Digital Commons Network^™

Analyzing Health Education Training Of Human Services Students, Christine W. Thorpe

Publications and Research

Human services programs across the country are charged with training students to address social problems of individuals and families through delivering services that enhance the standard of living of all people. The coursework generally offered in accredited human services programs are within the framework of mental health and social work, yet human services workers play a critical role in health care delivery and need to convey good health practices to the clients they serve. Hence the need for human services students to have coursework in health education to develop their skills in addressing client health behavior. The purpose of this …

Stemming A Rising Tide: Why The Clean Air Act Following Massachusetts V. E.P.A. Provides A Sensible Vehicle Through Which To Regulate Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Zachary D. Ludens

University of Miami Law Review

Imagine ocean levels rising because of global ice melt. Imagine the next ice age beginning due to the increase in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Imagine global plant life dying as a result of rising global temperatures. Imagine afundamental shift in marine life as a direct consequence of the acidification of the world's waters. Finally, imagine increased greenhouse gases causing no impact on the world's biospheres at all. Scientists have predicted all of these possible results, and, while most reputable scientists agree that global climate change is real, there is far less agreement in the scientific …

Learning From The Past: Why Termination Of A Non-Citizen Parent's Rights Should Not Be Based On The Child's Best Interest, Stacy Byrd

University of Miami Law Review

No abstract provided.

Keynote Address, John G. Browning

University of Miami Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Digital Death Conundrum: How Federal And State Laws Prevent Fiduciaries From Managing Digital Property, James D. Lamm, Christina L. Kunz, Damien A. Riehl, Peter John Rademacher

University of Miami Law Review

No abstract provided.

Laying Your Online Self To Rest: Evaluating The Uniform Fiduciary Access To Digital Assets Act, Samantha D. Haworth

University of Miami Law Review

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Variable Stiffness Locally Adjustable And Repairable Low-Cost Energy Storage And Return Carbon Fiber Prosthetic Foot: A Feasibility Study, Joshua Scott Bowen

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Background: Energy storage and return (ESAR) prosthetic feet were developed to improve the mobility and function of lower-limb amputees. Amputees in the Developing World amputees lack this technology. Most current Developing World prosthetic solutions do not adequately address the needs of active amputees and were not designed to pass international standard tests. Developing a low-cost, repairable, adjustable, energy storage and return prosthetic foot would close this technological gap and improve the mobility and function of active amputees. The goal of this research is to determine the feasibility of fabricating a low-cost, adjustable, ESAR, repairable prosthetic foot manufactured from carbon fiber …

Characterization Of The Disulfide In The Ectodomain Of Anthrax Toxin Receptor 2, Pedro Raymundo Jacquez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Anthrax toxin receptors act as molecular clamps or switches that control anthrax toxin entry, pH-dependent pore formation, and translocation of enzymatic moieties across the endosomal membranes. The ectodomain of anthrax toxin receptor 2 (ANTXR2) is composed of a von Willebrand factor A (VWA) domain that binds to anthrax toxin protective antigen (PA) and a newly defined immunoglobulin-like (Ig) domain, in which the disulfide bonds are required for PA pore formation and for the folding of ANTXR2. While the VWA domain has been well characterized, the structure and function of the whole ectodomain (VWA-Ig) are poorly defined, this is mainly due …

The Scope Of Precedent, Randy J. Kozel

Journal Articles

The scope of Supreme Court precedent is capacious. Justices of the Court commonly defer to sweeping rationales and elaborate doctrinal frameworks articulated by their predecessors. This practice infuses judicial precedent with the prescriptive power of enacted constitutional and statutory text. The lower federal courts follow suit, regularly abiding by the Supreme Court's broad pronouncements. These phenomena cannot be explained by—and, indeed, oftentimes subvert—the classic distinction between binding holdings and dispensable dicta.

This Article connects the scope of precedent with recurring and foundational debates about the proper ends of judicial interpretation. A precedent's forward-looking effect should not depend on the superficial …

Novel Management Methods: Immunocontraception And Other Fertility Control Tools, Giovanna Massei, Dave Cowan, Douglas C. Eckery

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Impacts of overabundant ungulate populations on human activities and conservation include crop and forestry losses, collisions with vehicles, disease transmission, nuisance behaviour, damage to infrastructures, predation on livestock and native species, and reduction of biodiversity in plant and animal communities (e.g. Curtis et ai., 2002; Massei et al., 2011; Reimoser and Putman, 2011; Ferroglio et ai., 2011; Langbein et al., 2011). Current trends in human population growth and landscape development indicate that human-ungulate conflicts in Europe, as well as in the United States, are likely to increase in parallel with increased expansion in numbers and range of many of these …

Invasive Rodent Ecology, Impacts, And Management With An Emphasis On The United States, Gary W. Witmer, William C. Pitt, Gregg Howald

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Many invasive rodent species have become established in the United States and its territories, both on the mainland and on islands. While most were introduced accidently, some were introduced for food or fur. These rodents have caused serious impacts to native flora and fauna, agriculture, and other resources. They have caused the extinction of many species of birds in insular ecosystems. Although many methods are used to control or eradicate introduced rodents, rodenticides and traps are the main tools. Since the early 1990s, agencies have been eradicating rodents from various islands, primarily for conservation purposes. There have been numerous eradication …

Use Of Dogs In The Mediation Of Conservation Conflicts, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Michael J. Lavelle, Jean-Marc Landry, Laurie Marker, Thomas M. Gehring

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Conflicts between wildlife and humans are of global importance and are increasing. These conflicts may negatively impact wildlife, humans, and other resources, primarily livestock. Human safety and economic well-being can be adversely impacted by depredation of livestock and perpetuation of wildlife-borne diseases in agricultural systems. Conversely, management approaches to mitigate these conflicts may employ primarily lethal control methods that can negatively impact wildlife populations of conservation importance. Dogs, principally livestock protection breeds, have been used for centuries in some cultures to protect livestock from predators. Dogs have also been used for a variety of other conservation-specific practices. Here we provide …

The Durability Of Private Claims To Public Property, Bruce R. Huber

Journal Articles

Property rights and resource use are closely related. Scholarly inquiry about their relation, however, tends to emphasize private property arrangements while ignoring public property — property formally owned by government. The well-known tragedies of the commons and anticommons, for example, are generally analyzed with reference to the optimal form and degree of private ownership. But what about property owned by the state? The federal government alone owns nearly one-third of the land area of the United States. One could well ask: is there a tragedy associated with public property, too? If there is, here is what it might look like: …

Accommodation, Establishment, And Freedom Of Religion, Richard W. Garnett

Journal Articles

This short essay engages the argument that it would violate the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause to exempt an ordinary, nonreligious, profit-seeking business – such as Hobby Lobby – from the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive-coverage rules. In response to this argument, it is emphasized that the First Amendment not only permits but invites generous, religion-specific accommodations and exemptions and that the Court’s Smith decision does not teach otherwise. In addition, this essay proposes that laws and policies that promote and protect religious freedom should be seen as having a “secular purpose” and that because religious freedom, like clean air, is an …

The Appeal Of Narrative In Research, Colette Daiute

Publications and Research

"I saw the bird flattened on the ground outside my door . One of the kindergarten child walked toward me slowly, crying. That's when I knew it was time to act."

The very brief narrative above occurs amid myriad spheres of social relations. These relations are not all apparent, but understanding narrative meaning requires understanding narrating as an interactive process. As researchers we enhance our Methods if we know how to read narratives as complex social processes. This openi11g narrative expresses a sequence of two past events.1 The narrative involves action ("walked," "act") and consciousness ("saw," "crying," "knew"). From the …

The Civil Rights Legacy Of Fr. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., Jennifer Mason Mcaward

Journal Articles

This Speech will discuss Fr. Hesburgh's advocacy on these core civil rights issues-education, employment, housing, and voting rights-and how his work changed the face of this country. The story of Fr. Hesburgh's civil rights advocacy is a key to understanding how he emerged-in the words of Vice President Biden-as "one of the most powerful unelected officials this nation has ever seen."

Creativity In An Arts Integrated Third Space: A Case Study Of Elementary School Students In An International Collaboration, Susan Hyatt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

This qualitative case study examined the impact of an arts integrated international collaboration on elementary school students’ creativity when the students were communicating and creating exclusively through a technological third space. Two organizations, one in the U.S. and one in Mexico, served as the sites for the case study. Five findings emerged from the study relating to the nature of creativity and two findings related to the impact on students’ creativity when engaged in arts-integrated international collaboration. The findings for the first question were: 1. Students and teaching artists view creativity as a process that is reflexive and engaging, 2. …

Completion: Artistic Transmutation, Eduardo Rosas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Symbols connect our deepest thoughts with our senses. This thesis explores the Alchemical symbols, developed by mythical deity Hermes Trismegistus, whose symbols remnant of geometric shapes represent the classical elements of Earth, Water, Fire and Air. Watercolor, graphite, and gesso are my primary materials as they can be manipulated by the classical element of water. With this, I can create representations of the symbols through the language of drawing. The audience is invited to open their thoughts and all senses to the Alchemical symbols and the distinctive forms that appear from the visual mixture of the materials.

Contested Spaces: Ntfps, Livelihoods, And Conservation Planning, Christine M. Mitchell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

This research examines tensions between Latino/a farmworkers, who rely on the seasonal harvest of saw palmetto (Serenoa repens [W. Bartram] Small) berries for increased livelihood security, and conservationists and land-managers who view harvesting as detrimental for wildlife. Informal harvesting occurs on public and private lands, sometimes without permission. Berries, though ubiquitous on the landscape, have become a contested resource. The rapid conversion of rural wildlife habitat into suburban development has increased State urgency to bring natural areas into protection along the Florida Ecological Greenways Network. Habitat infringement and associated pressures on wildlife by development has led to the promotion of …

Context-Aware Hybrid Data Dissemination In Vehicular Networks, Monika M. Rathod

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

This work presents the development of the Context-Aware Hybrid Data Dissemination protocol for vehicular networks. The importance of developing vehicular networking data dissemination protocols is exemplified by the recent announcement by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to enable vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication technology. With emphasis on safety, other useful applications of V2V communication include but are not limited to traffic and routing, weather, construction and road hazard alerts, as well as advertisement and entertainment. The core of V2V communication relies on the efficient dispersion of relevant data through wireless broadcast protocols for these varied …

Cytogenetic Of Chromosomal Synteny Evaluation: Bioinformatic Applications Towards Screening Of Chromosomal Aberrations/ Genetic Disorder, Sandhya Sharma

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

The research efforts refer to tracking homologus loci in the chromosomes of a pair of a species. The purpose is to infer the extent of maximum syntenic correlation when an exhaustive set of orthologs of the species are searched. Relevant bioinformatic analyses use comparative mapping of conserved synteny via Oxford grid. In medical diagnostic efforts, deducing such synteny correlation can help screening chromosomal aberration in genetic disorder pathology. Objectively, the present study addresses: (i) Cytogenetic framework of syntenic correlation and, (ii) applying information-theoretics to determine entropy-dictated synteny across an exhaustive set of orthologs of the test pairs of species.

Comparison Of Treatment Plans Calculated Using Ray Tracing And Monte Carlo Algorithms For Lung Cancer Patients Having Undergone Radiotherapy With Cyberknife, Andreea Pennington

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

The purpose of this research is to determine the feasibility of introducing the Monte Carlo (MC) dose calculation algorithm into the clinical practice. Unlike the Ray Tracing (RT) algorithm, the MC algorithm is not affected by the tissue inhomogeneities, which are significant inside the chest cavity. A retrospective study was completed for 102 plans calculated using both the RT and MC algorithms. The D95 of the PTV was 26% lower for the MC calculation. The first parameter of conformality, as defined as the ratio of the Prescription Isodose Volume to the PTV Volume was on average 1.27 for RT and …

Ctni N-Terminal Deletion: An Agent For Rescuing Restrictive Cardiomyopathy, A Disease Caused By Mutations Of Cardiac Troponin I, Cecile A. Getfield

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM) is represented in part by left ventricular stiffness and diastolic dysfunction. Missense mutations of the cardiac troponin I (cTnI) gene cause idiopathic RCM. These mutations are located in the C-terminus of cTnI and affect cardiac relaxation. Transgenic mouse models presenting the pathology observed in clinical patients with RCM have been generated previously and express the mutant cTnI in their hearts. RCM-linked mutations increase cardiac myofilament Ca2+ sensitivity and promote diastolic dysfunction in the heart. Previous studies using double transgenic mice (cTnI/R193H/ND) showed that ventricular relaxation is enhanced in the cTnI/R193H transgenic mice. In this study, another double …

Dante’S Lucifer In The Commedia: Music, Pride, And The Corruption Of The Divine, Rosina P. Zimmer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

The entity of Lucifer has long been an area of study and confusion throughout history. Among notable literary minds, Dante Alighieri stands out as an illuminating poet who brings to light the essence and nature of this nefarious character and his influence on mankind. In his revelatory work, the Commedia, Dante touches on but does not explicitly detail the scope and importance that music and specifically, song, has on the redemptive purgation of the soul. This work provides a more in depth investigation into the generally overlooked issue, that is, the origin and initial intent of song, the perversion of …

Deans Of Students As Crisis Managers: Perceptions Of Roles And Leadership Competencies In 12 Public Higher Education Institutions In Florida, Deloris Benjamin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

This mixed methods study collected data from a sample of Deans of Students in the Florida State University System (SUS). The study sought to determine deans of students’ definitions for crisis and crisis management with an analysis of the institutional chain of command for a more in depth understanding of crisis management response processes. The study also sought to identify development levels of deans of students’ leadership competencies as crisis managers, gauge crisis management training frequencies for each dean of students as it related to 14 crisis scenarios commonly found on higher education campuses, and identify crisis management program foci …

Design And Implementation Of Driver Drowsiness Detection System, Aleksandar Colic

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

There is a substantial amount of evidence that suggests that driver drowsiness plays a significant role in road accidents. Alarming recent statistics are raising the interest in equipping vehicles with driver drowsiness detection systems. This dissertation describes the design and implementation of a driver drowsiness detection system that is based on the analysis of visual input consisting of the driver's face and eyes. The resulting system combines off-the-shelf software components for face detection, human skin color detection and eye state classification in a novel way. It follows a behavioral methodology by performing a non-invasive monitoring of external cues describing a …

Detection And Classification Of Marine Mammal Sounds, Mahdi Esfahanian

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Ocean is home to a large population of marine mammals such as dolphins and whales and concerns over anthropogenic activities in the regions close to their habitants have been increased. Therefore the ability to detect the presence of these species in the field, to analyze and classify their vocalization patterns for signs of distress and distortion of their communication calls will prove to be invaluable in protecting these species. The objective of this research is to investigate methods that automatically detect and classify vocalization patterns of marine mammals. The first work performed is the classification of bottlenose dolphin calls by …

Digital Music Streaming In The 21st Century: The Music Industry Becomes Radio-Active, Kaitlyn Paradise

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Digital music streaming websites have taken over the musical landscape. While the digital music market is booming, both data and time have revealed that the current system as it exists will not provide a sustainable future for creators of content or for technology companies. Although some consumers are willing to pay for content they can access for free, many are still enjoying content without paying. Both the technology companies and creators of content have sacrificed to meet consumer demands, but the technology companies have been too willing to make creators of content be the ones paying for ‘free.’ Recent legislative …

Develpmental Partnerships: Understanding And Modeling Developmental Relationships In The 21st Century, Bryan Joab Deptula

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

The present research introduces a framework for multiplex developmental partnerships. First, using a qualitative case study methodology, I found that developmental partnerships are dyadic multiplex relationships involving flexible and permeable intra-relational role boundaries, comprised of interdependent dyad partners. I integrated role theory and social interdependence theory to help understand the affective, behavioral, and cognitive interdependence dimensions present in developmental partnerships. Analysis of interviews revealed that each dimension of interdependence is associated with a specific intra-relational role: companion, collaborator, and balanced developer. Second, I created a measure, the Developmental Partnerships Inventory. Results indicate the new measure demonstrates adequately reliability and validity …

Disordered Caffeination: A Biocultural Analysis Of Adverse Reactions To Caffeine, Carlyn M. Porter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

While coffee culture has long since been positively associated with intellectual and working life, the health and safety of its primary stimulant, caffeine, has recently fallen under scrutiny by the FDA. This medical anthropology thesis provides a biocultural synthesis of caffeine culture, health effects, and biological variation in adverse effects related to pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics. Supporting evidence for variation in responses to caffeine was found through surveying 100 participants, investigating caffeine consumption levels, perceptions and health beliefs, adverse effects experienced, and medical encounters. Increased rates of adverse effects were found for students, pharmaceutical and over-the-counter drug users, and for participants …