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Against All Odds: Relations Between Nato And The Mena Region, Florence Gaub Dr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

While NATO was created with a primary outlook to the East, its Southern rim was neglected strategically until the end of the Cold War. Since then, the Alliance has undertaken a number of efforts to build strategic relationships with the Middle East and North Africa, recognizing the region’s importance for Allied security. However, looming obstacles may well interfer with NATO's efforts to enhance relations with the region. Geostrategic realities are not in NATO’s favor: it is a region of crisis; suspicious of the West in general; riddled with internal instability; and is a difficult to build ties with. This monograph …

Culture, Identity, And Information Technology In The 21st Century: Implications For U.S. National Security, Pauline Kusiak Dr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

While it is impossible to predict the values and beliefs of future generations, a modest forecast is made by tracing global trends in the use of language and media, as well as in the use of information and communication technologies. The potential implications of these culture and identity trends for the strength of the U.S. “signal” in the global info-communication sphere are analyzed. The author suggests that the information that will dominate the 21st century, particularly the beliefs and values of foreign societies, may increasingly and more directly impact our own national security, making it ever more critical for policymakers …

Sheep And Wool In Nineteenth-Century Falmouth, Ma: Examining The Collapse Of A Cape Cod Industry, Leo Patrick Ledwell

Graduate Masters Theses

This thesis examines the collapse of the sheep industry in Falmouth, Massachusetts in the 1830s. The documentary evidence for the collapse is examined through both the lens of microhistory and that of the traditional model for the collapse, one set forth by the American Geographical Society. The traditional model suggests that the importation of cheap agricultural goods from western states like Ohio caused the collapse of commercial farming in New England. An examination of the local evidence, however, suggests that the real reasons for the collapse of the sheep industry in Falmouth are much more complex, leaving open the possibility …

German Pows, Biopolitics, & The Piney Woods: Using Foucault To Analyze Resistance At Camp Shelby's Pow Camp During World War Ii, Patricia Lynn Miller-Beech

Master's Theses

Few people realize that during World War II, Camp Shelby in south Mississippi was a detention site for German prisoners of war (POWs) where the United States government engaged in reeducation efforts to de-Nazify soldiers in order to create a democratic Germany after the war. The U.S. War Department hoped the success of this program would create allies and prevent another war in the future. Despite the reeducation program being in all POW camps in the U. S., Camp Shelby was distinctive due to the racial politics of Mississippi during the height of the Jim Crow era. It is also …

The Geographies Of Religious Conversion, Orlando Woods

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The paper reviews the corpus of research that attempts to explain the process of religious conversion, and explores the ways in which geographers can add new perspectives to the discourse. It argues that religious conversion is a phenomenon that goes beyond the reorientation of individual belief, and is instead a process of change that involves the (re)definition of self and other. Five conceptual frames are proposed - (1) conversion of space; (2) spaces of conversion; (3) spaces of negotiation; (4) the (im)mobile convert; and (5) the (dis)embodied convert - which are used to help define the geographies of religious conversion.

Ikkalpha Mediated Notch1 Activation Promotes Tumorigenesis Via Foxa2 Suppression, Mo Liu

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Proinflammatory cytokine TNFa plays critical roles in promoting malignant cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and tumor metastasis in many cancers. However, the mechanism of TNFa-mediated tumor development remains unclear. Here, we show that IKKa, an important downstream kinase of TNFa, interacts with and phosphorylates FOXA2 at S107/S111, thereby suppressing FOXA2 transactivation activity and leading to decreased NUMB expression, and further activates the downstream NOTCH pathway and promotes cell proliferation and tumorigenesis. Moreover, we found that levels of IKKa, pFOXA2 (S107/ 111), and activated NOTCH1 were significantly higher in hepatocellular carcinoma tumors than in normal liver tissues and that pFOXA2 (S107/111) expression was …

August 2012 Commencement Program, Bowling Green State University

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Food Environment And Childhood Obesity, Yucong Jiao

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines whether children's food environment, especially food stores that have fresh produce, affects obesity prevalence among elementary school children in the state of Arkansas. Misclassified food outlet types in the Dun and Bradstreet commercial data set were first corrected and then food environment measures were computed and aggregated to geographic regions corresponding to school attendance areas. After applying classical panel estimation, it was found that the fixed effects model fit the data best. Results indicate that an additional supermarket within a one-mile radial of the census neighborhood block center will bring down childhood obesity prevalence by 0.58 percent, …

Socio-Demographic And Economic Determinants Of Food Deserts, Zhongyi Wang

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this paper we utilized a panel data set from 2004 to 2010 to identify and determine the demographic and economic drivers of food deserts in both urban and rural areas in Arkansas. We defined food deserts as areas where access to healthy foods such as fresh vegetables and fruits are limited. More specifically, separate distance measures from the census block centroid to the nearest supermarket or grocery store were used to determine if the area is an urban food desert (1 mile) or rural food desert (10 miles). These distance measures were then aggregated at the census block group …

The Crayfish (Decapoda: Cambaridae) Subgenus Hiaticambarus: Undescribed Diversity And Life History Characteristics Of Selected Members, Danny Jones

All Dissertations

A taxonomic study of the crayfish species Cambarus (Hiaticambarus) longirostris was conducted. Multivariate and univariate statistical analyses of morphometric data and examination of morphological characters revealed the existence of four undescribed species from populations previously considered to belong to C. longirostris; these were located on the southern extents of the range of C. longirostris. Three of these new species were morphologically similar to the group of species containing C. coosawattae, C. chasmodactylus, C. elkensis, C. longirostris, C. longulus, and C. manningi, while one was morphologically similar to the C. fasciatus, C. …

The Use Of Life History Collage To Explore Learning Related To The Enactment Of Social Consciousness In Female Nonprofit Leaders, Susan R. Seymour

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This paper advances a novel qualitative research approach using life history collage. Rather that utilizing an interview protocol to enter into a participant’s story, life history collage invites participants to create a longitudinal collage of significant life events around a theme such as learning, relationships, or identity. The longitudinal nature of the collage situates and prioritizes significant life events with images, words, and elements chosen to represent events and circumstances. Each image within the collage contains rich and nuanced storylines that invite exploration by both researcher and participant. Meanings and subtexts are revealed as participants describe their collage and the …

Stephen C. Rowan And The U.S. Navy: Sixty Years Of Service, Cynthia M. Zemke

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis is a career biography, and chronicles the life and service of Stephen Clegg Rowan, an officer in the United States Navy, and his role in the larger picture of American naval history. The author has utilized mainly primary sources, including a journal kept by Rowan himself (transcribed from a microfilm copy of a handwritten journal, 900+ pages), and the Official Records of the United States military branches that were kept during the course of the Civil War. Rowan's wartime experiences and the contributions he made during the Second Seminole War, the Mexican War, and the Civil War form …

Continental-Scale Characterization Of Molecular Variation In Quaking Aspen, Colin M. Callahan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Quaking aspen has the largest natural distribution of any tree native to North America, ranging from Alaska through the breadth of Canada and south to mid-Mexico. Recent studies suggest a general decline of aspen throughout much of the range since at least the mid-20th century, though these findings remain inconclusive. Regardless, factors such as climate change, periods of drought, soil nutrient deficiencies, pathogens, insects, and encroachment by other tree species all pose risks to the health and maintenance of aspen across the continent. This situation is exemplified in the western United States where climate change is forecasted to have an …

The Role Of Educational Attainment In Migration Probability And Destination Selection For The Metropolitan Rust Belt, 1980-2000, Paul D. Jacobs

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The metropolitan Rust Belt has long been recognized as the industrial center of the United States. By the year 2000 many Rust Belt residents were leaving these industrial metropolitan areas for other parts of the country. My research looks to examine how deindustrialization triggers out migration in selected industrial metropolitan areas as well as how migrants are selected by educational attainment. Following this analysis, I examine proximate measures of social capital compared to educational attainment to determine which factors are most important for interregional migration decisions.

Using census data for 1980, 1990, and 2000, I find that higher levels of …

Improving Complementary Methods To Predict Evapotranspiration For Data Deficit Conditions And Global Applications Under Climate Change, Fathi M. A. Anayah

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A reliable estimate of evapotranspiration (ET) in river basins is important for the purpose of water resources planning and management. ET represents a significant portion of rainfall in the water budget; therefore, the uncertainty in estimating ET can lead to the inaccurate prediction of water resources. While remote sensing techniques are available to estimate ET, such methods are expensive and necessary data may not be readily available. Classical methods of estimating ET require detailed land use/cover information that are not readily available in rural river basins. Complementary methods provide simple and reliable approaches to estimate ET using meteorological data only. …

Religious Revitalization Among Bulgarians During And After The Communist Time, Dr. Velislav Altanov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

A Formative Experiment To Promote Disciplinary Literacy In Middle-School And Pre-Service Teacher Education Through Blogging, Jamie Colwell

All Dissertations

This dissertation describes a formative experiment that investigated how strategy instruction paired with collaborative blogging could promote disciplinary literacy among eighth-grade students in a social studies classroom and among pre-service teachers in a social studies methods course. Qualitative methods were utilized to collect and analyze data in this study. To determine modifications to the intervention, an embedded, single-case study was designed to analyze data iteratively using constant comparative methods. Post-study, qualitative methods were also used to conduct retrospective analysis to connect overall findings to theory. Three modifications were made, in the middle-school setting, to the intervention, which enhanced participants' progress …

Children In The Civil War, James Marten

History Faculty Research and Publications

The Civil War affected every aspect of the lives of American children, lending excitement to the lives of Northern children, imposing hardships and limitations on Southern white children, and changing the lives of African-American children forever.

A Daily Temperature Record For Central Texas, 1896-2011, Matthew Kain Taylor

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A continuous record of 882,693 daily maximum, minimum, and mean temperature measurements for seven weather stations in central Texas dating from August 1, 1896, to August 31, 2011, were screened and corrected for missing values and inhomogeneities. The resulting data were averaged to create a 115-year unbroken regional record of daily temperature for central Texas. This record indicates warming in daily, seasonal, and annual temperatures. Winter warm temperature extremes have increased over the period of record while warm temperature extremes during the summer months have remained largely unchanged. Summer heat wave days and the length of heat waves have increased …

Taak In Sutik (I Want To Return), Jose Lopez Bribiesca

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this film is to have four descendants of the Maya tell their stories and through them, explain four difficult concepts facing the 21st century contemporary Maya:

* How do Mayan languages influence a worldview different than the westernized, globalized worldview?

* How do the media, especially through movies, portray the Maya and other indigenous groups unfairly?

* How have the descendants of the Maya coped with adapting to modernity while keeping their traditions intact?

* How will the four protagonists ensure the protection of their language and their culture when they return home?

Guardians Of The Countryside Public Choice Theory And The Farm Lobby In The Eu's Common Agricultural Policy, Amy J. Costa

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Through various waves of reform, the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy remains inefficient without meeting all of its stated goals. The MacSherry reforms of 1992 resulted in the opposite of what leaders intended: higher spending and a growing bureaucracy. Later in the 1990s, Agenda 2000 slashed its originally planned cutbacks after farmers protested. Though support exists for reducing spending on agriculture, market intervention remains.

This thesis explores the problem through the use of public choice theory. -Consumers make too large a group to organize effectively or inform themselves about the issue, while farmers consist of a smaller group with well-defined …

Implications Of The No Child Left Behind Legislation On Career And Technical Education, Thomas Kyle Wallace

Dissertations

The passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation in 2001 brought about a multitude of education reform policies for education institutions that made the future of Career and Technical Education’s (CTE) role in secondary educations unclear. These mandates forced educational leaders to emphasize student enrollment in tracks that prepare them for post-secondary educational opportunities that require a stronger background in academic courses. The standards-based mandates required by NCLB legislation make promotion of CTE courses more difficult because these courses are primarily elective courses and have caused educational agencies to look at what CTE programs provide in terms of meeting …

Openline Newsletter, August 2012, Civil Service Council

OpenLine Newsletter

A monthly newsletter for Civil Service employees, Volume XXXVII, Number 2, August 2012.

Hydrologic Modeling To Examine Land Use Change Impacts (1970’S And 2005) On The Sediment Yield And Flow Regime In Cayuga Creek, Niagara County, New York, Kimly Reth

Multidisciplinary Studies Theses

This research aims to assess the water quality and the land use change impacts on sediment concentration and flow regime in Cayuga Creek, Niagara County, NY for two land use periods, 1970’s and 2005. The 1970’s land use, classified by the USGS, had a significant error. Therefore, the scenario of sediment yield and discharge level to land use change is more of a “what if” since the 1970’s land use was classified incorrectly. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT)was used to simulate flows and sediment concentrations for the two land use scenarios using the same rainfall data at the …

Developments In The Global Energy Markets And Constructing The Future Of The Persian Gulf Security, Nihat Cengel

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This study analyses the global energy projections and regional dynamics in the Persian Gulf. It is shown that the future projections in the world energy markets signify the importance of cooperation between developed and developing countries. It is also suggested that connected to the global economic crises and the regional demand change in the energy market, there is a growing need for international support to the Persian Gulf security.

I argue that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) could play a crucial role for eliminating political conflicts and maintaining the regional stability. As a result, collective arm transfer to the region, …

East, West, Or Center? Turkey's Stance Straddling Continents, Pipelines, And Interdependences, Mustafa Kemal Dagdelen

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This thesis concentrates on the international relations of Turkey by studying one of the significant parameters of the world affairs, the Energy Security issue, and Robert 0. Keohane and Joseph S. Nye's Complex Interdependence concept. The research is conducted through two case studies between Turkey and two different neighboring actors, Iran and the European Union. This thesis is a qualitative study with descriptive analyses on the literature of the interdependence and the energy security concepts. By revealing mutual dependences between Turkey, Iran, and the European Union, with different vulnerabilities, the results of this scholarly quest suggest that the interdependent nature …

The Spiritual Reformist Thought Of The Amīr ʿAbd Al-Qādir Al-JazāʾIrī In The Eyes Of His Western Interpreters: A Critical Historiographical Review, Daanish Faruqi

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

No abstract provided.

Cracks In The Melting Pot: Immigration, School Choice, And Segregation, Elizabeth U U. Cascio, Ethan G. Lewis

Dartmouth Scholarship

We examine whether low-skilled immigration to the United States has contributed to immigrants' residential isolation by reducing native demand for public schools. We address endogeneity in school demographics using established Mexican settlement patterns in California and use a comparison group to account for immigration's broader effects. We estimate that between 1970 and 2000, the average California school district lost more than 14 non-Hispanic households with children to other districts in its metropolitan area for every 10 additional households enrolling low-English Hispanics in its public schools. By disproportionately isolating children, the native reaction to immigration may have longer-run consequences than previously …

The Impact Of Financial And Trade Openness On Economic Growth And Stock Returns: The Case Of Africa, Tibebe Abebe Assefa

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The debate on whether financial development and stock market help growth is ongoing. In the context of Africa where there exists a strong need and potential for growth, it is important to revisit the topic in order to address the problem of economic underdevelopment. In this dissertation, we focus on seventeen African countries with two main objectives: First, to investigate the relationship between financial and trade openness, and economic growth. Second, we investigate the association of African real stock index returns with financial and trade openness. For all analysis, we use Fixed Effect Models (FEM) and System Generalized Method of …

Bmp Efficiency In An Institutional Area: Minimizing The Impacts Of Water Pollution Using A Stormceptor For Water Quality Improvement, Jameieka Price

Multidisciplinary Studies Theses

Urbanization can negatively impact water quality due to increasing impervious surfaces, which ultimately increases the hydrologic and contaminant load during rain events. Stormwater runoff contains high concentrations of contaminants that accumulate on the impervious surfaces and discharge into local water bodies, affecting aquatic life, recreational usages, aesthetic appearance, and possibly drinking water supply. Best Management Practices (BMPs) are important to minimizing and reducing the amount of water pollution that is found in stormwater runoff. Buffalo State Campus (BSC) is in an urbanized area and currently holds a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit to control stormwater runoff by implementing …