Digital Commons Network^™

Science Classics, Mark Masthay

Chemistry Faculty Publications

An essay on the impact of the works in the Imprints and Impressions: Milestones in Human Progress, an exhibition of rare books from the collection of Stuart Rose. Exhibition was held Sept. 29-Nov. 9, 2014, at the University of Dayton.

Bay Area Student Involvement In The Environmental And Food Justice Movements: A Narrative Of Motivations, Experiences, And Community Impact, Laura E. Solof

Doctoral Dissertations

Many California public school students lack exposure to any formal, academic curriculum that emphasizes environmental awareness and activism. This may result in a population of adults who believe they know more about the environment than they actually do, lack the skills to compete in an expanding green job market, lack creativity and the ability to problem-solve, suffer from obesity, depression, anxiety, and attention disorders, and unknowingly contribute to the ever-increasing problems of air and water pollution, land and habitat destruction, and other environmental injustices. Community organizations and university programs are filling this much-needed gap in student environmental education, as they …

Integrated Academic And Social Support For Military Veteran Students: Imagining A New Horizon In Education, Gerardo Ureno

Doctoral Dissertations

Integrated Academic and Social Support for Military Veteran Students: Imagining a New Horizon in Education

Combat and war veterans are enrolling at institutions of higher education hoping to complete their academic degrees. Veteran students' changing identities from soldiers to students and their diverse academic experiences present unique and significant challenges for university support personnel hoping to assist these students in their transition to the academic community. As such, there is a need for college and university officials to better understand military veteran students' academic and social needs. The successful academic transition of this growing student population depends on the initiatives …

Practical Issues In Gpram Development, Yin Li

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, two parts of practical issues in the GPRAM system design are included. The first part is the coding part. The sum-product decoding algorithm of LDPC codes has been refined to fit for the GPRAM hardware implementation. As we all know, communication channel has noise. The noise in telecom system is different from that in GPRAM systems. So the noise should be handled well in the GPRAM design. A noise look-up table was created for FPGA and those noises in the table are quantized. The second part of the thesis is to convert perfect images in video stream …

Learning To Grasp Unknown Objects Using Weighted Random Forest Algorithm From Selective Image And Point Cloud Feature, Md Shahriar Iqbal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This method demonstrates an approach to determine the best grasping location on an unknown object using Weighted Random Forest Algorithm. It used RGB-D value of an object as input to find a suitable rectangular grasping region as the output. To accomplish this task, it uses a subspace of most important features from a very high dimensional extensive feature space that contains both image and point cloud features. Usage of most important features in the grasping algorithm has enabled the system to be computationally very fast while preserving maximum information gain. In this approach, the Random Forest operates using optimum parameters …

The Effects Of Bam As An Adsorptive Media On Phosphorus Removal In Stormwater, Sultan Salamah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To maintain the quality of receiving water bodies, it is desirable to remove total phosphorus (TP) in stormwater runoff. Many media filtration technologies have been developed to achieve TP and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) removal. Efficient media adsorption is essential to insure control of stormwater phosphorus inputs to the receiving water body. This project develops and analyzes a functionalized Biosorption Media (BAM) to remove phosphorus species from stormwater runoff. One goal of this project is to find the BAM values for coefficients such as maximum adsorption capacity (QM: 4.35E-05) for the media through SRP isotherm equilibrium experiments using the Langmuir …

Remote Sensing With Computational Intelligence Modelling For Monitoring The Ecosystem State And Hydraulic Pattern In A Constructed Wetland, Golam Mohiuddin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Monitoring the heterogeneous aquatic environment such as the Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs) located at the northeast of the Everglades is extremely important in understanding the land processes of the constructed wetland in its capacity to remove nutrient. Direct monitoring and measurements of ecosystem evolution and changing velocities at every single part of the STA are not always feasible. Integrated remote sensing, monitoring, and modeling technique can be a state-of-the-art tool to estimate the spatial and temporal distributions of flow velocity regimes and ecological functioning in such dynamic aquatic environments. In this presentation, comparison between four computational intelligence models including Extreme …

Exploring Stereotype Threat In The Workplace With Sexual Minorities, Elizabeth Sanz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sexual minorities are the target of numerous negative stereotypes in the United States, and are sometimes perceived as deviant and devalued as compared to heterosexuals. Stereotype threat, the anxiety of confirming a negative stereotype about oneself or one's group, has been linked to perceived stress; and stress has been linked to low job satisfaction. Sexual minorities provide a unique test of stereotype threat theory because they may choose to conceal their minority status at work. Thus, this study also examines whether the visibility of the stigma is a necessary precursor to the experience of stereotype threat. Given the uniqueness of …

Development Of Treatment Train Techniques For The Evaluation Of Low Impact Development In Urban Regions, Mike Hardin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Stormwater runoff from urban areas is a major source of pollution to surface water bodies. The discharge of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus is particularly damaging as it results in harmful algal blooms which can limit the beneficial use of a water body. Stormwater best management practices (BMPs) have been developed over the years to help address this issue. While BMPs have been investigated for years, their use has been somewhat limited due to the fact that much of the data collected is for specific applications, in specific regions, and it is unknown how these systems will perform in …

Evaluation Of Iron And Manganese Control For A Volcanic Surface Water Supply Treated With Conventional Coagulation, Sedimentation And Filtration Processes, Christine Hall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A research project assessing the effectiveness of potassium permanganate (KMnO4) for the treatment of iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) has been conducted by the University of Central Florida (UCF) on behalf of the United States Navy with regards to the water supply on the island of Guam, located in the Marianas Islands. The study consisted of three basic investigative components: one that examined the use of potassium permanganate for iron and manganese control for Fena Lake, a second that examined the existing unit operations that comprised the Navy's water treatment plant (NWTP), and a third that examined iron and manganese …

Dishwashing Water Recycling System And Related Water Quality Standards For Military Use, Jared Church

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the demand for reliable and safe water supplies increases, both water quality and available quantity are being challenged by population growth and climate change. Greywater reuse is becoming a common practice worldwide; however, in remote locations of limited water supply, such as those encountered in military installations, it is desirable to expand its classification to include dishwashing water to maximize the conservation of fresh water. Given that no standards for dishwashing greywater reuse by the military are currently available, the current study determined a specific set of water quality standards for dishwater recycling systems for U.S military field operations. …

Green Technologies And Sensor Networks For Bmp Evaluation In Stormwater Retention Ponds And Wetlands., Anthony Crawford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this thesis is to examine and develop new techniques in stormwater Best Management Practices (BMP) for nutrient and erosion reduction and monitoring by incorporation of low impact green technologies and sensor networks. Previous research has found excessive nutrient loading of nitrogen and phosphorus species from urban stormwater runoff can lead to ecological degradation and eutrophication of receiving lakes and rivers (Fareed and Abid, 2005). In response, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) has set forth reduction goals as established in Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) reports to reduce nutrient loading and restore, or maintain, Florida water …

Relationships Between Tests Of Visual Memory In Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment And Alzheimer’S Disease, Guy Bernard Debros

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a degenerative neurological disorder characterized by cognitive and functional impairment (Budson & Solomon, 2011). Its prevalence is expected to rise in the upcoming decades as the world’s population ages (Alzheimer’s Association, 2014). Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a clinical diagnostic entity that may represent very early AD (Morris et al., 2001). Both disorders involve significant impairment in episodic memory, necessitating reliable memory measures when making diagnoses. Although verbal memory is most often impaired in the earliest stages of disease (Budson & Price, 2005), visual memory is also predictor of AD (Kawas et al., 2003). Partly …

Exploring Sparsity, Self-Similarity, And Low Rank Approximation In Action Recognition, Motion Retrieval, And Action Spotting, Chuan Sun

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis consists of 4 major parts. In the first part (Chapters 1-2), we introduce the overview, motivation, and contribution of our works, and extensively survey the current literature for 6 related topics. In the second part (Chapters 3-7), we explore the concept of "Self-Similarity" in two challenging scenarios, namely, the Action Recognition and the Motion Retrieval. We build three-dimensional volume representations for both scenarios, and devise effective techniques that can produce compact representations encoding the internal dynamics of data. In the third part (Chapter 8), we explore the challenging action spotting problem, and propose a feature-independent unsupervised framework that …

Dordt College 2014-15 Catalog, Dordt College. Registrar's Office

Academic Catalogs

Academic Catalog for 2014-15

Municipal Identity As Property, Christopher J. Tyson

Dickinson Law Review (1908-2003)

Detroit is bankrupt, and very little of the theorizing and editorializing about this watershed event has contemplated municipal boundary law as a contributing factor. To the extent that it has, the analysis fails to grasp how essential municipal boundaries are to the creation of economic and social value in the modem metropolis. It has been almost 20 years since Richard Briffault, Gerald Frug, and Richard Ford released their path-breaking scholarship on the municipal boundary problem, yet metropolitan regions continue to fragment in much the same way Detroit did throughout the twentieth century.

The persistent fragmentation evident in many metropolitan areas …

Roman Columbarium Tombs And Slave Identities, Dorian Borbonus

History Faculty Publications

This chapter explores the social identities of slaves through ancient material culture in order to articulate the relationship between ancient and modern slavery. This case study centers on columbarium tombs, collective burial monuments in the city of Rome used during the early imperial period (first century C.E.). Columbaria feature numerous funerary inscriptions, many of which unmistakably identify the deceased as having been a slave or freed slave. The transparency of this information is deceptive since these texts were subject to choice and social convention. However, the choice in wording reveals the voices of slaves and offers glimpses of their social …

The Adoption Of Children In Judaism And In Israel; A Conceptual And Practical Review, Mark Goldfeder

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

Religion has played a fairly significant role in the history of adoption law, both in the U.S. and internationally. Although there are plenty of questions raised by religion in the context of adoption, one particular issue revolves around whether or not religion should factor into a "best interests of the child" placement determination. Whether or not it should factor into the determination, in practice religion often plays a part in the legal determination of which home will provide the best and most supportive environment for an adopted child. While much has been written about the legal aspect of putting a …

The Influence Of Religiosity On The Attitudes Towards Homosexuality Among College Students, Anastasiia Kuptsevych

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This is a descriptive study of the influence of religiosity on the attitudes towards homosexuality. The hypothesis for this study was that the degree to which one is religious influences the attitudes one has towards homosexuality. Data was analyzed by using regression analysis. Results show that students who attend church often and interpret Bible as true and correct tend to have negative attitudes towards a homosexual person, homosexual behavior between same sex partners as well as same sex unions. On the other hand, the degree to which students view God as active and angry in their life is not a …

Managing Rapeability: Women's Perceptions And Negotiations Of The Fear Of Sexual Assault, Jessica Friton

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

For women, the fear of sexual assault and harassment is pervasive. This study examines women's perceptions and negotiations of such fear while emphasizing the gendered social structures within which such fears are learned and experienced. Open ended interviews were conducted with 13 women enrolled in a self-defense undergraduate class. The interviews were transcribed and qualitatively analyzed. Findings provide rich descriptions of women's fears of victimization, how they learn such fears, and how they cognitively and behaviorally managed fear in their everyday lives. The author argues that learning and managing fear of sexual assault and harassment is part of gender socialization …

"If You're Out Of Sight, You're Out Of Mind": The Criminalization Of Houselessness And The Coercive Geography Of Class In Sarasota, Florida., Niko Segal-Wright

Theses & ETDs

The criminalization of houselessness has been studied previously in the form of laws and regulations structurally related to urban processes of capital accumulation, but little attention has been paid to the ways in which such structural changes affect houseless people on an everyday basis. In this study, I attempt to address this gap by examining how houseless people's agency is affected by criminalizing forces in Sarasota, Florida. I interviewed 19 houseless people who spend time in downtown Sarasota, in addition to 3 political actors situated in Sarasota's houseless debate. I asked my houseless interviewees how they interacted with the police …

Controlling Manganese Speciation For Optimizing Removals, Joshua Andrew Collins

Master's Theses and Capstones

Manganese has been a recurring seasonal issue at the Manchester, N.H. Water-Works Treatment Plant. Following pre-ozonation, Mn (II) is oxidized into colloidal MnOx solids that are difficult to remove by their anthracite and GAC biofilters without additional coagulation.

This research has investigated ways to effectively treat manganese and organic precursors by biofiltration without making major alterations to the existing treatment plant. The most promising treatment was controlling the speciation of manganese with the addition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in conjunction with the existing ozone (O3) addition. Applying H2O2 immediately after ozonation appeared to convert particulate and colloidal manganese into its …

Vegetation Influences On The Ebullition Of Methane In A Temperate Wetland, Samantha Roddy

Master's Theses and Capstones

Ebullition, or bubbling, is one pathway of methane (CH4) emission to the atmosphere from wetland ecosystems. Rates of ebullition vary spatially and temporally according to dominant vegetation type, peat density and time of year or season. We studied the continuous and episodic nature of ebullition and how it varies with species composition using six acoustic and manual sensors deployed in a temperate wetland, Sallie's Fen, Barrington, NH, in 2011 and 2012. Six additional sensors were installed in June 2013 and all sensors ran from typically June to October. A subsample of the manual bubble collections at each sensor was analyzed …

Dynamics Of A Tension Force-Driven Wave Energy Converter, Jason Ebner

Master's Theses and Capstones

Two prototype wave energy buoys were designed, modeled, constructed and field tested at the University of New Hampshire's Center of Ocean Renewable Energy offshore site utilizing Oscilla Power Inc.'s power take-off (PTO) units. Oscillating wave forces are used to power the PTOs. Due to design limitations in a taut-moored buoy system having inline PTOs, a suspended heave plate system was proposed. Tension oscillations in the vertical stay from the slack-moored buoy to the heave plate were used to drive the PTOs. To verify the heave plate concept met the oscillating tension amplitudes required, dynamic tests were performed using Froude scaled …

Effects Of Ground Flaxseed Supplementation On Animal Production And Milk Fatty Acid Profile In Organically-Certified Lactating Jerseys During The Grazing Season, Brianna Jeanette Isenberg

Master's Theses and Capstones

The objective of this thesis was to evaluate the effects of supplementing a pasture-based diet with ground flaxseed (GFLAX) on milk production and composition, blood parameters, digestibility, ruminal characteristics, nitrogen excretion, methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) production, and income over feed cost (IOFC). Twenty organically-certified lactating Jerseys were blocked by milk production and days in milk (DIM) and randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatments: 1) control (soybean meal and ground corn grain as 10% of total diet dry matter (DM) or 2) GFLAX as 10% of total diet DM. Treatments were top-dressed onto a 25% mixed grass-legume baleage, …

Encapsulation Of Anti-Traction Material, Brian Zukas

Master's Theses and Capstones

Anti-Traction Material (ATM) is a highly viscous and viscoelastic aqueous polymer solution that has been demonstrated as an effective area denial, non-lethal technology. However, current means of dispersing ATM require on site pumping of the reagents and large tanks for reagent storage. The moment that ATM is dispensed onto a surface it also begins to dry out, starting the clock on the time it is effective. To counter these problems, ATM has been successfully encapsulated using the inverse alginate gelation technique. To produce capsules of ATM, a novel method of producing drops of the highly viscous and viscoelastic ATM solution …

Video Copy Detection Utilizing Log-Polar Transformation, Daniel Reynolds

Master's Theses and Capstones

Video Copy Detection is the process of comparing two videos to determine their similarity and determine if they are copies. This thesis enhances some of the common algorithms used in Video Copy Detection by utilizing the Log-Polar transformation as a pre-processing step. This pre-processing step is expected to increase speed of the overall Video Copy Detection process while maintaining the accuracy of the algorithms. The results of this research show that the addition of a Log-Polar pre-processing step reduces the computation time of the overall Video Copy Detection process. The additional time necessary to perform the Log-Polar pre-processing step is …

A Field Method For Backscatter Calibration Applied To Noaa's Reson 7125, Briana Welton

Master's Theses and Capstones

Acoustic seafloor backscatter measurements made by multiple Reson multibeamecho-sounders (MBES) used for hydrographic survey are observed to be inconsistent, affecting the quality of data products and impeding large-scale processing efforts. A method to conduct a relative inter and intra sonar calibration in the field using dual frequency Reson 7125 MBES has been developed, tested, and evaluated to improve the consistency of backscatter measurements made from multiple MBES systems. The approach is unique in that it determines a set of corrections for power, gain, pulse length, and an angle dependent calibration term relative to a single Reson 7125 MBES calibrated in …

From Contract To Legislation: The Logic Of Modern International Lawmaking, Timothy Meyer

Chicago Journal of International Law

The future of international lawmaking is in peril. Both trade and climate negotiations have failed to produce a multilateral agreement since the mid-1990s, while the U.N. Security Council has been unable to comprehensively respond to the humanitarian crisis in Syria. In response to multilateralism's retreat, many prominent commentators have called for international institutions to be given the power to bind holdout states-often rising or reluctant powers such as China and the United States-without their consent. In short, these proposals envision international law traveling the road taken by federal systems such as the United States and the European Union: from contractual …

An Examination Of Perceived Discrimination And Stress In Interracial Relatinships, Sharon Sirmons Conger

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

An Examination of Perceived Discrimination and Stress

in Interracial Relationships

by

Sharon Sirmons Conger

MS, Troy University, Florida Campus, 2006

BA, Baptist College of Florida, 2003

Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

General Psychology

Walden University

February 2015

There is a potential increase in stress for White women in interracial relationships with Black men due to perceived racial discrimination that may not have been previously experienced. The purpose of this quantitative study was to measure stress before and after the relationship due to perceived racial discrimination for these women. Guided by …