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2013

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Racial Desegregation Of Higher Education In Virginia: Black And White, And Gray?, Alexandra Jaclyn Kolleda Dec 2013

Racial Desegregation Of Higher Education In Virginia: Black And White, And Gray?, Alexandra Jaclyn Kolleda

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

No abstract provided.

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Environmental Risk Perceptions, Attitudes, And Behaviors: A Study Of College Students Living In A Risk Society, Julia Spring Pei Dec 2013

Environmental Risk Perceptions, Attitudes, And Behaviors: A Study Of College Students Living In A Risk Society, Julia Spring Pei

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This present study examines the relationships between environmental risk perceptions and pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors within the theory of the risk society. This quantitative study was conducted online, with a sample size of 218 undergraduate college students from James Madison University. Environmental risks were measured at the societal and individual levels, as well as within five separate risk categories. As expected, I found positive relationships between these risks and pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors, however the relationships between individual and societal risk perceptions were different than I anticipated. Where I expected individual risk perceptions to drive both pro-environmental behaviors and attitudes, …

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Potential Energy Savings When Using Saline Water For Cooling Chillers In Malta, Mireille Micallef Dec 2013

Potential Energy Savings When Using Saline Water For Cooling Chillers In Malta, Mireille Micallef

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Several cooling systems found in facilities on the coast of St. Julian’s were found to be making use of chillers whose condensers are cooled with saline water as opposed to air. The former practice is advantageous since it results in better chiller performance which can be explained through thermodynamic principles. The principle of operation of water cooled chillers is to reject heat from the condenser to saline groundwater obtained from boreholes through a heat exchanger. The higher temperature saline ground water is then rejected to the sea. Chillers cooled with saline groundwater are subject to the Borehole Drilling and Excavation …

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Meta-Heuristic Optimization Of Antennas For Biomedical Applications, Aaron Zachary Hood Dec 2013

Meta-Heuristic Optimization Of Antennas For Biomedical Applications, Aaron Zachary Hood

Theses and Dissertations

Given the proper conditions, antennas applied in medicine can offer improved quality of life to patients. However the human body proves hostile to typical, analytical antenna design techniques as it is composed entirely of frequency- and temperature-dependent lossy media. By combining optimization techniques with numerical methods, many of these challenges may be overcome. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) models the solution process after the natural movement of groups such as swarms of bees as they search for food sources. This meta-heuristic procedure has proven adept at overcoming many challenging problems in the electromagnetics literature. Therefore, this dissertation explores PSO and some …

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The Role Of Habit In Information Security Behaviors, Kalana Malimage Dec 2013

The Role Of Habit In Information Security Behaviors, Kalana Malimage

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this present study is to understand the role of habit in information security behaviors. The automatic aspect of habit and its impact on secure behavior and the intention-behavior relationship was explored in this dissertation through the lens of protection motivation theory. Three secure behaviors were selected for the investigation after following a rigorous process to identify habitual secure behaviors. The three behaviors that were investigated are: locking the PC when leaving it unattended, verifying the recipient email addresses before sending email and visiting only verified websites. Separate pilot studies were conducted for each of the behaviors followed …

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Perceptions Of Students At A Rural Mississippi Community College Regarding Employability, Cortney R. Harris Dec 2013

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, …

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Characterization Of A Novel Ring-Type Ubiquitin E3 Ligase Ghring2 Involved In Cotton Fiber Development, Shiva Theja Reddy Soma Dec 2013

Characterization Of A Novel Ring-Type Ubiquitin E3 Ligase Ghring2 Involved In Cotton Fiber Development, Shiva Theja Reddy Soma

Theses and Dissertations

The ubiquitin-proteasome proteolysis pathway is responsible for the degradation of abnormal and short-lived proteins to regulate many important biochemical activities in eukaryotes. By employing affymetrix microarray analysis, we have identified a novel ubiquitin ligase E3 gene GhRING2 that is expressed differentially between two G. hirsutum lines - Texas Marker-1 and Chromosome Substitution Line CS-B25. The complete GhRING2 gene sequence was obtained by genomic and cDNA walking. The expression of GhRING2 in cotton fiber is developmentally regulated, suggesting that the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway may regulate cotton fiber growth and development. Using a yeast two-hybrid assay GhRING2 was found to interact with a …

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Monitoring Gulf Coast Fish Quality, Karl Edward Bell Dec 2013

Monitoring Gulf Coast Fish Quality, Karl Edward Bell

Theses and Dissertations

Globalization and the rise of fish importation has led to an increase in mislabeling. To combat this problem, analytical and molecular methods have been employed. First, nitrofuran metabolites were extracted, hydrolyzed, and derivatized in channel catfish, swai, and tilapia. Utilizing high performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry, derivatized metabolites were detected at levels of 1 ng/mL with coefficients of determination greater than 0.998. Recoveries greater than 90% and relative standard deviation less than 17% indicate that the method is successful. Secondly, chip based electrophoresis coupled with restriction fragment length polymorphism was used for the species differentiation. By …

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A Look At New Public Management Through The Lens Of The Ncib Act Specifically As It Relates To Traditionally Marginalized Populations, Aaron Cornelius Rollins Dec 2013

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 …

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A Study Of First Grade Class Size Reduction Classes And Common Core State Standards Implementation In A Rural Mississippi School District, Toya Vatrina Harrell Dec 2013

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 …

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Urban Fringe And Transportation Corridor Convection-Diffusion Model For Anthropogenically-Initiated Wildfire Ignition Prediction, Ravi Raj Sadasivuni Dec 2013

Urban Fringe And Transportation Corridor Convection-Diffusion Model For Anthropogenically-Initiated Wildfire Ignition Prediction, Ravi Raj Sadasivuni

Theses and Dissertations

A novel approach for modeling anthropogenically-initiated wildfire ignition was developed that significantly advances the theoretical knowledge of human-wildfire interactions. Gravity interaction models that are commonly used for economic analyses associated with business competition were combined with fluid dynamics models that mimic human movement patterns to predict the probability of anthropogenically-initiated wildfire. Herein, a combined gravity interaction and fluid dynamics models is developed and validated for wildfire potential prediction against historic and current wildfire data. The study identified population centers and transportation corridors, in particular: proximity to railroads and roads; traffic volume; and density of the corridors as the most influential …

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Evaluation Of Catalytic And Non-Catalytic Production Of Biodiesel From Wet Microbial Media And Reaction Schemes, Adebola Titilope Coker Dec 2013

Evaluation Of Catalytic And Non-Catalytic Production Of Biodiesel From Wet Microbial Media And Reaction Schemes, Adebola Titilope Coker

Theses and Dissertations

Biodiesel is a renewable fuel that can supplement petroleum fuel supply. A major deterrent to commercial biodiesel production from traditional feedstock like soybean, canola or rapeseed oils is the high cost of feedstock: 70 - 95% of total biodiesel production cost. Therefore, a relatively cheaper feedstock is needed to make the price of biodiesel cost-competitive with petroleum diesel. Activated sludge from wastewater treatment plants is a relatively cheaper feedstock and relatively easy to obtain. However, drying of this sludge prior to oil extraction is a major operating cost of this process, as high as 50% of biodiesel production cost. The …

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Black-White, Black-Nonblack, And White-Nonwhite Residential Segregation In U.S. Metropolitan And Nonmetropolitan Areas, 1990-2010, Jed Raney Pressgrove Dec 2013

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 …

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Creation Of An Internal State Variable Plasticity-Damage-Corrosion Model Validated By Experiments With Magnesium Alloys, Christopher Avery Walton Dec 2013

Creation Of An Internal State Variable Plasticity-Damage-Corrosion Model Validated By Experiments With Magnesium Alloys, Christopher Avery Walton

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, a new consistent formulation coupling kinematics, thermodynamics, and kinetics with damage using an extended multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient that accounts for corrosion effects is presented. The technical approach used for modeling the corrosion behavior of magnesium alloys was divided into three primary steps. First, a predictive corrosion model was developed based on experimental corrosion observations. The experimentally-observed corrosion mechanisms of pitting, intergranular, and general corrosion on the AZ31 magnesium alloy were quantified in 3.5 wt.% NaCl immersion and salt spray environments using optical microscopy and laser profilometry to document the changes in the pit characteristics. …

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Differentiating The Characteristic Response Of The Brain After Exposure To Blunt And Blast Trauma, Mark Gregory Tejada Begonia Dec 2013

Differentiating The Characteristic Response Of The Brain After Exposure To Blunt And Blast Trauma, Mark Gregory Tejada Begonia

Theses and Dissertations

Military personnel often experience mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) from exposure to improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Soldiers typically endure blast trauma from the IED pressure wave as well as blunt trauma from ensuing head impacts. Researchers have not reached a consensus on whether the biomechanical response from blunt or blast trauma plays a more dominant role in mTBI because the specific biomechanical sources of injury are often undetermined. Consequently, the goal of this dissertation was to conduct three separate studies in order to characterize the mechanical behavior of the brain after exposure to mTBI conditions. For Study 1, mild blunt …

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Waterbird And Seed Abundances In Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative And Non-Managed Wetlands In Mississippi And Louisiana, Matthew Moraco Weegman Dec 2013

Waterbird And Seed Abundances In Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative And Non-Managed Wetlands In Mississippi And Louisiana, Matthew Moraco Weegman

Theses and Dissertations

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) implemented the Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative (MBHI) in summer 2010 to provide wetlands for waterbirds inland from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. To evaluate MBHI and associated wetland management practices, I estimated seed and waterbird densities in MBHI and non-managed wetlands in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) of Mississippi and Louisiana. Although not statistically different, wetlands enrolled in MBHI contained 1.26 and 1.53 times more seed biomass and seeds consumed by waterfowl than non-managed wetlands, respectively. I also detected 3 times more dabbling ducks and all ducks combined on MBHI wetlands. When I …

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An Assessment Of Human Vulnerability To Prolonged Cold In The Zeravshan Valley Of Tajikistan, R Bryson Touchstone Dec 2013

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 …

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Rice Injury And Ecology Of The Rice Stink Bug, Oebalus Pugnax (F.) In The Delta Region Of Mississippi, George Agana Awuni Dec 2013

Rice Injury And Ecology Of The Rice Stink Bug, Oebalus Pugnax (F.) In The Delta Region Of Mississippi, George Agana Awuni

Theses and Dissertations

The rice stink bug, Oebalus pugnax (F.), is an important late season pest of rice that is noted for causing grain yield and quality reductions in the United States. This study investigated rice injury using field cages in two rice cultivars (‘Cocodrie’ and ‘Wells’) at bloom, milk, and soft dough stages and O. pugnax ecology in the Delta Region of Mississippi. Specific objectives were: 1) to determine the impact of adult O. pugnax infestation on rice yield and grain quality at bloom, milk, and soft dough stages of rice development; 2) to determine the impact of adult O. pugnax gender …

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Gender Characteristics And Barriers To Community College Leadership, Joanna Mcclellan Dec 2013

Gender Characteristics And Barriers To Community College Leadership, Joanna Mcclellan

Theses and Dissertations

Prior research has determined that there are still gender barriers that women must overcome to reach administrative positions in many employment settings. Gender barriers to leadership positions have been and continue to be a sensitive matter that must be addressed by community college administrators. This exploratory quantitative research study examined rural community college administrators’ perceptions about gender barriers and explored administrators’ perceptions about management styles based on gender. The study population included 596 community college administrators in the United States. Of those, 128 community college administrators chose to participate in this study and completed a 42-item researcher designed survey instrument …

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Ec627 Revised No Date New Method Of Feeding Milk Cows, C. W. Nibler Dec 2013

Ec627 Revised No Date New Method Of Feeding Milk Cows, C. W. Nibler

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

Extension circular 627nd is a revised version of extension circular 627. the original date is unknown. It provides information on what and how to feed dairy cows during the various stages of their milking cycle.

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Home Is Always Calling: Determinants Of Civic Participation Among Zimbabwean Immigrants In Cape Town, South Africa, Rumbidzai R. Mufuka Dec 2013

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 …

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Lightweight Moral Realism: Objectivity And Reasoning Without Heavyweight Facts, Mark Douglas Warren Dec 2013

Lightweight Moral Realism: Objectivity And Reasoning Without Heavyweight Facts, Mark Douglas Warren

Open Access Dissertations

In this dissertation, I develop a non-representational approach to metaethics that avoids the ontological and epistemic problems that traditional realist views face: accounting for the nature of moral facts and our knowledge of these facts in a way that comports with naturalism. According to expressivism—the most popular non-representational account in contemporary metaethics—moral claims don’t aim to represent moral facts or properties, but instead function to express our non-cognitive attitudes like approval or disapproval. This is a promising approach, but the view has substantial difficulties accounting for important features of moral discourse, like objectivity and complicated moral reasoning. I develop an …

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“We Found Ourselves”—Music And Identity Among The Chinese American Diaspora In Miami, Yiyu Zhang Dec 2013

“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 …

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

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

The Rose Thorn Archive

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

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School Culture: A Survey Of Two Eastern Kentucky Middle Schools, John D. Goble Dec 2013

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.

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Sheet Metal Workers Intl Assn V. E.P. Donnelly, Inc Dec 2013

Sheet Metal Workers Intl Assn V. E.P. Donnelly, Inc

2013 Decisions

USDC for the District of New Jersey

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Shan Zhang V. Attorney General United States Dec 2013

Shan Zhang V. Attorney General United States

2013 Decisions

Agency

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Richard Wren V. County Of Luzerne Dec 2013

Richard Wren V. County Of Luzerne

2013 Decisions

USDC for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

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Agenda And Minutes, University Of South Florida St. Petersburg General Education Committee Meeting, December 13, 2013, University Of South Florida St. Petersburg. Faculty Senate. General Education Committee Dec 2013

Agenda And Minutes, University Of South Florida St. Petersburg General Education Committee Meeting, December 13, 2013, University Of South Florida St. Petersburg. Faculty Senate. General Education Committee

USF St. Petersburg General Education Committee Meetings

Agenda and minutes from the December 13, 2013, meeting of the General Education Committee of the University of South Florida St. Petersburg's Faculty Senate.

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Brazil Responds To U.S. Spying With International Diplomacy And Domestic Lawmaking, Gregory Scruggs Dec 2013

Brazil Responds To U.S. Spying With International Diplomacy And Domestic Lawmaking, Gregory Scruggs

NotiSur

No abstract provided.

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