Digital Commons Network^™

Applications Of Advanced Imaging Methods: Macro-Scale Studies Of Woven Composites And Micro-Scale Measurements On Heated Ic Packages, Siming Guo

Theses and Dissertations

As a representative advanced imaging technique, the digital image correlation (DIC) method has been well established and widely used for deformation measurements in experimental mechanics. This methodology, both 2D and 3D, provides qualitative and quantitative information regarding the specimen’s non-uniform deformation response. Its full-field capabilities and non-contacting approach are especially advantageous when applied to heterogeneous material systems such as fiber-reinforced composites and integrated chip (IC) packages. To increase understanding of damage evolution in advanced composite material systems, a series of large deflection bending-compression experiments and model predictions have been performed for a woven glass-epoxy composite material system. Stereo digital image …

Diversity, Genetics, And Health Benefits Of Sorghum Grain, Davina Rhodes

Theses and Dissertations

Staple cereal crops provide the majority of nutrients to the world's population, and thus, can significantly impact human nutrition and health. Phenotypic and genetic diversity within a crop can be useful for biofortification and crop improvement, but quantitative phenotyping is needed to identify varieties with high or low concentrations of a nutrient of interest, and to identify alleles responsible for quantitative trait variation of the nutrient. Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is a diverse and widely adapted cereal crop that provides food for more than 500 million people in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, and is becoming increasingly popular in specialty …

Revising For Genre: Mary Robinson's Poetry From Newspaper Verse To Lyrical Tales, Shelley Aj Jones

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on Mary Robinson’s Lyrical Tales, not as the culminating point to which her writing inevitably led, as is frequently imagined in accounts of her life and work, but, instead, as the product of an intricate process of revision that highlights her investment in genre. Versions of many of the poems that Robinson included in Lyrical Tales originally were published in newspapers and periodicals. Rather than seeing the changes as a move toward a best or most mature or inspired version, I argue that Robinson revised to meet the requirements of her new genre, the lyrical tale. I …

Effects Of Sight Singing Using Moveable-Do Solmization On The Transposition Performance Of Undergraduate Group Piano Students, Michelle Irene Wachter

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of sight singing, using moveable-do solmization, on the keyboard transposition performance of undergraduate group piano students. Thirty-nine (N = 39) undergraduate non-keyboard music majors enrolled in three intact sections of first-semester group piano courses participated in this quantitative study. Students completed an individual pretest and posttest consisting of a videotaped sight-reading and transposition performance and a pretest and posttest questionnaire. Throughout the six-week treatment period, all students received sight-reading and transposition instruction using identical musical examples. A control group sight read and transposed examples without singing, while students in two …

The Influence Of Organizational Climate On The Use And Quality Of Evidence-Based Practices In School Mental Health, Katherine Knies

Theses and Dissertations

Organizational climate is defined as the reflection of workers’ perceptions of, and emotional responses to, the characteristics of their work environment (Glisson & James, 2002). While previous research explored the importance of organization climate for the adoption of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in mental health settings, there is a dearth of organizational climate focused research in school mental health settings (SMH). The current study examines the influence of organizational climate on two separate dependent variables: the extent to which EBPs were used and the quality of clinician delivery for the evidence-based practices used in a quality improvement intervention for SMH practitioners. …

Semiparametric Regression Analysis Of Bivariate Interval-Censored Data, Naichen Wang

Theses and Dissertations

Survival analysis is a long-lasting and popular research area and has numerous applications in all fields such as social science, engineering, economics, industry, and public health. Interval-censored data are a special type of survival data, in which the survival time of interest is never exactly observed but is known to fall within some observed interval. Interval-censored data arise commonly in real-life studies, in which subjects are examined at periodical or irregular follow-up visits. In this dissertation, we develop efficient statistical approaches for regression analysis of bivariate intervalcensored data, in which the two survival times of interest are correlated and both …

Virtual High Schools Versus Brick And Mortar High Schools: An Analysis Of Graduation Rates For Low Socio-Economic Students In South Carolina, Alice Denise Montgomery

Theses and Dissertations

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2001 was designed to ensure that all students are receiving an appropriate education. All states were mandated to implement state-wide assessments to monitor student achievement. With the identification of student needs that came from the results of state-wide assessments, leaders at both the state and district levels began to develop programs to address these needs. The virtual high school is one of the alternative settings for education that came out of this movement. Full-time virtual high schools have a growing enrollment every year. However, the progress these schools are making in the …

Principal Longevity, Leadership Behaviors, And Student Academic Achievement, Jennifer Mcleod Swearingen

Theses and Dissertations

Utilizing Pearson’s correlation and other forms of data analysis, the researcher explored relationships between principal longevity, leadership behaviors, and student academic achievement in this study. Additionally, the study considered the degree to which leadership behavior ratings seem to be associated with student academic achievement. The researcher found positive correlations among all three variables, with the strongest correlation being between principal longevity and student academic achievement. The only correlation that was found to be statistically significant was between principal longevity and student academic achievement. The researcher was also able to identify the highest and lowest rated leadership behaviors for principals with …

Automated Scratchpad Mapping And Allocation For Embedded Processors, Yang Gao

Theses and Dissertations

Embedded system-on-chip processors such as the Texas Instruments C66 DSP and the IBM Cell provide the programmer with a software controlled on-chip memory to supplement a traditional but simple two-level cache. By decomposing data sets and their corresponding workload into small subsets that fit within this on-chip memory, the processor can potentially achieve equivalent or better performance, power efficiency, and area efficiency than with its sophisticated cache. However, program controlled on chip memory requires a shift in the responsibility for management and allocation from the hardware to the programmer. Specifically, this requires the explicit mapping of program arrays to specific …

Intensive Dual Enrollment: Early Credits Or Empty Promises, Brian J. Modarelli

Theses and Dissertations

American high school students are afforded a wide array of opportunities to earn college credits. Industrious secondary students are enrolling in early credit options in steadily growing numbers, and are expecting the benefit of entering the university of their choice with several college credits already completed. However, an unmistakable lack of standardization and predictability exists regarding the transferability of college credits earned by secondary students. The purpose of this research is to determine the relationship between the selectivity level of a university and that university’s willingness to accept either an associate degree or the transfer credits from an early credit …

Saint Dominguan Refugees In Charleston, South Carolina, 1791-1822: Assimilation And Accommodation In A Slave Society, Margaret Wilson Gillikin

Theses and Dissertations

During the 1790s and the first decade of the nineteenth century, nearly 20,000 refugees fled the French colony of Saint Domingue for asylum in the United States. They found new homes in such American port cities as New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charleston, and New Orleans. This dissertation explores the experiences of the white planters, gens de couleur, and slaves who sought asylum in Charleston, South Carolina, and the effect their presence had on the city’s long time residents. It might seem from first glance that finding acceptance in Charleston would be easy for them, but this was not the case. …

Weight-Gain And Energy Balance, Benjamin Thomas Gordon

Theses and Dissertations

Energy balance is the result of a dynamic relationship between energy intake (EI), energy expenditure (EE) and energy storage (ES). These three components of energy balance have extremely complicated associations, and all three major components are consistently influenced by physiologic, psychological, and sociologic factors. Concerted changes between EE and EI result in alterations of the ES. Most often in clinical and research settings, bodyweight is used as marker of body composition (i.e., ES) changes. Traditional measurements of bodyweight do not give an accurate portrayal of ES change or the role it has in energy balance. This dissertation supplies new methods …

Independence At Large: Contemporary China's Alternative Music Scenes And The Cultural Practices Of Post-Socialist Urban Youth, Shan Huang

Theses and Dissertations

Using contemporary Beijing’s alternative music scenes as a focal point, this ethnographic research seeks to enrich the understanding of China’s post-socialist urban youth by examining their cultural practices. First, this thesis offers an analytical account of the popularizing embrace of “independent cultures,” which is defined as a collection of experienceable objects and activities in musical, filmic, theatric, and other cultural forms that are well recognized yet believed by advocates as having aesthetic and participatory features that are different from those produced in the popular culture industry. While the vogue for independent cultures is substantially conditioned by the socioeconomic attributes of …

Who Let The Elephant In The Room? Analyzing Race And Racism Through A Critical Family Literacy Book Club, Lamar L. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to interpret, investigate, and analyze how race, racism, and power are embedded and intertwined not only in society but also in the education system and in homes and communities. Specifically, through parent and student engagement during a series of book club meetings, I investigated how parents’ racial identities impacted how they created critical dialogue pertaining to issues of race, racism, and power with their children. Guided by critical race pedagogy, critical race theory (CRT) and CRT methodology, this study used race as a critical analytic lens to examine the lives and work of people …

Dancing On Checkers' Grave By Eric Lane, Allison Kump

Honors Projects

My proposed honors project consists of directing my own, fully-actualized production of Eric Lane’s play Dancing on Checkers’ Grave within the BGSU’s Department of Theatre & Film Elsewhere season. As the director, I must hone in on the play’s relevance to today’s society and shape my storytelling tools to clearly communicate the narrative, establishing a relationship between the performers and the audience.

Dancing on Checkers’ Grave is a play about two very different teenage girls who come to bond over homework, “munchkining,” relationships, and nail polish. Rooted within the text are topics of sexual identity, what it means to be …

A Guide To Recruitment And Retention For A Band Program, Kara Kordella

Honors Projects

A Guide to Recruitment and Retention for a Band Program is a resource for teachers to establish a comprehensive recruitment and retention plan in their band program. This booklet outlines a recruitment program that can be implemented into a school band program in part or in whole. Also included in this booklet are lesson plans, student assessment worksheets, example recruitment documents, and ideas to be implemented as part of a retention program. All of the activities are backed by research into current recruitment practices, educational psychology, and instrument history and pedagogy. Interviews were also conducted with current and retired band …

Yesterday’S Town: A Multimedia Investigation Into The Tourism Decline Gripping Britain’S East Coast, Anna Giles

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

One of the hardest things for some people to accept is change, especially when it involves part of their national identity. For years, people in Great Britain have thrived off of tourism in seaside towns and have considered it a source of pride. But the high-end Bed and Breakfasts’ and lively boardwalks that once attracted vacation-goers are not so common nowadays as the world becomes more globalized and more Britons can afford to vacation overseas. This has resulted in a drastic loss of revenue for many of these seaside businesses. The number of visitors who stayed overnight in Yarmouth peaked …

Penn State Football: An Analysis Of Crisis Communication Best Practices And How Psu Overcame The Ultimate Pr Crisis, Meaghan Grace Lane

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This thesis paper is an analysis of the crisis communication response to the 2011 Pennsylvania State University child sex abuse scandal. The reputation of this iconic university and its football program was changed forever by this horrific event, which involved years of administrative cover-ups of the sexual assault of children by an assistant football coach. However, despite widespread public backlash, administrative upheaval and heavy NCAA sanctions in the months after the scandal broke, Penn State has since made major strides in image improvement.

This project delves into what defines best crisis communication practices, using Penn State as a case study. …

Invest For Impact: An Exploration Of The Incongruities In Social Finance, Kelly Marie Thompson

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Within the impact investing industry, a definition for societal return and how to measure this concept is lacking. Although its potential has been proven, there is still very limited exposure to impact investing within the United States. The present study aims to survey the current status of the impact investment industry in the United States, assess the presence of gaps between investments and their outcomes, and formulate a framework for addressing such shortcomings. The current status of the impact investing industry was examined and evaluated in order to understand how the industry is defined, what is the outcomes social finance, …

Mono-N-Acyl-2,6-Diaminopimelic Acid Derivatives: Analysis By Electromigration And Spectroscopic Methods And Examination Of Enzyme Inhibitory Activity, Jan Hlaváček, Miloslava Vítovcová, Petra Sázelová, Jan Pícha, Václav Vaněk, Miloš Buděšínský, Jiří Jiráček, Danuta M. Gillner, Richard C. Holz, Ivan Mikšík, Václav Kašička

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

Thirteen mono-N-acyl derivatives of 2,6-diaminopimelic acid (DAP)—new potential inhibitors of the dapE-encoded N-succinyl-l,l-diaminopimelic acid desuccinylase (DapE; EC 3.5.1.18)—were analyzed and characterized by infrared (IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies and two capillary electromigration methods: capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) and micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC). Structural features of DAP derivatives were characterized by IR and NMR spectroscopies, whereas CZE and MEKC were applied to evaluate their purity and to investigate their electromigration properties. Effective electrophoretic mobilities of these compounds were determined by CZE in acidic and alkaline background electrolytes (BGEs) and by MEKC in acidic and alkaline BGEs …

Hern V. Idaho Transp. Dept. Appellant's Brief 1 Dckt. 42287

Idaho Supreme Court Records & Briefs, All

No abstract provided.

Elaborating Patient Agency In Breast-Cancer Care: A Grounded Theoretical Analysis Of Patients Asserting Treatment Preferences, Rachel Sofia Erdman

Dissertations and Theses

Successful physician-patient communication is increasingly being acknowledged as a vital aspect of healthcare today. Research in the field has not examined all aspects of patient-centered care and the aspects that have been studied have not been grounded in actual patient action. The research done in the field has largely been studied quantitatively. The present thesis research attempts to contribute to the gap in the field of physician-patient communication by qualitatively examining patient assertiveness. This thesis examines conversations between women in Portland, Oregon recently diagnosed with breast cancer talking to their surgeons about their diagnoses and treatment options. Using grounded qualitative …

Model-To-Data Comparisons Reveal Influence Of Jellyfish Interactions On Plankton Community Dynamics, Kevin P. Crum, Heidi L. Fuchs, Paul Bologna, John Gaynor

Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Taxonomic shifts can alter predator feeding preference and modify ecosystem dynamics through top-down control. In Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor Estuary (New Jersey, USA), sea nettle Chrysaora quinquecirrha abundances have increased in the northern portions of the estuary. We evaluated the geographical variation in top-down influence of C. quinquecirrha on plankton community dynamics. We simulated a range of jellyfish- to copepod-dominated ecosystems using a size-resolved nutrient-phytoplankton-zooplankton (NPZ) model. Zooplankton feeding was parameterized as a community average based on predator-prey size ratios and breadth of prey sizes of dominant species. We compared model outputs to data collected in the estuary during 2 …

Mapping Interdisciplinary Fields: Efficiencies, Gaps And Redundancies In Hiv/Aids Research, Jimi Adams, Ryan Light

Faculty Publications

While interdisciplinarity continues to increase in popularity among funders and other scientific organizations, its potential to promote scientific advances remains under-examined. For HIV/AIDS research, we examine the dynamics of disciplinary integration (or lack thereof) providing insight into a field's knowledge base and those questions that remain unresolved. Drawing on the complete histories of two interdisciplinary journals, we construct bibliographic coupling networks based on overlapping citations to identify segregation into research clusters and estimate topic models of research content. We then compare how readily those bibliographic coupling clusters account for the structuring of topics covered within the field as it evolves …

Land Surface Anomalies Preceding The 2010 Russian Heat Wave And A Link To The North Atlantic Oscillation, C. K. Wright, K. M. De Beurs, G. M. Henebry

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

The Eurasian wheat belt (EWB) spans a region across Eastern Ukraine, Southern Russia, and Northern Kazakhstan; accounting for nearly 15% of global wheat production. We assessed land surface conditions across the EWB during the early growing season (April–May–June; AMJ) leading up to the 2010 Russian heat wave, and over a longer-term period from 2000 to 2010. A substantial reduction in early season values of the normalized difference vegetation index occurred prior to the Russian heat wave, continuing a decadal decline in early season primary production in the region. In 2010, an anomalously cold winter followed by an abrupt shift to …

Mental Disorders, Mental Health Problems, And Treatment Among Army Recruiters And Recruiting Candidates, 2011-2013: An Examination Of Current Rates In The Recruiting Population, Chadwick Karl Knight

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: This study sought to determine the prevalence and severity of mental health disorders (MHDs) and/or mental health problems (MHPs) and types of treatments received among soldiers who have or will serve as recruiters. Research Design and Methods: Data were collected between October 2011 to July 2013 from active duty soldiers (N=2,783) attending courses on Fort Jackson at the U.S. Army’s Recruiting and Retention School (RRS). Students consisted of regular active duty soldiers and activated Guard/Reservist that were either recruiters or recruiting candidates. The medical records of participating recruiters and recruiting candidates were reviewed for the prevalence of MHDs and …

The Implication Of Us Gaap And Ifrs Convergence On American Business, Austin Willmore

Honors Theses

The purpose of this work is to discuss the ongoing process of convergence between IFRS and GAAP. It addresses some of the limitations of previous research related to this topic: namely, gives a more recent perspective than is currently available, and also discusses various aspects of the project in a single paper. This paper addresses the timeline of the project, the costs that it presents, the status of the convergence effort, and discusses possible outcomes of these efforts. This research compares, contrasts, and analyzes IFRS and GAAP in several key areas that were (or are still) keeping the standards apart.

Mixture Cure Models: Simulation Comparisons Of Methods In R And Sas, Myra Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

Typical survival methods have the assumption that every subject will eventually experience the event of interest, given enough follow-up time. However, there are some occasions in which a proportion of the population of interest will never experience the event of interest. Therefore, the incorporation of a “cure” fraction in a statistical model is necessary. In this thesis, I comprehensively evaluate mixture cure models in two different statistical software programs: the smcure package in R and the PSPMCM macro in SAS. Extensive simulation studies in R and SAS allow evaluation of the performance of these two models. An additional aspect of …

Methods For Identifying Regions Of Brain Activation Using Fmri Meta-Data, Meredith A. Ray

Theses and Dissertations

Functional neuroimaging is a relatively young discipline within the neurosciences that has led to significant advances in our understanding of the human brain and progress in neuroscientific research related to public health. Accurately identifying activated regions in the brain showing a strong association with an outcome of interest is crucial in terms of disease prediction and prevention. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is the most widely used method for this type of study as it has the ability to measure and identify the location of changes in tissue perfusion, blood oxygenation, and blood volume. In practice, the three-dimensional brain locations …

The Geologic Implications Of The Factors That Affected Relative Sea-Level Positions In South Carolina During The Pleistocene And The Associated Preserved High-Stand Deposits, William Richardson Doar Iii

Theses and Dissertations

This work utilizes the current understanding of South Carolina geology to provide a stratigraphic review of the late-Pliocene and Pleistocene marine deposits. Almost two centuries of recorded geological study includes geomorphic and stratigraphic units that were described, proposed, revised, abandoned, and revived. Along with the history of the age assignments, changes in geological time scales, and the changes in the understanding of geological concepts, this review is necessary because two concurrent and conflicting stratigraphies exist for late-Pliocene and Pleistocene marine sediments that record multiple sea-level transgressions that were more often destructive than constructive. The result, when tested against existing geological …