Digital Commons Network^™

Engineering A Healthier Watershed: Middle School Students Use Engineering Design To Lessen The Impact Of Their Campus' Impervious Surfaces On Their Local Watershed, Elizabeth Claire Gardner

Dissertations and Theses

It is important that students understand not only how their local watershed functions, but also how it is being impacted by impervious surfaces. Additionally, students need experience exploring the scientific and engineering practices that are necessary for a strong STEM background. With this knowledge students can be empowered to tackle this real and local problem using engineering design, a powerful practice gaining momentum and clarity through its prominence in the recent Framework for K-12 Science Education. Twenty classes of suburban sixth-graders participated in a new five-week Watershed Engineering Design Unit taught by their regular science teachers. Students engaged in scientific …

Using Landsat Tm Imagery To Monitor Vegetation Change Following Flow Restoration To The Lower Owens River, California, Lesley Crandell Bross

Dissertations and Theses

Rehabilitating river corridors to restore valuable riparian habitat consumes significant resources from both governments and private companies. Given these considerable expenditures, it is important to monitor the progress of such projects. This study evaluated the utility of using Landsat Thematic Mapper remotely-sensed data from 2002 and 2009 to monitor vegetation change induced by instream flow restoration to the Lower Owens River in central California. This study compared the results of an unsupervised classification with an NDVI threshold classification to appraise the resources required and effectiveness of each analysis method. The results were inspected by creating standard remote sensing accuracy error …

Isn’T Citizen Science A Hoot? A Case-Study Exploring The Effectiveness Of Citizen Science As An Instrument To Teach The Nature Of Science Through A Local Nocturnal Owl-Monitoring Project, Tess Marie Kreofsky

Dissertations and Theses

Citizen science projects present a distinctive opportunity for professional and volunteer scientists to coordinate their efforts to gather unique sets of data that can benefit the scientific and local communities. These projects are assumed to be an effective educational tool to teach nature of science (NOS) to participants (Brossard, Lewenstein, Bonney, 2005). This case study evaluates the effectiveness of participation in a citizen science project as a way to learn about NOS. Through enhancement of the Tryon Creek Owl Monitoring Project the researcher reviewed the characteristics of a citizen science project that were thought to be necessary to impact the …

Europe’S Refugee Crisis: Assessing The Factors Preventing A Coordinated Eu Response, Ali Albassam

Master's Theses

In order to escape increasing political violence in the Middle East and Africa, many refugees are fleeing by sea to seek asylum in Europe. As a result, Europe has witnessed the highest influx of refugees since World War Two. European Union member states have scrambled for a solution, seemingly unable to form a collective response. The reemergence of nationalism amid the arrival of thousands of refugees not only clouds Europe’s moral compass, but also weakens the EU and its founding principles. In an effort to contribute to the protection of refugees and the EU and its values, this thesis aims …

Genocide In German South West Africa & The Herero Reparations Movement, Melanie Bracht

Senior Theses

During my spring 2015 Semester at Sea voyage, the ship docked in Walvis Bay, Namibia for five days. Prior to the voyage, I knew nothing about Namibia’s history. I was surprised to learn of its treacherous past and the role Germany played in shaping its political and economic condition. I took a tour of the Himba settlement, driving hours across the barren, dry land to a small circle of huts. Women cover their skin with red clay and continue the tradition of sauna bathes, never bathing in water in their entire lives. The Himba culture was captivating and it was …

Momentum Of Particles From Time-Of-Flight Measurements, Joseph Best

Senior Theses

In order to find the momentum of particles from time of flight measurements, I used a program called Geant4 to simulate experiments. I made a simple two detector setup, and I recreated a real world experiment. I spent a lot of time learning to code in C++ so I could use Geant4 correctly. I simulated these experiments shooting electrons, muons, and pions through the geometry and measured the time at two points in their flight. Subtracting the second time from the first gave me the time of flight distribution for each particle. I used ROOT to draw histograms of the …

Healthy Living For A Healthy Haiti, Elizabeth Grace Binney

Senior Theses

This project is twofold. The art and the book work synergistically to represent Haiti and health literacy. The pieces selected for this discussion are placed in chronological order of their creation, not the thematic order as they are organized in the book. This allows for discussion of the works as individual pieces of art, artistic development, the creation of a unified theme. They are the representation of a beautiful nation and people, as well as an expression of my inner self.

The Force Of Water: Columbia After The Flood, Rebecca Johnson

Senior Theses

Nearly two months have passed, and South Carolina is still recovering from the unprecedented inundation of rain that pelted down in early October. Record amounts of precipitation pounded the state over just a few days, resulting in the flooding and erosion of land, the deterioration of public infrastructure and the loss of human life and capital.

The worst of it was in the capital city. Columbia recorded the highest water levels and the highest number of fatalities of all the affected areas. The city’s utilities could not handle the torrent of water: dams were destroyed, canals were compromised, roads were …

Ngo Global Expansion: Models To Successfully Introduce The American Cancer Society’S ‘Relay For Life’ In Chile, Kristin Mednick

Senior Theses

The research identifies and evaluates the feasibility of potential models for successful international expansion of a large non-governmental cancer control organization, the American Cancer Society (ACS), into Chile through the introduction of a signature event, Global Relay For Life. The purpose of this study is to incorporate the conventional wisdom of existing research on the topic of the global expansion of NGOs and personal experiences with a particular NGO and foreign market to recommend best methods for introducing the NGO into the foreign market. The research question relates to the global expansion of NGOs, but narrows the scope of the …

Adhd And Social Impairment Among Children: Problem Solving Skills As A Potential Mediator, Rebecca Mccord

Senior Theses

This study tested the hypothesis that problem solving skills mediate the relation between ADHD symptoms and social impairment in children. Problem solving skills were evaluated by the Test of Problem Solving 3 – Elementary Version (TOPS), which separated problem solving skills into six different subtypes: making inferences, sequencing, negative questions, problem solving, predicting, and determining causes. ADHD symptoms were assessed through the parent report of the Disruptive Behavior Disorder Scale (DBD). Social impairment was assessed through the parent report of social skills using the Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS). Three hundred seventy-two (372) children between the ages of eight and …

The Historical Role Of The Use Of Derivatives For Speculation, Charles Austin Boyd Ii

Senior Theses

As long as humans have had a concept of possession of items and a means of trading for them, there have been speculative position in the form of derivative contracts. The first instance of a written code of laws contains protection for farmers leveraging their future crops. Aristotle writes of an instance of the equivalent of call options being used to secure a monopoly on olive presses. Many features of contemporary derivative markets were developed in Europe during Medieval trade fairs or Renaissance bourse marketplaces. The development of the first modern stock exchange brought with it further development in the …

Academic E-Books: Publishers, Librarians, And Users, Suzanne M. Ward, Robert S. Freeman, Judith M. Nixon

Purdue University Press Books

Academic E-Books: Publishers, Librarians, and Users provides readers with a view of the changing and emerging roles of electronic books in higher education. The three main sections contain contributions by experts in the publisher/vendor arena, as well as by librarians who report on both the challenges of offering and managing e-books and on the issues surrounding patron use of e-books. The case study section offers perspectives from seven different sizes and types of libraries whose librarians describe innovative and thought-provoking projects involving e-books.

Read about perspectives on e-books from organizations as diverse as a commercial publisher and an association press. …

Quaternary Chronology And Stratigraphy Of Mickey Springs, Oregon, Leslie Allen Mowbray

Dissertations and Theses

Mickey Springs in the Alvord Desert, southeast Oregon, is analogous to other Basin and Range hydrothermal systems where the requisite conditions of heat source and permeable pathways are met through crustal thinning due to normal faulting. This study examines the morphology and lifespan of near-surface spring features through use of ground penetrating radar, thermoluminescence (TL) dating, and elevation modeling. Duration of hydrothermal activity at Mickey Springs has not previously been determined, and age determinations of sinter at the site are conflicting. The reason for and timing of this change in silica saturation in the hydrothermal fluid has not been resolved. …

Factors Associated With Tonic-Clonic Seizures In Patients With Drug-Resistant Mesial Temporal Epilepsy., Ali Akbar Asadi-Pooya, Cyrus Rostami, Amin H. Rabiei, Michael R. Sperling

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

PURPOSE: Among different seizure types, tonic-clonic seizures are more significant because they are more often associated with morbidity. No prior study has been done to investigate risk factors associated with tonic-clonic seizures in patients with mesial temporal epilepsy.

METHODS: In this retrospective study, all drug-resistant mesial temporal epilepsy patients in the database of patients who underwent epilepsy surgery at Jefferson comprehensive epilepsy center were recruited. These patients were prospectively registered in a database from 1986 till 2014. Patients' age, gender, epilepsy risk factors, age at seizure onset, and preoperative seizure type(s) were registered routinely. Potential risk factors associated with experiencing …

Reducing The Risk Of Suicide On An Inpatient Acute Behavioral Health Unit, Thomas I. Coleman Mr

Master's Projects and Capstones

Evidence suggest for those who have successfully committed suicide in the form of asphyxiation inside locked facilities are more than likely due to patient bathroom doors. The current unit consists of 30 inpatient medical-psychiatric beds serving the adult and geriatric populations. The goal is to ensure patient safety by removing patient bathroom doors and replacing them with breakaway shower curtains for those exhibiting direct signs and symptoms of suicidal ideations with a plan. The specific aim is to improve patient outcomes by decreasing the number of deaths or attempted suicides. With great results, this type of project has been implemented …

A ‘Fresh Eyes’ Look At Improving The Effectiveness Of Engineering Group Design Projects, A Kyte

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Micro-Determinants Of Income Inequality And Consumption In Rural Bangladesh, S Rahman

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

The paper examines the extent to which household and regional characteristics influence income inequality and consumption/welfare based on an in-depth survey of 406 households from 21 villages in three regions of Bangladesh. Results show that the overall Gini coefficient for rural incomes is 0.43 but Gini-decomposition revealed that the contribution of mixed crop production to inequality is just 10 percent while “Green Revolution” technology contributes almost 29 percent. Land ownership, farm capital assets, modern irrigation, non-agricultural income, and household head”s education significantly increase consumption. Tenants and households with more dependents are doubly disadvantaged and consume significantly less. Regional factors also …

Increasing Number Sense At The Preschool Level, Sarah Marie Koenig

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This capstone addresses the question, “What strategies can be used to increase number sense at the preschool level?”. Current research states that preschoolers need opportunities to learn about numbers and math concepts through a balance of natural play and exploration, intentional teaching, and structured learning activities embedded in their daily routines. Through the process of curriculum design using McTighe and Wiggins’ Understanding By Design framework, the author created a learning plan that includes lessons, resources, and parent/child activities using a variety of instructional strategies to teach number sense at the preschool level. The learning plan includes a sequence of activities …

The Last Days Of Risdic, David Preston

Documents

No abstract provided.

Segmentation And Strain Mapping Of A Beating Heart, Kenna Middleton

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Conventional methods of estimating deformation optically often compare image intensities before and after deformation to help estimate the strain fields. However, these current meth ods often introduce undesirable error that propagates through the system, growing larger through each strain calculation. These errors create false, concentrated regions of strain throughout the image. Additionally, gathering and evaluating images in three- and four dimensional space creates even more difficulty for conventional methods. Here, by imple menting new techniques of gathering four-dimensional ultrasound data sets and calculating deformation fields with traditional errors reduced three-fold, four-dimensional images were evaluated to create a novel visualization tool …

Optimization Of Looped Airfoil Wind Turbine (Lawt) And Looped Airfoil Hydro-Turbine (Laht) Design Parameters For Maximum Power Generation, Binhe Song

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

This focus of this research is on the study of the aerodynamic performance of a Looped Airfoil Wind Turbine (LAWT™) using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software. The looped airfoil wind turbine (LAWT™) is a patented new technology by EverLift Wind Technology, Inc. for generating power from wind. It takes advantage of the superior lift force of a linearly traveling wing compared to the rotating blades in conventional wind turbine configurations. Compared to horizontal and vertical axis wind turbines, the LAWT™ can be manufactured with minimal cost because it does not require complex gear systems and its blades have a …

Novel Applications Of Electrostatic Precipitators In Coal - Biomass Combustion Systems, He Jing

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Pulverized coal combustion is an important source of electricity production worldwide. However, it is also a primary air pollution emission (particulate matters, mercury, etc.) source. Electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) are widely used in coal-fired power plants to control particulate matters. This dissertation contributes in the study of the pollution formation from coal combustion processes and pollution control based on ESPs in the following three aspects: (1) explore novel applications of ESPs in particulate matters and mercury removal; (2) develop and evaluate an compact electrostatic precipitator for sampling purpose, which can support offline fly ash particle analysis; (3) study the submicrometer particle …

Relating Neural Dynamics To Olfactory Coding And Behavior, Chao Li

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Sensory stimuli often evoke temporal patterns of spiking activity across a population of neurons in the early processing stages. What features of these spatiotemporal responses encode behaviorally relevant information, and how dynamic processing of sensory signals facilitates information processing are fundamental problems in sensory neuroscience that remain to be understood. In this thesis, I have investigated these issues using a relatively simple invertebrate model (locusts; Schistocerca americana).

In locusts, odorants are transduced into electrical signals by olfactory sensory neurons in the antenna and are subsequently relayed to the downstream neural circuit in the antennal lobe (analogous to the olfactory bulb …

Understanding The Nano- And Macroscale Processes Impacting Arsenic Mobilization During Managed Aquifer Recharge Using Reclaimed Wastewater, Chelsea Wren Neil

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) utilizing reclaimed wastewater is a vital means of replenishing natural freshwater supplies in order to meet growing demands. Unfortunately, this process has been found to induce unfavorable geochemical reactions which mobilize arsenic from aquifer sediments. This process is further complicated by the simultaneous formation of iron(III) (hydr)oxide secondary minerals, which can sorb aqueous arsenic. It is crucial to fully elucidate these physico-chemical processes in order to establish safe MAR operations which minimize arsenic release. Thus, the mechanisms controlling arsenic release from arsenopyrite during MAR were investigated from the nano- to macroscale.

First, nanoscale iron(III) (hydr)oxide nucleation …

Molecularly Targeted Nanoparticles For Modulation Of Inflammatory Mediators In Atherosclerosis, Rohun Udatta Palekar

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

The enzyme thrombin has been demonstrated through experimental and clinical studies to play a crucial role in mediating both inflammation and thrombosis in atherosclerosis. The cellular effects of thrombin in promoting atherosclerosis involve the activation of signaling pathways that result in the secretion of a host of various chemokines, cytokines, cell adhesion molecules, etc. that promote vascular inflammation. Due in part to thrombin and other pro-atherogenic molecules, this prolonged inflammatory state in atherosclerosis results in the deterioration of the endothelium, increasing the risk of focal thrombosis. Current treatment strategies to address the role of thrombin in atherosclerosis, despite efficacy of …

Ion Selectivity And Allostery In The Nak Channel, Joshua B. Brettmann

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Ion channels require proper ion selectivity and regulated gating in order to perform their cellular functions. Bacterial ion channels serve as excellent model systems to study structure/function relationships concerning the fundamental processes of ion selectivity and gating. NaK, a non-selective cation channel from Bacillus cereus, has the conserved pore structure of K+ channels. However, its non-canonical selectivity filter structure leads to non-selectivity between Na+ and K+. Full selectivity is restored with two mutations that lead to the restoration of a Kcsa-like selectivity filter structure. Many mutations can be made to the selectivity filter of NaK without loss of protein stability …

Lysosomal Rnaset2 Is Required For Metabolic Stress-Mediated Ros Generation And Cell Death, George Caputa

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Ectopic lipid deposition in non-adipose tissues is a hallmark of metabolic diseases, such as obesity and diabetes, and associated with cell dysfunction, cell death, and organ dysfunction. However, the molecular mechanisms linking excess free fatty acid to cell death are poorly understood. In order to identify genes critical for lipotoxicity, our lab performed a genetic screen in Chinese hamster ovary cells and isolated mutants that were resistant to lipotoxic death. In one of the lines, mutant 2B1, an allele encoding RNASET2, a ribonuclease of the T2 family, was disrupted by proviral insertion. We found that RNASET2 is induced during lipotoxicity …

Characterizing The Role Of Sialylated Milk Glycans And The Infant Gut Microbiota In Growth And Metabolism, Mark Richard Charbonneau

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Undernutrition is a pressing and pervasive global health problem. The pathogenesis of this disease remains unclear, but epidemiologic studies indicate that it is not due to food insecurity alone. Moreover, current therapeutic interventions have limited efficacy in preventing or ameliorating the long-term sequelae of undernutrition, including stunting and cognitive deficits. Recent culture-independent studies have demonstrated that the normal postnatal pattern of gut microbiota development is disrupted in children with undernutrition, leading to the proposal that perturbations in gut microbiota development impairs healthy growth of the host. Human breast milk contains a diverse repertoire of free and conjugated human milk oligosaccharides …

The Identification Of Alkaloid Pathway Genes From Non-Model Plant Species In The Amaryllidaceae, Matthew B. Kilgore

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Secondary metabolites are often restricted in their distribution to different groups of organisms. For this reason, attempts to study these often useful and interesting products of metabolism require an ability to work in a diversity of non-model species. Methods for gene discovery with low investment and high efficiency are needed to effectively identify the biosynthetic genes in these diverse pathways. During this work, a workflow for efficiently identifying biosynthetic genes was developed and applied to Amaryllidaceae alkaloid biosynthesis. Genes discovered during this work include a norbelladine 4’-O-methyltransferase, a cytochrome P450 capable of phenol-phenol coupling 4’-O-methylnorbelladine to noroxomaritidine, and a short-chain …

Behavioral And Fmri-Based Characterization Of Cognitive Processes Supporting Learning And Retrieval Of Memory For Words In Young Adults, Binyam Nardos

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

A novel word is rarely defined explicitly during the first encounter. With repeated exposure, a decontextualized meaning of the word is integrated into semantic memory. With the overarching goal of characterizing the functional neuroanatomy of semantic processing in young adults, we employed a contextual word learning paradigm, creating novel synonyms for common animal/artifact nouns that, along with additional real words, served as stimuli for the lexical-decision based functional MRI (fMRI) experiment. Young adults (n=28) were given two types of word learning training administered in multiple sessions spread out over three days. The first type of training provided perceptual form-only training …