Digital Commons Network^™

Coyotes On The Web: Understanding Human-Coyote Interaction And Online Education Using Citizen Science, Zuriel Anne Rasmussen

Dissertations and Theses

Coyote (Canis latrans) numbers are increasing in urban areas, leading to more frequent human-coyote interactions. Rarely, and particularly when coyotes have become habituated to humans, conflicts occur. Effective education about urban coyotes and how to prevent habituation reduces conflict. Citizen science, in the form of online education, can be used to engage and educate city dwellers about urban coyotes. In this research, I explore Portland Metropolitan Area (PMA) residents' baseline experiences with, and attitudes toward, urban coyotes. Next, I investigate citizen science as a tool for education. Using the Portland Urban Coyote Project (PUCP), a citizen science project, as a …

A Case Study Of An Elementary School's Reading Assessment Practices While Implementing Response To Intervention, Sandy A. Davidson

Theses and Dissertations

This case study, conducted during the 2014-2015 school year, examined the reading comprehension instruction and assessment practices at an elementary school implementing the Response to Intervention (RtI) framework. Observed assessment practices were compared to what the International Literacy Association (ILA) deems appropriate assessment standards for literacy achievement. 3 educators from an elementary school (~ 750 students) participated in this case study. The participants included females of various backgrounds; a school administrator, lead teacher, and fourth grade classroom teacher. 3 research questions guided this case study: (1) What does reading comprehension assessment look like in a school implementing RtI?; (2) What …

Act Workkeys As An Indicator Of Academic Success, Lucretia Kennedy Williams

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of ACT WorkKeys assessments as an indicator of student success within the community college. The number of companies that are utilizing ACT WorkKeys as an indicator to determine work readiness has increased. As community colleges are challenged with training the current workforce for jobs that are in demand, skills gaps that exist have caused challenges that have created difficulties meeting these demands. Due to the responsibilities of the community college to train the workforce explored in this study will be the outcome of ACT WorkKeys as a mechanism that could …

Verticillium Dahliae Causes The Fungal Wilting Disease Of Cotton Plants Grown On The Mississippi State North Farm, Fahad Mohammedsaleh Albukhari

Theses and Dissertations

The emergence and spread of Verticillium wilt were observed in cotton plants at the R.R. Foil Plant Science Research Center at Mississippi State during the late summer in 2013 and 2014. Several fungi with different morphology and growth characteristics were isolated from diseased cotton plants. Genomic DNA was extracted from the isolated fungal species and used in molecular typing via PCR amplification and DNA sequencing analysis of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. A total of five fungal genera were identified, and Verticillium sp. was the most frequently isolated genus. The isolated Verticillium strains could be Verticillium dahliae, Verticillium …

The American Reception Of Gabriel Fauré: From Francophile Boston, 1892‒1945, To The Broader Postwar Mainstream, Heather De Savage

Doctoral Dissertations

The importance of French influences in American musical life from the 1920s onward, particularly as personified in the teaching of Nadia Boulanger, has long been central to narratives of American music; the much earlier impact of Gabriel Fauré, however, has been largely ignored. This dissertation examines Fauré’s reception in the U.S., through a detailed consideration of performance and criticism in Boston between 1892 and 1945, and a more selective examination of aspects of the composer's broader reception both during and after this time.

Boston’s increasingly Francophile orientation around 1900 encouraged the presence of French music on concert programs, and distinguished …

Behind Closed Doors: The Mask Of Antiracism In Presentation And Practice, Kevin Murray

Dissertations

School districts have recognized the challenges that teachers face in building relationships with the students they teach. This can be especially true when the teacher is White and the students are people of color. This study is a follow-up to an intense, year-long professional development that a group of teachers experienced in 2012. Through interviews, six such participants were asked about their experiences in the classroom, the ways in which they felt they had grown because of the professional development, and ways that they had implemented what they learned in their classrooms. While the teachers had positive things to say …

The Effects Of Literacy Interventions On Reading Scores For Low-Achieving Students, Angela Jayroe Mulkana

Theses and Dissertations

As America’s schools strive to educate a diverse population of students, some of these students, who are identified as low-achieving, find school to be difficult. The need to improve low-achieving students’ reading skills has been the focus and concern of educators for many years. This study, which utilized a causal comparative research design, investigated third and fourth grade students’ literacy achievement scores for participation or non-participation in the Students Reading Enrichment Program (SREP), which is an in-school and/or after-school program, in the Jenkins School District (JSD). The SREP provides low-achieving students the opportunity to work in small groups with interventionists, …

The Impact Of Athletic Participation On At-Risk High School Students, Anthony D. Blevins

Theses and Dissertations

The need to lessen the dropout rate for America’s high schools necessitated a search for answers by examining the impact of athletic participation on at-risk high school students. Research supports the contention that benefits athletics for students at-risk of dropping out. However, the majority of empirical research on athletic participation has been conducted on athletes and non-athletes, leaving a gap in regard to at-risk students. The study provides a comparison between athletic participation and non-participation with at-risk students. The goal of this study was to share the findings of an investigation of the impact of athletic participation on at-risk high …

Willingness Of Mississippi's Nonindustrial Private Forest Landowners To Manage Forests For Ecosystem Services, Edward Mutandwa

Theses and Dissertations

Private forest land in Mississippi provides a wide range of ecosystem services. This study examined nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) landowner familiarity with ecosystem services and conservation programs and quantified the proportion of forest land they were interested in managing for ecosystem services as well as determined compensation levels required for implementing forest management strategies featuring management restriction to facilitate production of multiple ecosystem services. The data collection process was based on a structured questionnaire administered to 2,025 NIPF landowners in Mississippi. Findings indicated that landowner familiarity with conservation programs was low. However, they were familiar with ecosystem services found in …

Preventing Teacher Attrition: Expert Teachers' Sources Of Stress And Coping Strategies, Katherine Damaris Garth

Theses and Dissertations

Teaching is considered to be one of the most stressful occupations (Johnson et al., 2005). Not only is the profession highly stressful, it has the highest degree of career turnover of any profession (Ingersoll, 2001). Consistent stress can lead to burnout of the profession. McCarthy et al. (2009) noted that teacher burnout can be a result of inappropriate coping resources. The purpose of this study was to investigate the sources of stress, coping strategies, and learned coping strategies among expert elementary teachers. The sources of stress and coping strategies were examined using the Social Ecological Model which allowed for sources …

Utilization Of Bioscreen To Calculate Retardation Factor Of Petroleum Contaminants, And Biodegradation Rate For A Site In Montpelier, Indiana, Brittany M. Garner

Theses and Dissertations

In March 1994, a report was issued to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management after Jim Allen Maintenance, Inc. found levels of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) exceeding the level appropriate for action (100 parts per million) during an underground storage tank closure report assessment. Creek Run L.L.C Environmental Engineering was contracted by Jay Petroleum to complete an initial site characterization. Through quarterly monitoring of benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, and methyl tert-butyl ether for 11 years, Creek Run L.L.C determined that biodegradation was occurring. Upon using BIOSCREEN, a contaminant transport modeling software that simulates natural attenuation over time, it was determined …

Student Perceptions Of Dual Enrollment And Dual Credit In A Mississippi Community College, Lachandra Belisa Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to ascertain students’ perspectives on dual enrollment and dual credit in a south Mississippi community college. The problem is the need to understand the perceptions of students regarding dual enrollment and dual credit to help foster better policies surrounding the program, help promote positive benefits for the students, and overall improve dual enrollment and dual credit to better suit the growing need and demand for a college degree. Dual enrollment and dual credit have become prominent in the U.S. Many studies have shown to have positive outcomes including increased high school completion rates, improved …

Interactive Whiteboards And Tpack For Technology-Enhanced Learning: Secondary Mathematics Teachers Barriers, Beliefs, And Support Needs In One Rural School District, Shelita Mccadney Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Low-income students and blacks make up nearly half of public school students, and on nearly every indicator of educational access, particularly technology, these students have less access than white affluent students (Darling-Hammond, Zielezinski, and Goldman, 2014). The National Center for Education Statistics (2005) reported that teacher quality and missed opportunities to learn accounted for 93% of African Americans, and 87% of Hispanics performing below proficiency in mathematics. Students that do not master mathematics standards by the end of compulsory education are less likely to complete general mathematics courses in upper secondary school and beyond successfully (Levpušček, Zupančič, & Sočan, 2013). …

Identification Of Purpurogallin In Brewed Beverages And Effect Of Roasting On Antioxidant Activity And Phenolic Compounds In Coffees, Yu-Chen Liao

Theses and Dissertations

Coffee contains many antioxidants including purpurogallin, which is a hydrophobic phenolic antioxidant that is difficult to measure with reported methods. A method combining solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry was developed to detect and quantify purpurogallin in brewed beverages, including coffee. For beverage preparation, water extraction was adopted for improved correlation with moka pot brewing. Purpurogallin was detected in all commercial coffee samples, and its content in ground coffees ranged from 455-630 ng/g dry weight. Purpurogallin was only detected in two English breakfast tea samples (335-360 ng/g dry weight) and was not detected in any cocoa sample. Antioxidant activity, total …

Impact Of Corn Earworm On Field Corn Yield And Grain Quality, Jenny Lee Bibb

Theses and Dissertations

Field corn, Zea mays L., has been introduced to the market with pyramided Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn technologies. These technologies reduce kernel damage from ear feeding caterpillar pests, including corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie). The first generation Bt traits in field corn demonstrated limited activity on corn earworm feeding on grain in ears. The pyramided corn technologies have greater cumulative protein concentrations and improved expression throughout the plant, so these corn traits should provide an effective management tool against these pests. In addition, reduced kernel injury may also have a direct effect on physical grain quality. The results for this …

Evaluation Of Initial Body Weight And Supplementation Levels On Health And Performance Of Newly Received Stocker Calves, William Corey Wilkins

Theses and Dissertations

These study objectives were to evaluate the effects of: initial bodyweight, energy supplementation, distance and days traveled and hair coat shedding on performance and health. Crossbred heifers (n=120) were purchased as either lightweight (136 kg) or heavyweight (226 kg) calves. Factors affecting morbidity and growth were tested using Poisson or linear regression (PROC GLIMMIX), with a correlation structure defining clustering by pen. Incidence density was 53.7/103 calf-days and 19.0/103 calf-days for light and heavy initial BW, respectively. Lightweight calves were 2.8 times more likely to be treated for BRD (p=0.02) and each increase in hair shed score increased risk for …

Examining The Relationships Between Violent Media Programming, Aggression And Prosocial Behaviors Among Black College Students, Jamie Michelle Williams

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between violent media programming, aggression and prosocial behaviors among Black college students. The study included 108 Black college students from a historically Black college/university on the East Coast. The researcher evaluated the participants’ aggression using Buss & Warren’s (2000) Aggression Questionnaire and evaluated the participants’ prosocial behaviors using Penner’s (1995) prosocial personality battery. The researcher then used an independent samples t-test to analyze the data and test the hypothesis that a relationship between the variables exists. Furthermore, the researcher employed discriminant analysis to determine if group membership could be predicted, …

Assessing Remedial Course Transitional Intervention Effectiveness For First Generation College Students, John Nathan Day

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

First generation college students experience a more challenging transition to collegiate success than their peers. As institutions feel the pressure to fulfill their enrollment goals, the doors of opportunity are being widened which includes an increase in first generation college students This study focuses on how the remedial course intervention affects student confidence levels in key college success indicators after their first semester of college level coursework. A survey is used to determine variations between first generation students who were exposed to this form of intervention, and those who were not. The findings point to a need for expanded conversation …

Meeting Minutes, Wku University Senate

Faculty Senate

Meeting regarding budget, student evaluation of faculty, Confucius Institute, add/drop policy, India Project, SACS review, Student Government Association, curriculum committee, Colonnade Plan, open records and summer/winter compensation.

A Note On The Scorpions From The Pirin Mountains, Southwestern Bulgaria (Scorpiones: Buthidae, Euscorpiidae), Rolando Teruel, Victor Fet, Luis F. De Armas

Euscorpius

In the present note, four scorpion species are recorded from the Pirin Mountains in southwestern Bulgaria, including the first records for Bulgaria of both Mesobuthus gibbosus (Brullé, 1832) (Buthidae) and the “mingrelicus complex” of the genus Euscorpius Thorell, 1876 (Euscorpiidae) (the latter based upon an undetermined species). Also, E. hadzii Caporiacco, 1950 and another undetermined species of Euscorpius belonging to the “carpathicus complex” are recorded from Pirin. The taxonomic affinities of the taxa are discussed, as well as some biogeographical considerations about the scorpions of this poorly studied mountainous area.

Meeting Minutes, Wku Graduate Council

Graduate School

Meeting minutes.

Scorpiofauna Of Kashan (Esfahan Province, Iran) (Arachnida: Scorpiones), Valerio Vignoli, František Kovařík, Pierangelo Crucitti

Euscorpius

This work contains the results of the zoological expedition of the Società Romana di Scienze Naturali to Kashan, in Iran. Four days of intensive field research provided interesting data on the community structure of scorpions of Kashan. Thirty-two scorpion specimens, all belonging to the family Buthidae, are listed and ecological notes are included. Iranobuthus krali Kovařík, 1997, Kraepelinia palpator (Birula, 1903) and Polisius persicus Fet, Capes & Sissom, 2001 were found for the first time in the examined localities. The species collected belong to different ecomorpho-types, characteristic for the particular geographic position of Kashan. We report presence of two species …

Health Perceptions And Practices Of Burmese Refugee Families: A Participatory Mixed Method Study, Suneeta Kercood, Trish Morita-Mullaney

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

Healthcare providers in the United States often view the lifestyle choices made by refugees from Burma through the lenses of America’s norms for healthy living. Although healthcare providers often recognize the role that language plays in the refugees’ ability to communicate their healthcare needs, they often ignore the role of culture. This lack of understanding of cultural difference contributes to the marginalization of refugees in the healthcare system. Using a transformative mixed method methodology, this study employed the East Asian Acculturation Scale (EAAM) to identify participants’ perceived level of acculturation within health care contexts. The researchers then engaged participants in …

Automated Theorem Proving By Translation To Description Logic, Negin Arhami

Open Access Dissertations

Many Automated Theorem Proving (ATP) systems for different logical forms, and translators for translating different logical forms from one to another, have been developed and are now available. Some logical forms are more expressive than others, and it is easier to express problems in those logical forms. On the other hand, the ATP systems for less expressive forms have benefited from more years of development and testing. There is a trade-off between the expressivity of a logical form, and the capabilities of the available ATP systems. Different ATP systems and translators can be combined to solve a problem expressed in …

Defeat And Re-Playing Renaissance Civic Identity: The Academy Of The Intronati In Siena, Carolyn Zimmerman

Open Access Dissertations

The study of how a literary academy shaped the transition of a sixteenth-century Italian republic into a subject city and defined the subsequent evolution of civic life. This transition involved a complete reimagining of what constituted a meaningful life, placing new importance on intellectual activities, cultural innovation, and rhetorical fluency. In this shift, the Intronati attempted to relegate traditional political activities to a secondary position, implicitly arguing that it was cultural leadership that should determine elite status in any society, rather than traditional political positions. This new vision of civic identity required the active participation of women, who were expected …

Helin Library Consortium Ils Task Force Recommendation, Helin Consortium. Ils Task Force

HELIN Task Force reports

Final report and recommendation of the HELIN ILS task force to migrate the consortium to OCLC WorldShare Management Services..

Distinguished Professor Jo Koster To Deliver Dec. 19 Commencement Address, Winthrop University

Winthrop News 2015

• Jo Koster, an English professor and director of the Department of English’s graduate program, is the keynote Commencement speaker.
• Her message will be heard by December and August graduates and their guests attending the 11 a.m. Commencement at the Winthrop Coliseum.
• For the first time in more than a decade, Winthrop will combine its graduate and undergraduate Commencements.

Jack Blanco: World War Ii Survivor, Rosalba Valera

World War II

Jack Blanco was born in Chicago in 1929 from immigrant parents Frederick Ross, from Austria, and Katherine Kiessling, from Germany. During the planning of the wedding, Jack Blanco’s father left his mother Katherine, she was already pregnant. Due to this circumstance, he was raised by his single mother, who worked in sweatshops and he was the only child growing up. He was left with various babysitters who he claims abused him during his mother’s absence. His life changed forever at the age of ten when he and his mother decided to visit his grandparents in Germany.

Jack Blanco’s experience during …

Oral History Project/ Renaldo Rivera, Candra M. Ravariere

Vietnam

No abstract provided.

College Senate Minutes December 10, 2015, Bronx Community College Senate

BCC Governance Archives

Minutes for the meeting of the College Senate on December 10, 2015.