Digital Commons Network^™

Enterprise Risk Management: Understanding And Communicating Risk Appetite, Larry Rittenberg, Frank Martens, Committee Of Sponsoring Organizations Of The Treadway Commission

Association Sections, Divisions, Boards, Teams

No abstract provided.

Achieving Development Impact Among Pastoral And Agro-Pastoral People: Lessons Learned In Southern Ethiopia, 2000-2009, D. Layne Coppock, Seyoum Tezera, Solomon Desta, Getachew Gebru

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

The outreach and action-research component of the Pastoral Risk Management (PARIMA) project began with a focus on the Borana Plateau of southern Ethiopia in 2000. Our goal was to use participatory methods to learn about development needs and apply the knowledge gained to benefit local communities. Today it is clear that the project has had positive impacts on the lives of thousands of people. This report helps tell this story by emphasizing the process we used.

At the start we knew that the traditional pastoral system was under intense pressure as poverty and hunger were common. Community-based problem diagnosis confirmed …

A Comparative Examination Of Women’S Remittance Practices In Two Somali Communities: Johannesburg, South Africa, And Columbus, Ohio, Marnie Shaffer

All Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Women throughout the Somali diaspora are renowned for their commitment to provide financial support to their families abroad (see, for example, Horst 2007). Although it has only been in recent years that women have been migrating to South Africa, their sense of responsibility to remit is equally as strong as those women’s who left Somalia in the early 2000s and before. The author conducted research in Mayfair, a suburb near downtown Johannesburg in Gauteng Province, where the Somali community is most densely populated, and in Columbus, Ohio, where several pockets of Somalis are dispersed around the city. Study results indicate …

Effects Of Four Commercially Available Fxa Proteins On The Fluorogenic Anti-Fxa Assay When Monitoring Unfractionated Heparin, Vanessa Castro-Lopez, Brian Murray, Leanne F. Harris, James S. O'Donnell, Anthony J. Killard

Articles

Four commercially available Factor Xa (FXa) reagents were evaluated in a fluorogenic anti-FXa assay. The four reagents - of which three were of human origin and the fourth was bovine - were compared in terms of the resulting assay dynamic ranges, lag times, CV and R2 values, sum of squares as well as their sensitivity to unfractionated heparin (UFH) within the therapeutic range of 0-1.2 U mL-1. Based on a balance of performance characteristics, an optimum reagent was selected which had the best combination of all parameters. The best performing serine endopeptidase in the fluorogenic anti-FXa assay was found to …

Mutual Fund Performance Advertising: Inherently And Materially Misleading?, Alan R. Palmiter, Ahmed E. Taha

Georgia Law Review

Mutual fund companies routinely advertise the past
returns of their strong-performing, actively-managed
equity funds. These performance advertisements imply
that the advertised high past returns are likely to
continue. Indeed, investors flock to these funds despite
high past returns being a poor predictor of high future
returns. Thus, fund performance advertising is inherently
and materially misleading and violates federal securities
antifraud standards. In addition, the SEC-mandated
warning in these advertisements that "past performance
does not guarantee future results"fails to temper investors'
focus on past returns.
The SEC should do more to prevent investors from being
misled by fund performance advertisements. It …

State Amici, Collective Action, And The Development Of Federalism Doctrine, Michael E. Solimine

Georgia Law Review

State attorneys general (SAGs) have been individually
and collectively active on many legal and regulatory fronts
in recent years. One of those activities has been the filing
of amicus curiae briefs in the United States Supreme

Court, especially in cases impacting the states and
federalism doctrine. Frequently SAGs will join in one
amicus brief, and briefs signed by forty or more states are
not uncommon. This phenomenon has been the subject of
attention by legal scholars and political scientists, but the
normative jurisprudential significance of such briefs has
not. In their opinions, the Justices vary in how much legal
weight, …

Built Environment And Its Influences On Walking Among Older Women: Use Of Standardized Geographic Units To Define Urban Forms, Vivian Siu, William E. Lambert, Rongwei Fu, Teresa A. Hillier, Mark Bosworth, Yvonne L. Michael

Institute of Metropolitan Studies Publications

Consensus is lacking on specific and policy-relevant measures of neighborhood attributes that may affect health outcomes. To address this limitation, we created small standardized geographic units measuring the transit, commercial, and park area access, intersection, and population density for the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. Cluster analysis was used to identify six unique urban forms: central city, city periphery, suburb, urban fringe with poor commercial access, urban fringe with pool park access, and satellite city. The urban form information was linkable to the detailed physical activity, health, and socio-demographic data of 2,005 older women without the use of administrative boundaries. Evaluation …

Making Way For The Orange Line: A Car-Free Bridge Provides A Transit Link Between Milwaukie And Portland, Merry Mackinnon

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

A brief overview of planning and future development of the Orange Line, a light rail project that will connect Portland and Milwaukie by light rail, and the car-free bridge that is being built to span the Willamette River.

Albert Einstein In Switzerland: The Education Of The Most Famous Swiss American, Kurt Winkler

Faculty Publications

The most famous Swiss American, by far, was Albert Einstein. It is well known that Einstein worked in Germany starting in 1914, but he was forced to leave in 1933 as someone the Nazis had "not yet hanged," and he came to the United States where he taught at Princeton University for many years. However, Einstein had earlier lived in Switzerland for many years. Even though he became an American citizen in 1940, the great physicist retained ties to Switzerland, and he kept his Swiss passport all his life. Einstein spent his most productive years in Switzerland where he matured, …

Should Our Genes Be Part Of The Patent Bargain?: Maximizing Access To Medical Diagnostic Advances While Ensuring Research Remains Profitable, Johanna Jacob

Santa Clara High Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Spring 2012

University of Richmond Magazine

No abstract provided.

Fall 2012

University of Richmond Magazine

No abstract provided.

Important Information Literacy Standards For Life And Health Sciences, Betsy S. Hopkins

Faculty Publications

Information literacy in the life and health sciences is a dynamic field, with challenges, opportunities, and rewards for the successful practitioner. This chapter will describe the big picture of information literacy in these disciplines, list relevant performance indicators from the ALA/ACRL/STS Task Force on Information Literacy for Science and Technology [STS-TFILST] (2006) Information Literacy Standards for Science and Technology (hereafter Standards), and give some practical advice for life and health sciences librarians and librarians with instructional responsibilities in those disciplines. The focus is on undergraduates at research universities, although many principles and strategies will apply to other circumstances.

Second Grade Students' Cognitive Understanding Of Heart Rate Monitors And Pedometers, Carolyn Lee Tozer

Theses and Dissertations

Childhood obesity has become a significant health problem in the United States (Dietz, 1998, Blair et al., 2007, Robinson, Wadsworth, 2010). In children, obesity is defined as being at or above the 95th percentile for BMI according to age growth charts (Carroll, 2006). There are several approaches to combating the epidemic of obesity. In physical education classes, teachers are using are heart rate monitors and pedometers to assess the students' levels of physical activity (Blair et al., 2007). However, it is uncertain if elementary students better understand the results from the pedometer, or the heart rate monitor. A study of …

Cholesterol Dyshomeostasis And Age Related Macular Degeneration, Bhanu Chandar Dasari

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation work focused on retinal modifications that are relevant to Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in cholesterol-fed rabbit model of Alzheimer's disease (AD), as AD and AMD share common features. It is unknown whether cholesterol-fed rabbit model of AD displays any AMD features in retina. Previous research showed 27-hydroxycholesterol (27-OHC) involvement in AD like pathology in organotypic hippocampal slices of rabbit brain and human SHSY-5Y neuroblastoma cells. The extent to which and the mechanisms by which 27-OHC may also cause pathological hallmarks related to AMD are not known. Various studies suggested estrogen's (E2) role in AMD development. 27-OHC is a …

Adult Enrichment Learners In St. Cloud, Minnesota: Motivational Reasons For Participation, Scott Wallner

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to identify reasons and motivation of adult stakeholders that influence participation in adult community education enrichment classes in the St. Cloud Public School District, St. Cloud, Minnesota. The study also examined the perceptions about adult learners held by leaders, planners, and facilitators of these programs, and identified similarities and differences between perceptions by district staff and program participants.

Participants were 289 adult learners who had taken at least one adult enrichment course during the 2009 or 2010 calendar year. 284 participants completed the online Education Participation Scale-Form A, a 42-item survey developed by Boshier …

Effects Of A Large-Scale Wind Farm In The Prairie Pothole Region Of North And South Dakota On Survival And Habitat Use Of Breeding Female Mallards (Anas Platyrhynchos) And Blue-Winged Teal (A. Discors), Charles Tanner Gue

Theses and Dissertations

The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) is the most important breeding habitat for North American ducks. However, much of the PPR is suitable for large-scale wind energy development and conflicts for waterfowl populations may occur if wind energy alters habitat in a way that reduces survival or productivity. Adult survival of breeding female ducks has a disproportionately large effect on population growth. Thus, populations might be particularly sensitive to increased mortality in this cohort because of direct collisions with wind turbines. Additionally, large home ranges are energetically taxing. If females avoid resources near wind turbines during breeding season activities, females may …

The Beliefs And Perceived Experiences Of Preservice And Early Service Teachers Who Use Facebook, Nathan Foss

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to identify commonly held beliefs and perceived experiences of preservice and early service teachers with regard to their use of the social networking site Facebook. This study included recorded and transcribed interviews of 14 participants as well as observations of their Facebook accounts. The participants in this study consisted of six males and eight females who were in various stages of their educational careers. All participants were either members, or recent graduates, of the same Midwestern university. Each was either pursuing a degree in education or had recently received their education degree. …

Workplace Characteristics, Work-To-Life Conflict, And Psychological Distress Among Medical Workers, Marissa S. Gravelle

Theses and Dissertations

The medical industry is the fastest growing job sector and is projected to be the largest job sector by 2018. This group of workers tends to experience heightened stressors in the workplace. The key purpose of this study was to address whether work-to-life conflict mediates the relationship between workplace characteristics and psychological distress for workers in the medical industry. Drawing on data from the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce (N = 329), relationships were explored using stepwise OLS regression analysis. Findings from the first model (which excludes the mediating variable of work-to-life conflict) suggest that as both coworker …

The Process Of Writing "Wind", A Play Inspired By An Actual Event, Matthew J. Hegdahl

Theses and Dissertations

In August of 2007, the Klondike Wind Farm suffered a catastrophic failure of a wind turbine that killed one man and injured another. This accident was the first of its kind in the United States and is the inspiration for the original play "Wind". This thesis will describe the aspects of the Klondike Accident, as well as the personal experiences, that aided in the development of the original play.

Genetic Relationships Of Wild Pigs (Sus Scrofa) In The United States: Geographic Origins And Genotypic Distribution Of The Species With Implications For Management, Blake Eugene Mccann

Theses and Dissertations

Wild pigs are a damaging invasive species with a long history in the United States. However, during the last 30 years wild pigs have drastically expanded their invasive range and are now present in 44 U.S. states. Though historic records provide insights regarding original introduction histories in areas where pigs are long-established, little is known regarding sources for new populations. To develop a better understanding of recent invasions, I utilized an array of molecular markers (mitochondrial DNA sequence, nuclear microsatellites, and nuclear single nucleotide polymorphisms) to evaluate both the evolutionary history of introduced pigs and gene flow between populations indicative …

Mining Aircraft Telemetry Data With Evolutionary Algorithms, Kirk Anders Ogaard

Theses and Dissertations

The Ganged Phased Array Radar - Risk Mitigation System (GPAR-RMS) was a

mobile ground-based sense-and-avoid system for Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS)

operations developed by the University of North Dakota. GPAR-RMS detected proximate

aircraft with various sensor systems, including a 2D radar and an Automatic Dependent

Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) receiver. Information about those aircraft was then

displayed to UAS operators via visualization software developed by the University of

North Dakota. The Risk Mitigation (RM) subsystem for GPAR-RMS was designed to

estimate the current risk of midair collision, between the Unmanned Aircraft (UA) and a

General Aviation (GA) aircraft flying under …

Reflected Appraisals And Racial And Sexual Identity Development In The Lives Of Black Lesbian And Bisexual Women, Konjit Vonetta Page

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to develop a grounded theory about the relationship between racial identity statuses and the experience of reflected appraisals in the lives of Black lesbian and bisexual women. Black lesbian and bisexual women were specifically selected in this study due to the unique and multiple issues Black lesbian and bisexual women face as members of multiple marginalized and oppressed groups.

Participants in this study included 13 self-identified Black lesbian and bisexual women. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with each participant. In accordance with grounded theory approaches, follow-up interviews were conducted and enabled participants to provide …

That Was Then And This Is Now: The Changing Roles Of Veteran Special Education Teachers As A Result Of Response To Intervention, Tricia Kaye Lee

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored how the process of Response to Intervention (RTI) has changed the roles of three veteran special educators. The background knowledge of these teachers that helped make the initiative successful, as well as the "building blocks" that were present in the initial implementation of RTI models in their settings, were described. The essential components that contributed to successful RTI processes in K-12 settings were described by the participants. In addition, the successes, challenges, and recommendations of these veteran special educators for the future of RTI implementation were explored. The experiences of three veteran special education teachers who participated …

Intonation Processing In Individuals With Parkinson's Disease, Alanna Friedman

Theses and Dissertations

Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease caused by the death of dopaminergic neurons in structures that make up the basal ganglia. Previous research has shown that damage to the basal ganglia can result in deficient (Cheang et al, 2004; Ma et al, 2007) production and perception of intonation in non-emotional (Cheang et al., 2004; Ma et al., 2007) and emotional (e.g., Breitenstein et al., 1998; Cancelliere & Kertesz, 1990) contexts. Studies on perception have shown evidence that individuals with Parkinson's disease have difficulty discriminating intonation patterns when compared to healthy controls, and that these difficulties are due to higher …

Portraying The Role Of Giuseppe Zangara In Sondheim's Assassins, Casey Paradies

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a look at the process an actor goes through in creating a fictional character based on a historical person. It is not intended to be a guide for other actors but instead a look at the work of one particular actor in portraying Giuseppe Zangara in Sondheim and Weidman's Assassins. This thesis consists of historical research, character and script analysis, as well as a personal reflection of the performance.

Perceived Deployment Stressors And Well-Being Among Veterans Of Iraq And Afghanistan, Abigail Fuller

Theses and Dissertations

The current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are unlike previous wars and present new challenges for service members post deployment. Currently, service members deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan are experiencing a number of stressors that may have implications during their post deployment adjustment (Kline et al., 2010; La Bash et al., 2009; McNulty, 2005). Few studies were found that examined the stressors of deployment and their relationship to the health and well-being of veterans upon return home. Therefore, a more complete understanding of the deployment experiences of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is needed in order to have an adequate understanding …

Factors That Influence Program Completion: Predicting Kentucky Drug Court Completion Outcomes, Elizabeth R. Hagensen

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines data collected from Kentucky Drug Court to determine factors associated with program completion outcomes. Extant research on drug court completion outcomes is generally limited to individual drug courts and includes small numbers of observations. This research uses more than three thousand participant records spanning over three years from all Kentucky Drug Courts. Multiple logistic regression is used to determine which factors predict program completion. Participant characteristics, problem behaviors, and drug court variables are examined. Increase in age, earning at least a high school diploma, indicating methamphetamine or other stimulant as a drug of choice, and being married …

Peer Mentoring And Empathy, Ronald Wayne Hochstatter

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the impacts of mentoring training, empathy training and sex difference on peer mentoring relationships. Mentoring training was conducted by the investigator and empathy training was provided by the University of North Dakota's Conflict Resolution Center. A total of 174 participants enrolled in an eight-week peer mentoring program. Participants were randomly selected and placed in four groups, no training, mentoring training, empathy training and both mentoring and empathy training. Mentors were asked to complete the Interpersonal Reactivity Index and the Prosocial Personality Battery. Protégés were asked to complete the Protégé Satisfaction Scale and the Relational Assessment Scale. Findings …

College Women And Social Networking Sites: Reasons For Use And Related Mental Health Constructs, Jo Michelle Ellison

Theses and Dissertations

Existing research on use of social networking sites (SNSs) suggests that the hours of use and the impact of use on mood is staggering, especially among the university population. The present study builds off of an exploratory analysis of factors that influence individuals' usage of SNSs. In the initial study female university students demonstrated a clearer structure of such factors than did male university students. The present study sought to replicate the factor structure of these influences on SNS use. Existing research has explored little in terms of the relationship between personality factors and SNS use. The extant literature is …