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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.


An Analysis Of Magical Realism And Its Development In Latin American Literature, Carolyn Anne Bedi Dec 2013

An Analysis Of Magical Realism And Its Development In Latin American Literature, Carolyn Anne Bedi

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

No abstract provided.


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, …


Public Perception On The State Of Air Quality In Malta, Nikolas Cassar Dec 2013

Public Perception On The State Of Air Quality In Malta, Nikolas Cassar

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Public perception on the state of air quality is an unclear and hazy concept whereby every individual has different opinions and views. In fact, the state of air quality is a major concern in many countries, including in Malta. This problem arises from the emissions of a number of pollutants to the atmosphere from a host of processes such as the combustion of fuel to generate electricity and the internal combustion engines to manoeuvre cars. Amongst these pollutants, there are benzene and nitrogen dioxide, which are very hazardous since they cause problems related to human health and contribute in the …


Assessment Of Seawater Quality: Do Public Perceptions Of Seawater Quality Match Indications Given By Macroalgae?, Angela Bartolo Dec 2013

Assessment Of Seawater Quality: Do Public Perceptions Of Seawater Quality Match Indications Given By Macroalgae?, Angela Bartolo

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Determination of seawater quality is an essential activity in coastal areas especially in ones that attract bathers. This study aims to investigate whether the Ecological Quality Status (EQS) of seawater in bathing areas in the Maltese Islands differs across sites. The study also aims to investigate the correlation between public perceptions and objective measures of seawater quality as well as factors affecting perception of seawater quality. Another objective of this study is to investigate the public’s knowledge about macroalgae and opinion on macroalgae. The EQS of seawater in six coastal sites in the Maltese Islands is investigated using the EEI-c …


Improving The Energy Efficiency Of Dehumidification Technology At A Large Facility In Florida, Brandon Willson Hoilett Dec 2013

Improving The Energy Efficiency Of Dehumidification Technology At A Large Facility In Florida, Brandon Willson Hoilett

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

This thesis examines energy use and management of twenty heat pipes used in dehumidification systems at a large (10,000+ acre) facility in Florida. Eleven of the twenty heat pipes use electric strip heaters that, when activated, consume 693.8 kW of electrical power from the grid. Solar photovoltaics, specifically a silicon monocrystalline cell with 22.5% efficiency, were considered as a means to provide an alternative energy source and opportunity for cost savings for 11 of the heat pipes (Sunpower, 2011). The remaining nine heat pipes use hot water heaters for which alternative energy sources were not considered. Data gathered and analyzed …


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 …


Temperature Effects Of Dielectric Properties And Their Impact On Medical Device Development, Erin Elizabeth Colebeck Dec 2013

Temperature Effects Of Dielectric Properties And Their Impact On Medical Device Development, Erin Elizabeth Colebeck

Theses and Dissertations

Dielectric properties play an influential role in the development of medical devices. Understanding the behavior of these properties and how they respond to external stimuli, such as heat, over an extended frequency has yet to be researched. The focus of this study is to examine the impact of temperature on dielectric properties from 500 MHz to 10 GHz in order to better match the antenna properties of medical applications to the dielectric properties of biological tissue in question; more specifically, microwave ablation, microwave hyperthermia, and thermal modeling of brown adipose tissue’s metabolic processes. The dielectric properties of biological tissue samples …


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 …


Simulation Of The Impact And Solidification Of Super Cooled Water Droplets, Joshua Daniel Blake Dec 2013

Simulation Of The Impact And Solidification Of Super Cooled Water Droplets, Joshua Daniel Blake

Theses and Dissertations

In order to study inlight ice adhesion at the droplet-scale, a strategy is presented to simulate the impact and solidification of a supercooled water droplet on a cooled substrate. Upon impact, nucleation is assumed to occur instantaneously, and properties of the droplet are chosen to account for the nucleation process. Simulations are performed in ANSYS Fluent using a coupled Volume of Fluid and Level-Set method to capture the air-water interface and an Enthalpy-Porosity method to capture the liquid-solid interface. Calibration of a simulation parameter, Amush, is performed in order to match experimental data for different surface types and surface temperatures. …


Strategies For Optimization Of Diesel-Ignited Propane Dual Fuel Combustion In A Heavy Duty Compression Ignition Engine, Chad Duane Carpenter Dec 2013

Strategies For Optimization Of Diesel-Ignited Propane Dual Fuel Combustion In A Heavy Duty Compression Ignition Engine, Chad Duane Carpenter

Theses and Dissertations

A 12.9 L heavy duty compression ignition engine was tested with strategies for dual fuel optimization. The effects of varied intake manifold pressure as well as split-injection strategies at a load of 5 bar BMEP and 85 PES were observed. These results were used to allow testing of split-injection strategies at a higher load of 10 bar BMEP at 70 PES that were void of MPRR above 2000 kPa/CAD. The split-injection strategies at 5 bar BMEP showed that lower BSNOx can be achieved with minimal drop in FCE. Varying intake manifold pressure revealed that combustion occurs earlier in a cycle …


Multilevel Design Optimization Under Uncertainty With Application To Product-Material Systems, Saber Dormohammadi Dec 2013

Multilevel Design Optimization Under Uncertainty With Application To Product-Material Systems, Saber Dormohammadi

Theses and Dissertations

The main objective of this research is to develop a computational design tool for multilevel optimization of product-material systems under uncertainty. To accomplish this goal, an exponential penalty function (EPF) formulation based on method of multipliers is developed for solving multilevel optimization problems within the framework of Analytical Target Cascading (ATC). The original all-at-once constrained optimization problem is decomposed into a hierarchical system with consistency constraints enforcing the target-response coupling in the connected elements. The objective function is combined with the consistency constraints in each element to formulate an augmented Lagrangian with EPF. The EPF formulation is implemented using double-loop …


Issues And Challenges Of Starting A Civil Engineering Or Surveying Firm In Mississippi, Bruce Eric Mainka Dec 2013

Issues And Challenges Of Starting A Civil Engineering Or Surveying Firm In Mississippi, Bruce Eric Mainka

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis summarizes some of the challenges and risks faced by new civil engineering or surveying business owners, as well as, engineering managers in Mississippi. Additionally, this paper will cover how these business owners take on those business challenges to become and remain successful. The data covered represents answers from the owners asked via phone conversations. The number of twenty employees or less was the criteria for a firm to be considered small. It was decided that approximately 20% of the firms listed, or a total of 20, would statistically represent the current state of affairs of small to medium …


Microstructure And Mechanical Properties Comparison Of Ebf3 And Lens Deposits Including The Repair And Upgrade Of A Lens Machine, Jacob Allen Coleman Dec 2013

Microstructure And Mechanical Properties Comparison Of Ebf3 And Lens Deposits Including The Repair And Upgrade Of A Lens Machine, Jacob Allen Coleman

Theses and Dissertations

Advancements in the area of additive manufacturing have led to the development of new methods with the purpose of optimizing component properties and expanding operating environments. In a comparative study, the influence of process parameters including beam and laser current, translation speed, and wire feed and deposition rate on 316L stainless steel deposits produced by both Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS®) and Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication (EBF3) processes are investigated. Tensile tests are used to obtain information on the mechanical properties of the specimens. A metallographic analysis is performed using optical microscopy and SEM to characterize solidification grain structure, porosity, …


Automatic Modulation Recognition For Aeronautical Telemetry, Jacob William Frogget Dec 2013

Automatic Modulation Recognition For Aeronautical Telemetry, Jacob William Frogget

Theses and Dissertations

This these explores automatic modulation recognition as applied to PCM/FM, SOQPSK- TG and ARTM CPM. It found that the likelihood based approach is intractable. The statistical features of the amplitude, phase and frequency are ineffective at distinguishing these modulation types. A method based on the phase changes between symbols is developed and shows that as long as symbol timing is established, this method can effectively distinguish PCM/FM, SOQPSK-TG and ARTM CPM for signal-to-noise ratios above 30 dB. Another method, the Bianchi-Loubaton- Sirven technique, was able to distinguish PCM/FM and SOQPSK-TG but was unable to distinguish ARTM CPM. A happy byproduct …


Pirates Drop Pbc Opener At North Georgia, 80-65, Armstrong State University Dec 2013

Pirates Drop Pbc Opener At North Georgia, 80-65, Armstrong State University

Armstrong Athletics: Women's Basketball News (Archived)

Pirates Drop PBC Opener At North Georgia, 80-65. The University of North Georgia women's basketball squad opened up Peach Belt Conference play with an 80-65 win over visiting Armstrong Atlantic State University on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Hall in Dahlonega, Ga.


Illinois State University, One Hundred And Fifty-Fourth Annual Commencement, December 14, 2013, Illinois State University Dec 2013

Illinois State University, One Hundred And Fifty-Fourth Annual Commencement, December 14, 2013, Illinois State University

Commencement Programs

Illinois State University
One Hundred and Fifty-Fourth Annual Commencement
December 14, 2013


Characterization And Monitoring Of On-Farm Water Storage Systems In Porter Bayou Watershed, Mississippi, Richard Ludwig Kirmeyer Dec 2013

Characterization And Monitoring Of On-Farm Water Storage Systems In Porter Bayou Watershed, Mississippi, Richard Ludwig Kirmeyer

Theses and Dissertations

The onarm water storage (OFWS) systems at Metcalf and Pitts farm in Porter Bayou Watershed were monitored for changes in nutrient levels and water withdrawal for irrigation from March 2012 to April 2013. Nitrogen and phosphorus levels were generally higher during the early part of the growing season. The OFWS systems can reduce nitrate and phosphorus in runoff up to 81% and 85%, respectively. However, the systems did not consistently reduce sediment and nutrients especially after significant rainfall and runoff events. The systems provided a total of 130 and 233 acreeet of recycled water for irrigating crops at Metcalf and …


Bioluminescence Imaging Of Transgene Expression In Intact Porcine Ovarian Follicles In Vitro, Song-Yi Jung Dec 2013

Bioluminescence Imaging Of Transgene Expression In Intact Porcine Ovarian Follicles In Vitro, Song-Yi Jung

Theses and Dissertations

The porcine antral follicle, which consists of an oocyte and surrounding follicular components, including theca, granulosa, and cumulus cells and follicular fluid, is an essential microenvironment for oocyte development and maturation. Investigating cellular and molecular events in the context of the whole follicle will aid in our understanding of interactions between the oocyte and the follicular components. The objective of this dissertation was to develop a novel bioluminescent imaging model to visualize and measure cellular and molecular events in living intact ovarian follicles in vitro. Bioluminescence imaging was employed to facilitate noninvasive, dynamic, and real-time transgene analysis in living intact …


Analyzing The Impact Of A Hub And Spoke Supply Chain Design For Long-Haul, High-Volume Transportation Of Densified Biomass, Md. Sadekuzzaman Roni Dec 2013

Analyzing The Impact Of A Hub And Spoke Supply Chain Design For Long-Haul, High-Volume Transportation Of Densified Biomass, Md. Sadekuzzaman Roni

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation proposes a framework in support of biomass supply chain network design. This framework relies in the use of trucks for short distance biomass transportation, and relies in the use of rail for long-haul, and high-volume transportation of densified biomass. A hub and spoke network design model is proposed for the case when biomass is shipped by rail. These models are created and solved for the following problems: 1) designing a biomass supply chain to deliver densified biomass to a coal fired power plant for coiring and 2) designing biomass-to-biorefinery supply chain using rail for long-haul, and high-volume shipment …


Madiba, Our Ancestor, Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator Dec 2013

Madiba, Our Ancestor, Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.


Surveys Of Women With Hpv And Their Healthcare Experiences., Danielle Defayette Dec 2013

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. …


Feelings Of Connectedness To Nature: A Comparison Of Park & Recreation Management Students And Sport Management Students., N. E. Scarborough Dec 2013

Feelings Of Connectedness To Nature: A Comparison Of Park & Recreation Management Students And Sport Management Students., N. E. Scarborough

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the face of the present consumer-based environmental movement, leaders in many industries and disciplines are striving to understand why people are “going green” in order to market to them. Researchers have been studying ways in which people connect to the environmental movement, and researchers in the field of sport and recreation are also conducting such studies. Several surveys have been developed to measure these connections; one such survey instrument is the Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS). In the present study, the CNS was re-created online, and a link to the survey was sent via email to students studying Park …


Comparison Between Two Methodological Paradigms Of Conditioned Place Preference With Methlyphenidate., Bryce D. Watson Dec 2013

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 …


The Role Of Population Growth In An Emerging Multipolar Economic World., Casey C. Horner Dec 2013

The Role Of Population Growth In An Emerging Multipolar Economic World., Casey C. Horner

Undergraduate Honors Theses

An empirical study presenting the social and economic proof of a global shift from a bipolar economic world to a multipolar economic world. The time period for data and projections is 2010 to 2050. The measurements used are population pyramids, total population, GDP per capita, and total GDP.


Hand Hygiene Perceptions Of Student Nurses., Brittany Berger Dec 2013

Hand Hygiene Perceptions Of Student Nurses., Brittany Berger

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Compliance with hand hygiene is widely recognized as the most important factor in preventing transmission of infection to patients in healthcare settings (Haas and Larson, 2007). Hand hygiene dramatically decreases the potential pathogens on hands and is considered the first measure for decreasing the risk of transmitting organisms to patients, healthcare professionals, and family members. Noncompliance with hand hygiene practices has been shown to increase healthcare-associated infections, costing hospitals $35.7-$45 billion each year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2012). Education about hand hygiene starts in school and should transfer into the real world of nursing. The purpose of …


Impact Of Oxidative Stress On Female Fertility., Tasha Harris Dec 2013

Impact Of Oxidative Stress On Female Fertility., Tasha Harris

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study examined nutritional status and fecundity of women and was approved for patient enrollment by the ETSU Institutional Review Board (IRB). Once enrolled, participants filled out two food frequency questionnaires (FFQ, fruit/vegetable intake, fat intake), self-reported anthropometric data, and had one 5 mL vacutainer of whole blood (EDTA) collected for measures of oxidative stress (OS), coenzyme Q10 level, and fatty acid profile of the red blood cell (RBC) membrane. Participants were either designated to the case group (13 women experiencing fertility problems and an anti-mullerian hormone level of 1 ng/ml or less (AMH, <1 ng/mL)) or the control group (13 women experiencing normal ovulation cycles and no evidence of polycystic disease). This study hypothesized that the case group would have poorer plasma antioxidant status, consume more dietary saturated fat and have lower levels of omega-3 and higher levels of omega-6 fatty acids in the RBC membrane. Results showed that case participants had significantly higher body mass index (BMI) when graduating from high school, BMI upon enrollment in the study, and trended to gain more weight since high school. Antioxidant status of the plasma tended to be higher for the case group. This result was surprising as case participants consumed significantly fewer servings of fruits and vegetables (sources of antioxidants) than control subjects. FFQ results indicated that case participants consumed significantly higher amounts of total fat (g), saturated fat (g), unsaturated fat (g), and their diets had a higher dietary fat percent. No significant differences were noted in the individual fatty acids isolated from the RBC membrane or in calculated ratios of fatty acid between case and control groups. The fatty acid profile from RBC membranes are in agreement with self-reported fat intake from FFQ data and may provide a rationale for no differences observed between the two groups.


Examining The Influence Of Nutritional Behaviors, Knowledge And Attitudes On Body Mass Index Of Adults In North Mississippi, Gloria Therese Broughan Dec 2013

Examining The Influence Of Nutritional Behaviors, Knowledge And Attitudes On Body Mass Index Of Adults In North Mississippi, Gloria Therese Broughan

Theses and Dissertations

Individuals with weight statuses approaching obesity may be at risk for chronic health problems. Diet, weight, health behaviors, level of knowledge, and attitudes or perceptions have been identified as key factors influencing body weight. The purpose of this study was to determine which factors were related to BMI in adults in north Mississippi and to determine if there were relationships between those factors. A telephone survey was conducted with 500 participants (mean age 46.3 ± 18.5). The average BMI was 27.5 ± 6.2 kg/m2. Knowledge and attitude/perception-based data were associated with a higher BMI in the population more than dietary …


Development Of Mathematical Model For Abiotic Stresses And Cotton Fiber Quality, Suresh Bajirao Lokhande Dec 2013

Development Of Mathematical Model For Abiotic Stresses And Cotton Fiber Quality, Suresh Bajirao Lokhande

Theses and Dissertations

Abiotic stresses cause extensive losses to agriculture production worldwide. Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) is an important fiber crop grown widely in subtropical region where temperature, water and nutrients are the common factors limiting crop production. Such losses could be more severe in the future climate as intensity and frequency of those stresses are projected to increase. The overall goal of this study was to evaluate effects of abiotic stresses on cotton reproductive performance and develop functional algorithms for fiber properties in response to different stress factors. Three experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of temperature, water, and nitrogen in …


Evaluation Of Performance Of Combined Heat And Power Systems With Dual Power Generation Units (D-Chp), Alta Alyce Knizley Dec 2013

Evaluation Of Performance Of Combined Heat And Power Systems With Dual Power Generation Units (D-Chp), Alta Alyce Knizley

Theses and Dissertations

In this research, a new combined heat and power (CHP) system configuration has been proposed that uses two power generation units (PGU) operating simultaneously with different operational strategies (D-CHP). The performance of the proposed D-CHP system configuration, with one PGU operated at a constant base load and the other operated following the electric load, is quantified in terms of operational cost savings, primary energy consumption (PEC) savings, and carbon dioxide emissions (CDE) savings over a reference case employing a conventional, separate heat and power system. D-CHP system performance is also compared to standard, single PGU operational strategies. The D-CHP system …