Digital Commons Network^™

Sensitivity Of Two-Dimensional Stereo (2ds) Probe Derived Parameters To Particle Orientation, Joseph Robert O'Brien

Theses and Dissertations

Information on the size distribution, orientation and the axial ratio of ice particles is important for the improvement of precipitation retrievals by polarized radar. However, uncertainty in the natural particle orientation and axial ratios remains due to the difficulty in obtaining in situ observations of these parameters. This difficulty arises because of possible re-orientation of particles by airflow around aircraft sampling instrumentation. Due to this possible re-orientation, observations of ice particles become a function of the viewing angle of the sampling instrumentation. The two-dimensional stereo (2D-S) optical array probe (OAP) manufactured by SPEC, Inc. offers the capability for comparison between …

Characterization Of Two Surface Proteins From The Lyme Spirochete And Their Roles During Mammalian Infection, Robert Anthony Gaultney

Theses and Dissertations

Borrelia burgdorferi is an enigmatic bacterial pathogen that afflicts a large proportion of the world population as the causative agent of Lyme disease. The bacterium has a number of factors that promote virulence including a complex and dynamic array of extracellular proteins that can interact with various molecules of an infected host. One such molecule, fibronectin, is a key glycoprotein in the ECM of mammalian hosts with multiple characterized functions. B. burgdorferi encodes multiple known Fn-binding proteins, and has an additional putative protein BB0347 that may also bind Fn. Another protein, MlpJ, is homologous to a known hemin-binding protein, which …

New Mothers' Perceptions Of Breastfeeding, The Transition To Parenthood, And The Partner Alliance: A Grounded Theory Study, Jennifer Amy Munch

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine first-time mothers’ perceptions of the interaction between their partner relationship, transition to parenthood, and breastfeeding. The study utilized the qualitative method of constructivist grounded theory (CGT) to achieve these means. Participants included eight primiparous and cohabiting and partnered mothers. Each participant was between 3 to 8 months postpartum when they completed a semi-structured 1.5 to 2 hour phone interview. They were asked questions related to their experiences with becoming new parents and breastfeeding, including changes, challenges, and overcoming barriers. They were also asked to share their views and feelings related to their …

Improving Forecasts Of Winter Storm Tracks Using A Local Ensemble, Brittany A. Peterson

Theses and Dissertations

Winter storms can affect millions of people, with impacts such as disruptions to transportation, hazards to human health, reduction in retail sales, and structural damage. Blizzard forecasts for Alberta Clippers can be a particular challenge in the Northern Plains, as these systems typically depart from the Canadian Rockies, intensify, and impact the Northern Plains all within 24 hours. The purpose of this study is to determine whether probabilistic forecasts derived from a local physics-based ensemble can improve specific aspects of winter storm forecasts for three Alberta Clipper cases.

Verification is performed on the ensemble members and ensemble mean with a …

Major League Baseball Draft Pick Compensation: How To Evaluate The Marginal Revenue Product Of Labor Of Drafted Players, Matthew Peã±A

Theses and Dissertations

The Major League Baseball draft is virtually the only means by which US and US territory born players have access to becoming major league baseball players. As a condition of their initial contracts, players are subjected to initial contract terms, that limit their traditional free market ability to earn a salary commensurate with their actual worth. This research attempts to quantify the difference between what players would earn on the open market, as free agents, and what they earn by being controlled by baseball’s reserve clause, by analyzing the current compensation system established by Major League Baseball, how drafted players …

Evaluation Of Conventional And Non-Conventional Asphalt Mixes, Rabindra Pariyar

Theses and Dissertations

Various types of additives have been applied in the past to Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) to improve pavement performance. Different techniques including Warm Mix Asphalts (WMA) have helped to increase the workability and strength of pavement as well as decrease greenhouse gas emissions and production costs. Pavement construction can be a challenge in regions with short construction seasons due to various factors including cold weather. It is believed that additives can be a solution for some of those challenges due to lower rate of cooling for such mixes.

This study is carried out to evaluate two hot mix asphalts in …

Improving Far-Uv Cd Prediction With The Dipole Interaction Model, Akongnwi Cheo Jungong

Theses and Dissertations

Among the physical methods available for studying protein structures, CD stands out as a property that is easy to measure yet remarkably difficult to predict theoretically. The basic principle underlying the CD of polypeptides and proteins is reasonably understood: the mixing of electronic transitions of monomer groups in the context of a chiral environment of helices gives rise to transitions that are both electronically and magnetically allowed. Despite knowledge on the fundamentals of CD, accurate theoretical prediction is still a major challenge. A better theoretical understanding of protein CD would facilitate a fuller interpretation of protein CD experiments.

Extensive theoretical …

Britain's First War With Kandy: Landscape, Violence, And Conquest In Colonial Sri Lanka, Elizabeth Anne Mjelde

Theses and Dissertations

Accounts of travel to Sri Lanka published during the period of British conquest (1796 through 1818) reveal a consistent yet problematic tendency: despite ongoing military conflict, visual artists constructed representations of the island as a peaceful and orderly place. The contradiction is heightened when travelers’ uniformly tranquil images of Sri Lanka are juxtaposed with documented acts of destruction to land and property, undertaken by troops during Britain’s first war with the inland kingdom of Kandy, a conflict which eventually led to the island’s complete colonization. The present study reconciles this contradiction through analysis of publications by each of five artists …

Teacher Referral Following Natural Disasters, Melissa Anne Quincer

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has shown that teachers are common referral points for children

experiencing mental health difficulties. This is especially true in rural communities and a

major time of intervention has been following natural disasters, when there are not

enough mental health services in an area, or they are too taxed. This study sought to

explore teachers’ referral habits and determine if there is any difference when rural

challenges are present or if the teacher has previously experienced a disaster. To this end,

teachers were recruited, presented with vignettes that either contained rural challenges or

did not contain rural challenges and …

Not Your Business: Pedagogical Lessons Of Activist Resistance To Neoliberalism In Canadian Higher Education, Jorunn Thordarson

Theses and Dissertations

The growing power and permeation of neoliberal ideology across all facets of social life has been instrumental in promoting and orchestrating a shift among Canadian post-secondary institutions towards a reductive view of schooling at the expense of a more liberatory vision of education. The aim of this study was to examine the connections between power, education, and democracy in relation to the neoliberal restructuring of higher education in Canada, while simultaneously exploring discourses of resistance to neoliberal hegemony. Using critical discourse analysis, this study begins by establishing the promotion and naturalization of neoliberal ideology within the policy landscape of Canadian …

Jealousy In Same-Sex Relationships: A Study Of Sexual And Emotional Infidelity, Courtney Grace Stufflebeam

Theses and Dissertations

The current study employed online, self-report data in relation to jealousy, insecurity, dependency, and relationship power within same-sex relationships. Specifically, I examined the correlational, predictive and comparative aspects of distress and jealousy levels in individuals within same-sex relationships. It was hypothesized that relationship power, dependency and insecurity would predict level of jealousy and distress in the experience of sexual and emotional infidelity. Three hundred and nineteen consenting participants completed the online questionnaires regarding their views and emotions related to the above constructs. Regression analyses provided data indicating that none of the variables predicted an individual’s experience of jealousy and distress. …

A Morphological Approach To Identify Respiratory Phases Of Seismocardiogram, Nasim Taghizadeh Alamdari

Theses and Dissertations

Respiration affects the cardiovascular system significantly and the morphology of signals relevant to the heart changes with respiration. Such changes have been used to extract respiration signal from electrocardiogram (ECG). It is also shown that accelerometers placed on the body can be used to extract respiration signals. It has been demonstrated that the signal morphology for seismocardiogram, the lower frequency band of chest accelerations, is different between inhale and exhale. For instance, systolic time intervals (STI), which provide a quantitative estimation of left ventricular performance, vary between inhale and exhale phases. In other words, heart beats happening in exhale phase …

Effect Of Silica Supported Platinum Catalyst On The Performance And Durability Of Pem Fuel Cells, Jivan N. Thakare

Theses and Dissertations

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have a unique property of zero (ultra-low) emission and provide significant technical and overall cost advantages compared to other types of fuel cells. As a result, PEMFCs have attracted considerable attention as an alternative power source for stationary and mobile applications. However, the PEMFCs are yet to realize mass-market commercialization hindered mainly by its poor durability. Therefore, numerous research efforts have been devoted to studying the durability of PEMFCs, motivated by the desire to improve its lifetime without unduly increasing cost or compromising performance.

The catalyst support largely determines the stability of supported platinum …

A Dual-Level Approach To Enrollment Management, Jason Trainer

Theses and Dissertations

Increasing institutional dependency on tuition revenue paired with rising political pressures towards student success outcomes has many institutions turning to enrollment management (EM) to improve their institution’s enrollment outcomes. EM is a comprehensive and inclusive process focused on achieving the optimum recruitment, retention, and graduation institutional outcomes. The academic community remains at the epicenter of this EM process. Chief enrollment officers failing to create an institutional partnership with the academic community will unlikely attain desired enrollment outcomes.

This study seeks to assist institutions by assessing how a “shared sense of responsibility” for enrollment outcomes is developed through the eyes of …

X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy Studies Of The Atomic Structure Of Zirconium-Doped Lithium Silicate Glasses And Glass-Ceramics, Zirconium-Doped Lithium Borate Glasses, And Vitreous Rare-Earth Phosphates, Changhyeon Yoo

Theses and Dissertations

In the first part of this work, the atomic-scale structure around rare-earth (RE = Pr, Nd, Eu, Dy, and Er) cations (RE3+) in rare-earth sodium ultraphosphate (REUP) glasses were investigated using RE LIII-edge (RE = Nd, Er, Dy, and Eu) and K-edge (RE = Pr and Dy) Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy. (RE2O3)x(Na2O)y(P2O5)1-x-y glasses in the compositional range 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.14 and 0.3 ≤ x + y ≤ 0.4 were studied. For the nearest oxygen shell, the RE-oxygen (RE-O) coordination number decreases from 10.8 to 6.5 with increasing RE content for Pr-, Nd-, Dy-, and Er-doped …

Examining Multiple Methods Of Analysis To Guide The Development Of A Postsecondary Institution Rating System, Eddie Gene Walker Ii

Theses and Dissertations

Rankings of higher education institutions have been developed as a method for evaluating universities and colleges as the competition for students, faculty, and financial support grew stronger (Shin & Toutkoushian, 2011). Historically these rankings relied mostly upon institutional reputation, but recently there has been a call for quantifiable data. US President Obama (2013) discussed the need for a postsecondary institution ratings system that holds universities accountable to provide accurate information related to accessibility, affordability, and educational outcomes. Once a method of rating institutions is developed, the ratings can be utilized to rank similar institutions, which results in a ranking system …

The Effects Of Resistance Training Programs On Physical Self-Perceptions In College Females, Kelsey Lauren Zachman

Theses and Dissertations

The effects of resistance training on females’ self-perception. Introduction: It is generally accepted that exercise enhances physical self-perceptions, but the impact of resistance training programs on females’ self-perceptions is unclear. Because exercise is an important public health behavior, and because physical self-perceptions have motivational implications, this study has potential to add knowledge that is relevant to exercise promotion. Purpose: The primary aim of the study was to explore the effect of two different types of resistance training programs on physical self-perceptions of college age females. Methods: Participants (n=30) were randomized to muscular strength, muscular endurance resistance training groups or a …

Differential Executive Functioning, Impulsivity, And Motivation In Adulthood As A Function Of Experienced Child Abuse, Christopher Anton Mark

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: While child abuse can only occur before the ages 18, there are long term neurological repercussions that can cause severe detriment to the abused individual. More specifically, normative neurological development during childhood is impeded upon, thus resulting in cognitive and emotional abnormalities in adulthood. Methods: The present study recruited 43 students from the University of North Dakota (Females = 23) with an age range of 18-23 years of age (M = 19.6 years, SD = 1.545). The participants were administered several prescreening measures, including a measure of physical child abuse, emotional child abuse, and sexual child abuse. Based on …

The Sovereign-Debt Listing Puzzle, Elisabeth De Fontenay, Josefin Meyer, Mitu Gulati

Faculty Scholarship

The claim that stock exchanges perform certification and monitoring roles in securities offerings is pervasive in the legal and financial literatures. This article tests the validity of this “bonding hypothesis” in the sovereign-bond market—one of the oldest and largest securities markets in the world. Using data on sovereign-bond listings for the entire post-World War II period, we provide the first comprehensive report on sovereigns’ historical listing patterns. We then test whether a sovereign bond issue’s listing jurisdiction affects its yield at issuance, as the bonding hypothesis would predict. We find little evidence of bonding in today’s sovereign-debt market. Instead, we …

Race, Class, And Access To Civil Justice, Sara Sternberg Greene

Faculty Scholarship

After many years of inattention, policymakers are now focused on troubling statistics indicating that members of poor and minority groups are less likely than their higher-income counterparts to seek help when they experience a civil justice problem. Indeed, roughly three-quarters of the poor do not seek legal help when they experience a civil justice problem, and inaction is even more pronounced among poor blacks. Past work on access to civil justice largely relies on unconfirmed assumptions about the behavior patterns and needs of those experiencing civil justice problems. At a time when increased attention and resources are being devoted to …

What Is Gun Control? Direct Burdens Incidental Burdens, And The Boundaries Of The Second Amendment, Joseph Blocher, Darrell A. H. Miller

Faculty Scholarship

Particularly in places with few recognizable gun control laws, “gun neutral” civil and criminal rules are an important but often-unnoticed basis for the legal regulation of guns. The burdens that these rules impose on the keeping and bearing of arms are at times significant, but they are also incidental, which raises hard questions about the boundaries between constitutional law, regulation, and legally enforceable private ordering. Does the Second Amendment apply to civil suits for trespass, negligence, and nuisance? Does the Amendment cover gun-neutral laws of general applicability like assault and disturbing the peace? In the course of addressing these practical …

No Good Options Against Isis Barbarism? Human Shields In 21st Century Conflicts, Charles J. Dunlap Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

One of the most vexing conundrums of 21st century warfare has been not just the explosive growth in the use of human shields, but the apparent systemization of the tactic, particularly by nonstate actors. In noting the international prohibition, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) defines the practice as the “intentional co-location of military objectives and civilians or persons hors de combat with the specific intent of trying to prevent the targeting of those military objectives.”

Years Of Good Life Based On Income And Health: Re-Engineering Cost-Benefit Analysis To Examine Policy Impact On Wellbeing And Distributive Justice, Richard Cookson, Owen Cotton-Barrett, Matthew D. Adler, Miqdad Asaria, Toby Ord

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

We Have The Tools To End Hiv: Benefits, Barriers, And Solutions To Expanded Utilization Of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (Prep) In The Us Deep South, Jason Ervin, Allison Weller Tikare, Carolyn Mcallaster

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Overcoming The Great Forgetting: A Comment On Fishkin And Forbath, Jedediah Purdy

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Thoughtful Faith: Essays On Belief By Mormon Scholars, Philip L. Barlow

Books

No abstract provided.

Cruising The Borderlands: Queer Latinx Creating Space In Lowrider Culture, Elisia I. Campos

Senior Independent Study Theses

This ethnographic and interview-based study explores how queer Latinx lowriders create community through art, such as The Q Sides, an exhibition of photographs by Vero Majano, Kari Orvik, and DJ Brown Amy. Both lowrider culture and the queer Latinx community are marginalized communities that are often silenced, ignored, and not included in historical preservation or well documented. Lowrider culture and the queer Latinx community have largely been explored separately, such as ethnographer Ben Chappell and interdisciplinary scholar Michael Hames-García. My Senior Independent Study project examines the unique intersection of the queer Latinx experience in lowrider culture in the context of …

Policies And Clinical Practices Regarding Candidacy And Auditory Treatment For Hispanic Pediatric Patients In Cochlear Implant Centers In The United States, Matthew Ehrenburg

Senior Independent Study Theses

This research sought to investigate the policies and clinical practices regarding candidacy and auditory treatment for Hispanic pediatric cochlear implant patients at cochlear implant centers in the United States. More specifically, the study investigated treatment services provided to pediatric patients who are raised in monolingual Spanish, English as a second language (ESL), and bilingual English-Spanish speaking homes. The study made use of survey research to examine cochlear implant centers regarding their policies, clinical practices, and their referral processes for this specific group of cochlear implant recipients. The survey was distributed electronically through the online survey software Qualtrics via email to …

Writing The Social History Of Legal Doctrine, Cynthia Nicoletti

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Macroprudential Quandary: Unsystematic Efforts To Reform Financial Regulation, Kern Alexander, Steven L. Schwarcz

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.