Digital Commons Network^™

Plain & Simple: The Will To Live Sustainably In An Unsustainable World, Brandi Nichole Button

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Sustainability is a buzzword covering a variety of fields and subjects. For the purposes of my research sustainability is “the ability to keep going over the long haul. As a value, it refers to giving equal weight in your decisions to the future as well as the present” (Gilman 1). The sustainability movement refers to activists, educators and researchers who are dedicated to finding high quality ways of living in the world that are environmentally benign for all who are now living as well future generations to come (Gilman 1). This research focuses on three women who engage in voluntary …

The Use Of The Ostracode Cyprideis Americana (Sharpe) As A Proxy For Salinity In Bahamian Lake Systems, Rachel E. Bowles

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Ostracodes, bi-valved crustaceans, are potentially excellent proxies for salinity.They are abundant, react to changes in salinity, and secrete low-magnesium calcite shells that preserve information about their host water chemistry. Changes in valve trace element concentration, stable isotope composition, and sieve pore shape values have been linked to changes in salinity. This study analyzed the response of the euryhaline ostracode, Cyprideis americana, to salinity in six lakes from two Bahamian islands across two seasons. The purpose of this work was to determine which compositional and morphological variables in C. americana are the most useful for paleosalinity reconstructions.Ostracode and water samples were …

Failure To Launch? The Role Of Land Inequality In Transition Delays, Andros Kourtellos, Ioanna Stylianou, Chih Ming Tan

Economics & Finance Faculty Publications

This paper provides empirical support for one theory of transition delays: initial land inequality. Using a new historical data set for land inequality (Frankema (2009)) we employ duration analysis to investigate whether higher levels of land inequality lead to longer delays in the extension of primary schooling. Our findings suggest that land inequality is a key determinant of delays in schooling.

The Changing Face Of China: Chinese Women And Their Awakening Culture, Celia Ella Thornton Corrad

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

The Changing Face of China: Chinese Women and Their Awakening Culture

Graduate Bulletin | 2013-2014, Jacksonville State University

Bulletins & Catalogs | Graduate

Vol. 35, No. 1 (August 2013). Jacksonville State was granted University status in 1966 and began adding graduate programs to its curriculum at that time. Graduate bulletins and catalogs contain information on the academic calendar, policies and procedures, faculty, scholarships and tuition, and degree requirements for graduate programs.

Transatlantic History: Locating And Naming An Emergent Field Of Study, Kenyon Zimmer

Traversea: The Journal of Transatlantic History

No abstract provided.

Fuerzas Locales, Espacios Atlánticos, Horizontes Globales: Álvar Núñez Cabeza De Vaca Conectando Mundos, Maria Juliana Gandini

Traversea: The Journal of Transatlantic History

No abstract provided.

The History Of Shakespeare In American Education, 1620-1930, Joseph P. Haughey

Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes Shakespeare’s role in American education from colonial times through the Progressive Era. The history is divided into four overlapping historical periods, each represented in its own chapter and derived from four different sets of primary sources. The first chapter provides a synopsis of Shakespeare’s presence in American education in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and then, through case studies of the records of two nineteenth-century university literary societies – the Hasty Pudding Club of Harvard University and the Sherwood Rhetorical Society of Kalamazoo College – examines the role extracurricular activity played in first introducing Shakespeare at the …

The Qur'anic Jesus: A Study Of Parallels With Non-Biblical Texts, Brian C. Bradford

Dissertations

This study examines which texts and religious communities existed that could well have contributed to Muhammad’s understanding of Jesus. The most important finding is that the Qur’anic verses mentioning Jesus’ birth, certain miracles, and his crucifixion bear close resemblance to sectarian texts dating as early as the second century. Accordingly, the idea that such verses from the Qur’an involving Jesus are original productions of the seventh century should be reconsidered.

The research covers a series of significant topics that support these findings. They include theological conflicts in third century Arabia; the interaction between Christian monks, Saracens, Arabs, and Ishmaelites; sectarian …

Hindu-Christian Conflict In India: Globalization, Conversion, And The Coterminal Castes And Tribes, Chad M. Bauman

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

While Hindu-Muslim violence in India has received a great deal of scholarly attention, Hindu-Christian violence has not. This article seeks to contribute to the analysis of Hindu-Christian violence, and to elucidate the curious alliance, in that violence, of largely upper-caste, anti-minority Hindu nationalists with lower-status groups, by analyzing both with reference to the varied processes of globalization. The article begins with a short review of the history of anti-Christian rhetoric in India, and then discusses and critiques a number of inadequately unicausal explanations of communal violence before arguing, with reference to the work of Mark Taylor, that only theories linking …

Pages News, Volume 21, No. 2, August 2013, Pascale Braconnot, Chris Brierley, Sandy P. Harrison

PAGES

Contents: Inside PAGES -- 20 years of PAGES news -- PAGES calendar -- Special Section: El Niño-Southern Oscillation -- Editorial -- El Niño-Southern Oscillation - observation and modeling -- Myanmar monsoon drought variability over the past 300 years: linkages to ENSO -- Coral microatoll reconstructions of El Niño-Southern Oscillation -- Giant clam recorders of ENSO variability -- Reconstructing ENSO in the Eastern Tropical Pacific from short-lived marine mollusks -- Challenges in understanding and modeling ENSO -- Coral-model comparison highlighting the role of salinity in long-term trends -- The response of pseudo-corals to ENSO in an isotope enabled climate model -- …

Predicting Mental Well-Being In Assisted Living Communities : The Roles Of Social Capital And The Built Environment., Sarah Elizabeth Walsh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Along the continuum of poor to good health, mental well-being refers to the positive state of being. Mental well-being connotes the ability to manage stress, maintain independence, and is indicative of happiness and improved quality of life. Mental well-being is critical to overall health throughout the lifespan, but it is of particular importance in the context of healthy aging since older adults are more likely to experience compromised mental health. Existing research has identified factors that reduce the risk of poor mental health outcomes: the built environment and individual and community social capital are associated with overall health status and …

Running Among Thorns : Perspectives On Ethiopian/United States Educational Experiences., Bruce Whearty 1952-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a qualitative exploration of the perspectives of Ethiopian immigrants to the United States who have educational experience in both cultures. By interviewing five respondents and asking them to reflect on the role that their education played in their acculturation to the United States, a series of case histories was developed. The case histories were analyzed using the Differentiated Multi-Dimensional Model of Acculturation to determine if they upheld the two predictions made by this model: 1) acculturation for any particular individual proceeds independently at different rates across three different dimensions: language, behavior, and cultural identity; and 2) acculturation …

The Rhetoric Of Africa : Historical Turns In Constructing A Continent, 1780-1890., Dexter Peck Mahaffey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines historical rhetoric about Africa in British and American writings between the beginnings of the Abolition period and the 1884 Berlin Conference at which the continent was divided by colonial powers. Tracing rhetorical trends of travel writers and their constituents through the explorations of the continent, it demarcates two turns in the way Africans and Africa were constructed rhetorically. In the process it reveals a 19th-century evolution from depicting Africa largely in terms of its viability for commerce and reception of European culture, to an Africa fallen into darkness, to Africa as the Dark Continent, permanently fixed in …

Plant And Arthropod Diversity In Prairie Restorations Around Louisville, Ky., Sarah Elizabeth Atherton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prairies are important ecological biomes that contain high biodiversity of economic and ecologically important flora and fauna. Unfortunately, despite the vast historic distribution over most of mid-America, remnant prairies are critically threatened due to urbanization and other anthropogenic activities. Therefore, measurements of richness are utilized to assess the stability and condition of remnant and restored prairies-higher richness indicating greater ecosystem stability. Arthropod abundance comprises a significant portion of the species richness found in prairies. Because of this, arthropods are an ideal group of organisms to study due to their relatively limited dispersal range and utilization of microhabitats. In this study, …

Teaching World Music In An Elementary Setting: Effective Teaching Strategies And Classroom Materials, Calyna Mc Allister

Masters Theses

The world we live in today is increasingly a global society. As such, the various cultures of the world come into contact with one another more often. Students today need to have experiences with different cultures in order to participate effectively in this globally minded world. An excellent way to expose children to these cultures is through the use of world music in the general music classroom. The need for world music from a music education standpoint has been addressed over the past few decades. However, little has been done to address the teaching methods associated with world music or …

Reflections On The 2013 Gsc-Gsa ‘Roof Of The World’ China Meeting And Chengdu, Nazrul I. Khandaker

Publications and Research

The recently concluded First Joint Scientific Meeting of Geological Society of China (GSC) and Geological Society of America (GSA) proceeded efficiently in the modern setting of the Jinjiang Hotel, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. GSA’s International Section played a key role bringing this meeting to the overseas communities. The meeting, titled ‘Roof of the World’, ended on 19^th June, 2013, followed by several field trips that lasted from three to six days. The meeting was designed to promote and bolster the academic communication between the GSC and GSA, and covered a wide range of topics presented through 15 technical sessions …

Image And Multimedia Resources In An Academic Environment: A Qualitative Study Of Students’ Experiences And Literacy Practices, Krystyna K. Matusiak

Library and Information Science: Faculty Scholarship

The digital environment provides an abundance of images and multimedia and offers a new potential for using resources in multiple modes of representation for teaching and learning. This paper reports the findings of a case study that investigated the use of image and multimedia resources in an undergraduate classroom. The study assumed a contextual approach and focused on different class contexts and students’ literacy practices. The class, which took place in a resource-rich, multimodal environment, was perceived by students as a positive learning experience. The distribution of resources and their role in teaching and learning varied and depended on the …

The Bayesian Estimation Of The Fractal Dimension Index Of Fractional Brownian Motion, Chen-Yueh Chen

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Real Effective Exchange Rate And Unemployment Rate: The Difference Between Re-Exporting And Non-Re-Exporting Countries, Xiaolong He

All Theses

In this paper, I examine the relationship between unemployment rate and real effective exchange rate in several countries from 1994 to 2009. The analysis shows that most of countries have a negative relationship between those two factors, which implies increase of exchange rate can improve employment rate in an economy. However, re-exporting countries like the Netherlands, Singapore and Hong Kong has a less negative relationship than other countries. I hypothesize that those results are caused by the different elasticity of demand for imports.

The Grass-Roots Challenges With Administration: Conscription Evasion, Contraband, And Resistance In Napoleonic Europe, Julia A. Lyle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The French model of the nineteenth century led the way to modernity in establishing centralized administrative governments throughout Continental Europe. Several Napoleonic policies that led to the establishment of a modern centralized state were not positive in their effects on the local communities. Research widely categorizes resistance to the Napoleonic program as either militarily or economically based. This study uses the French court cases from the Court of Cassation dated 1804 to 1820 to provide a different interpretation to the discussion of local resistance to Napoleonic authority on an international level. Conscription fraud, contraband, and resistance to government officials reveal …

Study Of Feasability For Phase Difference Extraction Using Software Defined Radio In Location Analysis, Paul Miller

Masters Theses

Here is a method for using the phase of an HF radio signal for use in location analysis. This computation is implemented in a software defined radio processing block in the GNU Radio environment. The signals analyzed are received by an Ettus Research USRP SDR. We created a phase analysis system called WMU Rootsync, which compares the roots of a received signal to the roots of a generated reference signal for the phase analysis. This research describes a prototype method for phase analysis only. Future projects may use these ideas differently than presented here. We intend for future projects to …

Demographic Changes In Developed And Developing Countries, Sarah Sax

All Theses

I will be observing demographic changes across both developed and developing countries and noting whether or not some developing countries follow the same trends as developed countries. This information can provide insight as to why some countries are so poor and help determine where to focus their attention in order to improve their standards of living. I will be performing a regional and country-specific analysis in order to determine which trends each developing country follows in accordance with the developed countries. I will suggest some policy solutions, which impoverished countries can use in order to improve their circumstances.

The Stress Revolution: An Examination Of Acculturative Stress And An Emerging Modern Human Stress Response, Jeffrey Nicklas

Social Sciences

In a world that is so fast pace and always changing, the human biological systems have need to adapt just as swiftly. WIth the dependence on culture that humans all share has led to the building of societies with complex rules, ideals, and accepted roles and ways of life. In these complex societies, great cities and governments have arisen but so too have unnoticed changes to human biology. One of these changes is with environmental stressors and the effects it has on the nervous system. The human body, in these modern times, still responds to perceived stressors with the release …

Adaptation And The Physiology Of Ocean Acidification, Morgan W. Kelly, Gretchen E. Hofmann

Faculty Publications

Ocean acidification, caused by the uptake of atmospheric CO2, is a threat to marine biodiversity, potentially rivalling the threat imposed by rising temperatures in some marine ecosystems. Although a growing body of literature documents negative effects of acidification on marine organisms, the majority of this work has focused on the effects of future conditions on modern populations, ignoring the potential effects of adaptation and physiological acclimatization. We review current literature on the potential for adaptation to elevated pCO2 in marine organisms. Although this body of work is currently quite small, we argue that data on the physiological effects of acidification, …

Reproductive Isolation And Cryptic Introgression In A Sky Island Enclave Of Appalachian Birds, Gene D. Sattler, Michael J. Braun

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Reproductive isolation is central to the speciation process, and cases where the strength of reproductive isolation varies geographically can inform our understanding of speciation mechanisms. Although generally treated as separate species, Black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) and Carolina chickadees (P. carolinensis) hybridize and undergo genetic introgression in many areas where they come into contact across the eastern United States and in the northern Appalachian Mountains. The Great Smoky Mountains harbor the last large breeding population of atricapillus in the southern Appalachians, isolated from the species’ main range by nearly 200 km. This population is believed to be reproductively isolated from local …

2013-2014 Undergraduate Catalog, The University Of Alabama In Huntsville

Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Atheism, Agnosticism, And Nonbelief: A Qualitative And Quantitative Study Of Type And Narrative, Christopher Frank Silver

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Extensive research has been conducted in exploration of the American religious landscape, however recently has social science research started to explore Nonbelief in any detail. Research on Nonbelief has been limited as most research focuses on the popularity of the religious “nones” or the complexities of alternative faith expressions such as spirituality. Research has been limited in exploring the complexity of Nonbelief or how non-believers would identify themselves. Most research assumes nonbelievers are a monolithic group with no variation such as Atheism or Agnosticism. Through two studies, one qualitative and one quantitative, this study explored identity of Nonbelief. Study one …

Conservation Genetics And Population Status Of The Flame Chub, Hemitremia Flammea, Kathlina Frances Alford

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The southeastern United States has a rich geologic history that contributed to the evolution of an extremely diverse aquatic fauna throughout the region. The Flame Chub, Hemitremia flammea, is a brightly colored, spring endemic minnow species native to the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Coosa river drainages. In this study, the cytochrome-b gene region was analyzed for 230 individuals from 29 populations across the three drainages. Results from maximum parsimony and Bayesian analyses recovered shallow divergence between the 31 haplotypes. AMOVA analyses indicated that most gene tic variation distributed within and between populations, not between drainages. Based on these results, this species …

Characterization Of The 2012 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H7n3 Virus Isolated From Poultry In An Outbreak In Mexico: Pathobiology And Vaccine Protection, Darrell R. Kapczynski, Mary Pantin-Jackwood, Sofia G. Guzman, Yadira Ricardez, Erica Spackman, Kateri Bertran, David L. Suarez, David E. Swayne

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

In June of 2012, an H7N3 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus was identified as the cause of a severe disease outbreak in commercial laying chicken farms in Mexico. The purpose of this study was to characterize the Mexican 2012 H7N3 HPAI virus (A/chicken/Jalisco/CPA1/2012) and determine the protection against the virus conferred by different H7 inactivated vaccines in chickens. Both adult and young chickens intranasally inoculated with the virus became infected and died at between 2 and 4 days postinoculation (p.i.). High virus titers and viral replication in many tissues were demonstrated at 2 days p.i. in infected birds. The …