Digital Commons Network^™

An Old Tradition And A New Beginning: The Evolution Of Freshman Orientation At Saint Vincent College, Rene Kollar

Gathered Fragments

No abstract provided.

The Problem Of Nutrient Pollution: Lessons From Florida's Fragmented Approach, Ryan A. Abrams

Water Law Review

No abstract provided.

Queering La Politique Lgbtq En France : Entre L'Universalisme Et La Particularité, L' HéTéRosexualité Et Les IdentitéS Non-Normatives, Le Mariage Et La LibéRation Totale De La Communauté Queer, Erik Lampmann

Honors Theses

Après avoir institutionnalisée une diversité des sexualités et genres à travers le système du pacte civile de solidarité (PaCS) et – plus récemment – avec l’adoption du projet de loi pour le mariage des personnes du même sexe, la Ve République a rompu avec beaucoup d’autres pays en offrant à ses citoyens l’accès aux différentes types d’unions consacrés par l’état. En évoquant la libération des communautés des personnes lesbiennes, gays, bisexuelles, trans*, et queer (LGBTQ), la France s’est dit prête à élargir sa conception de citoyenneté ; elle a décidé de valorisé une nouvelle Marianne – celle d’une auto-identification qui …

The Forces Of Value: Structure And Content Of Self-Reported Values By Civilian And Military Science Students, Shelly Holland

Honors Theses

Upon graduation, students in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) programs are commissioned to lead the individuals tasked with protecting the American people and their ideology. This project examines the values of leaders and followers in military and nonmilitary contexts to determine if students in military education programs endorse values that are different from the values of students in non-military programs. First, this paper discusses the concept of values, and how values are defined and differentiated from other concepts. By providing an overview of past literature on values within the military and in general, the importance leaders place on values …

Intuition And Its Proper Uses, Chris Boss

Honors Theses

What is intuition? Is it nothing but a nagging conviction in certain beliefs? Is it the same thing as common sense? When, if ever, is intuition a legitimate epistemological tool? Is the use of intuition in philosophical inquiry not just legitimate, but also inevitable? The aim of the present research project is to answer these and related questions. This research project will prove important due to the regularity with which intuitions are evoked in philosophical discourse, and the judgment errors that can result from a misunderstanding of the proper scope of these intuitions.

In section (1), I define and explain …

The Effects Of Coal Mining On Health In Appalachia : Global Context And Social Justice Implications, Adrienne Schmidt

Honors Theses

The purpose of this report is to investigate the environmental and health effects of coal mining in the Appalachian region of the United States in the context of global natural resource extraction, explore existing regulation for the reduction of negative environmental health effects of mining in Appalachia, and explore the social justice implications of current mining practices. The research for this report was limited to literature published in English. It was found that there are widespread negative health effects of mining in Appalachia due to environmental toxins, a toxic social environment of limited economic opportunity, and occupational health hazards. The …

Do The Inter-Nucleotide Domain Loops Act As An Entropic Sink In The Catalytic Activity Of 3-Phosphoglycerate Dehydrogenase (3pgdh)?, Cristina Adelia Meeham

Honors Theses

In protein science the relationship between protein dynamics and catalytic activity are the subject of considerable contemporary interest. Although protein motions are frequently observed during ligand binding and release steps, the contribution of protein motions to the catalysis of bond making/breaking processes is more difficult to probe and verify. Currently, the field of protein science is trying to uncover the deeper role that dynamics plays in the catalytic activity and allosteric regulation of proteins and to better understand how to more effectively and efficiently target proteins in cancer therapeutics and other metabolic pathways.

Literacy, Poverty, And Brain Development: Toward A New, Place-Based Educational Intervention, Michael R. Hilton

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

This paper provides an overview of emerging research focused on how living in an area of concentrated poverty can impact brain development and explores some possible applications of this research to education policy. One of the key findings is that state and federal policy-makers may need to adopt programs that integrate educational policy with housing and planning policy in order to protect and fulfill each child's educational rights. In order to impress upon readers the scale of the nation's current educational failures and the need for a significant change in policy, this paper first addresses adult illiteracy in the United …

The Divided Reception Of The Help, Suzanne W. Jones

English Faculty Publications

The reception of Kathryn Stockett’s The Help (2009) calls to mind the reception of two other novels about race relations by southern white writers: Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind (1936) and William Styron’s The Confessions of Nat Turner (1967). Like Gone With the Wind, The Help has been a pop culture phenomenon— prominent in bookstores and box offices, and the “darling of book clubs everywhere.” In January 2012 when I asked students in my Women in Modern Literature class what was the best book they had recently read by a woman, most named either The Help or The Hunger …

Male Tibetan Macaques’ (Macaca Thibetana) Choice Of Infant Bridging Partners, Briana Bauer, Lori K. Sheeran, Megan D. Matheson, Jin-Hua Li, R. Steven Wagner

Anthropology and Museum Studies Faculty Scholarship

Adult male Tibetan (Macaca thibetana), Barbary (M. sylvanus), and stump-tailed macaques (M. arctoides) engage in bridging, a ritualized infant-handling behavior. Previous researchers found a bias toward the use of male infants for this behavior, but its function is debated. Explanations include three hypotheses: paternal care, mating effort, and agonistic buffering. We studied a group of habituated, provisioned Tibetan macaques to test whether adult males’ affiliative relationships with females predicted their use of an infant for bridging. We also examined biases for sex, age, and individual in males’ choice of bridging infant. We collected data via all …

Why Would Enlarging, Or Increasing Traffic Flow On Stadium Road Harm The Gordon Natural Area?, Gerard Hertel

Gordon Natural Area History & Strategic Plan Documents

No abstract provided.

Statistical Analysis Of Sleep Patterns In Drosophila Melanogaster, Luyang Wang

Masters Theses

“Sleep is one of the most preserved and restorative behaviors of animals and is important in human health. Lack of sleep may cause numerous diseases. So the study of sleep rhythms is very essential and complicated. In order to simplify the process of studying sleep, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, is utilized as a model organism for several reasons. Some of the molecular mechanisms that contribute to the circadian clock in the fruit fly were also found to generate similar cycles in mammals. In order to study sleep patterns in the fruit fly, experiments were designed and performed to …

Effect And Interactions Of Commercial Additives And Chloride Ion In Copper Electrowinning, Wenyuan Cui

Masters Theses

"This thesis is to understand and compare the effects and interactions of modified polysaccharide (HydroStar), polyacrylamide (Cyquest N-900) and chloride ion on copper electrowinning. A study of the nucleation and growth was conducted in a synthetic electrolyte (40 g/L Cu, 160 g/L H₂SO₄, 20 mg/L Cl-) with the addition of HydroStar or Cyquest N-900 using potential step measurements. The current responses generated were compared to theoretical models of nucleation and growth mechanisms. The nucleation and growth mechanism changed as function of potential and the presence of organic additives. The nucleation and growth mechanisms were confirmed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). …

Louisiana-Style Naturalism? Science, Fiction, And Commerce In Duck Dynasty And Swamp People, Elizabeth Emery

Department of World Languages and Cultures Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Developing Capabilities, Not Entrepreneurs: A New Theory For Community Economic Development, Rashmi Dyal-Chand, James V. Rowan

Hofstra Law Review

This Article presents a contemporary and compelling American context in which entrepreneurship is not a good solution. Despite the enormous potential that entrepreneurship seems to hold for community economic development, it has thus far failed as a framework for widespread and reliable local economic development and poverty alleviation. The reasons for this failure are grounded both in theory and empirical data. This Article takes up the theoretical question. It examines why entrepreneurship theory is a weak foundation for the work of community economic development practitioners. Arguing that the important work of these practitioners is best understood and measured using a …

Copyright In The Expanded Field, Xiyin Tang

Hofstra Law Review

Intellectual property law and the art forms it is meant to protect are expanding. In our information age, artists hoping to assert their rights frequently assert a combination of trademark, copyright, and right of publicity or moral rights claims in order to maximize their chances of success. This Article looks beyond IP law to some of its more unlikely complements — tort and property law — as a viable means of redress for artists who may be ineligible for copyright protection. Specifically, recent cases involving a specific form of hybrid art — land art, or “site specific art” — have …

Making Gun Offender Registries Available To The Public: A Safety Practice Or Target Practice, Aaron Zucker

Hofstra Law Review

The article discusses the structure and purpose of America's gun offender registry as of 2014, and it mentions public safety in the country, the development of a sex offender registry in the U.S., and the nation's criminal laws. According to the article, criminal registries were made available to the public in 1996 with the purpose of promoting public awareness and protection. Gun control and firearms laws in the U.S. are examined, along with the history of criminal registries in America.

Human Rights, Freedom Of Expression, And The Rise Of The Silver Screen, Lawrence M. Friedman

Hofstra Law Review

The article discusses human rights and the rule of law in America in relation to a freedom of expression right involving exhibitions and presentations of motion pictures. Historical sociology is addressed, along with the concept of absolute equality involving genders, races, and ethic groups. American constitutional rights are examined, along with the United Nations General Assembly's Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the films "The James Boys in Missouri" and "The Night Riders."

Virtual Economics Virtually Unregulated: How Clear Taxpayer Guidance Can Mitigate Tax Compliance Risks, Jeffrey Anand

Hofstra Law Review

The article discusses the regulation of virtual economies and the author's claim that clear taxpayer guidance can mitigate the tax compliance risks as of 2014. America's national debt is addressed, along with government revenue in the country and noncompliance with the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Virtual currencies such as Bitcoin are examined, along with tax havens and the country's Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Recommendations from the U.S. Government Accountability Office are assessed.

The Evolution Of Self-Control, Evan L. Maclean, Brian Hare, Charles L. Nunn, Elsa Addessi, Federica Amici, Rindy C. Anderson, Filippo Aureli, Joseph M. Baker, Amanda E. Bania, Allison M. Barnard, Neeltje J. Boogert, Elizabeth M. Brannon, Emily E. Bray, Joel Bray, Lauren J. N. Brent, Judith M. Burkart, Josep Call, Jessica F. Cantlon, Lucy G. Cheke, Nicola S. Clayton, Mikel M. Delgado, Louis J. Divindenti, Kazuo Fujita, Esther Herrmann, Chihiro Hiramatsu, Lucia F. Jacobs, Kerry E. Jordan, Jennifer R. Laude, Kristin L. Leimgruber, Emily J. E. Messer, Antonio C. De A. Moura, Ljerka Ostojic, Alejandra Picard, Michael L. Platt, Joshua M. Plotnik, Friederike Range, Simon M. Reader, Rachna B. Reddy, Aaron A. Sandel, Laurie R. Santos, Katrin Schumann, Amanda M. Seed, Kendra B. Sewall, Rachael C. Shaw, Katie E. Slocombre, Yanjie Su, Ayaka Takimoto, Jingzhi Tan, Ruoting Tao, Carel P. Van Schaik, Zsofia Viranyi, Elisabetta Visalberghi, Jordan C. Wade, Arii Watanabe, Janes Widness, Julie K. Young, Thomas R. Zentall, Yini Zhao

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Cognition presents evolutionary research with one of its greatest challenges. Cognitive evolution has been explained at the proximate level by shifts in absolute and relative brain volume and at the ultimate level by differences in social and dietary complexity. However, no study has integrated the experimental and phylogenetic approach at the scale required to rigorously test these explanations. Instead, previous research has largely relied on various measures of brain size as proxies for cognitive abilities. We experimentally evaluated these major evolutionary explanations by quantitatively comparing the cognitive performance of 567 individuals representing 36 species on two problem-solving tasks measuring self-control. …

Position Of The Academy Of Nutrition And Dietetics: Dietary Fatty Acids For Healthy Adults, Gretchen Vannice, Heather Rasmussen

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (the Academy) that dietary fat for the healthy adult population should provide 20% to 35% of energy, with an increased consumption of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and limited intake of saturated and trans fats. The Academy recommends a food-based approach through a diet that includes regular consumption of fatty fish, nuts and seeds, lean meats and poultry, low-fat dairy products, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes. These recommendations are made within the context of rapidly evolving science delineating the influence of dietary fat and specific fatty acids on human …

Utilizing Short- And Long-Term Evaluation To Measure The Impact Of A Long-Standing, Multi-State Educational Venue, Lisa Franzen-Castle, Karla Jenkins, Aaron Berger

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this program evaluation was to utilize short- and long-term surveys to measure the impact of a multi-state Range Beef Cow Symposium on knowledge change and changes in beef cattle production practices. Symposium participants completed end-of-session surveys and ranked their degree of knowledge change, with a 36% return rate. Follow-up surveys were mailed to past symposium participants who noted changes made to their production practices, with a 23% return rate. For symposium survey respondents, 70% were male, a majority were white, over 60% were under 50 years, and they represented 16 states. The estimated annual increase in profitability …

One Health In Action: Reducing Feral Swine Damage And Disease, Sarah N. Bevins, Alan B. Franklin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

As an invasive species, feral swine (Sus scrofa) are a classic example of a species that can profoundly influence ecological communities and ecosystems. They alter environments through a suite of well-known traits: rooting behaviors that alter soil properties and disturb plant communities; a generalist diet that can encompass seeds, crops, and animals; a rapid reproduction rate that can result in explosive population growth; and an adaptable biology that allows them to thrive in a range of habitats and climates. Along with these more familiar traits of an aggressive invasive species, feral swine can also reservoir and transmit a …

Characteristics Of White-Tailed Deer Visits To Cattle Farms: Implications For Disease Transmission At The Wildlife-Livestock Interface, Are R. Berentsen, Ryan S. Miller, Jennifer L. Malmberg, Mike R. Dunbar

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is endemic in free-ranging white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in MI, USA. Currently, the rates of farm visitation by deer and co-use of forage resources by cattle and deer are poorly understood. To evaluate the extent deer and livestock may share forage resources, we investigated farm, yard, and cattle-use area visitation by white-tailed deer and compared visitation with common livestock management practices. We fitted 25 female white-tailed deer near the bTB-infected zone in Michigan's Lower Peninsula with global positioning system collars. Livestock management practices associated with farm visitation included presence of confined feeding pastures, number of cattle water …

Crossing The Interspecies Barrier: Opening The Door To Zoonotic Pathogens, Christian Gortazar, Leslie A. Reperant, Thijs Kuiken, Jose De La Fuente, Mariana Boadella, Beatriz Martinez-Lopez, Francisco Ruiz-Fons, Agusitn Estrada-Pena, Christian Drosten, Graham Medley, Richard Ostfeld, Townsend Peterson, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Christian Menge, Marc Artois, Constance Schultsz, Richard Delahay, Jordi Sierra-Cobo, Robert Poulin, Frederic Keck, Alonso A. Aguirre, Heikki Henttonen, Andrew P. Dobson, Susan Kutz, Juan Lubroth, Atle Mysterud

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The number of pathogens known to infect humans is ever increasing. Whether such increase reflects improved surveillance and detection or actual emergence of novel pathogens is unclear. Nonetheless, infectious diseases are the second leading cause of human mortality and disability-adjusted life years lost worldwide [1,2]. On average, three to four new pathogen species are detected in the human population every year [3]. Most of these emerging pathogens originate from nonhuman animal species. Zoonotic pathogens represent approximately 60% of all known pathogens able to infect humans [4]. Their occurrence in humans relies on the human-animal interface, defined as the continuum of …

Movement Characteristics Of American Beavers (Castor Canadensis), Lance F. Mcclintic, Guiming Wang, Jimmy D. Taylor Ii, Jeanne C. Jones

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Physiological states and foraging behaviors may shape movement patterns of animals. Optimal foraging theory and what we term the deliberate movement hypothesis predict that, to reduce predation risk, central place foragers should move faster with smaller turning angles the further they are from their central place. The complementary bimodal foraging trip hypothesis predicts that the distribution of foraging distances exhibited by central place foragers should be bimodal due to a trade-off between provisioning offspring and self-feeding. We used radio-telemetry to test these hypotheses for American beavers (Castor canadensis) in northern Alabama, United States. American beavers moved faster with …

Behavioral Traits And Airport Type Affect Mammal Incidents With U.S. Civil Aircraft, Kristin B. Schwarz, Jerrold L. Belant, James A. Martin, Travis L. Devault, Guiming Wang

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wildlife incidents with aircraft cost the United States (U.S.) civil aviation industry >US$1.4 billion in estimated damages and loss of revenue from 1990 to 2009. Although terrestrial mammals represented only 2.3 % of wildlife incidents, damage to aircraft occurred in 59 % of mammal incidents. We examined mammal incidents (excluding bats) at all airports in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Wildlife Strike Database from 1990 to 2010 to characterize these incidents by airport type: Part-139 certified (certificated) and general aviation (GA). We also calculated relative hazard scores for species most frequently involved in incidents. We found certificated airports had …

European Starling Feeding Activity On Repellent Treated Crops And Pellets, Shelagh K. Tupper, Scott J. Werner, James C. Carlson, Susan E. Pettit, John C. Wise, Catherine A. Lindell, George M. Linz

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The varied diet of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris L.) can present challenges when working with starlings in experimental testing and holding situations and should be taken into account when testing repellents applied to food. Our purpose was to evaluate an anthraquinone-based repellent (Arkion Life Sciences, New Castle, DE, USA; active ingredient 50% 9,10-anthraquinone; hereafter anthraquinone) and SucraShield^TM (Natural Forces, Davidson, NC, USA; active ingredient 40% sucrose octanoate esters) repellent for non-lethal protection of specialty crops (i.e., fruit, sweet corn) and grains. Our objectives were to evaluate (1) laboratory efficacy of anthraquinone applied topically to blueberries and sweet …

An Efficacy Test Of Cholecalciferol Plus Diphacinone Rodenticide Baits For California Voles (Microtus Californicus Peale) To Replace Ineffective Chlorophacinone Baits, Gary W. Witmer, Rachael S. Moulton, Roger A. Baldwin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

California voles cause damage to pastures and rangelands, orchards and nurseries, and a wide variety of field crops, including artichokes. The anticoagulant rodenticides (chlorophacinone and diphacinone) typically used for voles are becoming less effective in controlling their populations. Consequently, there is a need to identify new rodenticides that will have a high efficacy on California voles so that agricultural production losses to rodents can be substantially reduced. We tested a new formulation containing two active ingredients (cholecalciferol and diphacinone) as a control method for California voles. Both a pelleted bait and an oil-coated artichoke bract bait were very palatable and …

Responses By Wild House Mice (Mus Musculus) To Variousstimuli In A Novel Environment, Gary W. Witmer, Nathan P. Snow, Rachael S. Moulton

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

House mice (Mus musculus) pose a threat to the native flora and fauna on islands, and cancause significant damage wherever they have been introduced. Methods used to eradicateinvasive rodents, like house mice, at high population densities may not be appropriate forintercepting them at lower densities. A better understanding of the immediate behavior ofhouse mice when first introduced to a novel environment would help managers developeffective biosecurity techniques to protect against new invasions. To address this problem,we conducted a controlled laboratory experiment that simulated an invasion by wild housemice into a novel environment. We quantified and compared the immediate behaviors …