Digital Commons Network^™

Ecological Understanding Through Transdisciplinary Art And Participatory Biology, Brandon Ballengée

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

In this study evidence is presented that suggests transdisciplinary art practices and participatory biology programs may successfully increase public understanding of ecological phenomenon. As today’s environmental issues are often complex and large-scale, finding effective strategies that encourage public awareness and stewardship are paramount for long-term conservation of species and ecosystems. Although artists and biologists tend to stay confined to their professional boundaries, and their discourses largely remain inaccessible to larger audiences, arguments here are presented for a combined approach, which may disseminate knowledge about ecology to non-specialists through novel art-science participatory research and exhibitions. Moreover, historically several scientists utilized varied …

The Effectiveness Of The Church Of England Guidance For Assessing Significance, Bridget Gillard

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

The thesis aims to determine the effectiveness of the Church of England’s (C. of E.) guidance for writing statements of significance. It examines the adoption of ‘significance’ as a system for deciding what elements of the historic environment should be conserved and in what way. The growing influence of significance-theory will be examined along with the emerging practice of defining significance through the identification of multiple values. The question of who should be involved in the process of identifying significance will also be discussed in the context of the increasing importance of public engagement both politically in the U.K. and …

Women And The Violent Workplace, Sharon Beckett

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

Globally workplace violence is a pressing concern. It is an ever increasing problem and thus an extensive field to research. Despite an increase in interest, there are specific areas of workplace violence that remain relatively unexplored, and this is further compounded because workplace violence is not clearly defined and neither is it readily understood (Dolan 2000, Webster et al 2007). Women’s experiences of workplace violence have been overlooked, primarily because women exist within a patriarchal society, and many are deemed of a lesser value than men. A patriarchal society has elevated men into positions of power whilst women have more …

Making The Past: The Concepts Of Literary History And Literary Tradition In The Works Of Thomas Gray, Raheem Rashid Mnayit Albu-Mohammed

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This study explores Thomas Gray’s concepts of literary history, tradition, and the past. It proffers critical examinations of Gray’s literary and historical thoughts, illustrating the extent of the complexity of the mid‐century cultural and intellectual climate in which Gray and his contemporaries were writing. It shows the aesthetic, cultural, and political dimensions of canonicity in the course of examining the ideological motivation behind Gray’s literary history. Though much of Gray’s poetry is private and written for a narrow literary circle, his literary history seems engaged with issues of public concerns. Gray’s literary history must not be understood as a mere …

Petit Trianon And Marie Antoinette: Representation, Interpretation, Perception, Denise Cristina Ioana Maior-Barron

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This interdisciplinary thesis belongs to Marie Antoinette studies. The contemporary dissonant commodification of the controversial historical character of the last Queen of France, detected at her former home, Petit Trianon, drives the course of the thesis research. Considering the complexity and controversy of the subject, the thesis seeks to make a contribution to extant scholarship by clarifying important modern history issues through a fresh approach: by using art history as an indicator in assessing the historical truth of the narrative of Petit Trianon, the residence identified as home to the last Queen of France. The thesis examines Petit Trianon and …

Pudu Jail's Graffiti: Beyond The Prison Cells, Khairul Ismail

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

The aim of this thesis is to examine and analyse the images of graffiti contained within the portfolio of ‘Pudu Jail’s Graffiti (PJG)’, documented work from the abandoned prison facility in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, between 2002 and 2003. The objective has been to discover whether the ‘Pudu Jail’s Graffiti’, has a distinct visual narrative(s) compared with other prison graffiti research, concluding that its qualities lies in the complexity of visual cultures brought within the space of the prison cells. The prison graffiti retrieved from this portfolio has been analysed through a process of qualitative review; in order to find its …

An Artistic Equivalence Of My Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Tom Baugh

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

An Artistic Equivalence of my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Thomas Baugh Abstract In this research I explore my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and make manifest equivalent experiences of it through art practice. I investigate my OCD through artistic enactments and test my equivalence of the framework obsessioncompulsion using installation art – an equivalence, which I suggest is a relationship between my embodied perception and my memory. My interpretation of equivalence contains characteristics that arguably align with common emotions of control and doubt, inflated sense of responsibility and fear of disaster, which, I suggest are accessible to an audience other than myself. …

Faith In Practice: A Mixed Method Study Exploring The Impact Of Faith Based Organisations In Delivering Voluntary And Community Sector Activities In Cornwall, Lois Elizabeth Wild

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

Throughout history faith based organisations (FBOs) have played an important role in delivering welfare provision. They were often the original founders of much of the welfare we see now, however, the establishment of the Welfare State in 1945 encouraged centralised delivery of welfare provision and FBOs were seen to withdraw. A re-emergence of delivery of welfare by FBOs has been observed in the last three decades since the most recent British Government’s austerity measures prompted ‘Big Society’, encouraging a shift of responsibility from central government back to local communities. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of …

New Routes To Hci - A Transdisciplinary Approach, Marcio Rocha

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

Abstract This thesis bring together different disciplines – philosophy of mind, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, cybernetics and the performing arts – in a transdisciplinary investigation that raises new questions about the human mind and our relationship with computers and machines in a way that contributes to and helps elucidate the human computer interaction(HCI) debate. It chooses transdisciplinarity as the methodology best able to mobilize new ideas and generate a different approach to HCI, one that will develop fresh insights and produce critical ways of thinking about the problems of contemporary life in relation to our interaction with technologies (in the …

Reflecting On The Development Of British Ocean Cruise Tourism: Keeping The Romance Afloat, Martin John Cholwill

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This study reflects on the development of the British ocean cruise industry. In taking a historical perspective this provides an opportunity to discover if, despite changes in social expectation and technological advance, an element of the value cruise passengers place on their experience has been lost. Equating the ocean cruise experience to passenger cumulative value, the study utilises a thematic approach to reviewing literature and relates this to philosophical perspectives in developing a research strategy. The research data collected provides an insight to cruise tourist expectation and their perception of cumulative value in providing conclusions of value to cruise planners …

Germplasm Enhancement For Resistance To Pyrenophora Tritici-Repentis In Wheat, Manisha Shankar, Diane E. Mather, Dorthe Jorgensen, Hossein Golzar, Ken J. Chalmers, Grant J. Hollaway, Mark S. Mclean, Stephen M. Neate, Rob Loughman

Conference papers and presentations

Yellow spot (syn. tan spot), caused by Pyrenophora tritici-repentis, is an important foliar disease of wheat in Australia that causes losses exceeding 50 % when conditions are favourable for disease development. Although good progress has been made internationally to understand yellow spot resistance, relatively few resistance genes have been identified and mapped in Australian germplasm and only one (tsn1 on chromosome 5BL) is in general and known use in Australian breeding programs. Although tsn1 is an important yellow spot resistance gene, it doesn’t explain the full spectrum of resistance and there is a significant opportunity to enhance expression …

Plasmablastic Lymphoma Of The Oral Cavity With Breast Recurrence: A Case Report, Zarka Samoon, Romana Idrees, Nehal Masood, Tayyaba Zehra Ansari

Department of Radiation Oncology

Background: Plasmablastic lymphoma is an aggressive variant of diffuse large B cell lymphoma, mostly found in the oral cavity and associated with human immunodeficiency virus. There are no clear guidelines for its treatment. Therapies more intensive than cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone are not associated with a prolonged survival. Lymphomas of the breast are rare, in one series representing 0.14% of all female breast malignancies, with diffuse large B cell lymphoma comprising up to 55% of all cases. Only one case of plasmablastic lymphoma involving the breast has been reported in the literature.CASE PRESENTATION: A 30 year old Pakistani woman, …

Literature Review Of Risk Factors, Evaluation Instruments, And Care And Service Interventions For Knee Osteoarthritis, Nathaly Gaudreault, Marie-José Durand, Hélène Moffet, Luc Hébert, Nicola Hagemeister, Debbie Feldman, Michael Bernier, Karine Genest, Sylvain Laprise, Anne-Catherine Mayrand-Paquette

États de la question, rapports d’expertise et revues de littérature

L’arthrose est une maladie chronique caractérisée par une dégénérescence progressive du cartilage et de l’os sous-chondral, entraînant de la douleur, des limitations fonctionnelles et des incapacités à long terme. Les articulations portantes sont particulièrement vulnérables au développement de la maladie, mais l’arthrose du genou (AG) est plus susceptible de causer des incapacités fonctionnelles. Bien que la maladie soit principalement présente chez les personnes âgées de plus de 65 ans, l'Agence de santé publique du Canada estime que la prévalence de l’AG chez les personnes âgées de 55 à 64 ans sera de 66 % en 2026. Cet accroissement anticipé de …

Soil Arsenic And Lead Concentrations And Preterm Birth: Investigating Racial Disparities, Sources, Neighborhood Effects, And Spatial Patterns, Pamela Harley Thornton Davis

Theses and Dissertations

Preterm birth, generally defined as birth at <37 weeks of gestation, is an important public health issue that has multiple risk factors related to characteristics of both the mother and her environment. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine potential sources of spatially interpolated (kriged) environmental concentrations of arsenic (As) and lead (Pb) in residential soils and preterm birth in a Medicaid population of mothers giving birth in South Carolina (SC) from 1996-2001. The first objective was to investigate if a racial disparity existed for estimated soil As and Pb concentrations, after adjusting for proximal and distal sources of these metals (including distance and direction to industrial facilities) in a subset of SC Medicaid mothers living in areas of SC where soil samples were collected and analyzed for these metals. The second objective was to test the hypothesis that estimated soil As and Pb concentrations were associated with increased odds of early (<34 weeks) and late (34-36 weeks) preterm births in the same subset of SC Medicaid mothers, after adjusting for individual and neighborhood level risk factors, and examine if measure of neighborhood deprivation and racial residential segregation modified these associations. The third objective was to examine if early and all preterm births, aggregated at the county level, varied spatially and/or temporally in SC for all Medicaid mothers giving birth from 1996-2001 in Bayesian models.

For the first objective, black mothers had significantly higher estimated As and Pb soil concentrations than white mothers in the study population (adjusted betas were 0.12 and 0.22 for As and Pb, respectively; all p<0.006), and proximal sources of metals (e.g., percent of Census block group are covered by roads) were more strongly associated with estimated soil As and Pb concentrations than composite As and Pb releases from industrial facilities categorized by distance from and direction to Census block groups in which maternal residences were located.

For the second objective, estimated soil concentration of neither As nor Pb were associated with increased odds of early or late preterm birth after adjusting for maternal and neighborhood level risk factors. Only individual level covariates were associated with these birth outcomes, and associations were stronger for early as compared to late preterm births. Neighborhood deprivation and racial …

Using Geographical Information Systems To Investigate Access To School Mental Heath Services, Heather L. Mcdaniel

Theses and Dissertations

Many youth present emotional or behavioral difficulties at levels that necessitate mental health services, yet few receive these needed services. However, school mental health services are thought to improve access to mental health services for youth and families over and above traditional community mental health centers. The purpose of the current study was to expand on existing research by examining community-level and geographic predictors of the utilization of school mental health or community mental health services. Within the context of a large, federally funded trial, I examined how community rurality, ethnic/racial makeup and drive time predicted the use of either …

Propagated Image Segmentation Using Edge-Weighted Centroidal Voronoi Tessellation Based Methods, Youjie Zhou

Theses and Dissertations

Propagated image segmentation is the problem of utilizing the existing segmentation of an image for obtaining a new segmentation of, either a neighboring image in a sequence, or the same image but in different scales. We name these two cases as the inter-image propagation and the intra-image propagation respectively. The inter-image propagation is particularly important to material science, where efficient and accurate segmentation of a sequence of 2D serial-sectioned images of 3D material samples is an essential step to understand the underlying micro-structure and related physical properties. For natural images with objects in different scales, the intra-image propagation, where segmentations …

Extensive Genome Rearrangements Of Caulobacter K31 And Genomic Diversity Of Type B3 Bacteriophages Of Caulobacter Crescentus, Kurt Taylor Ash

Theses and Dissertations

The genus Caulobacter is found in a variety of habitats and is known for its ability to thrive in low-nutrient conditions. K31 is a novel Caulobacter isolate that has the ability to tolerate copper and chlorophenols, and can grow at 48°C with a doubling time of 40 h. K31 contains a 5.5 Mb chromosome that codes for more than 5500 proteins and two large plasmids (234 and 178 kb) that code for 438 additional proteins. A comparison of the K31 genome and the Caulobacter crescentus NA1000 genome, the representative strain and most well studied isolate of the Caulobacter genus, revealed …

Tactical Encounters:Material Rhetoric And The Politics Of Tactical Media, Anthony Michael Stagliano

Theses and Dissertations

Tactical Encounters: Material Rhetoric and the Politics of Tactical Media articulates the concept of material rhetorical tactics, discrete rhetorical moves effecting political and social change, however ephemeral. I argue that material rhetorical tactics do not necessarily originate or conclude with a human subject, and that to understand this, we must reorient our conceptions of rhetorical action, agency, and, ultimately, its relationship to the demos, to include actions, actors, agents, and events that are not, in themselves, human. I build on recent work in rhetorical theory that has conceptualized the function and nature of rhetoric as involving agents human and nonhuman, …

“Tal Vez Sueña De Estas Cosas/ Maybe He Dreams Of These Things:” Envisioning Possibilities For Multilingual Learners In The Culturally Responsive Rural Classroom, Evelyn Spradley Stockdale

Theses and Dissertations

Meeting the needs of multilingual learners is a growing concern for many classroom teachers across the nation as school-age populations in the United States continue to become more ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse. Teachers often have little understanding of diverse learners and frequently express misconceptions about these students and their cultures. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore the social, cultural, and linguistic resources multilingual learners draw upon and the literacy practices they enact during reading and writing workshop when culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) is implemented. This study also examined how culturally relevant (CR) texts and …

Fate And Behavior Of Silver Nanoparticles To The Estuarine Organisms, Prorocentrum Minimum And Crassostrea Virginica, Shelby Victoria Butz

Theses and Dissertations

Nanoparticles are known to be entering the environment and are shown to have adverse effects on aquatic organisms (Fabrega et.al. 2011, Lapresta-Fernandez et.al. 2012, Matranga and Corsi 2012, Moore 2006). The purpose of this study was to quantify the uptake of AgNPs by two estuarine organisms and determine the associated toxic effects of accumulation. There are multiple procedures for nanoparticle (NP) synthesis that involve various core and surface materials, which result in various characteristics such as size, shape, and surface coating. In this study silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were synthesized by a chemical reduction of silver salts and characterized in stock …

Anxiety And Autism Symptomology On Social Skills In Young Boys With Fragile X Syndrome, Debra L. Reisinger

Theses and Dissertations

Children with fragile X syndrome (FXS) are at high risk for developing several comorbid disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and anxiety, that can substantially impart their social skills. However, to date, there are no studies that examine complex social skills within boys with FXS and the effects of emerging autism and anxiety symptoms on the development of their social skills. The current study examines social skills at the composite and subdomain level in young boys with FXS in contrast to typically developing (TD) boys and in relation to age, adaptive behavior, anxiety symptoms and autism symptomology. The study consisted …

Relationships Between Law Enforcement Officer-Involved Vehicle Collisions And Other Police Behaviors, John Andrew Hansen

Theses and Dissertations

Specialization and versatility regarding officer negative outcomes have different implications for agency policies and practices. Versatility suggests interventions that address several problematic behaviors, while specialization may necessitate more targeted interventions. If officers who engage in one form of negative behavior are also more likely to be involved in other undesired outcomes than co-monitoring behaviors via early intervention systems or other mechanisms may be an effective means of identifying problematic officers. The threat posed by officer-involved motor vehicle collisions to the safety of police and the public has received increased attention from practitioners and researchers in the past decade or so. …

Creating The Self: Women Artists In Twentieth-Century Fiction, Bethany Dailey Tisdale

Theses and Dissertations

In novels of artistic development (or künstlerromane) by women in the early twentieth-century, becoming an artist is intimately tied to becoming recognized as an individual. It would appear that an era of rapid change and expanding opportunities for women would result in affirmative narratives of women’s artistry, but studying texts by Edith Wharton, Anzia Yezierska, Zelda Fitzgerald, and Dawn Powell shows that stringent gender roles can still keep women from realizing artist success.

In Wharton’s The House of Mirth, Lily Bart ruins her prospects on the marriage market by striving for freedom and aesthetic pleasure. Those desires cannot be reconciled …

Examination Of The Association Of Receipt Of Opioid Therapy And Lung Cancer Patient Survival Rates Among South Carolina Medicaid Recipients, Jametta Sade Magwood

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Lung cancer is a high pain cancer that can require the attention of clinical specialists. Already vulnerable populations, like those that inhabit rural areas, when dealing with chronic diseases, like lung cancer, need and deserve adequate medical attention. However, rural communities often lack clinical specialists and are left without the needed care. It is necessary to investigate the current availability of treatment options (medications) available to cancer patients in rural communities. Gaining this knowledge can result in economic savings and improvement of the quality of life for rural populations.

Methods: Medicaid data from 1996-2010 was used to …

Models Of Survivorship Care Provision In Adult Patients With Haematological Cancer: An Integrative Literature Review, K Taylor, R Chan, L Monterosso

Nursing Papers and Journal Articles

Purpose: Increasing numbers of haematology cancer survivors warrants identification of the most effective model of survivorship care to survivors from a diverse range of haematological cancers with aggressive treatment regimens. This review aimed to identify models of survivorship care to support the needs of haematology cancer survivors.

Methods: An integrative literature review method utilised a search of electronic databases (CINAHL, Medline, PsycInfo, PubMed, EMBASE, PsycArticles, Cochrane Library) for eligible articles (up to July 2014). Articles were included if they proposed or reported the use of a model of care for haematology cancer survivors.

Results: Fourteen articles were included …

Advance Care Planning In 21st Century Australia: A Systematic Review And Appraisal Of Online Advance Care Directive Templates Against National Framework Criteria, T Luckett, P Bhattarai, J Phillips, M Agar, D Currow, Y Krastev, P Davidson

Nursing Papers and Journal Articles

Objectives A drive to promote advance care planning at a population level has led to a proliferation of online advance care directive (ACD) templates but little information to guide consumer choice. The current study aimed to appraise the quality of online ACD templates promoted for use in Australia.

Methods A systematic review of online Australian ACD templates was conducted in February 2014. ACD templates were identified via Google searches, and quality was independently appraised by two reviewers against criteria from the 2011 report A National Framework for Advance Care Directives. Bias either towards or against future medical treatment was …

Adaptation Of International Guidelines On Assessment And Management Of Cancer Pain For The Australian Context, M Lovell, T Luckett, F Boyle, J Stubbs, J Phillips, P Davidson, I Olver, J Von Dincklage, M Agar

Nursing Papers and Journal Articles

Aim: To develop clinical practice guidelines for screening, assessing and managing cancer pain in Australian adults.

Methods: This three phase project utilised the ADAPTE approach to adapt international cancer pain guidelines for the Australian setting. A Working Party was established to define scope, screen guidelines for adaptation, and develop recommendations to support better cancer pain control through screening, assessment, pharmacological and non-pharmacological management, and patient education. Recommendations with limited evidence were referred to Expert Panels for advice before the draft guidelines were opened for public consultation via the Cancer Council Australia Cancer Guidelines Wiki platform in late 2012. All comments …

État Des Connaissances Sur La Relation Entre Les Concentrations D’Amiante Dans Le Sol Et Dans L’Air, Martine Lévesque, Chantal Dion, France Labrèche, Joseph Zayed

États de la question, rapports d’expertise et revues de littérature

Les activités reliées à des travaux d’aménagement, de sécurisation ou de réhabilitation de sites contaminés par de l’amiante peuvent entraîner la mise en suspension de fibres dans l’air. Les concentrations de fibres dans l’air peuvent dépendre de plusieurs paramètres dont la connaissance peut influer sur le choix de mesures de prévention et de protection des travailleurs.

La présente étude visait donc à dresser l’état des connaissances sur la relation entre les concentrations de fibres d’amiante dans le sol et celles dans l’air. Pour ce faire, une revue de la littérature a été réalisée à partir de différents mots-clés incluant : …

L’Évaluation Clinique, Les Traitements Et Le Retour En Emploi De Travailleurs Souffrant D’Atteintes De La Coiffe Des Rotateurs : Bilan Des Connaissances, Jean-Sébastien Roy, François Desmeules, Pierre Frémont, Clermont E. Dionne, Joy C. Macdermid

États de la question, rapports d’expertise et revues de littérature

Les atteintes musculosquelettiques de l’épaule constituent une problématique importante au sein de la population générale, et particulièrement chez les travailleurs. Ce type d’atteintes affecte le statut fonctionnel de l’épaule et la qualité de vie des personnes et peut entrainer, chez les travailleurs, des problématiques d’absentéisme ou des pertes de productivité. Les travailleurs effectuant des tâches avec les bras au-dessus des épaules ou des tâches répétitives présentent un risque plus important de développer une lésion à l’épaule, particulièrement une atteinte de la coiffe des rotateurs (CR). Pour la période 2005-2007, les coûts totaux générés annuellement par les lésions aux épaules acceptées …

Recycling: Washington & Statesboro, Shaun Ferguson, Kea'erra Wilson, Robshanda Reason

Georgia Municipal Association Practicum (2013-2022)

No abstract provided.