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Predicting Invasion Risk Of Non-Native Plants Using A Modified I-Rank Assessment, Justin B. Williams

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Biological invasions are a global problem responsible for native species declines worldwide. Understanding the invasion risk from non-native species is important in establishing management goals and making decisions for managing native ecosystems. Useful modeling methods for quantifying or predicting invasion risk should consider research needs, data availability, and operate at an appropriate scale. I evaluated risk assessment methods towards answering a specific research question; which plant species pose the greatest risk of becoming invasive or having the greatest negative impact in Nebraska? I selected the I-Rank assessment method, which consists of 20 questions grouped into four risk categories or Subranks: …

To Be Or Not To Be Alone, Natalia Toreeva

The Prairie Light Review

No abstract provided.

Epilogue: Reflections And Observations On Peru's Past And Present, Ernesto Silva

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

The aim of this essay is to provide a panoramic socio-historical overview of Peru by focusing on two periods: before and after independence from Spain. The approach emphasizes two cultural phenomena: how the indigenous people related to the Conquistadors in forging a new society, as well as how immigration, particularly to Lima, has shaped contemporary Peru. This contribution also aims at providing a bibliographical resource to those who would like to conduct research on Peru.

Cost Of Illness Study Of Anxiety Disorders For The Ambulatory Adult Population Of The United States, Elaheh Shirneshan

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Background: Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric illness in the United States. However, economic burdens of this category of mental illnesses have not been well studied yet. The objective of this study was to estimate the societal cost of anxiety disorders for the ambulatory adult population of the U.S.

Data and Method: Data was collected from the 2009 and 2010 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and National Vital Statistics System (NVSS). Cost components included in the analyses were direct medical costs (i.e. cost for inpatient visits, outpatient visits, emergency room visits, office-based visits, prescription …

A Historical View Of Cuban Immigration Policy, Sarah Castro

HIM 1990-2015

Cuba is a communist country an estimated population of 11,075,244(2013), Cuba is located about ninety-three miles south of Key West, Florida. Cuba has been ruled by the communist regime of Fidel Castro, and now his younger brother Raul Castro. For over fifty years this regime has forced a major increase in the amount of people migrating to the United States. The regime has been disregarding basic human rights for decades and oppressing Cuba’s citizens. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans have come to the United States using boats, rafts, or any means available. The Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 (amended in …

Sexually Suggestive Songs And Singers: Music Media And Its Effects On The Sexualization Of Women, Jessica Brandt

HIM 1990-2015

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between music and the sexualization of women. The study focused on 450 participants, both male and female, belonging to various ethnic backgrounds, ages 18 and up. It was hypothesized that a participant’s exposure to sexually suggestive music would impact their views of women. Specifically, exposure to sexual explicit or suggestive music would relate to more sexist views towards women. Results indicated that there were relationships between music and the sexualization of women. The breakdown of each genre of music and the different measures proved to be surprising, as some genres …

The Role Of Expectations In The Perceived Usefulness And Acceptance Of Virtual Reality As A Preventative Technique For Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Christine Kreutzer

HIM 1990-2015

Expectancy theory is based on the subjective probability (expectancy) and projected value (valence). Based on this notion, an individual chooses his or her behaviors based on the interaction between the valences perceived to be associated with the outcomes, and the appraisal of the probability of that behavior resulting in those outcomes. Expectancies have been found to be predictive of many outcomes, such as treatment outcomes, behavioral change, and training reactions. The goal of the present study is to empirically investigate this issue within the mental health field. While virtual reality appears to be a promising preventative technique for posttraumatic stress …

Social Networking And Users: The Interaction Of Personality And Motivation To Post On Facebook, Theresa Kessler

HIM 1990-2015

Facebook is the reigning king of Social Networking Sites (SNSs). Due to Facebook’s impact on current culture, researchers have been focused on how it interacts with its members on a variety of issues including well-being, personal identity, personality type, and motivation. While the topics of personality type and motivation have been investigated separately, their possible relationship has not been examined until now. Participants consisted of 415 students from the University of Central Florida were surveyed with an International Personality Item Pool (IPIP), a Facebook Intensity Survey, and a Facebook Motivation Scale. Results showed that the personality traits of agreeableness, conscientiousness, …

Boy Student/Girl Student: Exploring Early Childhood Teacher Perceptions Of Gender And Their Influence On Children's Learning, Elizabeth Oliver

HIM 1990-2015

Brain development in children has always been fascinating to me; it was the reason I chose to major in Early Childhood Education. I have often wondered how the expectations and behavior of parents and teachers affect young children academically. Specifically, how do early gender messages from adults, peers, and the popular media have a powerful impact on the development of young brains? The professional responsibility of all educators is to help every child reach their full potential. This thesis explored the potential impact early childhood educators have in developing and reinforcing stereotypes that can affect children academically by surveying teachers …

The Impact Of Media On Attitudes Toward Women And Sexual Attitudes In Emerging Adults, Melissa Patrick

HIM 1990-2015

The purpose of this research was to explore the relationship between exposure to media variables and emerging adults' attitudes toward women and sex. Previous research indicated that exposure to media variables can influence the thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes of those exposed. The current study examined how age at exposure to media variables impacted attitudes about sex and attitudes toward women. Six-hundred and ninety four college students were given a questionnaire containing an attitudes toward women scale, a sexual attitudes scale, and a media viewing questionnaire. ANOVAS and linear regressions were performed on the data and results for the study were …

The Relationship Between The Big Five Personality Traits And Paranormal Belief, Autumn Perdue

HIM 1990-2015

Studies into paranormal belief and the effects thereof have been gaining more attention. This study looked at the Big Five Personality Traits and how they could relate to belief in the paranormal, specifically which personality traits, if any, lended themselves to paranormal belief more than others. Four hundred forty-six college-age participants completed a Big Five survey as well as the Revised Paranormal Belief Scale. Results from a multiple regression showed a significant relationship between gender, religion, level of education achieved by the participant's mother, extraversion, and neuroticism (emotional stability) in relation to paranormal belief. Implications and elaboration of findings are …

A Review Of Communication Tools And Techniques For Successful Ict Projects, Ernest Mnkandla

The African Journal of Information Systems

Practitioners have repeatedly mentioned that projects that lack effective communication are doomed to fail. Project communications management involves the generation, collection, and storage of information within a project. Project communication therefore provides vital ingredients for the go-no-go decisions in a project through the effective selection of the minimum essential things that can be done to share the collected information among the stakeholders. A fast growing way to manage software development projects is agile project management, whose focus is balancing between continuous releases of quality deliverables and frequently sharing project progress information. In this editorial, we advocate for research on the …

Economic Impact Of Medical Education Expansion In Nevada: Economic Impact Assessment And Recommended Approach, Tripp Umbach

Lincy Institute Reports and Briefs

In May 2013, The Lincy Institute1 commissioned, Tripp Umbach2 to prepare an economic impact report to show the value of a new, four-year allopathic medical school (hereinafter referred to as the new four-year medical school) in Las Vegas. To accomplish this task, Tripp Umbach evaluated multiple medical school development models in order to recommend the optimal model that would provide the greatest economic impact to the state of Nevada and the Las Vegas Metropolitan area.

Five Justices, Section 4, And Three Ways Forward In Voting Rights, Kareem Crayton, Jane Junn

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy

No abstract provided.

Directing Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years In An Educational Theatre Environment, Philip J. Gill

Theses

This thesis explores the process of directing Jason Robert Brown’s musical The Last Five Years in an educational theatre setting. The author, Philip J. Gill, documents his approach to staging this complex, two-character show, which presents a unique narrative structure—one character moves forward in time while the other moves backward. Gill discusses his directorial vision, emphasizing the importance of time, musical transitions, and abstract staging to enhance the storytelling. He details the audition and casting process, highlighting challenges such as selecting actors who could meet the vocal and emotional demands of the roles.

The thesis also examines the collaboration with …

Addressing Trans-Boundary Challenges Through Collaboration: How Organizations "Harmonize" Actions And Decisions Across Problem Landscapes, Rachel Fleishman

Dissertations - ALL

Collaborative governance- or collaboration- has become increasingly important for the design and implementation of public policy in the United States. This dissertation explores concrete and unique policy-related benefits emerging from collaboration, and the processes by which they emerge.

Collaboration is defined broadly as "any interaction between two or more organizations undertaken with the intention to cooperate." This definition is applied in the context of water quality management, where the physical nature of watersheds and the lack of regulatory authority available to policy-makers leads to a variety of collaborative arrangements.

A survey of literatures addressing collaboration from different theoretical angles revealed …

Retrieval Of Free Space Radiation Patterns Through Measured Data In A Non-Anechoic Environment, Weixin Zhao

Dissertations - ALL

Antenna pattern measurements are usually carried out in an anechoic chamber. However, a good anechoic chamber is very expensive to construct. Previous research has attempted to compensate for the effects of extraneous fields measured in a non-anechoic environment to obtain a free space pattern that would be measured in an anechoic chamber. Existing compensation techniques are like the Test Zone Field compensation method, the Fast-Fourier-Transform-based method, the Matrix Pencil method, and the Antenna Pattern Comparison technique.

This work illustrates and extends a deconvolution methodology which allows the antenna measurement under a non-anechoic test environment and retrieves the free space radiation …

Predictors Of Postsecondary Education Attendance For Youth With Learning Disabilities, Jennifer Lorene Koehler

Dissertations - ALL

Given the increasing number of students with learning disabilities attending postsecondary educational institutions, it is essential to determine the factors which may play a predictive role in postsecondary education in order to inform educational practices and interventions prior to high school graduation. As such, the primary aim of the current study was to examine which variables may hold predictive value for postsecondary education attendance for students with learning disabilities. This study analyzed the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) in an attempt to identify the variables that predicted the likelihood that youth with disabilities would attend more postsecondary education. A total …

Recombinant Expression, Purification, And Characterization Of An Hiv-1 Tat-Human Cyclin T1 Chimera, Collin Lesley Fischer

Dissertations - ALL

Efficient transcription of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) requires the interaction of the viral protein Tat with the trans-activation response (TAR) stem-loop of the long-terminal repeat (LTR) portion of nascent viral RNA. The production of viable transcripts is enhanced dramatically by the interaction of HIV-1 Tat with the host protein human Cyclin T1. Interaction with hCycT1 remodels Tat protein contributing a single cysteine residue that is critical to the formation of the second of two zinc fingers (Zn2). Here we suggest that it is the presence of this critical cysteine residue and not the presence of arginine residues …

Barriers To Membership In The American Dental Hygienists’ Association In The State Of Georgia, Brandy Henderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Professional associations must have a significant level of membership to be effective. Georgia membership is increasingly low; therefore, ADHA cannot represent dental hygienists’ interests. This study determined factors that caused dental hygienists to continue to forgo membership in the ADHA. Several theoretical views of professional membership were considered. The sample was acquired from an unbiased systematic sampling of 50% (3,270) of registered dental hygienists and a convenience sampling of ADHA nonmembers at 2 continuing education seminars in Georgia. Data collection procedures included an electronic cover letter, consent form, and survey via Survey Monkey or hard copies for seminars. Three hundred …

Connecting Aga Khan University's Nine Campus Libraries Across Three Continents Through A Shared Library System, Ashraf Sharif, Normand Demers

Libraries

The Aga Khan University (AKU) is the only university in the developing world that is serving through its eleven campuses spread across eight countries and three continents. It has a network of nine libraries, although small in size, in four developing courtiers in two regions (South Asia and East Africa). The university has recently implemented a library management system to integrate all nine libraries in four counties using a single shared database. The purpose of this paper is to share our experience of implementing the industry standard-base state-of-the-art library system. The geographical location of AKU libraries and multilingual collections makes …

Talking Across Borders : Information And Communication Technology Use Among Iraqi Refugees In Amman, Jordan, And Louisville, Kentucky., Irene Levy

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

A series of interviews conducted in Amman, Jordan and Louisville, Kentucky posed the following questions: “How is information and communication technology (ICT) use affecting interpersonal communication patterns within the displaced Iraqi community in the US and Jordan?” and “What are the factors that limit the proliferation of the internet as a communication tool in that community?” Participants were individuals with legal refugee status and Iraqi nationality who left Iraq after the beginning of the 2003 Iraq War. Eight interviews were conducted in Louisville during the summer of 2012 and twelve were conducted in Amman during November 2012. Participants were asked …

Effects Of School Choice On Math Performance, Rachel Ricioli Wittenberg

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

The purpose of this study is to determine if there is a significant skill level difference between freshmen geometry students who attended charter schools and those who attended noncharter schools during middle school. The study addresses the controversy over charter schools providing better educational outcomes. The literature reviewed focuses on achievement in charter schools, and also discusses the indirect effects charter schools may have on surrounding public schools. The sample includes two cohorts of freshmen geometry students from the 2011- 2012 and 2012-2013 school years, which resulted in a sample size of 115 students. The results show that the difference …

The Effect Of The Love And Logic Program On Student Motivation, Courtney V. Coffin

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

This study evaluates the effect of implementing the classroom management program Love and Logic in small, middle and high school science classrooms. It focuses on science classrooms from seventh grade to twelfth grade in a small, rural district. The student population includes large percentages of white and Hispanic individuals, with a smaller percentage of Native American individuals as well as a large percentage, over 60%, of socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals. There were five cohorts, divided by type of science class and age, and the intervention was implemented by a multiple baseline across behaviors method. The cohorts were seventh grade life science, …

A Systems Approach To Countermeasures In Credibility Assessment Interviews, Nathan Twyman, Ryan M. Schuetzler, Jeffrey Gainer Proudfoot, Aaron Elkins

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Countermeasures, or techniques for hiding guilt during a credibility assessment examination, have long been an important topic in cognitive psychology and criminal justice fields. With recent IS research on automated screening systems, understanding the potential for countermeasures in this new paradigm is of increasing importance. This paper reports on a large experiment examining countermeasures in an automated deception detection screening context. The effectiveness of traditional countermeasure types (mental and physical) are examined, as well as an exploratory approach of trying several countermeasures at once. The exploratory approach was tested to investigate a proposed novel systems-inspired solution to countermeasures—triangulating on deception …

Research: South Dakota State University, Winter 2013, Christie Delfanian, Matt Landwehr

State of Discovery South Dakota State University's Research Magazine

CONTENTS:

South Dakota expertise integral part of Landsat [Page] 1
West Nile: Researchers help public health officials combat West Nile virus [page] 2
Health care: arteries, corticosteroids, concussions, and preemies [Page] 4
Oilseeds [Page] 6
Undergraduate Research [Page] 8
Organ donation key to helping Native Americans on dialysis [Page] 10
Researchers meet challenge of increased competition: 2012 measurements [Page] 11

Design Of An Automatic Wood Trimming Machine, Van Ho, Nicholas Maskal, Andrew Rutland

Mechanical Engineering

This final design report, prepared for Sunrise Arts by the Cal Poly design team Mahogany Automation, details the year-long process in which the team of three engineering students designed and built an automated wooden -plank edge trimming machine that incorporates anti-jamming and continuous loading features. The team has examined current woodworking machines and features available on the industrial and commercial market, and used these as guides along with device requirements set by the project sponsor, Bruce Palmer. The focus has been on designing the simplest and most cost effective device that allows operators to make production runs of wooden slats …

Trampoline And Bungee Fatigue-Test Machine, Andy Brock, Christopher D'Elia, Ryan Murphy

Mechanical Engineering

JumpSport, a Saratoga based recreational and fitness trampoline company, sponsored this senior project team towards the development of a fatigue-testing machine. The goal of this project was to iterate the previous machine JumpSport used for bungee cord, spring, and trampoline fatigue testing. Since minimal study had been conducted on these specific bungee cords, the fixture was designed to confirm the theoretical correlations for rubber and perform the final tests according to a strict protocol. Operating with a specific test protocol in mind will allow the data from multiple tests to be combined and analyzed statistically. With a design concept in …

Sodhana Environmental - Final Design Report, Eric Taylor, Corissa Bellis, Cody Perez, Cameron Zeller

Mechanical Engineering

A fully designed cost-effective, sustainable, toilet for the developing world.

Automated Foosball Table Year 1: Final Project Report, Juan David Gutierrez-Franco, John Inlow, Jesse Graham, Larry Huang

Mechanical Engineering

This project is a first iteration of an automated foosball table designed and created using servomotors provided by Yaskawa to create an interactive tradeshow display where guests can play against the algorithms developed in the PLC (programmable logic controller) controlling the servomotors. There will be a second iteration of the project done by a different team directly following this one. The motion components were selected with the intent to be able to surpass the reaction times and speeds of expert human players. There are a total of eight servomotors, four controlling linear actuators for translation of rods, and four controlling …