Digital Commons Network^™

Spatial Analysis Of Air Velocity Distribution As Affected By House Size And Design In Commercial Broiler Production Facilities, Brian David Luck

Theses and Dissertations

Tunnel ventilation is the design practice of placing exhaust fans and air inlets on opposite ends of animal production facilities and moving air through the building via negative pressure. Increasing air velocity within tunnel ventilated broiler production facilities increases sensible cooling and reduces the need for latent cooling (panting), which improves production efficiency. An air velocity measurement system was developed and measurement density analysis for quantifying air velocity distribution was performed in a 12.19 x 121.9 m commercial broiler production facility. Results showed that axial measurement distances of 3.05 m and 40 measurement points per cross-section produced the most descriptive …

Delamination Detection In Concrete Using Disposable Impactors For Excitation, Anjali Narendra Patil

Theses and Dissertations

Delaminations in concrete bridge decks result primarily from corrosion of the reinforcing bars (or rebar). This corrosion leads to volumetric expansion of the rebar. When the rebar expands, concrete cracks, and there is a localized separation of the concrete cover from the underlying concrete. Impact-echo testing is an effective technique to map delaminations on concrete bridge decks. However, mapping speed is limited by necessary retrieval of the impactor for traditional tests. To achieve higher scanning speeds, it is advantageous to use both a non-contact measurement (air-coupled impact-echo) and disposable-impactor excitation. Disposable impactors have the potential advantage of achieving greater deck …

164th Commencement, Fall

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Drawing Lessons From The U.K. Constitutional Reform Act Of 2005, Terence J. Lau

Management and Marketing Faculty Publications

In this City Square dialogue, Professor Judith Maute provided the initial spark in her important 2007 article on reforms to judicial selection in the United Kingdom.[1] In her article, Professor Maute outlined the breathtaking and daring changes implemented in the U.K. that upended centuries of tradition to modernize and strengthen public confidence in the judiciary. Most significant among these changes were the creation of a Supreme Court and dramatically moving the process of becoming a judge away from a secretive appointment to a professional Judicial Appointments Commission.[2] The reforms eschew direct affirmative action, but place an explicit value on diversity …

“In Her Shoes”: Victorian Lady Explorers In Imperial Africa And Their Relationship To Contemporary Travellers Of A Commercialized, Nostalgic Landscape, Mary Smith

History & Classics Student Scholarship

Smith uses the framework of the Cape to Cairo trek to illuminate both the problematic maternalist feminism of early 19th century women, and to draw parallels with contemporary nostalgia for a romanticized and racialized past.

Efficacy Of Motivational Interviewing And Centering To Increase Physical Activity And Dietary Adherence In African Americans With Pre-Hypertension And Hypertension, Chioma U. Okereke

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Translational and Clinical Research Projects

Abstract Title: Efficacy of Motivational Interviewing and Centering to Increase Physical Activity and Dietary Adherence in African Americans with Pre-hypertension and Hypertension.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge and self-care behaviors of African Americans necessary to prevent the development of hypertension or to improve the control of all ready existing hypertension. Motivational interviewing was used to identify and address barriers to lifestyle modifications. The feasibility of using a Centering Care Model to deliver interactive educational sessions to empower individuals to take an active role in their health care was evaluated.

Significance of the Problem: African …

Commencement Convocation Exercises - December 2013, Prairie View A&M University

Commencement and Convocation Exercises

No abstract provided.

2013 Fall Commencement, Harding University

Commencement Programs

Program for the Harding University Commencement on December 14.

Commencement Speaker: Steve W. Reeves

A Look At New Public Management Through The Lens Of The Ncib Act Specifically As It Relates To Traditionally Marginalized Populations, Aaron Cornelius Rollins

Theses and Dissertations

Performance policies propose to enhance the quality of services provided to vulnerable citizens. However, the ability to accomplish this goal is largely unsubstantiated. In the field of education, the No Child Left Behind Act outlined performance policy guidelines that held educators accountable for disadvantaged students outcomes and provided students with the option to seek the serves of alternative providers through a student transfer provision. This dissertation assesses the quality of states’ NCLB provisions that targeted minority and vulnerable student performance as well as utilization of the NCLB transfer provision allowing students to exit underperforming schools. It indicates that teachers’ union …

A Study Of First Grade Class Size Reduction Classes And Common Core State Standards Implementation In A Rural Mississippi School District, Toya Vatrina Harrell

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of class size reduction (CSR) on student performance while implementing Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The researcher sought to examine test scores specifically in 1st grade classrooms during the 1st year implementation of CCSS. Additionally, the researcher wanted to assist school leaders in identifying ways to motivate teachers to perform at the highest level and focus on student outcomes. The results indicated that students in the CSR classes had higher scores than the students in the non-CSR classes in some subjects. The findings from this study were consistent with the …

"Through Hazel Eyes" : Hazel Brannon Smith's Fight For Free Speech And Justice In Mississippi 1936-1985, Jeffery Brian Howell

Theses and Dissertations

Hazel Brannon Smith, a prominent white newspaper owner in Mississippi before, during, and after the civil rights era was an avowed supporter of Jim Crow segregation for the first half of her career, until pressure from the white establishment and the changing political and social milieu of the 1950s and 1960s pushed her to become an ally of the black struggle for social justice. Smith's biography reveals how many historians have miscast white liberals of this period. Smith was considered a liberal by her peers, but her actions reveal the firm limits of white liberalism in the rural South during …

Automatic Modulation Recognition For Aeronautical Telemetry, Jacob William Frogget

Theses and Dissertations

This these explores automatic modulation recognition as applied to PCM/FM, SOQPSK- TG and ARTM CPM. It found that the likelihood based approach is intractable. The statistical features of the amplitude, phase and frequency are ineffective at distinguishing these modulation types. A method based on the phase changes between symbols is developed and shows that as long as symbol timing is established, this method can effectively distinguish PCM/FM, SOQPSK-TG and ARTM CPM for signal-to-noise ratios above 30 dB. Another method, the Bianchi-Loubaton- Sirven technique, was able to distinguish PCM/FM and SOQPSK-TG but was unable to distinguish ARTM CPM. A happy byproduct …

Illinois State University, One Hundred And Fifty-Fourth Annual Commencement, December 14, 2013, Illinois State University

Commencement Programs

Illinois State University
One Hundred and Fifty-Fourth Annual Commencement
December 14, 2013

The Effect Of National Board Certified Teachers On Mathematics Achievement For Students In A Title I School, Watress Lashun Harris

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to determine if there is a difference in mathematics mean scale score growth on the MCT2 mathematics assessment between students taught by national board certified teachers (NBCTs) and those taught by non-NBCTs in a low socioeconomic, high minority, Title I school. For this study, a causal-comparative research design and a statistical analysis procedure of ANCOVA were used to answer two research questions: First, is there a statistically significant difference in mathematics mean scale score growth on the MCT2 mathematics assessment between fourth grade African American and Caucasian students taught by NBCTs and those taught …

Perceptions Of Students At A Rural Mississippi Community College Regarding Employability, Cortney R. Harris

Theses and Dissertations

Research studies show that there is a skills gap in American society today. This research study examined employability perceptions of community college students at a rural community college in Mississippi. Students were asked to complete an online survey that questioned the degree of importance placed on several employability skills, as well as their self-perceived competence levels at performing those skills. Likert-scale response set type questions were used to provide responses on importance and competence levels. After sending the survey invitation, 100 usable surveys were returned and analyzed for this research study. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney procedures, …

Developing A Multistage Model For Treponemal Disease Susceptibility, Sarah A (Sarah Ann) Mathena

Theses and Dissertations

Despite numerous studies, little is known about the influential factors impacting treponemal disease susceptibility. Yet, forms of treponemal disease, specifically yaws, are a major source of morbidity in the developing world. Bioarchaeological materials may assist with deficit by testing full ranges of disease expression. This study explores the relationship between treponemal disease ecology, specifically yaws, and susceptibility through six southeastern United States archaeological samples. Results show early life health experiences have a relationship to later life disease expression. However, influences of climate may only be seen at a cross-regional level. Finally, although nutrition, as evidenced by subsistence strategy, may play …

An Assessment Of Human Vulnerability To Prolonged Cold In The Zeravshan Valley Of Tajikistan, R Bryson Touchstone

Theses and Dissertations

The Central Asian country of Tajikistan is the poorest of the former Soviet republics; it is also prone to a plethora of natural hazards including mass wasting, flood, and extreme temperature. This thesis seeks to characterize how vulnerable rural Tajik mountain communities are to prolonged cold. The primary focus was in Navobod, in the Zeravshan Valley of Tajikistan, where semi-structured interviews were conducted with 31 households, the village leader and doctor, and school staff. The results from the interviews were compared with GIS analysis of the region. Interviews indicated that the area is highly vulnerable to the impacts of prolonged …

Black-White, Black-Nonblack, And White-Nonwhite Residential Segregation In U.S. Metropolitan And Nonmetropolitan Areas, 1990-2010, Jed Raney Pressgrove

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study is to examine racial residential segregation in U.S. metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. The study uses 1990-2010 decennial census data to answer a broad theoretical question: is the historical black-white color line being replaced by a black-nonblack or white-nonwhite color line? The results show that blackwhite segregation is higher than black-nonblack and white-nonwhite segregation in metropolitan areas, nonmetropolitan areas, and the United States as a whole. A multivariate analysis reveals that population size tends to be associated with higher segregation in metropolitan areas and lower segregation in nonmetropolitan areas. As a control variable, diversity seems to …

Future Directions In Rural Health Care: Research Needs And Opportunities For The Arts And Sciences, Joseph Knapp M.D., Timothy Descamps Cpa, Cra, Heidi Boehm Rn, Ccrc

Rural Health Workshop

No abstract provided.

Home Is Always Calling: Determinants Of Civic Participation Among Zimbabwean Immigrants In Cape Town, South Africa, Rumbidzai R. Mufuka

Open Access Dissertations

This research project examines factors that have influenced community engagement among immigrants from Zimbabwe living in Cape Town, South Africa. A case study of PASSOP (an immigrant rights organization in Cape Town) tests existing theories on civic participation through interviews with immigrants, knowledgeable informants and activists. The study identifies reasons for leaving Zimbabwe and legal status in South Africa as factors that influence why undocumented immigrants participate in or withdraw from civil society in Cape Town. The results indicate that the conditions of the country of origin and the related reasons for leaving—political and economic degradation in Zimbabwe—heavily influence the …

The Mechanisms Of Synaptic Maintenance, Shaoyun Zang

Open Access Dissertations

Synapses are specialized cell-cell contacts where signals are reliably transduced from a neuron to its target cell in a regulated manner. Structurally, synapses are comprised of the pre- and post-synaptic terminals, and the synaptic cleft. Within each of these compartments is a complex network of molecular machinery, the components of which require constant turnover and “maintenance” to ensure a consistent relay of information. In neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s (AD), Parkinson’s (PD), and prion-related diseases, synaptic degeneration is often an early event associated with disease severity, which is evinced by the degree of cognitive decline. A dysfunction of synaptic maintenance …

“We Found Ourselves”—Music And Identity Among The Chinese American Diaspora In Miami, Yiyu Zhang

Open Access Theses

Chinese American communities have been part of the United States since the 19th century. Presently, their high rates of immigration have made them one of this country’s fastest growing communities. However, in Miami, only 0.3% of the population are Chinese Americans. In this local setting, music serves, in the words of Su Zheng, as an important “signifier that produces complex cultural meanings.” Because traditional music forms one of the most significant aspects of music in China, it is critical to explore the extent to which Chinese American musical culture has developed and changed. This thesis discusses the function of Chinese …

Volume 49 - Issue 10 - Friday, December 13, 2013, Rose Thorn Staff

The Rose Thorn Archive

The Rose Thorn, Rose-Hulman's independent student newspaper.

Strengthening Immigrants' Health Access: Current Opportunities, Leighton C. Ku

Health Policy and Management Issue Briefs

This brief summarizes key opportunities helping the nation’s newcomers in gaining health insurance coverage and health access that are possible under the current law. Provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will help millions of legal immigrants gain access to affordable health insurance coverage. At the same time, however, immigrants will also face new responsibilities. Like citizens, lawfully present immigrants will be responsible for having health insurance coverage or paying a tax penalty, although some are exempt. Rules about immigrants’ access to health insurance benefits are often complicated because they depend on specific immigration categories, as well as eligibility for …

[2013-12-13] Meeting Of The Academic And Health Affairs Policy Committee, Virginia Commonwealth University. Board Of Visitors

VCU Board of Visitors Minutes

Official minutes of the VCU Board of Visitors and its Executive Committee.

[2013-12-13] Meeting Of The Board Of Visitors Of Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Commonwealth University. Board Of Visitors

VCU Board of Visitors Minutes

Official minutes of the VCU Board of Visitors and its Executive Committee.

School Culture: A Survey Of Two Eastern Kentucky Middle Schools, John D. Goble

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

An applied project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Education Specialist at Morehead State University by John D. Goble on December 13, 2013.

Analysis Of The Industrial Skill Set; Lewis County Case Study, Jonathan Shane Wallingford

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the College of Science and Technology Morehead State University in Partial Fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Master of Science by Jonathan Shane Wallingford on December 13, 2013.

Reflection On Usfsp's Downtown Partnership Meeting, December 13, 2013, Helen Levine

USF St. Petersburg Campus News and Press Releases

No abstract provided.

Domestic Genocide, Ivan Kilgore

Writing Beyond the Prison Living Archive

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