Digital Commons Network^™

Sustainable Energy Production In The United States: Life Cycle Assessment Of Biofuels And Bioenergy, Jiqing Fan

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The United States of America is making great efforts to transform the renewable and abundant biomass resources into cost-competitive, high-performance biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower. This is the key to increase domestic production of transportation fuels and renewable energy, and reduce greenhouse gas and other pollutant emissions.

This dissertation focuses specifically on assessing the life cycle environmental impacts of biofuels and bioenergy produced from renewable feedstocks, such as lignocellulosic biomass, renewable oils and fats. The first part of the dissertation presents the life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy demands of renewable diesel (RD) and hydroprocessed jet fuels (HRJ). The …

Magneto-Photonic Crystals For Optical Sensing Applications, Neluka Dissanayake

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Among the optical structures investigated for optical sensing purpose, a significant amount of research has been conducted on photonic crystal based sensors. A particular advantage of photonic crystal based sensors is that they show superior sensitivity for ultra-small volume sensing. In this study we investigate polarization changes in response to the changes in the cover index of magneto-optic active photonic band gap structures. One-dimensional photonic-band gap structures fabricated on iron garnet materials yield large polarization rotations at the band gap edges. The enhanced polarization effects serve as an excellent tool for chemical sensing showing high degree of sensitivity for photonic …

Evaluation Of Sugar Maple Dieback In The Upper Great Lakes Region And Development Of A Forest Health Youth Education Program, Tara L. Bal

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Acer saccharum Marsh., is one of the most valuable trees in the northern hardwood forests. Severe dieback was recently reported by area foresters in the western Upper Great Lakes Region. Sugar Maple has had a history of dieback over the last 100 years throughout its range and different variables have been identified as being the predisposing and inciting factors in different regions at different times. Some of the most common factors attributed to previous maple dieback episodes were insect defoliation outbreaks, inadequate precipitation, poor soils, atmospheric deposition, fungal pathogens, poor management, or a combination of these. The current sugar maple …

Security Evaluation Of Substation Network Architectures, Pingal Raj Sapkota

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

In recent years, security of industrial control systems has been the main research focus due to the potential cyber-attacks that can impact the physical operations. As a result of these risks, there has been an urgent need to establish a stronger security protection against these threats. Conventional firewalls with stateful rules can be implemented in the critical cyberinfrastructure environment which might require constant updates. Despite the ongoing effort to maintain the rules, the protection mechanism does not restrict malicious data flows and it poses the greater risk of potential intrusion occurrence.

The contributions of this thesis are motivated by the …

A Cost-Benefit Analysis Of A 25% Rps In Michigan, Fei Li

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Michigan depends heavily on fossil fuels to generate electricity. Compared with fossil fuels, electricity generation from renewable energy produces less pollutants emissions. A Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) is a mandate that requires electric utilities to generate a certain amount of electricity from renewable energy sources. This thesis applies the Cost-Benefits Analysis (CBA) method to investigate the impacts of implementing a 25% in Michigan by 2025. It is found that a 25% RPS will create about $20.12 billion in net benefits to the State. Moreover, if current tax credit policies will not change until 2025, its net present value will increase …

Evaluation And Monitoring Of Ash (Fraxinus Spp.) Tolerant To Long-Term Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus Planipennis [Coleoptera: Buprestidae]) Exposure, Kathryn G. Hietala

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Invasive insects that successfully establish in introduced areas can significantly alter natural communities. These pests require specific establishment criteria (e.g. host suitability) that, when known, can help quantify potential damage to infested areas. Emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis [Coleoptera: Buprestidae]) is an invasive phloem-feeding pest which is responsible for the death of millions of ash trees (Fraxinus spp. L.). Over 200 surviving ash trees were previously identified in the Huron-Clinton Metroparks located in southeast Michigan. Trees were assessed over a four year period and a hierarchical cluster analysis was performed on dieback, vigor, and presence of signs and …

The Problematic Of Privacy In The Namespace, Randal Sean Harrison

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

In the twenty-first century, the issue of privacy--particularly the privacy of individuals with regard to their personal information and effects--has become highly contested terrain, producing a crisis that affects both national and global social formations. This crisis, or problematic, characterizes a particular historical conjuncture I term the namespace. Using cultural studies and the theory of articulation, I map the emergent ways that the namespace articulates economic, juridical, political, cultural, and technological forces, materials, practices and protocols. The cohesive articulation of the namespace requires that privacy be reframed in ways that make its diminution seem natural and inevitable. In the popular …

Technology, Transportation, And Scale In The Koyokuk Placer Mining District 1890s - 1930s, Jessica Sarah Peterson

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The Koyukuk Mining District was one of several northern, turn of the century, gold rush regions. Miners focused their efforts in this region on the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River and on several of its tributaries. Mining in the Koyukuk began in the 1880s and the first rush occurred in 1898. Continued mining throughout the early decades of the 1900s has resulted in an historic mining landscape consisting of structures, equipment, mining shafts, waste rock, trash scatters, and prospect pits. Modern work continues in the region alongside these historic resources. An archaeological survey was completed in 2012 as part …

Migration Patterns Among Young Adults In The United States: Environmental, Social, And Economic Explanations, Fangming Liu

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Young adult migration is a key factor in community development. The goal of this paper is to study what kinds of places attract young adults and what kinds are losing them. Linear regression is conducted to analyze what place-specific factors explain migration patterns among young adults. These factors include economic, social, and environmental variables. This study finds that social and environmental factors are just as important as economic ones. Specifically, employment in the arts increases young adult net migration. Environmental variables, for example, natural amenities and protected federal lands are particularly important in rural settings in attracting young adults. These …

Pesky Pests Of The Great Lakes State: Is Public Participation Influenced By Geographic Differences?, Angela Yu

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

In Michigan, environmental issues, such as invasive species, are not geographically constrained, affecting citizens throughout the state. Regulations and management plans organized by scientists and officials are intended to address issues statewide, but these policies may not adequately tackle the threat from invasive species as it impacts different parts of the state at different times. Participation and contributions from citizens can offer insight into the impacts and changes non-native species have on the local ecosystem. However, chances to participate and contribute may be influenced by geographic location in the state. To understand if this was the case, this research studied …

Breaking Codes: Making Theories On Menstruation Accessible Through Third-Wave Feminism, Carole S. Reynolds

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Men and women respond to situations according to their community’s social codes. With menstruation, people adhere to “menstrual codes”. Within academic communities, people adhere to “academic codes”. This report paper investigates performances of academic codes and menstrual codes. Implications of gender identity and race are missing and/or minimal in past feminist work regarding menstruation. This paper includes considerations for gender identity and race. Within the examination of academic codes, this paper discusses the inhibitive process of idea creation within the academic sphere, and the limitations to the predominant ways of knowledge sharing within, and outside of, the academic community. The …

Teaching The Gas Properties And Gas Laws: An Inquiry Unit With Alternative Assessment, Michael Hammar

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

As a chemistry teacher I felt that the gas laws were rather simple concepts to understand. My students, however, felt the opposite. Conceptual issues, as well as mathematical issues were problematic every year. In this study, a unit about gas properties and gas laws was modified to include inquiry-based teaching methods. The research questions focused on how these changes affected student results on a traditional end-of-the-unit test and on an alternative assessment. Students’ attitudes during these lessons were also monitored to see if the inquiry methods improved student perceptions of teaching, learning, and self-awareness. The results of this study showed …

Spring Discharge Monitoring In Low-Resource Settings: A Case Study Of Concepción Chiquirichapa, Guatemala, Stephanie C. Tubman

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Water springs are the principal source of water for many localities in Central America, including the municipality of Concepción Chiquirichapa in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. Long-term monitoring records are critical for informed water management as well as resource forecasting, though data are scarce and monitoring in low-resource settings presents special challenges. Spring discharge was monitored monthly in six municipal springs during the author’s Peace Corps assignment, from May 2011 to March 2012, and water level height was monitored in two spring boxes over the same time period using automated water-level loggers. The intention of this approach was to circumvent …

The Mentoring-Burnout Relationship And Predictors Of Nurse Mentoring Behavior, Meline Schaffer

All Dissertations

Employee burnout can be costly for organizations as well as employees as it contributes to turnover intentions, lost productivity and negative health outcomes (Aiken & Paice, 2003; Maslach & Leiter, 2008; Shaufeli & Bakker, 2004). The nursing profession appears to be particularly influenced by this stress-related phenomenon and is the targeted population in the current study (Shaufeli & Enzman, 1998). Using the Job Demands-Resources model, mentoring was examined as a factor that may impact burnout among experienced nurses. While positive mentoring experiences could serve as a resource that buffers against burnout, negative mentoring experiences may be a job demand that …

Originalism And Purpose: A Precis Symposium: Back To The Basics: Originalism And Textualism In Constitutional Interpretation Today, Mark E. Brandon

Articles

No abstract provided.

Rico Trends: From Gangsters To Class Actions, Pamela Bucy Pierson

Articles

This article addresses the question why isn't RICO used much RICO the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act both a crime and a civil cause of action was passed in 1970 with much fanfare The fanfare was deserved RICO was an imaginative criminal justice initiative aimed at complex systemic crime RICO's civil cause of action was viewed as a robust tool for plaintiffs and a vital supplement to strained law enforcement resources After conducting an indepth analysis of RICO opinions reported and unreported rendered by the federal appellate courts during the seven year time period from 20052011 this article has …

Learning Outcomes: A Study Of Student Employees At The University Of Northern Iowa Wellness And Recreation Center, Justin James Holman

Graduate Research Papers

The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) Wellness and Recreation Services (WRS) administration and professional staff have recognized that employment at the Wellness Recreation Center (WRC) can and should be a component of the education that student employees receive as UNI undergraduates. This is clearly supported by Keeling (2005), Caine, Caine, McClintic and Klimek (2005), Stayhorn (2006) among others and a host of sponsored studies by the American College Personnel Association and National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (2004). The purpose of this research is to establish a comprehensive comparative analysis of student employee development through employment with the UNIWRS.

Rational Reprogramming Of Fungal Polyketide First Ring Cyclization, Yuquan Xu, Tong Zhou, Zhengfu Zhou, Shiyou Su, Sue A. Roberts, William R. Montfort, Jia Zeng, Ming Chen, Wei Zhang, Min Lin, Jixun Zhan, Istvan Molnar

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

Resorcylic acid lactones (RAL) and dihydroxyphenylacetic acid lactones (DAL) represent important pharmacophores with heat shock response and immune system modulatory activities. The biosynthesis of these fungal polyketides involves a pair of collaborating iterative polyketide synthases (iPKSs): a highly reducing iPKS (hrPKS) whose product is further elaborated by a nonreducing iPKS (nrPKS) to yield a 1,3-benzenediol moiety bridged by a macrolactone. Biosynthesis of unreduced polyketides requires the sequestration and programmed cyclization of highly reactive poly-β-ketoacyl intermediates to channel these uncommitted, pluripotent substrates towards defined subsets of the polyketide structural space. Catalyzed by product template (PT) domains of the fungal nrPKSs and …

Graduate Studies Fact Book

Graduate Studies Fact Books (2006-2017)

No abstract provided.

Graduate Catalog, Georgia Southern University

Graduate Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Cheng V. Romo, United States District Court For The District Of Massachusetts

Historical and Topical Legal Documents

Plaintiff's Opposition to Defendant's Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law

Like A Hurricane: A Citation Analysis Of Emergency Management Scholarly Literature, Jennifer Noe, Julia M. Furay

Publications and Research

This bibliometric study used citation analysis to uncover citing characteristics in the burgeoning academic field of emergency management. Of the 281 degree programs listed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency nationwide, those at community colleges accounted for 17 percent of the total. Using the interdisciplinary database of Academic Search Complete, a sample of 5,099 citations was collected from 146 articles published between 2002 and 2012. The most strongly represented disciplines revealed by the analysis were Social Science, Science/Technology and Medicine. A majority of citations (45%) came from academic journals, with nearly half (44%) of those from Social Science. When citing …

Supportive Supervision And Resiliency Ohio - Accwic Training Curriculum, Atlantic Coast Child Welfare Implementation Center

Other QIC-WD Products

Purpose The International Federation of Coaches (ICF) defines coaching as: “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.” “Coaching is highly focused on individuals designing their future – and that of their organization – and achieving excellence through setting personally and professionally challenging goals and committing to taking the actions necessary to achieve them” (Byrne, 2007). In the field of child welfare, coaching is being utilized in work situations, at all levels of the system, to focus on specific skills and abilities to reach specific outcomes, enhance performance and …

The Neglect Of Governance In Forest Sector Vulnerability Assessments: Structural-Functionalism And “Black Box” Problems In Climate Change Adaptation Planning, Adam Wellstead, Michael Howlett, Jeremy Rayner

Department of Social Sciences Publications

Efforts to develop extensive forest-based climate change vulnerability assessments have informed proposed management and policy options intended to promote improved on-the-ground policy outcomes. These assessments are derived from a rich vulnerability literature and are helpful in modeling complex ecosystem interactions, yet their policy relevance and impact has been limited. We argue this is due to structural-functional logic underpinning these assessments in which governance is treated as a procedural “black box” and policy-making as an undifferentiated and unproblematic output of a political system responding to input changes and/or system prerequisites. Like an earlier generation of systems or cybernetic thinking about political …

Entrepreneurship Education In The Philippines, Aida L. Velasco

DLSU Business & Economics Review

This study presents the current state of entrepreneurship education in the Philippines. The status of entrepreneurship education is evaluated through the analysis of entrepreneurship education curricula and practices in the Philippines and to suggest policy measures in the promotion, development and creation, growth, and sustainability of more entrepreneurial undertaking. Entrepreneurship education in the Philippines is heavily focused on the development of entrepreneurs in terms of encouraging start-ups. However, there is lack of focus in developing creativity and innovation as a mindset of the student in the formal education system. There is also minimal support from the academe and industry to …

Federal Trade Commission V. Wyndham Hotels, United States District Court For The District Of New Jersey

Historical and Topical Legal Documents

FTC Opposition to Motion to Dismiss

Feminism, Breastfeeding, And Society, Jen Bracken-Hull

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

A dichotomy exists among feminists regarding the views and contributions of breastfeeding. Across several waves of feminism women have argued for and against breastfeeding. Until recently, breastfeeding (regarding the bearing and nurturing of children) was seen as a responsibility that prevented women from participating in public circles. This article delineates the general contributions made by women who breastfeed including biological, social, emotional, and personal factors. Changes and accommodations are required for women who choose to breastfeed to not be disadvantaged.

Abraham And Idrimi, John Gee

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

Idrimi of Alalakh lived in Syria about a century after Abraham and left an autobiographical inscription that is the only such item uncovered archaeologically from Middle Bronze Age Syro-Palestine. The inscription of Idrimi and the Book of Abraham share a number of parallel features and motifs. Some of the parallels are a result of similar experiences in their lives and some are a result of coming from a similar culture and time.

Disclosure & Offer At Twenty-Five: Time To Adopt Policies To Promote Fairly Negotiated Compensation, Gabriel H. Teninbaum, Steve Kraman

Suffolk University Law School Faculty Works

In 1987, this article’s co-author (Dr. Kraman), with other hospital staff at the Lexington, Kentucky VA Medical Center, created the risk management method now known as "disclosure & offer." The Lexington VA's guiding principal was that patients injured by medical errors should be made whole without the need for litigation. Their process included advising patients to seek counsel and then negotiating fair compensation with the attorneys/patients. After 10 years, the Lexington VA group published a study revealing the success of their program in fairly compensating patients while reducing litigation costs. Today, disclosure & offer programs are a national phenomenon. Most …

A Tale Of Two Lawsuits, Gabriel H. Teninbaum, Benjamin R. Zimmermann

Suffolk University Law School Faculty Works

Imagine two patients, Mal and Gary, are admitted to neighboring rooms in a Boston teaching hospital. While hospitalized, they both suffer serious injuries, but the mechanisms are different: Mal’s are caused by a drug interaction that her medical team knew, or should have known, would cause her injury when they delivered it to her. Gary’s injuries, by contrast, were caused by a contract maintenance worker who dropped a fixture on him while attempting to make a repair in the patient’s room.

Both patients have a right to bring claims for the negligence that injured them. Only Mal’s, however, will be …