Digital Commons Network^™

The Impact Of Accented English On Speech Comprehension, Benigno Valles

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

ABSTRACT

In the context of shifting demographics in the United States and with an increasing multicultural workforce, the verbal exchange of information is vital especially between health care providers and patients. Although English is the official language in the United States, many individuals from different national origins speak English with some degree of accent. Before we can address health care provider/patient communication, it is necessary to investigate the potential impact of accented English on speech comprehension and its implications on basic communicative interactions. The verbal exchange of information between health care providers and patients is important in diagnostics, treatment, patient …

Regolith Erosion At Grinnell Glacier, Glacier National Park, Connor Lindberg, Jaakko Putkonen

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

Glacier National Park is located within a mountainous region in western Montana. Due to recent glaciation, moraines are present at the upper elevations throughout the park. These young moraines erode at a rapid pace when first exposed by melting ice due to: age, vegetation cover, local climate, and human/animal activity. Using repeat photography in conjunction with lab work I was able to determine that the Grinnell Glacier moraine’s crest is lowering at a much faster pace than previously published rates. Conservation policy within the park should be adjusted to reflect this information and additional research should be conducted to determine …

When Income Depends On Performance And Luck: The Effects Of Culture And Information On Giving, Pedro Rey-Biel, Roman M. Sheremeta, Neslihan Uler

ESI Working Papers

We study how giving depends on income and luck, and how culture and information about the determinants of others’ income affect this relationship. Our data come from an experiment conducted in two countries, the US and Spain, which have different beliefs about how income inequality arises. We find no cross-cultural differences in giving when individuals are informed about the determinants of income, but when uninformed, Americans give less than Spanish. Culture and information not only affect individual giving, but also the determinants of giving and the beliefs about how income inequality arises. Beliefs partially moderate cross-cultural differences in giving.

Virtual Capstone Design Teams: Preparing For Global Innovation (Journal Article), Jay R. Goldberg, Susannah Howe

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Global innovation requires collaboration between groups of people located in different parts of the world, and is a growing trend in industry. Virtual teams are often used to manage new product development projects. These teams are similar to traditional teams but are geographically separated and rely heavily on virtual methods of communication (email, Skype, teleconferencing, etc.) instead of regular face-to-face meetings. Experience working as a member of a virtual capstone design team can help prepare students for this growing trend. To begin preparing students for work on virtual teams in industry, we co-advised two virtual capstone design projects with students …

The Electoral Costs Of Party Agenda Setting: Why The Hastert Rule Leads To Defeat, Jesse Richman

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

This study demonstrates that unconditional blocking of bills opposed by a majority of the majority party--as implied by the party cartel model and advocated by former Speaker Dennis Hastert--can produce conditions in which the majority party loses popular support and loses elections. The theoretical analysis and empirical results imply that the use of negative agenda power to block bills is circumscribed by this risk of electoral defeat. As a result, the opportunity for effective negative agenda control is conditional on majority party issue advantage, party polarization, and the distribution of status quo locations. In particular, majority party roll rates should …

Adverse Outcome Pathways Can Drive Non‐Animal Approaches For Safety Assessment, N Burden, F Sewell, Me Andersen, A Boobis, Jk Chipman, Mtd Cronin, Th Hutchinson, I Kimber, M Whelan

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

AbstractAdverse Outcome Pathways (AOPs) provide an opportunity to develop new and more accurate safety assessment processes for drugs and other chemicals, and may ultimately play an important role in regulatory decision making. Not only can the development and application of AOPs pave the way for the development of improved evidence‐based approaches for hazard and risk assessment, there is also the promise of a significant impact on animal welfare, with a reduced reliance on animal‐based methods. The establishment of a useable and coherent knowledge framework under which AOPs will be developed and applied has been a first critical step towards realizing …

Comparative Analysis Of The National And Communal Irrigation Systems’ Water Governance: The Philippines Case, Miriam R. Nguyen, Agnes C. Rola, Rosalie A. Hall, Corazon L. Abansi, Myra E. David

Journal of Public Affairs and Development

Using Saleth and Dinar’s water governance framework, the study characterized irrigators’ associations and examined how they operate and how they are managed. A total of 128 association presidents were surveyed in ten provinces in the Philippines and were asked about their knowledge and perception on the organization, natural resource policies, and water status in the locality.

The National Irrigation Systems (NIS) still has a formal structure as influenced by the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), but it is assuming the characteristics of the Communal Irrigation Systems (CIS) management because of the paradigm shift to participatory irrigation management. The CIS, on the …

A Record Of Spontaneous Subduction Initiation In The Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc, Rj Arculus, O Ishizuka, Ka Bogus, M Gurnis, R Hickey-Vargas, Mh Aljahdali, An Bandini-Maeder, Ap Barth, Pa Brandl, L Drab, Rdm Guerra, M Hamada, F Jiang, K Kanayama, S Kender, Y Kusano, H Li, Lc Loudin, M Maffione, Km Marsaglia, A Mccarthy, S Meffre, A Morris, M Neuhaus, Ip Savov, C Sena, Tfj Iii, Der Land C Van, Gm Yogodzinski, Z Zhang

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

The Socio-Economic Effects Of A Marine Protected Area On The Ecosystem Service Of Leisure And Recreation, Siân E. Rees, Stephen C. Mangi, Caroline Hattam, Sarah C. Gall, Lynda D. Rodwell, Frankie J. Peckett, Martin J. Attrill

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.

New Insights Into Landslide Processes Around Volcanic Islands From Remotely Operated Vehicle (Rov) Observations Offshore Montserrat, S. F.L. Watt, M. Jutzeler, P. J. Talling, S. N. Carey, R. S.J. Sparks, M. Tucker, A. J. Stinton, J. K. Fisher, D Wall‐Palmer, V. Hühnerbach, S. G. Moreton

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

AbstractSubmarine landslide deposits have been mapped around many volcanic islands, but interpretations of their structure, composition, and emplacement are hindered by the challenges of investigating deposits directly. Here we report on detailed observations of four landslide deposits around Montserrat collected by Remotely Operated Vehicles, integrating direct imagery and sampling with sediment core and geophysical data. These complementary approaches enable a more comprehensive view of large‐scale mass‐wasting processes around island‐arc volcanoes than has been achievable previously. The most recent landslide occurred at 11.5–14 ka (Deposit 1; 1.7 km3) and formed a radially spreading hummocky deposit that is morphologically similar to many …

Metals In Boat Paint Fragments From Slipways, Repair Facilities And Abandoned Vessels: An Evaluation Using Field Portable Xrf., Andrew Turner, Sean Comber, Aldous B. Rees, Dimitrios Gkiokas, Kevin Solman

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Paint flaking off abandoned vessels or generated during boat repair is hazardous to human health and wildlife. In this study, a means of screening paint fragments using a field portable-X-ray fluorescence (FP-XRF) spectrometer is described. The technique is capable of delivering rapid, surficial measurements of Ba, Cu, Pb and Zn down to concentrations less than 150 μg g(-1), and Sn and Cr to concentrations of a few hundred μg g(-1). Application of the technique to fragments collected from slipways, yards, hardstandings, abandoned boats and ships undergoing maintenance throughout the EU reveal highly variable concentrations of metals among samples from the …

An Assessment Of The Role Of Roads In Population Demography And Genetic Structuring In Two Species Of Lizards In The Northern Chihuahuan Desert, Kevin Floyd

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Roads can fragment habitat and increase mortality rates of wildlife, potentially reducing population sizes and gene flow, which in turn can reduce genetic diversity through genetic drift. Although negative road impacts have been found in a variety of taxa, not all species are impacted. For instance, species that move less and rarely encounter roads and those that avoid the roads are predicted to not be negatively affected. Yet tests of these predictions are uncommon, especially for reptiles and particularly lizards. Side-blotched lizards (Uta stansburiana) are small sit-and-wait predators, while the larger marbled whiptails (Aspidoscelis marmorata) are active foragers. Their responses …

La Otra Frontera: Exiles, Engineering, And State Power In The Chiapan Borderlands, Aaron Margolis

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Dissertation examines the political, cultural, and economic history of the Chiapan borderlands from its political incorporation into the post-independence Mexican state in 1821 until the arrival of Guatemalan refugees in the 1980's. This history is explored through the directives, interactions, and policies of officials from Mexico City as the borderlands drifted in and out of the orbit of the priorities of the changing governments of independent Mexico.

A large part of the Dissertation examines how the post-revolutionary Mexican state re-discovered and conceptualized the borderlands as a both a threat to national security and a potential site of energy derived …

A Model For A Haitian Comprehensive Community Mental Health Center: An Accounting, Corey Gifford

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. Mental health resources are minimal and in need of further development. The goal of this dissertation project was to develop a model for a comprehensive outpatient Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It was both critical and essential that the development of a CMHC be considered within the sociopolitical and economic context of Haiti. As such, this project first examined relevant information regarding Haitian geography, poverty, government, and culture. Within this context, the impact of the 2010 earthquake was considered. This context was then used to consider relevant literature, …

Unstable Constitutionalism, Mark Tushnet, Madhav Khosla

Faculty Scholarship

One of the most significant developments in the study of constitutional law in recent years has been the comparative turn in the field. Although debates continue over whether and how domestic courts should rely on (or even refer to) foreign law in domestic legal disputes, the appropriate methodology for comparative analyses, and the potential and limits of comparative constitutional studies, many scholars and practitioners – including well-known judges – no longer believe that the task of constitutional law is solely domestic in nature. Yet, despite the enthusiasm for comparative constitutional law and the emerging systematization of comparative work, the field …

Black Cat, White Cat: The Identity Of The Wto Judges, Louise Johannesson, Petros C. Mavroidis

Faculty Scholarship

WTO judges are proposed by the WTO Secretariat and elected to act as ‘judges’ if either approved by the parties to a dispute, or by the WTO Director-General in case no agreement between the parties has been possible. They are typically ‘Geneva crowd’, that is, they are either current or former delegates representing their country before the WTO. This observation holds for both first- as well as second-instance WTO judges (e.g. Panelists and members of the Appellate Body). In that, the WTO evidences an attitude strikingly similar to the GATT. Whereas the legal regime has been heavily ‘legalized’, the people …

Technology And Social Media In Motivating At-Risk High School Students To Complete High School, Rebecca Mix Yard

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Overall, 11% of high school students leave school without a diploma, and the percentage is higher for at-risk populations. High school graduates earn higher salaries and are healthier and more law abiding than dropouts. Research is limited on the motivation of at-risk students to graduate from high school related to their technological identity to include technology and social media in their learning schema. This qualitative case study explored at-risk students' perceptions of social media, personal learning networks, and informal learning in facilitating their graduation. Pink's concept of motivation, Siemens's connectivism theory, and Bingham and Conner's theory of engagement and social …

Health Literacy, Health Disparities And Sources Of Health Information In Us Older Adults, Carolyn Cutilli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This descriptive study is a secondary analysis of the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) 2003, a large scale national assessment which included health literacy. It examined the relationships between health literacy and demographic/background characteristics in older adults (age 65 and over) related to health literacy and disparities, and sources of health information. Key findings include: 1) results support most relationships described in the conceptual model and literature associated with health literacy and disparities; 2) there are similarities and difference in the utilization of health information sources based on health literacy level; and 3) the results support established health literacy …

Impact Of Atmospheric Changes On The Low-Frequency Variations Of Convective Afternoon Rainfall Activity Over Taiwan, W.-R. Huang, H.-H. Hsu, S.-Y. Wang

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

This study examines the characteristics of low-frequency variations (defined as decadal-scale changes) in summer (June-August) convective afternoon rainfall (CAR) activity over Taiwan during 1961-2012. Using 3-hourly rain gauge data, it was found that (1) the CAR frequency exhibits a secular trend and the 10-20 decadal oscillation, (2) the trend in CAR frequency is positive in northern Taiwan but negative in central and southern Taiwan, and (3) the CAR rate increased over most of the lower plains but decreased over the mountain range of Taiwan. Diagnoses using the Japanese ReAnalysis (JRA-55) data and surface observations indicate that the low-frequency variations in …

Evaluation Of Postthaw Sperm Parameters And Fertility Of Cholistani Service Bulls, Umer Farooq, Syed Aamer Mahmood, Ijaz Ahmad, Nazir Ahmad, Musadiq Idris, Muhammad Tariq Abbas

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The present study was conducted with the objective of evaluating Cholistani service bulls on the basis of their postthaw sperm parameters and fertilizing potential through artificial insemination under the prevailing local climate. Semen from each experimental bull (n = 6) was collected at weekly intervals over a 12-month period, frozen, thawed, and evaluated for postthaw sperm parameters. Fertility rate of postthaw samples was determined by inseminating 1200 Cholistani cows in 2 trials: Trial 1 had 600 cows with 100 inseminations per bull to assess the effect of individual bulls and Trial 2 had 600 inseminations with 150 insemination doses frozen …

Why Balanced Regional Development Should Be Replaced By Urban Agglomeration Initiatives In Ireland’S Reconfigured National Spatial And Economic Strategy, Brian Hughes

Other Resources

In 2003, Eoin O Leary of NUIC published the first in what has since become an extensive literature criticising the 2002-2020 National Spatial Strategy’s core ‘distributive’ strategy, that of Balanced Regional Development (BRD). It is therefore disturbing, despite the strategy’s obvious failures and the government’s 2013 withdrawn of this discredited NSS, that some Opposition politicians continue to persist in articulating BRD in a politically opportunistically way, such as was emphasised a number of times by Eamon O’Cuiv T.D. on the Claire Byrne TV Show on RTE 1, Monday 9th March. That programme with its Live Audience, was broadcast immediately after …

Have We Missed Our Chance: U.S. Lng Exports In A World With Low Oil Prices, Andres Nelson

SMU Science and Technology Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Subsidy Question In King V. Burwell, Antonio F. Perez

Scholarly Articles

On the surface, King v. Burwell appears to be a simple case about statutory interpretation. In the Affordable Care Act (widely known as Obamacare), when Congress referred to the “State,” in the provision triggering federal subsidies to insurance consumers for purchases made from federally-authorized insurance providers selling federally-authorized insurance products, should the “State” be understood to refer to the federal market (i.e., exchanges) as well as “State” markets. Simple tools of statutory construction–namely, that Congress knew full well how to refer to a “federal” exchange and failed to do so–would seem to be sufficient to supply a result. It would …

Patent Boundaries, Elizabeth I. Winston

Scholarly Articles

A patent grants a limited right to exclude others from practicing an invention within the United States, its territories and possessions. Much has been written about the limits of the patent grant and how to determine what the protected invention may be. At the same time, scholars have not systemically analyzed the geographic limitations of United States patents, a critical component of a patentee’s limited right. A patent’s geographical scope is not simple to discern. Commentators have neither analyzed the patent boundaries collectively nor delineated the scope of patent sovereignty on land, in the air and at sea. Technology has …

Regulating Angels, Heidi Mandanis Schooner

Scholarly Articles

This article examines the current calls for deregulation of community banks and balances those ideas against the long history of community bank regulation, insolvency, and government support. Part II discusses the benefits offered by community banks and the current status of the industry. Part III outlines the justification for community bank regulation and the availability of the government safety net to support these institutions. Part IV addresses the solvency risk of community banks-their rates of failure and the causes of their failure. Part V addresses the reaction by community banks and their supporters to the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall …

Demographics And Education In The Twenty-First Century, Norman Eng

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The Tale Of Two Economies: A Comparative Macroeconomic Analysis Of Palo Alto And East Palo Alto, Aditya Kotak, Safwan Siddiqi, Fred Foldvary

Faculty Publications

Cities in the USA have experienced diverse growth rates and levels of prosperity. Some cities flourish in prosperity, while others suffer economic recession. This study examines why cities have had different outcomes. We investigated three elements: 1) What are the factors that play a role in the shaping of a municipal’s economy? 2) What are the implications of these factors? 3) Which policies promote economic growth and prosperity? This essay aims to offer policy directions for cities that are not performing well. The paper applies a comparative analysis of two nearby cities, a flourishing economy contrasted with a troubled economy. …

Authentic Relationship Management To Heighten Control Mutuality In Social Media, Diana Catherine Sisson

Theses and Dissertations

Drawing on literature from public relations, marketing, interpersonal communication, and organizational communication, this dissertation focused on the effects of authenticity on relationship management outcomes in nonprofit organizations’ social media efforts. There is significant need for relationship management rooted in authenticity with the rise in inauthentic communication online. This dissertation aims to contribute to relationship management theory by highlighting the role of control mutuality in analyses of authenticity in organization-public relationships in social media for nonprofit organizations like local animal welfare organizations. This dissertation proposes that control mutuality is an ethical outcome of authentic relationship management. This dissertation also proposes that …

Telling A Different Narrative: Exploring The Values And Challenges Of Performing Enslaved Community Members’ Stories At U.S. Southern Plantation Museums, Stefanie Kate Benjamin

Theses and Dissertations

Informed by both performance studies and collective memory theory, this study centers around Let Them Be Heard, a theatrical production that breathes life into the narratives of former slaves, performed at three plantation sites in the U.S. South. I seek to understand the lived experience of the performance through the eyes of three key stakeholder groups (plantation museum curators and docents, the director of the Let Them Be Heard production, and the show’s performers), and the impact of the performance on those individuals and on the plantation sites where the performances took place. Ultimately, I am attempting to discern the …

Fabrication And Characterization Of Graphene Based Biocompatible Ion-Sensitive Field Effect Transistor (Isfet), Rina Patel

Theses and Dissertations

Graphene, a two-dimensional material with a high surface to volume ratio, has drawn extensive research enthusiasm for applications in the field of electronic sensors. The special material properties that make graphene a highly promising material include its biocompatibility, very high mobility, low 1/f and thermal noise, modulation of carrier concentration and fermi level by electrical, optical, and chemical means. To exploit these properties for practical applications a large area high quality graphene, transferred on appropriate substrates, is required. In this work, high quality single monolayer graphene (determined from Raman spectroscopy) has been synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique for …