Digital Commons Network^™

Have You Counted The Ingredients On Your Child's Lunch Tray?: An Economic Analysis Of Sustainability Initiatives Within The School Lunch Program, Vanessa R. Scalora

Business and Economics Summer Fellows

In 2010, President Obama signed the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act, establishing a monetary incentive for schools that served meals following a more rigorous nutritional requirement than standard guidelines. This act is a step in the right direction towards placing more importance on school lunches, however America’s lunchroom practices continue to be environmentally unsustainable, and students absorb this message. The production and transportation of processed cafeteria food contributes to climate change, its packaging is polluting, and its consumption contributes to obesity. The use of premade foods and sales from vending machines increase as lunch times grow ever shorter. In addition, …

Secretion Of Rhoptry And Dense Granule Effector Proteins By Nonreplicating Toxoplasma Gondii Uracil Auxotrophs Controls The Development Of Antitumor Immunity, Barbara A. Fox, Kiah L. Sanders, Leah M. Rommereim, Rebekah B. Guevara, David J. Bzik

Dartmouth Scholarship

Nonreplicating type I uracil auxotrophic mutants of Toxoplasma gondii possess a potent ability to activate therapeutic immunity to established solid tumors by reversing immune suppression in the tumor microenvironment. Here we engineered targeted deletions of parasite secreted effector proteins using a genetically tractable Δku80 vaccine strain to show that the secretion of specific rhoptry (ROP) and dense granule (GRA) proteins by uracil auxotrophic mutants of T. gondii in conjunction with host cell invasion activates antitumor immunity through host responses involving CD8α⁺ dendritic cells, the IL-12/interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) T_H1 axis, as well as CD4⁺ and CD8 …

Perceptions Surrounding Cyberbullying And Self-Disclosure Among The Lgbtq Community: A Qualitative Approach, Alec Martin

Media and Communication Studies Summer Fellows

LGBTQ adolescents, like all youth, face challenges: the push for high academic marks, the desire for positive relationships, and the right to be themselves in a safe environment. Unfortunately, LGBTQ youths are far more likely than their heterosexual peers to experience bullying and cyberbullying. According to a 2005 study by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, the second largest cause of bullying was actual or presumed sexual orientation or identity. Gay males were more than twice as likely to be bullied on school property than their heterosexual peers, 43.1% and 18.3%, respectively (Olsen et al, 2014). In addition, 23.1% …

Female Moments / Male Structures: The Representation Of Women In Romantic Comedies, Jordan A. Scharaga

Media and Communication Studies Summer Fellows

Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl again. With this formula it seems that romantic comedies are actually meant for men instead of women. If this is the case, then why do women watch these films? The repetition of female stars like Katharine Hepburn, Doris Day and Meg Ryan in romantic comedies allows audiences to find elements of truth in their characters as they grapple with the input of others in their life choices, combat the anxiety of being single, and prove they are less sexually naïve than society would like to admit. In 1999, a character struggles …

Epistemology In The Churches Of Christ: An Analysis And Critique Of Thomas B. Warren, Derek Estes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks to understand at least one prevalent religious epistemology in the Churches of Christ by exploring the work of Thomas B. Warren. To accomplish this goal, I first offer a descriptive analysis of Warren’s theory of knowledge followed by an assessment of its strong and weak points. Ultimately finding his epistemology unsatisfying, I conclude the thesis by highlighting recent developments in religious epistemology that might point the way forward in accounting for knowledge of God in a theologically and philosophically robust way.

Transient Stability Improvement Of Power Transmission Grid By Controlled Fault Current Limiters Considering Cyber-Attacks, Mohammad A. Sadi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

This dissertation proposes the bridge type fault current limiter (BFCL) as well as parallel resonance type fault current limiter (PRFCL) to enhance the transient stability of multi-machine power system. Fuzzy logic controller as well as neural network predictive controller is proposed for controlling the operation of BFCL. Further, a nonlinear static controller is proposed for controlling the operation of PRFCL. An optimal reclosing technique of circuit breakers is adopted. In order to see the effectiveness of the proposed fault current limiters, their performance is compared wit that of other auxiliary devices.Moreover, the effects of cyber-attack on the performance of BFCL …

Zebrafish's Growing Impact On Medical Research, Staff

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Nicotine On Conditioning, Extinction, And Reinstatement In Humans Using A Virtual Reality Conditioned Place Preference Paradigm, Alexandra N. Palmisano

Master's Theses

Despite an abundance of evidence illustrating the harmful effects of nicotine use, only a small percentage of users successfully quit (Messer et al., 2008). Moreover, current treatments for nicotine cessation produce only a slight increase in the likelihood of successfully quitting, which emphasizes the need for more effective strategies that facilitate smoking cessation (Hopkins et al., 2001). Several studies suggest that difficulty in controlling nicotine use behaviors results from nicotine’s ability to enhance the motivating function of cues associated with obtaining rewards. These studies indicate that it is of value to understand the behavioral and neuropharmacological mechanisms by which nicotine …

My Pet Frog, A Former Teen Beauty Queen, Is A Narcissist., Robin D. Smith

Summer Literacy Institute

Learning to write rich, complex sentences that include various kinds of subordination can improve students’ ability to read and comprehend complicated texts. This session offers instructional strategies to help students develop sentences with variety and elaboration while improving their reading comprehension.

Carnivorous Companions And The Vegetarian’S Dilemma, Patrick J. Clipsham

Between the Species

This paper is concerned with a problem that arises within ethical frameworks that imply that it is wrong for humans to consume meat or other animal products when vegan alternatives are available. The specific problem relates to the ethical difficulties associated with beginning a relationship with a companion animal that may require at least some animal-based foods in order to survive. I follow some psychologists in referring to the ethical problems associated with such companionship as the Vegetarian’s Dilemma. After approaching this dilemma from the perspective the animal rights approach and welfarist consequentialism, I argue that some important insights can …

Emu Today, July 21, 2016, Eastern Michigan University

EMU Today

No abstract provided.

A Study Of Spatial And Temporal Distribution Of Confucius Institute In The United States, Yingnan Li

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

This thesis used geographical information system (GIS) to analyze the spatial and temporal distribution pattern of Confucius Institutes (CIs) in the U.S. The GIS is used to identify the range of CIs services and to analyze relevant demographic, social and economic profiles. The major focus of this study is to present the temporal distribution pattern of CIs, to identify the factor which may impact the spatial distribution of CIs and the factor which may influence State’s demand for CIs.Several statistical methods such as kernel density estimation, Spearman’s rank correlation and multiple regression have been adopted in the study. Results found …

The Effects Of Estrogen (E2), Bisphenol A (Bpa), Bisphenol S (Bps), And Bisphenol F (Bpf) On The Proliferation Of Mcf-7 Cells, Colleen Leahy

Biology Summer Fellows

Endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) are chemicals that disturb the endocrine system and exhibit adverse effects throughout the body. EDCs exert their effects by displaying hormone-like activity and can act as agonists or antagonists to normal hormonal function. Those EDCs that disturb the activity of estrogen are of particular interest. Estrogen, also known as 17β-estradiol, is a steroid hormone responsible for the development of the female sexual organs, secondary sexual characteristics, bone development and maintenance, and cardiovascular development. It has also been shown to play a role in the growth of certain breast cancers. Endocrine disrupting compounds that are structurally similar …

Student Use Of Cell/Smartphones Integrated In A Field-Based Science Curriculum, Cynthia Ann Hougo

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Cellphones are a growing concern for teachers in schools across the country. Should we ban them or use them as a technological aid in the classroom. This research explores the results of integrating cell/smartphones in a field-based curriculum in a alternative high school science class. The research focused on the question, “How many functions and/or applications do students use on their cell/smartphones when it is integrated in a field-based curriculum?” Students used their cell/smartphones to document, take pictures, research and send assignments during the course of one quarter. The study used a qualitative action research design. Data was collected using …

Getting Published: The Next Steps, Nelouise Geyer, Judith C. Bruce, Deliwe Rene Phetlhu

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Workshop 3 presented on Thursday, 21 July 2016. This workshop follows on the Elsevier workshop on getting published. The pressure to publish or perish is growing on a daily basis. With nursing education in South Africa migrating in its totality to the higher education sector, this statement has become a stark reality. The workshop will focus on novice authors with a view to creating awareness of the processes and phases of scientific writing, mapping the journey of writing, expository and argumentative writing and identifying the link between style, discourse and the general characteristics of scholarly writing. Writers need to familiarize …

Suboptimal Choice In Pigeons: Stimulus Value Predicts Choice Over Frequencies, Aaron P. Smith, Alexandria R. Bailey, Jonathan J. Chow, Joshua S. Beckmann, Thomas R. Zentall

Psychology Faculty Publications

Pigeons have shown suboptimal gambling-like behavior when preferring a stimulus that infrequently signals reliable reinforcement over alternatives that provide greater reinforcement overall. As a mechanism for this behavior, recent research proposed that the stimulus value of alternatives with more reliable signals for reinforcement will be preferred relatively independently of their frequencies. The present study tested this hypothesis using a simplified design of a Discriminative alternative that, 50% of the time, led to either a signal for 100% reinforcement or a blackout period indicative of 0% reinforcement against a Nondiscriminative alternative that always led to a signal that predicted 50% reinforcement. …

Model-Based Clustering With Certainty Estimation: Implication For Clade Assignment Of Influenza Viruses, Shunpu Zhang, Zhong Li, Kevin Beland, Guoquing Lu

Biology Faculty Publications

Background

Clustering is a common technique used by molecular biologists to group homologous sequences and study evolution. There remain issues such as how to cluster molecular sequences accurately and in particular how to evaluate the certainty of clustering results.

Results

We presented a model-based clustering method to analyze molecular sequences, described a subset bootstrap scheme to evaluate a certainty of the clusters, and showed an intuitive way using 3D visualization to examine clusters. We applied the above approach to analyze influenza viral hemagglutinin (HA) sequences. Nine clusters were estimated for high pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza, which agree with previous findings. …

How To Publish: An Author Workshop, Nelouise Geyer, Judith C. Bruce, Deliwe Rene Phetlhu

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Workshop presented on Thursday, 21 July 2016.

This two-part workshop will first explain the process nurses should follow to publish their research in a qualified journal. Writing for publication in scholarly journals can be considered a 'journey.' But writing for publication has, for most, become a requisite of professional practice - for educators, nurses and managers - as a means of communicating the findings of research; sharing new developments, innovations and best practices; and stimulating discussions on local, national and international stages. Knowing what to expect from journal editors and publishers is a good way to make sure the process …

Acquisitions Unit Annual Report 2015-2016, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Annual Report of the Acquisitions Unit, University Libraries, University of Rhode Island for FY16. Covers personnel, work flow, special projects, and serial, monograph, and e-resource acquisitions. Supplemental files include data on library materials expenditures by a number of variables as well as important working documents from the year.

Effects Of Pre-Acclimatization Applying The ‘‘Climb High And Sleep Low’’ Maxim: An Example Of Rapid But Safe Ascent To Extreme Altitude, Martin Burtscher, Robert Koch

Journal of Human Performance in Extreme Environments

Pre-acclimatization at a convenient high-altitude location may represent an appropriate method before climbing a more hostile target mountain. The aim of the present field report was to demonstrate the effectiveness of such pre-acclimatizing applying the ‘‘climb high sleep low’’ maxim for a subsequent rapid ascent to almost 7000 m. After some pre-acclimatization in the Alps the authors flew to Chile for further pre-acclimatization in the Aymara village of Putre (3650 m). From there they undertook sojourns up to altitudes of 5700 m within 3 days. Subsequently they went back to Arica (sea level) and climbed Ojos del Salado (6893 m) …

State V. Pool Respondent's Brief Dckt. 43880

Not Reported

No abstract provided.

Standard Methods For Apis Mellifera Propolis Research, Vassya Bankova, Davide Bertelli, Renata Borba, Bruno Jose Conti, Ildenize Barbosa Da Silva Cunha, Carolina Danert, Marcos Nogueira Eberlin, Soraia I. Falcao, Maria Ines Isla, Mar ́Ia Ines Nieva Moreno, Giulia Papotti, Milena Popova, Karina Basso Santiago, Ana Salas, Alexandra Christine Helena Frankland Sawaya, Nicolas Vilczaki Schwab, Jose Mauricio Sforcin, Michael Simone-Finstrom, Marla Spivak, Boryana Trusheva, Miguel Vilas-Boas, Michael Wilson, Catiana Zampini

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Propolis is one of the most fascinating honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) products. It is a plant derived product that bees produce from resins that they collect from different plant organs and with which they mix beeswax. Propolis is a building material and a protective agent in the beehive. It also plays an important role in honey bee social immunity, and is widely used by humans as an ingredient of nutraceuticals, over-the-counter preparations and cosmetics. Its chemical composition varies by geographic location, climatic zone and local flora. The understanding of the chemical diversity of propolis is very important in propolis …

2016 Uab Summer Research Expo, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

Expo Programs

Catalog of undergrauate student research poster presentations with abstracts.

Factor Analysis Of The Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment-Ii (Nepsy-Ii): What Does The Nepsy-Ii Measure?, Leah Jai Singh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The internal structure of the Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment–II (NEPSY-II) has not yet been adequately examined. This study examined the construct validity of the subtests from the NEPSY-II, as proposed by the test author’s neuropsychological domain model, as well as compared the latent variables measured by the NEPSY-II to those measured by the Differential Ability Scales, Second Edition (DAS-II), an empirically supported intelligence test modeled after the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory. Participants ages 7 to 12 were drawn from de-identified archival data obtained from NCS Pearson, Incorporated. Participant data from the NEPSY-II norming study (N = 600) was analyzed via higher-order and …

Action Execution, Its Estimation And Learning For A Systems Level Cognitive Architecture, Daqi Dong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

An agent or robot achieves its goals by interacting with its environment, cyclically choosing and executing suitable actions. Cognitive architectures are considered the control structures of the agent, helping it decide what to do next, while the designs resemble how minds work, be they human, animal, or artificial. An action execution process is a critical part of an entire cognitive architecture, because the process of generating executable motor commands is not only driven by low-level environmental information, but is also initiated and affected by the agent’s high-level mental processes. I give a review of the cognitive models of the action …

The Intersection Of Love And Architecture: The X-Pression Exploratory Of South Memphis, Ja'saun Quaute' Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Impoverished and diminished communities are very common in today's society. Many areas fall into despair and are often over looked by the rest of the world. When this happens, how can it be fixed? What are the ingredients needed in order to make these communities thrive again? What role does architecture play when addressing economically declining areas in need of change?As designers, we are taught many techniques and methods to design, but even with this knowledge, we are not guaranteed success in our approach. The question becomes: how do we ensure that our designs are meaningful to others? The answer …

July 21, 2016, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.

"Beyond Words," Yes, But Also Beyond Numbers, Fred L. Bookstein

Animal Sentience

Safina’s fascinating series of fifty separate feuilletons tries to bridge a painful Methodenstreit in contemporary ethology mainly by an accumulation of anecdotes. Some deal with his own dogs, but most derive from reading or conversing with observers of a wider range of social mammals including elephants, wolves, apes, and whales. In spite of the many interruptions by travesties of the academic lifestyle and its literature, there is a point to be made, concerning the centrality of evidence about cooperative behavior styles, especially aspects of child-rearing, for the understanding of “what animals think and feel.” But Safina’s argument would be a …

Why Rita? Devotional Practice And Pilgrimage Intent Towards A Medieval Italian Saint In Central Dublin, Tony Kiely

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Devotion to iconic religious figures, though being as old as Christianity itself. Furthermore, it can range from being deeply personal and intense (Kasten, 2014; Mayblin, 2014; Ganzevoort, 2008; Jansen & Kuhl, 2008; Ghezzi, 2007; Martin, 2006; Ellsberg, 2006), to superficially tangential and ephemeral (Coles, 2012; Tari & Vanni, 2008), wherein devotional strategies may be rooted in ‘quid pro quo’ dependencies, parental influences, or ‘accidentally triggered’ interest in the hagiography of a particular saint. However, pilgrimage motivations, expectations and experiences are often seen as altogether different matters. Indeed, the modern pilgrim is often motivated by a combination of impulses, including the …

Malta: A Differentiated Approach To The Pilgrim-Tourist Dichotomy, George Cassar, Dane Munro

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Tourism is today considered to be a main player in most countries of the world. A particular sector of tourism, pilgrimage and faith-based tourism, has proven to be crises-resistant. The synergy of this sector is a mixture of religious sentiments, demands and motivations and on the other hand there is the rationality of the tourism infrastructure. This paper argues that the islands of the present republic of Malta have been a pilgrims’ destination from Neolithic times to the present. The islands’ rich cultural, religious and historic fabric offers Roman Catholics, Protestants and participants of the New Religious Movements an opportunity …