Digital Commons Network^™

Barriers To Energy Efficiency In Hospitals: Building A Better Business Case For Sub-Metering, Chris Davies

Sustainability and Social Justice

The natural world finds itself placed in an ever more precarious position as climate change is continually exacerbated by the burning of fossil fuels. Achieving greater energy efficiency in resource intensive industries has emerged as part of the immediate solution to this problem, a solution which can be financially, environmentally, and socially beneficial. Healthcare is one such industry where energy efficiency has high relevance. With hospitals operating 24/7 and energy intensive equipment running all day long, the healthcare industry offers high potential for successful building energy efficient retrofits. Yet it also faces many unique barriers. This paper identifies some of …

Land Change Modeler Application:Summer Internship With Clark Labs, Siqi Cheng, Nan Ding

Sustainability and Social Justice

This paper is a description of our internship with Clark Labs in the summer of 2015. We worked as research assistants in the Land Change Modeler Application (App) project. This project aimed to display the land cover changes in the United States from 2001 to 2010, show the vulnerability in 48 states and predict changes from the yaer 2050. Our responsibility was to extract eight variables (slope, elevation, surface water, roads, high intensity land, protected areas, county subdivisions, and cultivated crops) in TerrSet, and use them in several models to test the accuracy of prediction.

The internship is a great …

The Effect Of Athletic Stadiums On Communities, With A Focus On Housing, Dominique Wilkins

Sustainability and Social Justice

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this research is to examine the role of athletic stadiums in the gentrification of minority neighborhoods. New athletic stadiums have increasingly been constructed in low- and moderate- income areas with high minority populations, and results in the displacement of that community’s longstanding residents. This paper uses Census and American Community Survey (ACS) data as part of a case study of the Washington Nationals Stadium in Washington DC; the data shows that within a few years of construction, the community that previously boasted an affordable housing stock and a high low-income minority population is replaced with high-income, …

Preferential Trade Agreements And Quality Of Government In Sub-Saharan Africa, Sharon Camara

Dissertations

Objectives. Sub-Saharan African (SSA) nations have made concerted attempts at economic integration and openness with use of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) beginning in the latter half of the 1990s. These changes could result in increases in trade and growth. The World Bank’s Good Governance indicators are designed to assess the quality of institutions in a given country. The objective is to assess the impact of PTAs and Good Governance indicators on trade in SSA nations. Methods. Data on trade y was generated based on exports defined by the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Direction of Trade statistics, and both OLS and …

Place(Ment), Ashley Lynn Byers

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Throughout her time at the University of Arkansas Master of Fine Arts program, Ashley Byers has been creating work about the folklore, landscape, and people of the Ozarks. Though she continues to create work with the Ozarks in mind, it became a motif used for a broader conversation about the ad hoc, holiness, painting, landscape, the figure, and intimacy.

In many ways, the concepts within her work are born out of the Ozarks.

When can remnants come together to become more than the sum of their parts? Derelict, easily dismissed objects, when set in the right context or viewed through …

Utah State University Commencement, 2016 – Main Campus, Utah State University

Commencement Programs

129^th Annual Commencement of Utah State University.

E-Learning Modules For Nuclear Reactor Heat Transfer, Praveen Bharadwaj Jayaram

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

E learning in engineering education is becoming popular at several universities as it allows instructors to create content that the students may view and interact with at his/her own convenience. Web-based simulation and what-if analysis are examples of such educational content and has proved to be extremely beneficial for engineering students. Such pedagogical content promote active learning and encourage students to experiment and be more creative. The main objective of this project is to develop web based learning modules, in the form of analytical simulations, for the Reactor Thermal Hydraulics course offered by the College of Engineering at UT Arlington. …

Cfd Based Design And Optimization Of Louver Blade Angles To Enhance Better Air Flow Distribution And Improve Thermal Efficiency Of It Equipment In Data Centers, Avinash Kumar Ray

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

A data center is a depository which stores, processes and distribute large amounts of data and information using computer systems and associated components for power supplies, cooling systems. Modular data center is a portable method of deploying traditional large data center capacity into a small portable unit. According to the Uptime Institute, the amount of heat generated inside IT equipment has been increasing significantly. Data centers are using nearly 60% of their power in employing expensive cooling techniques. In addition, the cost of cooling has necessitated a need to reduce or eliminate mechanical cooling. As such, Air Economization, Direct and …

Rethinking Resistance: Race, Gender, And Place In The Fictive And Real Geographies Of The American West, Tracey Daniels Lerberg

English Dissertations - Archive

This project traces the history of the American West and its inhabitants through its literary, cinematic and cultural landscape, exploring the importance of public and private narratives of resistance, in their many iterations, to the perceived singular trajectory of white masculine progress in the American west. The project takes up the calls by feminist and minority scholars to broaden the literary history of the American West and to unsettle the narrative of conquest that has been taken up to enact a particular kind of imaginary perversely sustained across time and place. That the western heroic vision resonates today is perhaps …

A Comparison Of Magnet Schools To Traditional Schools: Application Of Critical Education Theory, Gregory Dale Cartwright

Public Affairs Dissertations - Archive

After considerable research, it was determined that a research gap exists that examines the overall impact of school choice concerning magnet and traditional high schools. The timing is especially critical in Texas with the passing of House Bill 5, which attempts to loosen the stranglehold of standardized testing. High schools will be given the opportunity to provide creative educational opportunities to students. Many school districts are transitioning to pathway programs in an attempt to increase the academic performance of an urban population as well as high school completion. Accordingly, this dissertation attempts to operationalize critical education theory, by comparing traditional …

Uis Bulletin, Volume 58, No. 1, May 2016, Efraín Mercado

KIP Articles

Contents: Editorial: Expanding our ties with local cavers -- Report of Informatics Commission -- Publications Exchange Working Group of the Informatics Commission -- UIS, Wikicaves and Grottocenter -- World Caves Data: Letter of Invitation -- Report of Pseudokarst Commission -- 13th International Symposium on Pseudokarst 2015 -- Report of Commission on Cave Rescue -- The 10th Balkan Caver's Camp -- UIS France Habe Prize 2016 -- In Memoriam: Charlie Self -- Books -- Calendar of Events 2016-2017 -- Important Update Regarding the 17th ICS, Australia 2017 -- UIS Bureau 2013/2017 -- Active Nation Members List -- Annual Contributions and Bank …

Exploring Bicycle And Public Transit Use By Low-Income Latino Immigrants: A Mixed-Methods Study In The San Francisco Bay Area, Jesus M. Barajas, Daniel G. Chatman, Asha W. Agrawal

Mineta Transportation Institute

Latin American immigrants will continue to make up a large share of transit ridership, bicycling and walking in the United States for the foreseeable future, but there is relatively little research about them. This mixed-methods study compares the travel patterns of low-income immigrants living in the San Francisco Bay Area with that of other groups and investigates the barriers and constraints faced by low-income immigrants when taking transit and bicycling. Much of the previous work on immigrant travel has relied on national surveys and qualitative analysis, which underrepresent disadvantaged population groups and slower modes of travel, or are unable to …

Cultural And Economic Factors That Influence Brazilian Public Opinion On Climate Change, Jenna Williams

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Climate change is a commons problem of global proportions. The effects of climate change threaten not only the natural world, but also the human systems that we have established (IPCC 2014, 4). The devastating effects of climate change will not be confined to those regions of the world that have contributed the most to this problem. Already, every continent and ocean has been touched by climate change (IPCC 2014, 4).

An Instructional Module On Permaculture Design Theory For Landscape Architecture Students, Keni Althouse

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Permaculture guides designers to mimic patterns and relationships found in nature. It is a design theory that tailors toward many people’s desire for more sustainable living. This theory offers a unique set of design principles that are very implementable into the design process and could be of great interest to landscape architects.

The purpose of this study was to develop and implement an instructional module for landscape architecture students at Utah State University for two consecutive years. Project-based learning was implemented in order to help students better understand permaculture design theory. Effectiveness of the module was measured through an evaluation …

A Roof Overhead: Creating A Conceptual Long Term Day Facility For Street Children And Orphans In Tehran, Iran, Marjan Safdari

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

With approximately 1.5 million orphans, over 200,000 street children, and 2,500 cases of child violence each year, Iran is not an ideal place for children. Although government groups and non-governmental organizations (NGO) have tried to provide facilities and institutional care centers, there are still many shortages that need to be addressed. Facilities that provide something more than the basic needs of these children are necessary. Orphans and street children face many difficulties during different stages of their lives that cause psychological and social problems for them. In addition, health problems and lack of education are other issues that they face. …

A Sustainability Assessment Of Utah's 29 Counties: Testing A Multivariate Graphical Method Of Sustainability Assessment, Thomas Cluff

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Sustainability provides a framework to help guide future planning, policy, investment, and development actions toward achieving multidimensional development goals. The goals of planning for sustainable development aim at a future with high quality of life in a healthy and protected environment.

This paper adopts, reviews, critically examines, and tests a previously-developed methodology for sustainability assessment. The tested approach applies an interactive evaluation model to combine existing data to explain sustainable development possibilities for each evaluated locale. The model's results, presented through a graphic interface, can build knowledge to improve planning decisions and implementation actions for sustainability. The assessment can help …

Historical Narrative Of A Veteran Service Network Implemented By The Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University, Daniel Piston

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The purpose of this project was to author a historical narrative of a community engagement program, AmericaServes, implemented by the Institute for Veterans and Military Families. AmericaServes aids veterans, service members, and their families in navigating through the maze of non-profit and public services offered to them. This program uses a model called Collective Impact (Kania & Kramer, Collective Impact, 2011) as its fundamental principal. Since its inception, there has not yet been a proper record chronicling the history of program, the key players involved, and lessons learned from challenges faced during each stage of its evolution.

To conduct this …

Developing Housing Finance Framework As An Approach To Provide Affordable Finance Mechanisms For Middle Income Citizens And Housing Developers In Saudi Arabia, Musaed Khalid A K. Alqannas

Planning Dissertations - Archive

With high economic growth rate, population rate, increased employment, and income opportunities, the demand for housing has increased, along with the lack of affordable finance mechanisms. A main concern of the housing problem in Saudi Arabia is the high demand compared to housing needs. Saudi Arabia lacks a housing finance framework or strategy to create flexible and affordable lending mechanisms to tackle the affordable finance problems. This research targets: 1) the middle income citizens to increase the homeownership rate and 2) the housing developer to increase affordable housing units and the investment in the housing market. This research compares the …

The Ciné “Never Sets…”: British Cinema As A Transatlantic Cultural Commodity, 1927-1938, Karen E. Beasley

History Dissertations - Archive

This dissertation exemplifies how the application of a transatlantic commodity approach can broaden understanding of film as a mass medium, its business, and its cultural influences. By employing a more inclusive national cinema framework, this study is able to investigate sites of interaction between the British and Hollywood film industries as a two-way exchange as well as engage those sites at their peripheries, including those between the cultural product and its consumer throughout the broader Atlantic community. This dissertation focuses on the diversity of British audiences throughout a “British world” and the distribution and exhibition methods used to reach them. …

Developing Housing Finance Framework As An Approach To Provide Affordable Finance Mechanisms For Middle Income Citizens And Housing Developers In Saudi Arabia, Musaed Khalid-Ak Alqannas

Public Affairs Dissertations - Archive

With high economic growth rate, population rate, increased employment, and income opportunities, the demand for housing has increased, along with the lack of affordable finance mechanisms. A main concern of the housing problem in Saudi Arabia is the high demand compared to housing needs. Saudi Arabia lacks a housing finance framework or strategy to create flexible and affordable lending mechanisms to tackle the affordable finance problems. This research targets: 1) the middle income citizens to increase the homeownership rate and 2) the housing developer to increase affordable housing units and the investment in the housing market. This research compares the …

Women’S Adoption Of Egalitarian Attitudes Through Employment In Mexico, Jeyle Ortiz Rodriguez

Social Work Dissertations - Archive

This dissertation examines the impact of female employment on Mexican women’s attitudes toward gender equality. Specifically, the objective was to analyze different mechanisms and moderating variables through which female employment affects married and cohabiting women’s adoption of egalitarian attitudes in Mexico. The focus of the analysis was to identify the direct and indirect effects of women’s participation in the labor market through social interactions and housework. Despite the importance of women’s attitudes toward gender equality in their advancement and egalitarian gender relationships, there is a lack of studies that examine this topic in Mexico. The objectives of this dissertation were …

Reliability Challenges In Airside Economization And Oil Immersion Cooling, Jimil Manojbhai Shah

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

The Datacom facility which comprises rooms or closets used for communication, computers/servers or electronic equipment requires cooling unit which consumes 31% (23% HVAC cooling + 8% HVAC fans) of overall energy. The ASHRAE TC9.9 subcommittee, on Mission Critical Facilities, Data Centers, Technology Spaces, and Electronic Equipment, has suited the data center’s executives by permitting brief period outings of the environmental conditions outside the prescribed temperature-humidity range, into passable extents A1-A4. To comprehend the expanding server densities and the required cooling vitality costs, data center operators are falling back on cost cutting measures. For instance, they are not firmly controlling the …

Geologists And The British Raj, 1870-1910, Aja B. Tolman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The British Raj (1858-1947) hired geologists from both India and Great Britain to find valuable resources in India, such as coal. The geologists worked to convince the government to enact policy changes regarding museum ownership, conservation, railway construction, education, and industrialization. But the geologists had different goals based on whether they were Indian or European. The Indian geologists wanted India’s independence from Britain, so their education and industrial policy proposals were geared towards making India self-sufficient and globally competitive. The British geologists’ goal was to enrich the empire. The British were able to convince the government to accept most of …

How Good Intentions Backfire: Failures And Negative Consequences Of Federal Environmental Policies, Jordan K. Lofthouse

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis is meant to dispel the myths that surround federal environmental policies. The research object of this project is to show that the formation of environmental policies is not altruistic, and the outcomes of these policies often have negative side effects that policymakers and the general public should recognize.

During my time as an undergraduate, I studied environmental geography, which also included environmental policies. We would research environmental problems, but the solution to these problems always seemed to be another government policy. I began to wonder why environmental problems never seemed to actually get better. Once I began my …

From Teachlive™ To The Classroom: Building Preservice Special Educators’ Proficiency With Essential Teaching Skills, Melanie Rees Dawson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Preservice special education teachers need to develop essential teaching skills to competently address student academics and behavior in the classroom. TeachLivE^TM is a sophisticated virtual simulation that has recently emerged in teacher preparation programs to supplement traditional didactic instruction and field experiences. Teacher educators can engineer scenarios in TeachLivE^TM to cumulatively build in complexity, allowing preservice teachers to incrementally interleave target skills in increasingly difficult situations.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of TeachLivE^TM on preservice special education teachers’ delivery of error correction, specific praise, and praise around in the virtual environment and …

“Touched By Time”: Geopolitical Themes Of Estonian National Identity Through Folklore And Song Festivals, Mandy L. Hoggard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Estonian national identity—how Estonians imagine their values, history, and place in the world—is defined by their centuries-long struggle for independence and autonomy. This thesis examines the struggle and resulting identity through the lens of the laulupidu, or song festival, and its employment as a vehicle of political mobilization and re-constructor of Estonian history. Regarding folklore, in this case festivals and folk songs, as containers of the soul of the nation, I show how Estonians have produced and reproduced their national identity through the practice which they hold sacred: choral singing. I implemented a critical geopolitical approach, which emphasizes the …

An Evaluation Of Multiple Endmember Spectral Mixture Analysis Applied To Landsat 8 Oli Images For Mapping Land Cover In Southern Africa's Savanna., Fernando Ferreira Caixeta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mapping land cover in southern Africa’s savannas using traditional pixel based remote sensing techniques can be very challenging due to the heterogeneity of its vegetation structure and the spectral difficulty in separating similar land covers across various land uses. In order to overcome these complications, a Multiple Endmember Spectral Mixture Analysis (MESMA) provides a potential remote sensing approach to quantify spectral variation in the physical environment at a subpixel level. The MESMA approach was applied in the study area of the Mayuni Conservancy, in Namibia. Results show that 32.3% of the study area is covered by photosynthetic vegetation (PV), 32.0% …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Communality In Louisville Community Gardens., Victoria Ann Montgomery

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Environmental change and food security issues boost interest in green initiatives, which in turn motivate policy makers and the general public toward the support and maintenance of urban community gardens. In Louisville Kentucky, an urban heat island in the United States, support for community gardens requires greater community support and volunteers. Objectives and organization of community gardens vary, as issues in production and sustainability are not the same for all garden communities and are contributing factors to their degree of success. Community gardens represent elements from both communal living and community but vary in their degree of communality. Using qualitative …

Framing Bottled Water : An Analysis Of The Framing Contest Between The Anti-Bottled Water Movement And The Bottled Water Industry., Eileen Schuhmann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Frame analysis is paired with documentary analysis to analyze the framing techniques of two opposing groups: the Anti-Bottled Water Movement (ABWM) and the bottled water industry. Specifically, this research examines the core framing tasks, frame alignment processes and master frames utilized by two ABWM organizations, Corporate Accountability International and Food & Water Watch, and one bottled water industry group, International Bottled Water Association. The analysis reveals that both groups engage in all three core framing tasks: diagnostic, prognostic, and motivational framing, however, the bottled water industry was found to prioritize prognostic framing to undermine the frames of the ABWM. Both …

Stop Stunting: Situation And Way Forward To Improve Maternal, Child And Adolescent Nutrition In Afghanistan, Ariel Higgins Steele, Piyali Mustaphi, Sherin Varkey, Humayoun Ludin, Najibullah Safi, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

No abstract provided.