a specific class of anisotropic particles, have two hemispheres with different materials. Due to the anisotropic nature of the particle shape and interactions, Janus particles have demonstrated interesting properties in interfacial assembly, switchable devices, cargo transport, and optical sensing. The objective of this research is to fabricate novel anisotropic Janus particles and explore their potential unique properties.;One of the driving forces arises from the previous work of bimetallic nanorods and their autonomous motion. The bimetallic nanorod systems undergo chemically powered non- Brownian …

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Differentiating Faking-Good Parents From Non-Faking Parents On The Child Abuse Potential Inventory, Amanda H. Costello Dec 2011

Differentiating Faking-Good Parents From Non-Faking Parents On The Child Abuse Potential Inventory, Amanda H. Costello

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Parental fitness evaluations remain common during child abuse investigations, as evidenced by the 19% of victims of maltreatment receiving an evaluation in 2007 in the United States (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2009). A "best practice" approach to parental fitness evaluations consists of using a comprehensive assessment including clinical interviews, risk assessment measures, and behavioral observation (Budd, 2001; 2005). The Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAP; Milner, 1986) is one risk assessment measure that is often used during evaluations. Unfortunately, abuse risk at pre- and post-treatment as measured by the CAP may be confounded by faking-good responding from the …

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Sequence Stratigraphy, Distribution And Preservation Of Organic Carbon, And Reservoir Properties Of The Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale, Of The Central Appalachian Basin; Northern West Virginia And Southwestern Pennsylvania, Roy L. Sexton Iv Dec 2011

Sequence Stratigraphy, Distribution And Preservation Of Organic Carbon, And Reservoir Properties Of The Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale, Of The Central Appalachian Basin; Northern West Virginia And Southwestern Pennsylvania, Roy L. Sexton Iv

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale of the central Appalachian basin is an unconventional resource play with approximate aerial extent of 34,000,000 acres (137,000 km²), and an estimated 84 trillion cubic feet (2.4 trillion m³) of recoverable natural gas and three billion barrels of recoverable natural gas liquids. Advances in drilling and completion technology have enabled economic production of hydrocarbons from the Marcellus. Despite increased exploration and production of the formation, uncertainties remain regarding controls on spatial and stratigraphic variations in reservoir properties such as total organic carbon (TOC), mineralogic composition, and authigenic components. Additionally, there is a lack of understanding …

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