Digital Commons Network^™

Parasites In Parks: The Zoonotic Potential Related To Socioeconomic Factors And Types Of Pets, Terrance M. Stock, Khristen Vasseur, Christina Anton

Cities and the Environment (CATE)

Edmonton, Canada is a northern city with more than 100,000 registered pets with access to parks, playgrounds and off-leash areas. Our objectives were to determine the prevalence of zoonotic animal parasite infections in parks and relate this to numbers and types of pets and to socioeconomic factors. Also, we wished to compare the prevalence of the roundworm, Toxocara canis, to other cities in the world. More than 200 fecal samples from 50 different parks were analyzed using a fecal floatation concentration method. All parks had pet feces and 24% of samples (from 64% of parks) had eggs or cysts …

Green Roofs Over Time: A Spatially Explicit Method For Studying Green Roof Vegetative Dynamics And Performance, Max R. Piana, Stephanie C. Carlisle

Cities and the Environment (CATE)

In the past decade, conventional green roof research methodology has emphasized performance measures that assume a static state condition of vegetative composition based on design intent and establishment conditions. Such research has predominantly been limited to short-term observations for low diversity, rigorously maintained systems. These conditions, however, are not the reality of many installed green roofs, and as a result knowledge of how these living systems change over time is limited. Given this perspective, this paper presents an ecologically grounded and spatially explicit methodology aimed at assessing the long-term performance and dynamics of green roof vegetation. The method allows for …

Peak Electric Load Relief In Northern Manhattan: An Exploratory Data Analysis, Hildegaard D. Link, José Pillich, Yehuda L. Klein

Publications and Research

The aphorism “Think globally, act locally,” attributed to René Dubos, reflects the vision that the solution to global environmental problems must begin with efforts within our communities. PlaNYC 2030, the New York City sustainability plan, is the starting point for this study. Results include (a) a case study based on the City College of New York (CCNY) energy audit, in which we model the impacts of green roofs on campus energy demand and (b) a case study of energy use at the neighborhood scale. We find that reducing the urban heat island effect can reduce building cooling requirements, peak electricity …

Discovery Of Shallow-Marine Biofacies Conodonts In A Bioherm Within The Carboniferous-Permian Transition In The Omalon Massif, Ne Russia Near The North Paleo-Pole: Correlation With A Warming Spike In The Southern Hemisphere, Vladimir I. Davydov, Alexander S. Biakov

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The conodont genera Hindeodus and Streptognathodus are reported for the first time within the Carboniferous-Permian transition in the northern high latitudes of the Paren’ River, Omolon Massif, NE Russia. Several fossil groups, including brachiopods, bivalves, scaphopods and microgastropods were found to be prolific in the invertebrate-dominated bioherms. These bioherms occur within predominantly siliciclastic sequences with extremely poor fauna, whereas in the studied bioherms the diversity of the bivalves and brachiopods exceeded observed diversity elsewhere in coeval facies in NE Russia. The bioherms are biostratigraphically constrained as uppermost Pennsylvanian to lowermost Cisuralian based on ammonoids. The very unusual peak of bivalve …

Online Data Mapping Systems, Melanie Kiper, Michael Pippen

CPAR Presents: A Data and Research Series for Community Impact

This presentation on Target Map discusses: Strengths; Weaknesses; Software Limits And Requirements; Connect and Register; About their “Home Page”; Main Screen Elements; Create A Map; Basics About the Map; The Legend; Map Editor; Map Labels; and Saving.

Information For Grant Writers And Data Users, Frank Shimerdla

CPAR Presents: A Data and Research Series for Community Impact

This presentation features what makes a grant proposal "fundable"?; Good data is essential to support all essential proposal elements; Strengthening alignment; Using data to demonstrate need; Visuals highlight key data; Text effects and key data; Strategies for presenting data effectively; Common sources of grant data; Strategies to find the data; When the data do not exist; Surveys; Pre- and post-tests; Be proactive; We can do it... we have before; Restate baselines; Past results instill confidence; and Data is a program management strategy; Five final tips for using data.

Migration Statistics And Brain Drain/Gain, David J. Drozd, Randy Cantrell

CPAR Presents: A Data and Research Series for Community Impact

This presentation discusses: About migration; Often used sources of migration data; How many people move and why: an example of CPS data; Atlas Van Line Data show current level of outbound moves from Nebraska not as high as the late 1990s, but the increasing trend is concerning; Recent migration including by race/ethnicity; Migration differences for Nebraska counties; Breakdown for the <10,000 city size categories; Historical perspective: How do the 2000s changes compare to recent decades; What about the migration of those specifically the college degrees - the brain drain/gain; and Summary.

Data Websites/Tools And Basic Data Mapping, Jerry Deichert

CPAR Presents: A Data and Research Series for Community Impact

Today we are going to look at 3 websites: Census Bureau, Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Basic Factfinder Computer Training, Pauline Nunez

CPAR Presents: A Data and Research Series for Community Impact

Basic FactFinder Computer Training session.

Poverty Data And The New Supplemental Poverty Measure, David J. Drozd

CPAR Presents: A Data and Research Series for Community Impact

This presentation features: Introduction; The basics: what is poverty; How the Census Bureau measures poverty; Poverty thresholds are a measure of need; 2013 Poverty Thresholds; Not Everyone has a Poverty Calculation!; Income Used to Compute “Official” Poverty; The ratio of income to poverty; The “bible” of current and historical poverty data; Graph from the 2012 report showing poverty trends over time: Note that poverty peaks out at about 15% following major recessions; Some Relevant Current Data from the ACS; High Poverty Counties are Fairly Dispersed but Primarily Rural; Census Bureau June 2014 report on “Changes in Concentrated Poverty” (census tracts …

The Far Reaching Impacts Of Aging, Louis Pol, Scott Strain, Martha Hakenkamp, Connie Benjamin

CPAR Presents: A Data and Research Series for Community Impact

This presentation features the session's panelists and Nebraska population statistics and projections.

Census Overview: Basics, Acs, And Estimates, David J. Drozd

CPAR Presents: A Data and Research Series for Community Impact

This presentation features: Terminology & Definitions; Census Datafiles; ACS Data are Released Based Upon the Population of the Geographic Unit; Questionnaires & Concepts; How does CPAR typically analyze race/ethnicity?; Geography; FactFinder Address Search Page & Results; Geography vs. Data (A Duel); Relationship between Data/Datafiles and Geography; PUMA geography; The American Community Survey: What is it?; ACS Methodology in Brief; ACS New Subject Areas; Point Estimates, MOE and Confidence Intervals; Multi-year Aggregate Estimates: Advantages; ACS Sample Size Increase Began in 2011 and Continues!!; 2012 ACS Data to be released later in 2014; The 2009 ACS Nebraska “Double Whammy”; Population Estimates Program: …

Intermediate Factfinder Computer Training, Pauline Nunez

CPAR Presents: A Data and Research Series for Community Impact

Intermediate FactFinder Computer Training session.

Alexander Family Papers (Mss 505), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only Manuscripts Collection 505. Correspondence, business and estate papers, deeds and miscellaneous records of the Alexander, Fontaine, Lucas, Graham and associated families, principally of Henry County, Virginia; Cumberland, Metcalfe and Warren counties in Kentucky; and Pontotoc County, Mississippi. Includes letters of Martha (Lucas) Graham written from Bowling Green, Kentucky during the Civil War (Click on "Additional Files" below).

The Tiger Vol. 108 Issue 13 2014-08-19, Clemson University

Tiger Newspapers

No abstract provided.

Serials Solutions Subject Search Report 2013-2014, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Statistics on the total number of Serials Solutions subject searches at the University of Rhode Island Libraries by month for 2013-2014. Shows how many times the A-Z full text electronic journal list (at http://zu4tq4pb5v.search.serialssolutions.com/) was browsed by specific subjects.

Achieving Flourishing City Schools And Communities - Corporate Reform, Neoliberal Urbanism, And The Right To The City, Alex Means

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

This essay critiques the ideological assertions of corporate school reform and discusses how these logics perpetuate failure in urban education. Drawing on theories of neoliberal urbanism, the right to the city, and the commons, the essay argues that educational researchers and advocates need to reframe the values of urban education in line with a conception of human flourishing and democratic potentiality.

Using Gist Features To Constrain Search In Object Detection, Joanna Browne Solmon

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis investigates the application of GIST features [13] to the problem of object detection in images. Object detection refers to locating instances of a given object category in an image. It is contrasted with object recognition, which simply decides whether an image contains an object, regardless of the object's location in the image.

In much of computer vision literature, object detection uses a "sliding window" approach to finding objects in an image. This requires moving various sizes of windows across an image and running a trained classifier on the visual features of each window. This brute force method can …

Algorithms For Blind Rendezvous In Wireless Networks, Sixia Chen

Doctoral Dissertations

Blind rendezvous is a fundamental problem in wireless networks. Rendezvous problems involve a collection of agents, or nodes, each of which would like to discover and communicate with the other agents in the collection who are within its transmission range. Two agents are said to rendezvous when they become aware of one another and are able to communicate. Blindness refers to a set of constraints on any algorithm that is to guarantee rendezvous in a typical wireless network.

• Agents begin with no knowledge of one another and have no means of coordination other than the common radio channels available to …

The Globalization Classroom: New Option For Becoming More Human?, Tony Svetelj

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

Within a multi-cultural and multi-religious society, exposed to the challenges of globalization, a traditional understanding of humanism offers insufficient frameworks for an adequate comprehension of human agency, its flourishing and search for meaning. The process of globalization continuously shakes the pedagogical assumptions and principles of education, acceptable for a mono-cultural or religious society. If education leads us to make the best of ourselves or our students, then we should first answer anew the question about what we mean by the best in a multi-cultural and multi-religious society. This article offers some guidelines for further pedagogical and philosophical reflection on a …

The Impact Of Weather Conditions On Mood Variability In Geographically Relocated Versus Non-Relocated Individuals, Jamie M. Scott

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

A void exists in the literature in regards to how identical weather conditions impact individuals from different geographic locations. It is believed relocated individuals are more susceptible to fluctuations in mood stemming from novel weather conditions than indigenous individuals. The sample consisted of 70 life-long Minnesota residents and 25 individuals who have spent minimum of one year living outside of Minnesota. Participants completed a mood self-report measure online for four consecutive weeks to determine positive and negative affect levels. Data was then matched with corresponding weather data for the same time period. No support was found for the hypothesis. However, …

Population Of Northern Leopard Frogs (Rana Pipiens) Migrating Between The Ney Frog Pond And The Minnesota River Valley For Spring Breeding, Rebecca Madison Pollack

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

The Northern Leopard Frogs (Rana pipiens) found at the Ney Nature Center (NNC) are particularly important to the NNC, as they are the initial population of frogs found deformed in 1995. As bio-indicators, frog populations can be used to assess the health of their surrounding environment. This study used standard herpetological field methods to gain a population estimate of Northern Leopard Frogs and the migration route used by these frogs as they moved up the bluffs of the Minnesota River Valley from their wintering site to the Ney Frog Pond for spring breeding. The results gathered provide the Ney Environmental …

Modeling Landslides By Using The Dda And A New Combined Hydrology And Stability Model, Seyed Amirreza Beyabanaki

Doctoral Dissertations

Landslides are one of the major geological hazards in the world due to the resulting loss of life and overwhelming costs to the neighboring communities and damage to the environment. The main triggering events for landslides are earthquakes and rainfall events. In this dissertation, the disk-based Discontinuous Deformation Analysis (DDA) method is used to model landslides triggered by earthquakes. The DDA method is applied to model particulate media with the application to landslide behavior. For this purpose, stiffness and force matrices due to body forces, point loading, inertia forces, and displacement and directional constraints are derived in detail for disk …

Community Perceptions Of Rape And Child Sexual Abuse: A Qualitative Study In Rural Tanzania, Muzdalfat Abeid, Projestine Muganyizi, Pia Olsson, Elisabeth Darj, Pia Axemo

Faculty of Health Sciences, East Africa

Background

Rape of women and children is recognized as a health and human rights issue in Tanzania and internationally. Exploration of the prevailing perceptions in rural areas is needed in order to expand the understanding of sexual violence in the diversity of Tanzania’s contexts. The aim of this study therefore was to explore and understand perceptions of rape of women and children at the community level in a rural district in Tanzania with the added objective of exploring those perceptions that may contribute to perpetuating and/or hindering the disclosure of rape incidences.

Methods

A qualitative design was employed using focus …

Nature-Based Tourism Operator Response To Environmental Change In Juneau, Alaska, Kristin Timm

Natural Resources

Increasing temperatures are projected to have a positive effect on the length of Alaska's summer tourism season, but the natural attractions that tourism relies on, such as glaciers, wildlife, fish, or other natural resources, may change. In order to continue to derive benefits from these resources, nature-based tour operators may have to adapt to these changes, and communication is an essential component of the adaptation process. The goal of this study is to determine how to provide useful climate change information to nature-based tour operators by answering the following questions: 1. What environmental changes do nature-based tour operators perceive? 2. …

The Role Of Outdoor Recreation In Building Community Resilience And Adaptive Capacity, William L. Overbaugh

Biological Sciences

For the first time, outdoor recreation theory is applied within the framework of resilience theory to define the conceptual relationship between recreation benefit outcomes and community resilience. A theoretical and practical disconnect between the two disciplines is evident from the lack of literature identifying conceptual and operational linkages. Emerging from the application is a Recreation System Community Resilience Framework that models agent behavior, embedded green space, networks of service providers and feedback mechanisms to demonstrate recreation connections to resilience concepts. The Recreation Benefits-Based Model is identified as the best fit to deliver sustainable high leverage and capacity-building resilience for communities. …

Polyploidy, Base Composition Bias, And Incomplete Lineage Sorting In Fish Phylogenetics, Matthew A. Campbell

Biological Sciences

Understanding the evolutionary relationships between organisms is of fundamental importance in biology. Originally based on overall similarity in morphological traits, depiction of evolutionary relationships is now often pursued by constructing trees based on molecular data- molecular phylogenetics. Molecular phylogenetic inference uses variation in molecular data in a variety of frameworks to produce hypothetical relationships between organisms. As with many practices making use of biological data, the inherent noise and complexity challenges phylogeneticists. In this dissertation, I examine three empirical datasets while addressing three possible issues in phylogenetic inference: polyploidy, base composition bias and incomplete lineage sorting. Polyploidy leads to incorrect …

Applying A Social-Ecological Systems Approach To Human-Bear Encounters Across The Pacific Rim: Advancing Resilient Human-Wildlife Management Strategies, Kim A. Jochum

Biological Sciences

Wildlife management is challenged with addressing human resource needs while simultaneously conserving wildlife populations. Conflicts between humans and wildlife have increased across Northern countries with the expansion of human communities and environmental changes. Lack of information exists about reasons for such occurrences. This study explores adaptive capacity and resilience in coupled human-wildlife systems through the analysis of social and ecological factors contributing to perceptions of negative and positive human-bear (Ursus spp.) encounters. I first developed a theory to evaluate human perceptions and behaviors during human-wildlife encounters. Secondly I adopted an interdisciplinary framework to analyze human-bear encounters in urbanizing regions of …

New Wealth And Poverty | Certificate Tackles Inequality And Empowerment, Ohio University College Of Arts & Sciences

All Forum Articles

No abstract provided.

Narratives From The Former Soviet Union To The United States, Kimberly Maas

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

This paper examines the impact of the transition of the Soviet Union on the experiences of citizens from the republics of the former Soviet Union and American tourists. It is an ongoing project that will, upon completion in fall 2008, include data collected from at least eight semi-structured interviews. So far, five semi-structured interviews have been conducted with individuals who are from the United States and who have traveled to the former USSR; or were natives of the former Soviet Union. The interviews have been transcribed and analyzed inductively with the goal of understanding (a) differences in life experiences across …