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Governance And Private Investment In Africa, Idrissa Ouedraogo, Pascal Kouman

International Conference on African Development

Africa is one of the world regions whose development potentials are particularly important. But despite this situation, Africa is one of the continents where poverty exists on a large scale. More than 44 % of the African population lives below the poverty line. Yet, various forms of development strategies have been designed and implemented in the African countries. In 1992, in its publication Governance and Development, the World Bank refers to the quality of government as the cause of the failure of several of these strategies. Attention is henceforth focused on how governments organize the management of state and govern …

2014-2015, Collin College

Course Catalogs

Contains information on courses and class descriptions as well as campus resources at Collin College.

Detecting Heat Waves: Comparison Of Various Heat Wave Definitions With Excess Mortality, Lance Elliott Watkins

Theses and Dissertations

Four different heat wave definitions (as outlined by Hajat et al, 2006; D’lppoliti et al, 2010; Anderson and Bell, 2011; Nairn and Fawcett, 2013) were used to characterize heat wave mortality across the United States. The goal was to identify if certain definitions perform better or worse than others. Overall every definition performed poorly, resulting in high False-Alarm Ratios and low Heidke Skill Scores. However, the Nairn and Fawcett (2013) and Anderson and Bell (2011) definitions performed consistently better than the other definitions. Despite several limitations, the results of this study indicate that the heat wave definitions need refinement. Additionally, …

Security And Privacy In Online Social Networks, Arun Thapa

Theses and Dissertations

The explosive growth of Online Social Networks (OSNs) over the past few years has redefined the way people interact with existing friends and especially make new friends. OSNs have also become a great new marketplace for trade among the users. However, the associated privacy risks make users vulnerable to severe privacy threats. In this dissertation, we design protocols for private distributed social proximity matching and a private distributed auction based marketplace framework for OSNs. In particular, an OSN user looks for matching profile attributes when trying to broaden his/her social circle. However, revealing private attributes is a potential privacy threat. …

Estimating Landslide-Induced Riverbed Roughness Variation By Using Lidar Data, Mon-Shieh Yang, Ming-Chee Wu, Jin-King Liu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

With advancements in the efficiency and accuracy of investigation techniques and equipment, remote sensing technologies have been widely used to investigate river conditions. Quantifying the morphology along a river channel was difficult before airborne laser altimetry technology, light detection and ranging (LiDAR), was introduced, facilitating the collection of high-resolution, highly accurate topographical data. This study adopted airborne LiDAR data for analyzing and recognizing riverbed morphology. The roughness index was defined as the standard deviation of a residual topography. A variable moving-window was used to derive a smoothed digital elevation model (DEM). According to the roughness index, the residual topography was …

Predicting Mississippi Curriculum Testing Program, Second Edition Performance Using The Northwest Evaluation Association Measures Of Academic Progress, Mary Cole-Bush

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) reading and math assessments are a valid predictor of performance on the language arts and mathematics Mississippi Curriculum Test, 2 nd Edition (MCT2). Additionally, the researcher sought to determine whether student characteristics of gender, ethnicity, and economically disadvantaged status added statistically to the prediction of MCT2 scores. The researcher used a correlational research design to answer the research questions that guide this study. Regression analyses were performed using IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 22. Data were collected …

Migration And Natural Disasters: Role Of Tornadoes And Quality Of Life In Internal Migration Patterns In Tornado Hot Spots Of The United States, Caiping Wei

Theses and Dissertations

Tornadoes are one of the most frequent and destructive disasters in the United States. Like other environmental calamities, tornadoes too act as push factors for migration. The objectives of this study are to define tornado hot spots in the US, to analyze migration effectiveness in the tornado hot spots and non-hot spots, and to explore how tornado and other socio-economic factors influence migration decision. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Internal revenue service migration data, SPC tornado data, and Census Bureau data were used in the study. The results indicate that there are significant differences between migration patterns in …

Faculty Perceptions Of Instructional Satisfaction And Support When Teaching Distance Education, Jeng-Yang Wu

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine faculty perceptions of instructional satisfaction and support when teaching distance education at a university located in the southeastern United States. Two research questions were included to determine what factors of instructional support faculty perceive as promoting/impeding their satisfaction when they participate in distance education, and to determine if there are any meaningful and significant relationships or differences between faculty perceptions of instructional satisfaction and demographic information. Data were collected via email using Google Docs, then compared to determine any significant difference in any of the categories. Descriptive statistics, independent t-tests, ANOVA, and …

Innovations In Energy And Climate Policy: Lessons From Vermont, Benjamin K. Sovacool, Alex Gilbert, Brian Thomson

Pace Environmental Law Review

We ask in this article: how can planners and policymakers replicate Vermont’s energy and climate policies? We begin by explaining the research methods utilized for this article—mainly research interviews with a pool of experts, coupled with a targeted literature review. We then analyze the success of Vermont energy policy across four areas: energy efficiency, renewable energy, the smart grid, and energy governance. The following sections first explain how Vermont accomplished these successes, next identify a number of remaining barriers and elements of Vermont’s approach that may not be replicable, and finally present the article’s conclusions.

Cultural Solipsism, Cultural Lenses, Universal Principles, And Animal Advocacy, Thomas G. Kelch

Pace Environmental Law Review

Given the potpourri of human cultures and the need to take a global view of animal rights advocacy, how can animal rights advocates most efficiently and successfully advocate for animals? This article will address this issue.

First, I will describe and analyze views of the human/animal relationship from five example cultural traditions: Western culture, represented generally by Europe and North America, Indian culture, Chinese culture, South African culture, and Islamic culture, exemplified primarily here by Turkey. It is not asserted here that any of these cultures or countries are homogenous; they are not. Although Western culture is primarily constructed on …

Guddling About: Experiments In Vital Materialism With Particular Regard To Water, Minty Donald

The Goose

With reference to Jane Bennett’s notion of "vital materialism," this photo essay documents and reflects on Guddling About: a series of experiments or actions carried out by artists Nick Millar and Minty Donald with the Bow River and its watershed in Calgary and Southern Alberta in August-September 2013. Each experiment is described as a set of instructions — a script or score for an event — which can be enacted in any location where human settlement has evolved around a river. The experiments will be repeated, and new ones developed, with the River Clyde in Glasgow and Southern Scotland in …

Burns Like Dust: 1 House, 8 Collections, 7 Repositories, Ruth E. Bryan

Library Presentations

This case study is about collection development policies, both on the repository level as well as applying them within individual collections, specifically faculty papers. "Dust" is a metaphor for both the on-the-ground experience of archival appraisal as well as for the “dust” of people’s lives and events that historians are “breathing in” when they work with primary source material (Carol Steedman, Dust: The archive and cultural history, 2002). From the perspective of the cultural value of archives, this “dust” is what we select when we’re transforming a mountain of paper or electronic records into archives.

Corruption In Oil Revenue Distribution And Conflict In Bayelsa State, Nigeria, Chux Ibekwe

Doctor of International Conflict Management Dissertations

In the last seventeen years, several high level government officials in Nigeria have faced corruption charges totaling $22 trillion dollars related to oil revenues. In Bayelsa State, a Nigerian state that produces oil, officials have been marked with high level corruption in oil revenue. In particular, the state faces constant conflicts among the government, multinational oil corporations, and the people of the state. Based on these observations, this dissertation seeks to understand the relationship between corruption in oil revenue redistribution and perpetuation of conflicts in Bayelsa State of Nigeria.

Bayelsa State is one of the nine states in Nigeria’s Niger …

Interview: Rhonda Phillips, Brooke Halteman

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

Dr. Rhonda Phillips is dean of the Honors College at Purdue University. She holds a doctorate in city and regional planning and an MS in economics from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She previously served as associate professor and director of the Center for Building Better Communities at the University of Florida and as associate dean for Barrett, The Honors College, at Arizona State University. As a community and economic development specialist, community investment and well-being comprise the focus of Phillips's research and outreach activities.

An Epigenetic Look At Atrazine Toxicity: An Analysis Of Microrna-126 Expression In Developing Zebrafish Exposed To The Herbicide Atrazine, Kelly E. Schlotman

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

Atrazine is a commonly used herbicide in the United States that is reported to contaminate drinking water sources. Studies indicate atrazine adversely impacts the neuroendocrine and reproductive systems, and that it may be a potential carcinogen. The current maximum contaminant level in drinking water is 3 parts per billion (ppb); however, levels higher than 3 ppb are often reported. Ongoing studies in our laboratory are investigating the immediate and latent adverse health outcomes associated with a developmental atrazine exposure and identifying the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of toxicity using the zebrafish model system. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are epigenetic regulators that posttranscriptionally …

Weekly News Digest 08/13/2014, Jenna Ray

Weekly Bulletin Archive

In this issue:

● Morris Faculty, Staff, and Students Retur

● Morris Value Recognized by Forbes Magazine

● Alayna Johnson ’15 Spends Summer at Harvard Forest

● Morris Sun Tribune Reports on Campus Effectiveness Ratings

Volume 51, Number 52: August 13, 2014, University Of North Dakota

University Letter Archive

No abstract provided.

We Are...Marshall, August 13, 2014, Office Of Marshall University Communications

We Are ... Marshall: the Newsletter for Marshall University 1999-2023

No abstract provided.

Seasonal And Elevational Variations Of Black Carbon And Dust In Snow And Ice In The Solu-Khumbu, Nepal And Estimated Radiative Forcings, Susan Kaspari, T. H. Painter, M. Gysel, S. M. Skiles, M. Schwikowski

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Black carbon (BC) and dust deposited on snow and glacier surfaces can reduce the surface albedo, accelerate snow and ice melt, and trigger albedo feedback. Assessing BC and dust concentrations in snow and ice in the Himalaya is of interest because this region borders large BC and dust sources, and seasonal snow and glacier ice in this region are an important source of water resources. Snow and ice samples were collected from crevasse profiles and snow pits at elevations between 5400 and 6400 m a.s.l. from Mera glacier located in the Solu-Khumbu region of Nepal during spring and fall 2009, …

Predicted Effects Of Gypsy Moth Defoliation And Climate Change On Forest Carbon Dynamics In The New Jersey Pine Barrens, Alec M. Kretchun, Robert M. Scheller, Melissa S. Lucash, Kenneth L. Clark, John Hom, Steve Van Tuyl

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Disturbance regimes within temperate forests can significantly impact carbon cycling. Additionally, projected climate change in combination with multiple, interacting disturbance effects may disrupt the capacity of forests to act as carbon sinks at large spatial and temporal scales. We used a spatially explicit forest succession and disturbance model, LANDIS-II, to model the effects of climate change, gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar L.) defoliation, and wildfire on the C dynamics of the forests of the New Jersey Pine Barrens over the next century. Climate scenarios were simulated using current climate conditions (baseline), as well as a high emissions scenario (HadCM3 A2 …

Sustainable Development Through Green Infrastructure: A Critical Evaluation Of The Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan, Olivia R. Burchett

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Sustainable development is achieved through the equal promotion of environmental protection, economic development and social equity. Urban planners play a key role in sustainable development through the mediation of tensions inherent between these priorities. Using urban planning theory that focuses on the conflicts between the priorities of sustainable development and lessons learned from planning practice provides a basis from which to evaluate the claims of sustainability present in the Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan. Outreach initiatives, policy frameworks and ecosystem co-management are suggested to make the planning and implementation processes of the Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan more …

The Exercise Of Power : Counter Planning In Palestine, Husni S. Qurt

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In the beginning of the 2000s, Israeli policies in the West Bank shifted from policies of control to policies of separation, which in turn led to the Transformation of West Bank communities into isolated urban islands. Current plans prepared for Palestinian localities by Palestinian planning institutions most often address these isolated islands without taking into account the Israeli-controlled areas surrounding these localities. Palestinians envision the entire West Bank as a contiguous area that will eventually form part of the Palestinian national state. However, most Palestinian plans take the boundaries imposed by Israel as a given and plan only for areas …

New Orleans Producers: Directing The Regional Food System One Informal Contract At A Time, Emily Nichols

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Large corporations largely control food production and distribution in the global food system and have generated a desire for locally produced food. Although small independent producers still contribute to regional food systems, there is little understanding about how they distribute and market their products. This thesis uses both semistructured interviews to investigate the distribution practices of urban, family, and regional producers in the New Orleans region and discourse analysis to disclose how localist discourse shapes producers marketing practices. The discourse analysis discovered that the web presence of local New Orleans restaurants, farmers, and Crescent City Farmers Market targeted concepts that …

The Resilience Of New Orleans: Assessing A History Of Disasters 1718-1803, Celine B. Ugolini

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

New Orleans, Louisiana, was founded in 1718 on what is known today to be unstable land. In 1719, a flood devastated the budding city. Several other strong storms quickly followed and forced reconstruction. The French colonists who built New Orleans had no experience with Louisiana’s climate or repetitive tropical storms and flooding. Damage from disasters occurred so frequently that the difficult work of reconstruction characterized the city’s first few decades. The lack of population of the area generated the sending of criminals and other unwanted individuals from France. These ended up taking an active part in the construction and reconstruction …

Atms And Cris Geolocation, Mark Esplin, Kris Robinson, Ben Esplin, Nephi Grant, Deron Scott, Likun Wang

The Characterization and Radiometric Calibration for Remote Sensing Annual Meeting (CALCON)

An important part of any earth observing sensor’s calibration is determining the precise location of the sensor footprint on the earth (geolocation calibration). SDL has evaluated the geolocation calibration of two sensors on the Suomi-NPP spacecraft: ATMS (Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder) and CrIS (The Cross-track Infrared Sounder). Both sensors have bands that can sense the radiance contrasts that generally occurs at land sea boundaries both during the day and the night. The observed position of the land sea transitions can be compared to the know shoreline position to evaluate the geolocation calibration. SDL used two different methods to achieve sub-pixel …

Second-Language English Fluency Change In Native-Speaker Context, John Zehnder

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

This study examines the influence of social context on oral proficiency change among English language learners on the campus of an American university. Speech samples were taken from 2 rounds of interviews with 9 East Asian women. These were analyzed using the phonetic analysis program Praat in order to determine each speaker’s rate of stressed syllables at the beginning and end of the study. The change in these rates was used as a proxy for fluency change. This was then compared with each speaker’s social context. The results suggested that English language learners improve their fluency when they have at …

Atrazine Influence On Northern Pike Sperm Motility And Viability In Minnesota, Andy Stevens, Paul Pallardy

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Concern has been noted by fish hatchery biologists with the Department of Natural Resources that southern Minnesota northern pike Esox lucius populations have exhibited reduced hatching rates, a trend not occurring with northern Minnesota pike populations. The chemical atrazine is a frequently used herbicide in Minnesota and has been found to cause gonadal dysgenesis and reproductive development issues in amphibians and fish. Sperm, length, and age data were collected from northern pike in four Minnesota lakes. Water samples were obtained from two of the lakes to test for atrazine. Test results indicated atrazine concentrations0.10 and r2 < 0.06 for all regressions). Sperm motility reductions in northern pike could be related to declining populations and warrants further research.

Mona Hatoum And The Biographical Influence On Cross-Cultural Exchange, Nicole Shelton

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Artist Mona Hatoum, a Palestinian born in Beirut and educated in London, has experienced the boundaries and displacement of exile. These have become influential in her work and are implied within some of her statements. Compared are the external experiences of a double-exile directly to her subjectivity, culminating in a discussion of works of art such as Light Sentence (Fig. 3) and Homebound (Fig. 7), and highlighting the issue of cross-cultural exchange. This artist is one of many exhibiting cultural exchange within art as a manifestation of hybridization of different cultures, even if the artist does not acknowledge this multiplicity. …

Lessons In Liminal Space: Borders As Pedagogical Tools In No Country For Old Men, Steven Norton

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

As scholars continue to explore the territories created by burgeoning interdisciplinarity and ever-growing global networks, the concept of borders become a topic of increased theoretical and pedagogical discussion. Cormac McCarthy’s novel No Country for Old Men, set at the Texas-Mexico border, provides an opportunity to explore the liminal nature of borders and their role in identity formation. The novel allows us to embrace the fluidity of borders and see, as Gayatri Spivak argues, that “we are made by the forces moving about the world” (3), rather than divided by them. Throughout No Country for Old Men, McCarthy posits that borders …

Control Is A Double-Edged Sword, And One Edge Is Sharper, Omri Rachum-Twaig

University of Illinois Journal of Law, Technology & Policy

In her book Talent Wants to Be Free, Lobel suggests a new, behavioral-economics, paradigm to employment intellectual property (EIP) law. Lobel describes a dynamic model to EIP control mechanisms such as non-competes, trade secrets and invention assignments, and argues that loosening them will create positive externalities to employers that will make such a shift economically justified. I first discuss the content of the book and the journey Lobel is guiding us through trying to emphasize the important notions in it and taking them a step forward towards a more "radical" suggestion. I argue that the utilitarian debate over EIP controls …