Digital Commons Network^™

Catching Companies Who Refuse To Go Green Red-Handed, Wylee Mcgreevy

Honors Theses

Recycling, planting trees, and bringing your own bags to the grocery store are some of the activities people regularly think about when it comes to sustainability. In the grand scheme of life, how much difference can one person make? What if there were stricter standards for corporations which accounted for their emission of pollutants? Environmental Accounting is a branch of accounting that is progressively gaining popularity and has the potential to redefine the standards of sustainability for companies. With integration of past proposals for a carbon tax and a cap and trade system, a new proposal could be formed that …

A Multi-Agent, Connectionist Model Of Metonymy Production, Robert J. Powers

Honors Scholar Theses

Metonymy, like metaphor, has received much attention in cognitive linguistics literature (Croft, 1993; Kövecses & Radden, 1998; Panther & Radden, 1999). Most experimental work focuses on comprehension. However, why a speaker would choose to produce a metonym in some cases and not others is not fully understood. Connectionist models are well-suited to deal with the partialsemantic/partial-syntactic information which is characteristic of metonymy. Moreover, thesemodels can capture some of the complex, time-varying dynamics of language development. Here, a model is presented in which dyads of artificial agents (each a recurrent neural network based on Rogers, et al., 2004) were trained in …

The Legacy Of 1940: The Election Of Franklin D. Roosevelt To A Third Term, Kyle Lindsay

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

For my honors history thesis, I examined the decision of Franklin D. Roosevelt to run for a third presidential term in 1940. This decision was an important one, for no other President in American history had been elected to a third term. My research indicated that despite his personal wishes, Roosevelt believed that he had to run again in 1940 to guide the United States during the uncertain period leading up to World War II.

‘The People’S Own Mp’: How The 1981 Hunger Strike Changed The Republican Movement In Ireland, Ryan Fink

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

The 20th century was a period of turmoil for the people of Ireland. After fighting for independence in the first quarter of the century, Ireland was partitioned into two separate entities, the Irish-controlled Republic of Ireland in the South and the British-controlled Northern Ireland in the Northeast. The middle half of the century saw bloody violence and sectarian fighting between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the various Unionist paramilitary forces in Northern Ireland. This paper looks at the period from 1970 to 2000, and evaluates how and why the bloody sectarian conflict shifted into a partially more peaceful political …

Working Paper No. 32, Canada And The United States: A Comparison Of Their Philosophical Bases, Lorraine M. Hutton

Working Papers in Economics

Americans and Canadians seem similar in many ways; however, their dissimilar historical experiences have shaped very different attitudes and philosophies that underpin their institutions. Canadians promote equality and collective responsibility under a restrained, parliamentary state, whilst the Americans stress self-reliance, individualism and freedom. Canadians embraced the hierarchical structure of the British and French Empires and Americans revolted against all ties to it. What appear to be minor distinctions between the two countries and cultures are actually fundamental philosophies rooted in the past.

The Diel Dynamics Of Ciliate Community In A Tide-Pool, Chien-Fu Chao, Bo-Wei Wang, Chao-Hsiung Cheng, Kuo-Ping Chiang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

We investigated the diel cycle mechanism of a tide-pool ciliate community of the northeastern coast of Taiwan. The investigation was conducted on 17th-18th June (typical summer weather), and on 23th -24th July 2013 (10 days after a typhoon). In June, the tide-pool ecosystem was an independent and the excystment of ciliates in the tide-pool caused a dramatic increase in population abundance, as well as composition change. In July, there was no significant difference between the species composition in the tide-pool and that in the surrounding coastal water. However, the abundance of ciliates in the tide-pool was lower due to the …

Dna Barcoding Of Coastal Larval Fish Communities Of Dongshar Island, South China Sea Revealed By Mitochondrial Co I Sequences, I-Shiung Chen, Kwang-Tsao Shao, Shao-Liang Hsu, Gwo-Ching Gong, Yu-Chih Chen, Ta-Kang Liu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

The 70 different samples of larval fish morphotypes have been successfully amplified and sequenced in detail via PCR amplification for the partial sequences of mtDNA CO I gene. The overall genetic similarities ranged from 83% to 100%. Totally 26 different fish species can be detected and analyzed. There are 16 fish species can be identified into specific level. However, there are remaining 12 species can be expected just into suggested fish generic level. Apparently, two major groups of taxa would be the members of Gobiidae and Apogonidae which comprised 50% of total species diversity, and also comprised 67% of total …

American Politics And The Jewish Community, Dan Schnur

The Jewish Role in American Life: An Annual Review

At its broadest level, politics is the practice of making a community a better, safer, and more tolerant place to live. So it should be of no surprise that America's Jews have devoted themselves to civic engagement and the democratic process. From before the Revolutionary War to the early 21st century, when America saw the first Jewish vice presidential nominee of a major party and the first Jewish Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Jewish community has always devoted itself to public service, issue advocacy, and involvement in politics and government at every level. While strong support for the …

Comparative Morphological Study Of Otoliths In Taiwanese Anguilliformes Fishes, Abbie K. Chulin, Hong-Ming Chen

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Otoliths are calcareous structures found in the labyrinth membrane in the otic capsules of teleost fishes and are constituted of three pairs: the sagittae, lapilli and asterisci. They have long been recognized as being species specific. A comparative morphology of the sagittae, asterisci and lapilli among six eel species of Anguilliformes belonging to the Family Congridae, Muraenesocidae and Muraenidae was studied. A total of 64 specimens belonging to Bathyconger wallacei (n = 23), Conger japonicus (n = 9), Muraenesox cinereus (n = 10), Echidna polyzona (n = 4), Gymnothorax eurostus (n = 4) and Gymnothorax reticularis (n = 14) were …

Predation By Apocyclops Royi (Cyclopoid: Copepod) On Ciliates And Rotifers, Raunak Dhanker, Jiang-Shiou Hwang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

We studied the prey consumption rates in Apocyclops royi on neonate and adult rotifers, Brachionus rotundiformis and ciliate, Euplotes sp. in the presence and absence of algae, the smaller Isochrysis galbana and the larger Tetraselmis chui. Both males and females of A. royi were able to successfully ingest neonate and adult rotifers and ciliate. The prey consumption rates were significantly lower in males than in females of A. royi. Regardless of sex and reproductive state of the copepod, prey consumption rates were higher on neonates rotifer than on adults. However, the prey consumption rates were significantly lower on ciliate than …

Applying Best Practices To Florida Local Government Retrofit Programs, Florida Solar Energy Center, Janet Mcilvaine

FSEC Energy Research Center®

In some communities, local government and non-profit entities have funds to purchase and renovate distressed, foreclosed homes for resale in the affordable housing market. Numerous opportunities to improve whole house energy efficiency are inherent in these comprehensive renovations. BA-PIRC worked together in a multiyear field study making recommendations in individual homes, meanwhile compiling improvement costs, projected energy savings, practical challenges, and labor force factors surrounding common energy-related renovation measures. The field study, Phase 1 of this research, resulted in a set of best practices appropriate to the current labor pool and market conditions in central Florida to achieve projected annual …

Inter-Annual Variability Of Carbon And Water Fluxes In Amazonian Forest, Cerrado And Pasture Sites, As Simulated By Terrestrial Biosphere Models, Celso Von Randow, Marcelo Zeri, Natalia Restrepo-Coupe, Michel N. Muza, Luis Gustavo G. De Gonçalves, Marcos H. Costa, Alessandro C. Araujo, Antonio O. Manzi, Humberto R. Da Rocha, Bradley O. Christoffersen

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences Faculty Publications

This study analyzes the inter-annual variability (IAV) of simulations of 21 different land surface model formulations, driven by meteorological conditions measured at 8 flux towers, located in rain forest, forest-savanna ecotone and pasture sites in Amazonia, and one in savanna site in Southeastern Brazil. Annual totals of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of carbon and evapotranspiration (ET), measured and simulated by each model for each site-year, were compared in terms of year-to-year variability and possible relation to climate drivers. Results have shown that most of models simulations for annual totals of NEE and ET, and IAV of these fluxes, are frequently …

Fighting In Hockey -- Player Perceptions, Jordan Doroshenko

Sport Management Undergraduate

There is a certain amount of physicality involved in all levels of hockey. The aggressive styles of play and attitudes have evolved into one of the most violent team sports. Fighting has been utilized as a marketing tool to increase viewership of hockey. The fights have increased in recent years, and there are many perceptions that portray its significance within the sport. The media markets physical aspects of the game, which reaches players of all ages and influences them to follow suit. Social media websites, television shows, sport analysts, and movies have been created solely focusing on big hits, fights, …

Fall Commencement Program, December 14, 2013, Coastal Carolina University

Commencement Programs

Program of Commencement Exercises at Coastal Carolina University.

Animal Abuse In The United States' Circus Industry: A Comparative Case Study Analysis, Paige Noelle Topper

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

The topic of animal abuse is a widespread, controversial issue within the United States. Animal abuse and neglect is commonly associated with food industry animals and domesticated animals; however, animal abuse is a problem within other industries, such as the circus industry. In particular, the circus industry is notoriously known by animal advocates for continuous violations to animal protection laws that hinder its animals’ welfare. Pressure by animals rights organizations and a growing public sentiment against the exploitation of circus animals, the industry has seen various changes in recent years including more stringent USDA enforcement and a transformation to programs …

A Novel Rcc1-Like Protein Is A Crucial Regulator Of The Intraerythrocytic Cycle Of The Human Malaria Parasite, Plasmodium Falciparum., Marcus Davon Skaflen

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Malaria is a deadly infection caused by a single celled protozoan of the Plasmodium genus. Plasmodium spp. are transmitted to humans by mosquitoes, and initially invade the liver, but the disease is caused by the blood stage of the infection. Approximately 500 million cases of malaria are documented annually and over 1 million of those result in death. Plasmodium falciparum is the most lethal of five species known to infect humans. To further compound this problem, drug-resistant parasite strains have been documented for every currently available antimalarial drug, making the need to identify new drug targets more urgent than ever. …

Rebranding And Repositioning: The Kentucky State Parks Restaurants, Jacqueline Byrne

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The restaurants located at the Resort Parks under the Kentucky State Parks group have noticed a distinct lack of revenue over the course of the past five years. Elaine Walker, Commissioner of the Arts and Heritage Committee, approached myself and fellow student Lavella Hall, with intentions of a complete rebrand and redesign of their main distributive information outlets: logos for each of the 17 restaurants, a menu redux, additional print mandatories (table toppers, etc.), and ultimately, the brand image. With the implementation of this project, we intend to see a 20% increase in guest traffic, guest loyalty and revenue for …

An Analysis Of The Application Of Best Management Practices In Collaborative Watershed Management To Community-Based Sustainable Development, Rebecca Holthaus Sappenfield

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

This research seeks to determine if BMPs from CWM can inform the broader concept of CBSD. In order to answer this question, I conduct a desk study, which involves an extensive review of the CWM literature in two areas: stakeholder participation and building trust among stakeholders. I then analyze my research to deduce BMPs for these areas of CWM. As part of this analysis, I also explore how effective environmental communication plays a fundamental role in achieving these BMPs. The culmination of this work is the production of guidelines of best practice for stakeholder participation and building trust among stakeholders …

A Resilience Assessment Of The Ramla Valley System, Gozo, Mykel Fenech

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The investigation delves into the application of the resilience concept to the ecological and anthropogenic systems of Ramla Valley, Gozo. The Resilience Assessment, the first of its kind attempted in the Islands, takes a holistic approach to study a system by considering the various system components and related pressures. Components considered include agricultural, ecological, sediment (beaches and dunes) and landscape. Current governance impacting the system was also considered. Methods used in this study were based on guidelines provided by the Resilience Alliance and supported by data derived from previous studies, interviews with interested parties, on-site observations, and comparative studies of …

Mental Illness, Narrative, And Rhetorics Of Recovery, Anders Rains Bruce

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

No abstract provided.

Xylo-Oligosaccharides Production From Corn Fiber And In-Vitro Evaluation For Prebiotic Effect, Aditya Samala

Theses and Dissertations

Xylooligosaccharides (XOS) are considered to be prebiotics. Prebiotics are defined as non-digestible food ingredients that benefit the host by stimulating the growth and activity of a limited number of bacteria, such as the Bifidobacterium genus, in the colon. Corn fiber separated from distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) could be a valuable feedstock for XOS production. The objective of the first chapter was to determine the efficacy for autohydrolysis to produce XOS using fiber separated from DDGS. Fiber was treated with deionized water in a Parr-reactor, at temperatures ranging from 140 to 220 °C to produce XOS. The maximum total …

Model-Based Autonomic Performance Management Of Distributed Enterprise Systems And Applications, Rajat Mehrotra

Theses and Dissertations

Distributed computing systems (DCS) host a wide variety of enterprise applications in dynamic and uncertain operating environments. These applications require stringent reliability, availability, and quality of service (QoS) guarantee to maintain their service level agreements (SLAs). Due to the growing size and complexity of DCS, an autonomic performance management system is required to maintain SLAs of these applications. A model-based autonomic performance management structure is developed in this dissertation for applications hosted in DCS. A systematic application performance modeling approach is introduced in this dissertation to define the dependency relationships among the system parameters, which impact the application performance. The …

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 …

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 …

Optimization Models For Cost Efficient And Environmentally Friendly Supply Chain Management, Gokce Palak

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation aims to provide models which will help companies make sustainable logistics management and transportation decisions. These models are extensions of the economic lot sizing model with the availability of multiple replenishment modes. The objective of the models is to minimize total replenishment costs and emissions. The study provides applications of these models on contemporary supply chain problems. Initially, the impact of carbon regulatory mechanisms on the replenishment decisions are analyzed for a biomass supply chain under fixed charge replenishment costs. Then, models are extended to consider multiple-setups replenishment costs for age dependent perishable products. For a cost minimization …

Extending The Conversation: A Network Analysis Of Academic Associations In Workplace Spirituality, Monty Lynn, David J. Burns

Management Sciences

Examining academic networks provides insight into boundaries and boundary crossing as well as knowledge diffusion. We examine four academic networks focused on business, spirituality, and religion to identify network boundaries and boundary crossing. Scholars tend to align with networks consistent with the nature of their employing institution, both in its relative emphasis on research and its religious affiliation. Network and religious differences contribute to the relative isolation of research communities, despite shared topical interests and reliance on similar scholarly sources. The use of normative authorities may limit networking, but the relative absence of weak network links across networks may underestimate …

Conventional Pavements And Perpetual Pavements: A Rational And Empirical Approach, Wenqi Wang

Theses and Dissertations

A study has been conducted to compare conventional pavements and perpetual pavements with a particular emphasis on perpetual pavements. One of the main drawbacks of conventional pavements and motivations for this work is the maintenance required for hot mix asphalt (HMA) pavements with sub-drainage systems. Perpetual pavements, as the name suggests, are designed with a long life. However, this is a relatively new concept and there are still many unknowns concerning their performance. This dissertation was written to answer some of the questions. The study examines structural response and performance of perpetual pavements. Also, deterioration and performance of perpetual pavements …

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 …

Surveys Of Women With Hpv And Their Healthcare Experiences., Danielle Defayette

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Genital human papillomavirus infection is the most common sexually transmitted virus in the United States, with almost 20 million Americans currently infected and an additional 6.2 million becoming newly infected each year. Women rely strongly on their health care providers to educate and comfort them regarding this distressing diagnosis. This study will use an online, self-completion questionnaire to obtain women’s opinions regarding their health care providers’ performances concerning the initial consultation after learning of their HPV diagnosis. Findings from this study provided insight as to how women prefer receiving information from their health care providers concerning their diagnosis of HPV. …

Comparison Between Two Methodological Paradigms Of Conditioned Place Preference With Methlyphenidate., Bryce D. Watson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The aim of this thesis is to examine the mechanisms of Methylphenidate (MPH) on Conditioned Place Preference (CPP), a behavioral test of reward. The psychostimulant MPH is therapeutically used in the treatment of ADHD, but has been implicated in many pharmacological actions related to drug addiction and is considered to have abuse potential. Past work in our lab and others have shown substantial sex-differences in the neuropharmacological profile of MPH. Here a discussion of the relevant mechanisms of action of MPH and its relationship to neurotrophins and CPP are reviewed. Furthermore, previous work is reviewed and a rationale for two …