Digital Commons Network^™

Can The Blind Lead The Blind? Rethinking Equal Protection Jurisprudence Through An Empirical Examination Of Blind People's Understanding Of Race, Osagie K. Obasogie

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Nonnegativity Of Exact And Numerical Solutions Of Some Chemotactic Models, Patrick De Leenheer, Jay Gopalakrishnan, Erica Zuhr

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We investigate nonnegativity of exact and numerical solutions to a generalized Keller–Segel model. This model includes the so-called “minimal” Keller–Segel model, but can cover more general chemistry. We use maximum principles and invariant sets to prove that all components of the solution of the generalized model are nonnegative. We then derive numerical methods, using finite element techniques, for the generalized Keller–Segel model. Adapting the ideas in our proof of nonnegativity of exact solutions to the discrete setting, we are able to show nonnegativity of discrete solutions from the numerical methods under certain standard assumptions. One of the numerical methods is …

Startup Ltd.: Tax Planning And Initial Incorporation Location, Susan C. Morse

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A New Theory Of The State Corporate Income Tax: The State Corporate Income Tax As Retail Sales Tax Complement, Darien Shanske

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Compositional Diversity In The Atmospheres Of Hot Neptunes, With Application To Gj 436b, J. I. Moses, M. R. Line, Channon Visscher, M. R. Richardson, N. Nettleman, J. J. Fortney, T. S. Barman, K. B. Stevenson, N. Madhusudhan

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Neptune-sized extrasolar planets that orbit relatively close to their host stars—often called "hot Neptunes"—are common within the known population of exoplanets and planetary candidates. Similar to our own Uranus and Neptune, inefficient accretion of nebular gas is expected produce hot Neptunes whose masses are dominated by elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. At high atmospheric metallicities of 10-10,000 times solar, hot Neptunes will exhibit an interesting continuum of atmospheric compositions, ranging from more Neptune-like, H₂-dominated atmospheres to more Venus-like, CO₂-dominated atmospheres. We explore the predicted equilibrium and disequilibrium chemistry of generic hot Neptunes and find that …

Chemistry Of Impact-Generated Silicate Melt-Vapor Debris Disks, Channon Visscher, Bruce Fegley Jr.

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

In the giant impact theory for lunar origin, the Moon forms from material ejected by the impact into an Earth-orbiting disk. Here we report the initial results from a silicate melt-vapor equilibrium chemistry model for such impact-generated planetary debris disks. In order to simulate the chemical behavior of a two-phase (melt+vapor) disk, we calculate the temperature-dependent pressure and chemical composition of vapor in equilibrium with molten silicate from 2000 to 4000 K. We consider the elements O, Na, K, Fe, Si, Mg, Ca, Al, Ti, and Zn for a range of bulk silicate compositions (Earth, Moon, Mars, eucrite parent body, …

Effects Of Hypertension And Diabetes On Sentence Comprehension In Aging, Dalia Cahana-Amitay, Martin Albert, Emmanuel Ojo, Jesse Sayers, Mira Goral, Loraine Obler, Avron Spiro Iii

Publications and Research

Objectives. To assess the impact of hypertension and diabetes mellitus on sentence comprehension in older adults.

Method. Two hundred and ninety-five adults aged 55 to 84 (52% men) participated in this study. Self-report mail survey combined with medical evaluations were used to determine eligibility. Multiple sources were used to determine whether hypertension and diabetes were present or absent and controlled or uncontrolled. Sentence comprehension was evaluated with two tasks: embedded sentences (ES) and sentences with multiple negatives (MN). Outcome measures were percent accuracy and mean reaction time of correct responses on each task.

Results. Regression models adjusted for age, gender, …

Hemispheric Processing Of Vocal Emblem Sounds, Yael Neumann-Werth, Erika Levy, Loraine Obler

Publications and Research

Vocal emblems, such as shh and brr, are speech sounds that have linguistic and nonlinguistic features; thus, it is unclear how they are processed in the brain. Five adult dextral individuals with left-brain damage and moderate– severe Wernicke’s aphasia, five adult dextral individuals with right-brain damage, and five Controls participated in two tasks: (1) matching vocal emblems to photographs (‘picture task’) and (2) matching vocal emblems to verbal translations (‘phrase task’). Cross-group statistical analyses on items on which the Controls performed at ceiling revealed lower accuracy by the group with left-brain damage (than by Controls) on both tasks, and …

Linguistic Emancipation And The Academies Of The Spanish Language In The Twentieth Century: The 1951 Turning Point, José Del Valle

Publications and Research

In this article, the author focuses on the conference of academies of the Spanish language that took place in Mexico in 1951 and analyzes the discourses on language as well as the views on the linguistic institutions that emerged in the course of the conference. The reasons for the Real Academia Española´s absence are addressed and so is the initiative by Mexico´s president Miguel Alemán.

Comment On "Density And Physical Current Density Functional Theory", Xiao-Yin Pan, Viraht Sahni

Publications and Research

In this letter to the editor, the authors comment on an earlier article they had published, "Density and Physical Current Density Functional Theory" (Pan, X.-Y. and Sahni, V. (2010), Density and physical current density functional theory. Int. J. Quantum Chem., 110: 2833–2843. doi: 10.1002/qua.22862).

Mean Girls And Troublemaking Boys : A Qualitative Study About Interpretive Reproduction And Peer Culture In A Preschool Classroom, Heidi Marie Gansen

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Within preschool classrooms children soon realize that they are under the enforcement and direction of their teachers, which in turn limits their control over their classroom experience. To compensate for this, children develop a peer culture that is based on their interpretations of what they have observed in the adult world (Corsaro and Fingerson 2003). This occurs through a process called interpretive reproduction in which children creatively appropriate information from adult culture in order to produce a peer culture that is unique and different from adult culture (Corsaro 1997; Corsaro and Eder 1990; Corsaro and Fingerson 2003). Through almost 70 …

Lithological And Sequence Stratigraphic Examination Of The Madison Group Marker Beds, Eastern Williston Basin Margin, North Dakota, Troy Jd. Skitt

Theses and Dissertations

The Frobisher-Alida interval consists of eight log-defined subintervals or “beds” within the Mississippian upper Mission Canyon and lower Charles Formations of the Madison Group in the Williston Basin. The subintervals are composed of predominantly evaporite and carbonate lithologies, and include in descending order: 1) Midale, 2) Rival, 3) Bluell, 4) Sherwood, 5) Mohall, 6) Glenburn, 7) Wayne, and 8) Landa. The top of the lower six subintervals are separated by thin but areal extensive log-defined markers of contrasting lithologies and include in descending order: 1) State A, 2) Sherwood Argillaceous Marker (S.A.M.), 3) K-1, 4) K-2, 5) K-3, and 6) …

Where Loyalties Lie: A Study Of Workplace Dissent Through The Lens Of Loyalty, Katelyn L. Santy

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This thesis studied organizational dissent through the lens of loyalty in order to examine the nuanced motivations of employees' choices to dissent. The goal of this work was to approach loyalty as a nuanced concept that provides a foundational motivation for employees' dissent. In order to understand the contextualized experience of dissent, I conducted individual interviews with 17 employees in the radiology department of a healthcare organization. I adopted a grounded theory approach to data analysis, yielding a series of major findings. First, participants described their loyalties in the workplace as multiple and involving four distinct dimensions: organizational loyalty, coworker …

A Master's Recital In Piano, Katrina Ann Benjegerdes

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Katrina Benjegerdes presented a full graduate piano recital on Monday, October 28, 2013. The recital was performed at 6 p.m. in Davis Hall in the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center at the University of Northern Iowa. This recital was given in partial fulfillment of the Master of Music degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy. The program consisted of works by Scarlatti, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff, and Mozart. This abstract contains further discussion of the performed works.

A Survey Of Literacy Instruction In Public Preschool Programs In Iowa, Anne Marie Berthelsen

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This paper focuses on the importance of emergent literacy instruction with preschool populations. Emergent literacy refers to the early developmental stages of reading in preschool children and focuses on strengthening pre-reading skills. This paper describes best practice for survey development as well as recommended changes to the methodology of a previous study. The paper also describes changes made to improve the previous emergent literacy survey and concludes with a discussion of how the results of the survey could be used to improve emergent literacy instruction for preschool children.

School Wide Positive Behavioral And Intervention Supports : The Effectiveness Of Tier 1 Strategies, Gregory James Halsor

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This literature review critically examines the effectiveness of Tier 1 Positive Behavioral and Intervention Supports (SWPBIS). Managing problem behavior in the school setting has been a major focus of educators, with the goal of lowering classroom disruptions and increasing the effectiveness of learning.

Over the years, school wide behavior management programs have not been consistent or widespread leading educators to identify disruptive behavior as a primary concern in their classrooms. SWPBIS emphasizes the integration of measurable outcomes, data-based decision making, and evidence based interventions. Research on the implementation of SWPBIS in schools has displayed positive effects related to decreasing the …

Comparing Second Grade Students' Creative And Content Knowledge Performance On Figural Transformation Activities Introduced In A Standard Or Enhanced Manner With Nutrition Content Knowledge Taught Through Factual Or Fantasy Reading, Angela Naomi Webb

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Creativity and problem solving are skills students need for success in the 21st century. With the increasing pressures of achieving higher student scores in emphasized content areas, teachers' instruction in science, social studies, music and art has been reduced to provide additional time for teaching reading and mathematics.These lost instructional areas often allowed students to express themselves creatively. Therefore, educators need to find a way to incorporate creativity into content areas like reading and mathematics.

This 16 week repeated measures study examined second grade students' academic and creative performance on figural transformation drawings during an extended reading-science-creativity integrated unit. A …

Comparing Sixth Grade Students' Creativity In Word Play To Spatial Construction With Integrated Academic Content Eliciting A Distal Or Proximal Perspective, Ksenia S. Zhbanova

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Pressing global problems require solutions from innovative ideas that depend upon educating a new generation to think creatively. The current study aimed at assisting 24 sixth grade students in a summer program develop their creativity skills in two different areas while integrating academic content. Student performance was examined for transfer of skills across domains and for support of Construal Level Theory, which holds that addressing topics distant in space, time, probability or experience leads to abstract thought supporting greater creativity.

The study was a counterbalanced, repeated measures, two-experimental condition study with students divided into two groups of 12 each. In …

Claiming Space, Redefining Politics: Urban Protest And Grassroots Power In Bolivia, Carwil Bjork-James

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation analyzes the role of space-claiming protests by primarily left grassroots social movements in Bolivia's current political transformation. Space claiming includes mass protests that physically control or symbolically claim urban space through occupations of plazas and roads, sit-ins, blockades, and other measures. As a theoretical construct, space claiming brings together tactics of collective action and meanings of public spaces, and looks at the consequences of their interaction. This dissertation is based on ethnographic engagement and oral interviews with protest participants and their state interlocutors during twelve months of fieldwork and archival research. By using detailed ethnographic evidence--of social life …

Aerocom: Winter 2013, John D. Odegard School Of Aerospace Sciences

Aerocom: John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences Alumni Magazine

No abstract provided.

Diversity, Resource Partitioning, And Species Turnover In Neotropical Saproxylic Beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae, Curculionidae) Associated With Trees In The Brazil Nut Family (Lecythidaceae), Joyce Lynn Fassbender

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Deforestation and global changes in temperature and moisture associated with rising levels of greenhouse gases are expected to have strong, direct effects on abundance of wood-boring beetles through loss of larval feeding substrates, and indirect effects through climate and microclimate change. This dissertation examines Neotropical saproxylic beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) diversity, niche breadth, and resource partitioning, and predicts possible impacts of climate change. Data from beetle rearing experiments conducted in French Guiana and Peru were analyzed to assess species richness, abundance, host specificity, seasonality and stratification of wood-boring beetles associated with the Brazil nut family (Lecythidaceae). Niche stability was assessed over …

Medicinal Plants Of Northern Thailand For The Treatment Of Cognitive Impairment In The Elderly, Lisa C. Offringa

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Dementia is a progressive neurological disease affecting memory and behavior. The diagnosis of dementia is increasing exponentially worldwide and with it the potential risk for a severe social and economic burden of caring for an increasing debilitated elderly population. Cognitive impairment, and especially memory loss, can be the first indication of dementia. This study documents the treatment of cognitive impairment in the elderly by Thai traditional healers in northern Thailand usingmedicinal plants. Interviews were conducted from 2008-2012 to investigate the etiology of dementia in Thai Traditional Medicine and identify plants used to treat memory loss in the pharmacopeia of northern …

Two Sides To A Drum: Duality In Trinidad Orisha Music And Culture, Ryan J. Bazinet

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation presents an ethnographic and historical study of music and culture in the Yoruba-derived Trinidad Orisha religion in Trinidad and New York City. Its objectives are: (1) to provide description and documentation of Trinidad Orisha music, an understudied music genre in the African diaspora; (2) to shed light on the historical, cultural, and demographic factors contributing to the development of Trinidad Orisha music by its practitioners; and (3) to provide substance for meaningful comparisons between Trinidad Orisha music and other Yoruba-derived musics.

Based on four years of fieldwork (2008-2012) in Trinidad and in Brooklyn, NY, the study explores Trinidad …

Understanding A Pest: Phylogeography And Systematics Of The Plum Curculio (Conotrachelus Nenuphar), Samuel N. Crane

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The plum curculio (Conotrachelus nenuphar Herbst) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) is an economically and ecologically important pest in North America but is understudied despite having a long history in the scientific literature. Its chemical ecology, life history habits, and distribution are all well characterized. However, there is a dearth of knowledge concerning the population structure and evolutionary history of the species. This study aims to use methods from evolutionary biology to better understand an agricultural pest species and provide tools to aid in its management.

Existing taxonomic classifications of North American Conotrachelus species have been tested for the first time. Using …

Designing Elementary Engineering Education From The Perspective Of The Child, Beth Dykstra Van Meeteren

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Many concerned leaders of industry and government believe the ability to sustain our quality of life and address the grand challenges of our times is contingent upon the successful engagement of our younger children in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). What STEM curricula, specifically engineering curricula, should address, how the curriculum should be delivered, and how the children construct an understanding of engineering are still unanswered questions. Engineering curriculum is beginning to emerge for elementary students, but does more to teach children about engineering than allowing them to develop engineering habits of mind.

This qualitative study used constant comparative …

Factors That Influence Superintendents In Iowa To Implement A One-To-One Computer Initiative, Gerald Eugene Schnabel

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study is to identify factors that influence superintendents in Iowa to implement a one-to-one computer initiative. An in-depth, phenomenological based interview method was used. Two interviews were conducted with each of the five superintendents in the study. The superintendent responses were then organized using the Saskatchewan Educational Indicators, which are context, process and outcome indicators. The major questions addressed in the study were: 1. What factors influenced the decision to implement a one-to-one computer initiative? 2. What are the results of implementing a one-to-one computer initiative? 3. What decision-making process do superintendents in Iowa use when …

An Analysis Of The Effect Of A 21st-Century-Designed Middle School On Student Achievement, Gary David Schwartz

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Considering the billions of dollars invested in school buildings and the accountability for improving student achievement, there has been the lingering question about how the physical learning environment impacts student achievement. This study explored the impact of a new 21st-century-designed middle school facility on student academic achievement in mathematics and science. This case study used a mixed methods approach to examine the student achievement of 158 middle school students and the perceptions from 13 teachers and two administrators about the impact of the new facility on teaching and student learning. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect …

Analysis Of Wind Power Generation With Application Of Wind Tunnel Attachment, Ulan Dakeev

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study presents an empirical method for developing a new approach in which a wind tunnel apparatus is used to improve the efficiency of power output by a small-scale wind turbine. A custom-designed wind tunnel attachment was constructed to record, analyze, and interpret both incoming and outgoing wind velocity readings. Moreover, the dissertation project addresses a significant issue concerning the power generation of an experimental wind turbine while the wind tunnel is attached. Wind power characteristics that indicate power output versus wind velocity were obtained by performing a number of case studies. The case studies included normal operation of the …

A Midwestern Culture Of Civility: Student Activism At The University Of Northern Iowa During The Maucker Years (1967-1970), Christopher J. Shackelford

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This project examines the changing social dynamic of those affiliated with the University of Northern Iowa during the latter half of the 1960s, with special emphasis on student activism and the changing attitudes of administrators and community members. This project intends to use the medium of alternative newspapers as a central component in the analysis of the time studied and as an unfiltered voice of student dissent. By narrowing the focus of this project to an individual university and community, an intimate narrative emerges that acts as a testament of the overwhelming atmosphere of change that engulfed American colleges throughout …

Leading Through Change: A Study Of The Role Of Central Office Leadership In The Process Of Secondary Change, Dirk A. Halupnik

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to more fully understand the actions of district level leaders in a major change effort and their effects on the change process. Furthermore this study aimed to provide additional information about the factors that school district central office administrators confront when making the decision to add another high school and the actions taken by these administrators to lead the district through this process so that other school districts and leaders may learn from this. The methodology for this study was a qualitative case study approach in which central office leaders in a district that …