Digital Commons Network^™

Host Location And Host-Associated Divergence In Parasitoids Of The Gall Midge, Asteromyia Carbonifera, Jeffrey L. Howell

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Some of the world's greatest mysteries are the series of ecological and behavioral processes that promote adaptive radiation: when one species rapidly diverges into multiple descendants due to ecological selective pressures. Selective pressures from natural enemies have the potential to drive such radiations, as has been suggested in the diversification of the goldenrod gall-midge, Asteromyia carbonifera (Stireman et al., 2008, 2012). This complex, multitrophic system involves the midge species complex, their goldenrod host plants (Solidago sp.), and a suite of parasitoid enemies in the diverse wasp superfamily, Chalcidoidea. There is evidence that the midge is undergoing host-associated differentiation (HAD), in …

A Comparison Of Small Mammal Communities Among Three Habitats In Western North Dakota, Samantha R. Pounds

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

There is recent oil and natural gas development within western North Dakota, which makes it imperative to update outdated and incomplete small mammal records. Small mammals are vital components to many ecosystems, including grasslands. Small mammals contribute to grazing, seed dispersal, and provide food for other animals. I surveyed small mammals in three habitats, grassland, badland, and wet meadow, in the summers of 2014 and 2015 in western North Dakota. In 2014, I surveyed in 8 badland and 10 grassland habitats and in 2015 I surveyed in 1 badland, 13 grassland, and 4 wet meadow habitats, with 1 transect per …

The Veneration Motif In The Temptation Narrative Of The Gospel Of Matthew: Lessons From The Enochic Tradition, Andrei Orlov

Theology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

The Biotic Effects Of Tertiary Geoclimatic Change In The Southern Hemisphere, Stuart Val Nielsen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I explore how pre-Quaternary geoclimatic phenomena and geographical heterogeneity influenced sub-continental speciation processes and contemporary biogeographic patterns across the Southern Hemisphere, with particular focus on two regions that have experienced elevated levels of ongoing aridification – sub-Saharan (particularly Southern) Africa and Australia. I used standard methods from the molecular phylogeneticists’ toolbox (e.g. tree building using maximum likelihood and Bayesian approaches, haplotype networks, uncorrected p-distances) combined with environmental niche modeling, morphometric principal components and fossil calibrated molecular dating analyses in order to ascertain the role that Miocene geo-climatic events played in promoting lineage accumulation and diversification through time. I found a …

Between Species: Biopolitics, Resistance, And Interspeciesality, Temple Jo Gowan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines three twentieth-century novels—Carson McCullers’s Reflections in a Golden Eye, Charles Johnson’s Oxherding Tale, and Ruth Ozeki’s My Year of Meats—in the context of posthumanist animal studies. A Foucauldian biopolitical lens foregrounds the inextricably linked ways that both human and nonhuman animal bodies are governed and controlled in a biopolitical era. Each chapter focuses on textual links between speciesism and the oppression of particular human groups based on gender, sexuality, and race, arguing that each novel offers new ways of thinking about both our own species, other animal species, and how humans relate to the nonhuman world.

Bluesman, Guitar, And Migration, Yaeko Takada

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project examines how the bluesman, guitar, and migration have interacted with each other and brought about transformations to American popular music, based upon scholarly works, magazine articles, and the sound recordings of the prewar blues performers. In popular theory, the blues sprang out of the cotton fields and articulated the life experiences of the oppressed people in isolated areas, particularly the Jim Crow south. These are certainly truths of the blues. Also true is that the blues was a product of modernization in every way and a representation of the African American bluesman's aspiring life. The bluesman's mobile lifestyle …

Boxing Men: Ideas Of Race, Masculinity, And Nationalism, Robert Bryan Hawks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract: Jack Johnson and Joe Louis were African American boxers who held the title of world heavyweight champion in their respective periods. Johnson and Louis constructed ideologies of African American manhood that challenged white hegemonic notions of masculinity and nationalism from the first decade of the twentieth century, when Johnson held the title, through Joe Louis’s reign that began in the 1930's. This thesis investigates the history of white supremacy from the turn of the twentieth century when Johnson fought and does so through several lenses. The lenses I suggest include evolving notions of masculinity, Theodore Roosevelt’s racially deterministic agendas, …

Pre-School & Kindergarten Language Art Curriculum Unit, Victoria Sutton

Honors Projects

This is a curriculum unit with lessons for language arts for pre-school and kindergarten. There is a lesson plan that meets each of the Ohio Early Learning Reading Comprehension Standards for Pre-School and a lesson that meets of the reading literature standards for Kindergarten from the Common Core Standards. In total, there are seven lesson plans per grade. Each lesson plan incorporates a book as the engagement to help teach the skill the children will need. The pre-school lessons had more of a focus on the author of Laura Numeroff and the kindergarten lessons had more of a focus on …

A Day In Their Shoes: Lived Experiences Of Five Agricultural Education Teachers Working With English Learners, Julie A. Ketterling

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation took a phenomenological approach in order to take a deeper look into the experiences of five agricultural education teachers that taught English Learner (EL) students and factors that affected those experiences. Dunkin and Biddle’s (1973) Teacher Model provided the conceptual framework and underpinnings for the literature review. The study identified a pilot study teacher with EL experience and 4 agricultural education teachers that taught agricultural education at schools with at least a 15% EL student population. The interviews were semi-structured in nature and each was audiotaped and later transcribed. Each of the transcribed interviews was coded. Through a …

Exploring Anthropological Monism For Pastoral Care Practice In A Local Church, Michael Robert Mcleod

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research project explored the viability and benefits of anthropological monism for pastoral care practice in a local church. Monism, as it relates to human nature, refers to humanity consisting solely of materiality or physicality from which emerge all capacities and functions of the human individual⎯feeling, thinking, relating, acting, or experiencing God, self, others, or the world in general. Biblically and theologically, anthropological monism can point to integration for holism to overcome life disruption and fragmentation due to sin. It can also highlight embodiment and refocus the church towards human physicality and the prominence of resurrection for end-of-life outcomes rather …

The Roles Of Introduced Eucalyptus In The Conservation And Expansion Of Ethiopian Orthodox Church Forests In The Northern Ethiopian Highlands, Janice Liang

Honors Theses

Species of the genus Eucalyptus (common name eucalyptus) are widely planted all across Ethiopia – including on large areas of land previously allocated to food production. In recent decades eucalyptus has also increasingly been planted on lands around and within “church forests,” sacred groves of old-aged Afromontane trees surrounding Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido churches. These revered holy sites have long been recognized for their cultural values and also for their ecosystem services – including their potential to support species conservation and restoration, as church forests are some of the only remaining sanctuaries for many of Ethiopia’s indigenous and endemic plant and …

The Faith At Work Movement At Westwood Community Church, Daniel Albert Bolt

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigated the faith at work (FAW) movement through the lens of philosophical hermeneutics. The work concepts of both Old and New Testaments were explored, along with theologian’s voices on the intersection of work and faith. The literature review demonstrated the one-dimensional emphasis of the FAW for the church and the working world. The church and world need the FAW as an ethos with an emphasis on the whole person. The research was a mixed method of case study utilizing qualitative and quantitative method. This mixed method helped underline the shallowness of current scholarship of the FAW as an …

Emerging Policy And Practice Issues (2016), Steven L. Schooner, Neal J. Couture

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This paper, presented at the West Government Contracts Year in Review Conference (covering 2015), attempts to identify the key trends and issues in U.S. federal procurement. Consistent with prior practice, this chapter offers extensive coverage of the federal procurement, grant, and defense spending trends and attempts to predict what lies ahead, particularly with regard to legislative and executive activity. The paper discusses, in addition to the macro-level data, initiatives from OFPP and DoD, including the Better Buying Power 3.0's less-than-obvious focus on innovation, the need for investment in research and development, information technology and category management, acquisition performance measurement (or …

Reinvigorating Innovation: Lessons Learned From The Wright Brothers, Steven L. Schooner, Nathaniel E. Castellano

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

The Department of Defense (DOD) increasingly recognizes that it must do more to spur innovation to maintain its technological superiority. This article suggests that DOD’s leadership make time for David McCullough’s recent biography, The Wright Brothers, as an aviation anecdote chock full of fundamental lessons that DOD must embrace to succeed.

Among other things, this article encourages DoD to consider - in light of the Wright Brothers' experiences and successes - experimenting with prizes and contests; looking outside the inner circle (including conventional contractors and sources of R&D) for new ideas; appreciating that bigger isn’t always better; recognizing that prototyping …

Tha 3257 : Digital Theatrical Design, Theatre

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Overcoming Treatment Resistance In Heterogeneous Tumors, Nikhil Hebbar

Theses and Dissertations--Toxicology and Cancer Biology

Most primary tumors are heterogeneous and are often composed of therapy-sensitive and emerging therapy-resistant cancer cells. Rather unexpectedly, treatment of therapy-sensitive tumor cells in heterogeneous tumor microenvironments resulted in apoptosis of the therapy-resistant cancer cells. We identified a novel Par-4 amino-terminal fragment (PAF, which includes amino acids 1-131 of Par-4) that is produced and released by therapy-sensitive cancer cells following therapy-induced caspase-dependent cleavage of the tumor suppressor Par-4. PAF caused paracrine apoptosis in therapy-resistant cancer cells. Unlike Par-4-inducible apoptosis, which is dependent on the cell surface GRP78 receptor, PAF produced cancer-selective apoptosis independent of cell surface GRP78 function. Par-4 contains …

Incidence Of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma By Residential Proximity To Superfund Sites In Kentucky: A Multivariate Analysis, William Brent Webber

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL) is a category of cancers that arise from the lymphocytes of the immune system. The rates of NHL in the United States and Kentucky began to rise in the mid-20th Century, shortly after the manufacture, use, and disposal of numerous chemical substances began to increase during and after the Second World War. While the etiology of NHL is not fully known, there are several chemical substances for which evidence exists of a possible link between exposures and development of NHL and other cancers. Several of these substances are also present in sites within Kentucky designated by the …

Equine Leptospirosis Seroprevealence In The Central And Bluegrass Regions Of Kentucky From 1993 - 2015, Charlene Siza

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

BACKGROUND

Leptospirosis is a worldwide zoonotic bacterial disease of significant importance for both human and animal health. There are many sources of infection and shedding of the bacteria, including horses. There is a known occupational hazard for leptospirosis, especially in occupations that work directly with animals or animal products. This study examined the prevalence of equine leptospirosis in Kentucky in relation to trends over time and geographical distribution.

METHODS

Data was obtained from the University of Kentucky Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory(UKVDL) on equine leptospirosis from 1993 through September 2015. Overall seropositive prevalence and prevalence stratified by serovar were calculated. Furthermore, distribution …

Birth Cohort Effects In Risk Factors For Alzheimer’S Disease, Kingsley Uzodinma

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Background and Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the presence of birth cohort effects by exploring differences in established risk factors of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and dementia using case-control designs and also estimate the AD risk among women with respect to their number of biological children.

Methods: This is a case control study design of participants born in 1896 – 1955 and were enrolled in one of the designated Alzheimer’s disease centers (ADCs). The uniform Data Set of the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating center (NACC) include those who had Alzheimer’s disease or mild cognitive impairment (cases) and were …

Hispanic Agricultural Workers: The Nexus Of Demographics, Employment Characteristics, And Health, Ashley Michelle Bush

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Agriculture, which is home to elevated occupational injury and illness rates, has a substantial demographic makeup of Hispanic workers. Hispanic farmworkers are at increased risk of poor occupational health outcomes due to the precarious nature of work and other socio-ecological influences. These adverse occupational health outcome counts are inadequate and undercounted, failing to capture the true scope of agricultural work. To gain more knowledge about agriculture, this capstone will focus on the personal and work characteristics of agricultural workers to help further understand disparities within the agricultural sector by: providing a literature review of agricultural worker health; examining missed work …

Service Training And Recovery (Star) Program: An Interdisciplinary Community-Based Project To Mitigate Rr-Ptsd Among Kentucky Women, Margaret Melissa Brown

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Background: Kentucky has greater prevalence of sexual assault compared to the US overall, 37.5% versus 35.6% of all assault crimes respectively, translating to roughly 638,000 victims within the Commonwealth [1].Research identified sexual violence as the number one factor in development of PTSD among women. There are four times the prevalence of PTSD in victims of sexual violence versus other forms of trauma. [2, 3] The STAR program utilizes skills-based training methods to empower participants through improving a sense of safety and security, self-confidence, and self-efficacy to mitigate RR-PTSD symptoms leading to negative health outcomes.

Literature Review: Existing research …

Patterns In Dental Health: Investigating Dental Disease At The Archaeological Site Of Kuelap In Chachapoyas, Peru, Vu Tran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Social organization influences individual well-being and overall community health, which may lead to health disparities that manifest in teeth. The research in this thesis explores social variability by analyzing patterns in dental disease at the archaeological site of Kuelap in Chachapoyas, Peru. The ancient Chachapoya (AD 900-1535) were a complex society but the nature of that complexity is not well understood based on traditional archaeological correlates. Since burials at Kuelap lack grave goods that are often used to discriminate variation in social status or identity, bioarchaeological dental proxies were tested. The dental remains of 106 individuals (7 subadults, 54 adult …

Chlamydia Trachomatis Transformants Show A Significant Reduction In Rates Of Invasion Upon Removal Of Key Tarp Domains, Christopher Parrett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Chlamydia trachomatis is an obligate, intracellular bacterium which is known to cause multiple human infections including nongonococcal urethritis (serovars D-K), lymphogranuloma venereum (serovars L1, L2, L3) and trachoma (serovars A-C). The infectious form of the bacterium, called the elementary body (EB), harbors a type III secreted effector known as Tarp (translocated actin recruiting phosphoprotein) which is a candidate virulence factor and is hypothesized to play a role in C. trachomatis' ability to invade and grow within epithelial cells in a human host. C. trachomatis L2 Tarp harbors five unique protein domains which include the Phosphorylation Domain, the Proline Rich Domain, …

Ecology Of Two Reintroduced Black Bear Populations In The Central Appalachians, Sean Mccarthy Murphy

Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences

Reintroduced populations are vulnerable to demographic and environmental stochasticity, deleterious genetic effects, and reduced population fitness, all of which can increase extinction probability. Population viability is principle to determining the status of reintroduced populations and for guiding management decisions. To attempt to reestablish black bear (Ursus americanus) populations in the central Appalachians, two reintroductions using small founder groups occurred during the 1990s in the Big South Fork area along the Kentucky-Tennessee border (BSF) and in the Jefferson National Forest along the Kentucky-Virginia border (KVP). My objectives were to estimate demographic and genetic parameters, and to evaluate long-term viability …

Relative Reactivity Of Protein And Lipid To Oxidants In Different Bi-Phasic Systems And Its Implication In Sausage Quality, Jiayi Yang

Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences

This study investigated the progression of protein and lipid oxidation in different bi-phasic model systems: simple aqueous dispersions, liposome, and oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions. Varied concentrations of isolated pork myofibrillar protein (MFP) were mixed with free fatty acids (C18:1, C18:2, C18:3), lecithin, or vegetable oil to construct different lipid-protein dispersion systems, then subjected to hydroxyl radical stress at 4 °C. Comparison of the evolution of lipid oxidation with protein modification markers in all dispersion systems showed noteworthy attenuation of tryptophan fluorescence, protein carbonyl formation, and extensive polymerization of myosin in 2 h. This process preceded lipid oxidation which exhibited notable accumulations …

The Uneasy Case For Food Safety Liability Insurance, John Aloysius Cogan, Jr.

Faculty Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.

Serving In The Master’S House: Legal Protection For In-Home Care Workers In The United States, Michael Fischl

Faculty Articles and Papers

This essay will focus on the developing forms of legal protection available in the United States to those whose principal place of work is another person’s home and who are paid to do what is broadly referred to as “care work.” The particular services vary widely – from housecleaning, to child care, to companionship and routine health care management for the elderly and the infirm – but the labor market demographics do not: This is low-wage/no-benefit work performed almost exclusively by women and primarily by women of color and of extra-national origin

Aet 1363 : Introduction To Graphics Technology, Technology

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Aet 3343 : Cross Media Technologies, Technology

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Phytoplankton Pigment Specific Growth And Losses Due To Microzooplankton Grazing In A Northern Gulf Of Mexico Estuary During Winter/Fall, Amanda M. Mcgehee, Donald G. Redalje

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Microzooplankton dilution grazing experiments were carried out on 6 dates, over a 3 month period at 2 locations in the Bay of St. Louis, MS (BSL) to determine phytoplankton pigment specific growth rates under natural (µ₀) and replete (µ_n) nutrient conditions and microzooplankton grazing. We hypothesized that diatoms would be the largest portion of the phytoplankton composition due to the winter/fall season and that these organisms would have the highest growth/grazing rates. We suspected that river flow from the Jourdan River would adversely affect growth and grazing rates of all phytoplankton classes. Growth rates of 5 …