Digital Commons Network^™

School Engagement Perceptions Influencing Attendance Reported By Ninth Grade Students At A High Performing Rural School, Jemmye Ann Helms

Theses and Dissertations

School attendance is a major component in the success of a student. School climate is a pivotal factor in why students come to school. The overarching goal of this research project was to determine why students at Hendersonville High School prefer to be absent and what they believe would motivate them to attend school regularly. In order to accomplish this task, quantitative and qualitative research questions were used. Quantitative 1. How do 9th grade students at Hendersonville High School rate items related to academic work and engagement on the HSSSE? 2. How do 9th grade students at Hendersonville High School …

Spatial And Trophic Niche Specialization In Castor Canadensis, Robert Antonio Francis

Theses and Dissertations

The Hutchinsonian niche is the n dimensional hyper volume that allows for the persistence of a species. Castor canadensis, a large semi-aquatic rodent, is an ecosystem engineer and often a keystone species for many ecosystems. I examined the effect of multiple spatial scales on hierarchical habitat selection byC. canadensis using presence-only modeling techniques. I also determined individual trophic niche specialization in C. canadensis utilizing stable isotope analysis. I concluded that C. canadensis displayed scale independent habitat selection when comparing landscape and fine spatial scales. Individual trophic niche specialization occurred in colonies of the same resource availability. Also, individual trophic niches …

Natural Population Dynamics Of Rock Iguanas In The Bahama Archipelago, Giuliano Colosimo

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding whether groups of individuals represent a single panmictic gene pool, or multiple genetically structured populations across a species range should aid in predicting whether specific conservation strategies would be more or less effective for species preservation. Further, contrasting the population structures of multiple coexisting taxa could foster an even deeper understanding of evolutionary divergence among demes and potentially even suggest local adaptation in the form of tight coevolutionary relationships. Finally, the analysis of population dynamics within small and isolated populations could improve our understanding of the relative importance that different evolutionary mechanisms have in predicting population persistence in the …

On Non-Parametric Confidence Intervals For Density And Hazard Rate Functions & Trends In Daily Snow Depths In The United States And Canada, Yang Xu

Theses and Dissertations

The nonparametric confidence interval for an unknown function is quite a useful tool in statistical inferential procedures; and thus, there exists a wide body of literature on the topic. The primary issues are the smoothing parameter selection using an appropriate criterion and then the coverage probability and length of the associated confidence interval. Here our focus is on the interval length in general and, in particular, on the variability in the lengths of nonparametric intervals for probability density and hazard rate functions. We start with the analysis of a nonparametric confidence interval for a probability density function noting that the …

Political Trust And Presidential Voting: A Changing Political Environment Inducing The End Of Traditional Politics In The United States, Brett Stephen Juraszek

Theses and Dissertations

Political climates are undoubtedly changing across the nation and creating volatile fluctuations of attitudes, beliefs, and behavior. In a more entertaining season of presidential primaries, both parties – Democratic and Republican – have nominees that will once again be scrutinized by many across the country. I argue the levels of scrutiny will more likely than not be enhanced to new proportions. Since a consistent reliance on media involvement and attack ads have grown immensely amongst presidential candidates, this will translate into a wider gap in party polarization and subsequently tie into the trust of American citizens. Previous scholars have shown …

Characterization And Value-Added Utilization Of The Proteins Extracted From The By Products Of Catfish Fillet Processing Plant, Haoran Gao

Theses and Dissertations

Proteins in catfish by-products were extracted by two methods: Alkaline extraction (AE) and salt extraction (SE). Properties of the fish protein isolate (FPI) were measured by protein yield and content, moisture content, SDS-PAGE protein patterns, color and texture profile, and compared with commercial surimi products. Our results showed that catfish frame had higher protein yield and color similarity with commercial products than the head; AE-FPI had higher yield and gel strength than SE-FPI; SDS-PAGE protein patterns of FPI from catfish frame by SE method was comparable with commercial surimi products. Based on the results, further optimization of the recovery yield …

Utilization Of Outdoor Resources To Enhance Understanding Of Geosciences, Sarah Radencic Lalk

Theses and Dissertations

Societal awareness and general understanding of the diversity of geosciences environments and phenomena across regions is vital. The primary method to obtain information about geosciences is through mass media. However, there is little coverage of geosciences information and the public may not trust it because of low geosciences awareness. Geosciences are rarely included as part of K-12 curricula and are optional at the collegiate level, contributing to the public deficiency regarding awareness and understanding of the geosciences. This research study investigated methods utilizing outdoor resources in an effort to increase region-specific understanding and awareness of geosciences among diverse groups. A …

Utilization Of Woody Residues To Produce Bioenergy By Primary Forest Products Manufacturers In The Southern United States, Raju Pokharel

Theses and Dissertations

Woody residues are byproducts with high lignocellulosic content, such as mill residues, logging residues, and other woody waste. This study estimated the impact of different mill characteristics, procurement attributes, constraints, and geospatial features on the utilization of woody residues to produce bioenergy by primary forest products manufacturers in the southern United States. Data were collected using a mail survey, and USDA and Esri geodatabases. Data analysis was conducted using analysis of variance, two-stage least squares, binary logit, and spatial logistic regression models. Approximately 70% of mills utilized woody residues for bioenergy purposes and 11% were willing to utilize additional logging …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Carbon-Based Nanomaterials From Lignin, Xuefeng Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

The main objective of this research was to develop a catalytic thermal conversion process for production of carbon-based nanomaterials (CNs) from kraft lignin. Four specific objectives were to: (1) understand the structural evolution of kraft lignin during its thermal treatment process; (2) investigate effects of temperature, and iron catalyst loading and morphology on the catalytic thermal conversion of kraft lignin to CNs, understand lignin catalytic thermal conversion mechanism; (3) explore potential applications of CNs synthesized from kraft lignin as an adsorbent for lead removing from contaminated water; (4) and propose effective methods for graphene material characterization. Experimental results indicated that …

Material Characterization Using Spectrofluorometers, Charles Bruce Nettles

Theses and Dissertations

The use of spectrofluorometers to examine nanomaterials is quite popular using either fluorescence or synchronous measurements. However, understanding how a material’s optical properties can influence spectral acquisition are of great importance to accurately characterize nanomaterials. This dissertation presents a series of computational and experimental studies aimed at enhancing the quantitative understanding of nanoparticle interactions with matter and photons. This allows for more reliable spectrofluorometer based acquisition of nanoparticle containing solutions. Chapter I presents a background overview of the works described in this dissertation. Correction of the gold nanoparticle (AuNP) inner filter effect (IFE) on fluorophore fluorescence using PEGylated AuNPs as …

Mental Illness In Starkville, Ms: A Cultural Consensus Analysis Of The Public Conceptions Of Mental Illness, Curtis Andrew Kennett

Theses and Dissertations

Mental illness is a complex phenomenon that is social and psychological as well as biological. But since the creation of the DSM-III in the 1980s, the landscape of mental health research and treatment in the United States has been heavily influenced by the biomedical model. The thoughts and beliefs of the lay public about mental illness are often ignored despite the push for greater cultural understanding among biomedical professionals. This disconnect, coupled with the poor mental health infrastructure, has left Mississippi with an inadequate ability to help Mississippians address mental illness. This research uses cognitive anthropological methods and biocultural theory …

Geotechnical Properties Of Very High Moisture Content Dredged Soil Lightly Cemented With Ordinary Or Portland-Limestone Cement, Mohammed Bazne

Theses and Dissertations

Sustainable geotechnics warrants exploring beneficial reuse of the large volume of fine grained soils which are produced annually in various forms such as dredged soils and mine tailings. Often these soils are at very high moisture content, and are therefore referred to herein as VHMS for Very High Moisture Soils. These soils exhibit poor engineering properties such as low shear strength and high compressibility. This dissertation presents results from experiments conducted primarily to assess geotechnical properties over time of lightly cemented VHMS (referred to as LC-VHMS and defined as 5% or less cement by slurry mass). The main objectives of …

Evaluation Of Unstructured And Overset Grid Methods For Blast Analysis Using Loci/Blast With Emphasis On Urban Environments, Mark Anthony Hunt

Theses and Dissertations

The MSU Loci/BLAST CFD code was used to study blast wave interactions with structures for different urban environments. A series of analyses which included single building structures inside of ERDC's Blast Load Simulator (BLS) with different obliquity orientations to the flow direction, two building structures inside the BLS with varying gap distances between the structures, and open air blast simulations with four structure scenarios at different building spacings and different blast orientations were performed. Unstructured and overset grid techniques were used during the modeling process and were compared for consistency with shock physics and computational performance. Results show Loci/BLAST's capability …

Examining Age Differences In Metamemory For Emotional Words, Samuel Ethan Flurry

Theses and Dissertations

Metamemory is “knowing about knowing” (Flavell, 1971) and is theorized as a cognitive process that monitors and controls the memory system (Flavell & Wellman, 1975; Nelson & Narens, 1990). The predominate finding in the metamemory and aging literature is that metamemory is unimpaired by aging, even when memory is impaired by aging (Eakin & Hertzog, 2006; 2012; Connor, Hertzog, & Dunlosky, 1997; Hertzog, Sinclair, & Dunlosky, 2010; Eakin, Hertzog, & Harris, 2014, but see Souchay, Moulin, Clarys, Taconnat, & Isingrini, 2007). However, a study examining metamemory for emotional words suggests older adults may show metamemory impairment when predicting memory for …

Fall Migrant Waterbird Community Structure And Stable Isotope Ecology In The Mississippi Alluvial Valley And Northern Gulf Of Mexico: Use Of Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative Sites And Other Wetlands, Justyn Richard Foth

Theses and Dissertations

The Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) was dominated by extensive lowland forests, but during the 20th century most of the MAV was converted to agricultural, aquaculture, and other human uses. These land-use changes created stopover migration and wintering habitats for waterfowl, shorebirds and other waterbird species. Before landscape modification of the MAV, shorebirds likely migrated past the MAV to wetlands along the northern Gulf of Mexico (NGoM). In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill impacted coastal marshes of the NGoM. The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service implemented the Migratory Bird Habitat Initiative (MBHI) to provide waterbirds with wetlands inland of oil-impacted …

Fatigue Behavior And Modeling Of Polyether Ether Ketone (Peek) Under Constant And Variable Amplitude Loadings, Rakish Shrestha

Theses and Dissertations

The fatigue behavior and cyclic deformation of polyether ether ketone (PEEK) subjected to various uniaxial cyclic loading conditions were experimentally investigated. These include constant amplitude and multi-block loading conditions at various frequencies with zero and non-zero mean strains. Under constant amplitude loading, increasing the test frequency generally resulted in longer fatigue lives for PEEK, while a minimal effect of tensile mean strain was observed. For all fatigue tests under fully- reversed multi-block loadings, pre-loading was found to have a significant beneficial effect on PEEK fatigue resistance irrespective to the load sequence. However, no obvious load history and sequence effect on …

Fatigue Behavior Of Ti-6al-4v Eli Including Mean Stress Effects, Patricio E. Carrion

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the cyclic deformation, fatigue behavior, and failure mechanisms for Ti-6Al-4V ELI (extra low interstitial) with and without mean strain/stress. Mean stress effects on fatigue behavior were studied using four strain ratios. Fatigue data generated was used to assess mean stress fatigue life prediction approaches, including stress-based methods such as Goodman, Gerber, Morrow, Walker and Kwofie; as well as strain-based models, such as Morrow, Smith-Watson-Topper, Walker, Kwofie, Ince-Glinka and a modified version of the Smith-Watson-Topper. The stress-based models did not yield reasonable results and data scatter was observed. The strain-based models offered better results, specifically the Morrow approach …

Multimodal Spontaneous Emotion Corpus For Human Behavior Analysis, Zheng Zhang, Jeffrey M. Girard, Yue Wu, Xing Zhang, Peng Liu, Umur Ciftci, Shaun Canavan, Michael Reale, Andrew Horowitz, Huiyuan Yang, Jeffrey F. Cohn, Qiang Ji, Lijun Yin

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Emotion is expressed in multiple modalities, yet most research has considered at most one or two. This stems in part from the lack of large, diverse, well-annotated, multimodal databases with which to develop and test algorithms. We present a well-annotated, multimodal, multidimensional spontaneous emotion corpus of 140 participants. Emotion inductions were highly varied. Data were acquired from a variety of sensors of the face that included high-resolution 3D dynamic imaging, high-resolution 2D video, and thermal (infrared) sensing, and contact physiological sensors that included electrical conductivity of the skin, respiration, blood pressure, and heart rate. Facial expression was annotated for both …

Multimodal Imaging Of Photoreceptor Structure In Choroideremia, Lynn W. Sun, Ryan D. Johnson, Vesper Williams, Phyllis Summerfelt, Alfredo Dubra, David V. Weinberg, Kimberly E. Stepien, Gerald A. Fishman, Joseph Carroll

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose

Choroideremia is a progressive X-linked recessive dystrophy, characterized by degeneration of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), choroid, choriocapillaris, and photoreceptors. We examined photoreceptor structure in a series of subjects with choroideremia with particular attention to areas bordering atrophic lesions.

Methods

Twelve males with clinically-diagnosed choroideremia and confirmed hemizygous mutations in the CHM gene were examined. High-resolution images of the retina were obtained using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and both confocal and non-confocal split-detector adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscope (AOSLO) techniques.

Results

Eleven CHM gene mutations (3 novel) were identified; three subjects had the same mutation and one …

The Parthenon, December 9, 2016, Lexi Browning

The Parthenon

No abstract provided.

Erratum To: Neonatal Hyperbilirubinemia In Infants With G6pd C.563c>T Variant, Bushra Moiz, Amna Nasir, Sarosh Ahmed Khan, Saleema Amin Kherani, Maqbool Qadir

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

No abstract provided.

Radiometrically Accurate Thermal Vehicle Targets For Synthetic Video Development, David B. Rhodes

Theses

Collecting large scientific quality thermal infrared image and video data sets is an expensive time consuming endeavor. Thermal infrared imagers cost much more than comparable visible systems and require skilled experienced operators. Also, time and experienced personnel are required to collect quality ground truth. Often it is advantageous to perform computer simulations as an alternative to collecting image and video data with real camera systems. As long as enough physics is incorporated into the models to give accurately comparable results to real imagery, simulated data can be used interchangeably. Generating synthetic images and video has the added benefit of being …

Asset Protection In Escorting Using Multi-Robot Systems, Stephen Powers

Theses

Swarm robotics is a field dedicated to the study of the design and development of certain multi-robot systems. Often times, these groups prove to be more beneficial than a single complex robot as swarms typically provide a more robust and potentially more efficient solution. One such case is the task of escorting a specified target while addressing any potential threats discovered in the environment. In this work, a control algorithm for a high volume, decentralized, homogeneous robot swarm was developed based upon a technique commonly used to model incompressible fluids known as Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH).

This proposed solution to …

Pan‐Arctic River Discharge: Prioritizing Monitoring Of Future Climate Change Hot Spots, Arvid Bring, Alexander I. Shiklomanov, Richard B. Lammers

Faculty Publications

The Arctic freshwater cycle is changing rapidly, which will require adequate monitoring of river flows to detect, observe, and understand changes and provide adaptation information. There has, however, been little detail about where the greatest flow changes are projected, and where monitoring therefore may need to be strengthened. In this study, we used a set of recent climate model runs and an advanced macro‐scale hydrological model to analyze how flows across the continental pan‐Arctic are projected to change and where the climate models agree on significant changes. We also developed a method to identify where monitoring stations should be placed …

Meeting Minutes, Wku University Senate

Faculty Senate

Meeting regarding charter revision, budget, committee assignments, syllabi, emeritus status, president search and Student Government Association.

The Failure Of Counsel: Curial Corruption In Book Vi Of The Vox Clamantis, Robert J. Meindl

Accessus

The king's court is the final element in Gower's analysis of the law in Book VI of the Vox Clamantis prior to the speculum principis that is the book's climax. Having discussed the men of law, judges, sheriffs, jurors, and bailiffs in chapters one through six, the poet now finds fault in chapter seven with the various advisers who surround the king for the purpose of providing him useful counsel in governing the realm. They, too, are found wanting in an analysis of the current situation in England.

Morality And The Law, Dr. Brendan F. Brown

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

The Catholic And Population Policy, Dexter L. Hanley, S.J.

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Sit-In Conduct Held Constitutionally Protected

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Government Birth Control: Reply To Mr. Sirilla, S.J., William B. Ball

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.