Digital Commons Network^™

Human Freedom In Love: How Our Wholeness Calls Us To Love, Kayla Stock

Obsculta

No abstract provided.

Comparative Analysis Of Spring Flood Risk Reduction Measures In Alaska, United States And The Sakha Republic, Russia, Yekaterina Yevgenevna Kontar, Екатерина Евгеньевна Контарь

Geosciences

River ice thaw and breakup are an annual springtime phenomena in the North. Depending on regional weather patterns and river morphology, breakups can result in catastrophic floods in exposed and vulnerable communities. Breakup flood risk is especially high in rural and remote northern communities, where flood relief and recovery are complicated by unique geographical and climatological features, and limited physical and communication infrastructure. Proactive spring flood management would significantly minimize the adverse impacts of spring floods. Proactive flood management entails flood risk reduction through advances in ice jam and flood prevention, forecasting and mitigation, and community preparedness. With the goal …

Fossil Mustela Nigripes From Snake Creek Burial Cave, Nevada, And Implications For Black-Footed Ferret Paleoecology, Nathaniel S. Fox, Steven C. Wallace, Jim I. Mead

Western North American Naturalist

Morphometric measurements were used to classify 11 mustelid dentaries from Snake Creek Burial Cave (SCBC), a late Pleistocene to early Holocene–aged paleontological locality in eastern Nevada, that were undifferentiated between Mustela nigripes (black-footed ferret) and Neovison vison (American mink) due to their similar size and morphology. We, therefore, classified the SCBC fossils using 10 linear measurements of the dentary using extant M. nigripes and N. vison as proxy. Discriminant function and principal component analyses grouped the 11 unknown SCBC specimens within extant M. nigripes exclusively. Confirmation of M. nigripes at SCBC is significant because Cynomys spp. (their primary prey source …

The Real Face Of Arabic Symbols, Leena Yahya Sonbuol

Theses

This is a brief insight into my thesis: "The Real Face of Arabic Symbols". I have examined in depth the artwork I completed for my Masters of Fine Arts degree at Rochester Institute of Technology, the work for which was exhibited in the Bevier Gallery for two weeks during March 2017.

The aim of this study is to explore differences in symbolic language between the Eastern and Western cultures in visual arts and explain the misconception of Arabic symbols in the western world. It examines Arabic cultural symbols in contemporary art, and the creation of a symbolic language for a …

Negotiating Identity, Home, And Belonging: Understanding The Experiences Of African Women Refugees Resettled In The United States, Consolata Nthemba Mutua

Communication ETDs

The purpose of this study is to examine how former African women refugees negotiate their identity, sense of belonging, and home in the context of transnational displacement. To explore this topic, I conducted in-depth interviews, participant observation, and focus group interviews with African women who came to the United States as refugees and who now live in two cities in the Southwestern and Midwestern United States. The resulting data was analyzed using both thematic and narrative analysis.

For this study, I recruited through a snowball/network sampling strategy a total of 20 former African women refugees and conducted 15 in-depth interviews, …

Cultivating Servant Leaders In Secondary Schooling, Kong Wah Cora Chan, Gloria So

Servant Leadership: Theory & Practice

No abstract provided.

A Collaborative Approach To Developing Culturally Themed Digital Collections, Antoinette Paris Greider, Adrian K. Ho, Christopher A. Pool

Library Presentations

The College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky (UK) has created the Passport to the World Program (PWP) to celebrate campus-wide the cultural heritage of a country or region every academic year. The UK Libraries International Programs has been an active contributor to PWP by collaborating with faculty and different library departments to develop unique digital collections that serve to connect viewers with the featured country or region.

To begin with, the Director of the International Programs (DIP) consults faculty and librarians at the UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center to select relevant materials for digitization. She …

The Everyday Life Of Climate Change, Jody Record

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Bivalve Stories And Snail Tales: Reconstructing The Late Archaic Environment At The Tomoka Complex, Northeast Florida, Steven R. England

Kentucky Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Mollusks inhabit specific ecological niches and can be used as proxies for past environmental conditions. Changes in the composition of molluscan assemblages register changing ecological conditions and offer an opportunity to examine human responses to environmental change. This paper presents the preliminary analysis molluscan species from the Late Archaic Tomoka Complex in Northeast Florida. Changes in the species composition and frequency of mollusks coupled with the available radiometric assays are used to reconstruct the environmental conditions during the occupation of the Tomoka Complex and, importantly, the environmental conditions attending Late Archaic mortuary mound construction.

Decoding Russian Foreign Policy, Dina Moulioukova

Open Access Dissertations

The traditional notion of security in international relations theory assumes that nation-states have one driving goal in their relations with other states – their own survival. Therefore states should calculate their foreign policy decisions solely with that goal in mind. While physical security is important to states, sometimes, however, states structure their actions in materially costly ways. These actions satisfy the self-identity needs of the states. In case states avoided these actions their sense of self-identity would be radically disrupted, and such a disruption is just as important to the states as threats to their physical integrity. While physical security …

The Disappearing Wetland Act: Climate Change, Development, And Protection, Jessica P. Doughty

Student Theses 2015-Present

Wetlands are the providers of ecosystem services and important local and national economic resources. Despite the services provided by these ecosystems, the importance of wetlands are often overlooked and they are filled in to make way for development, polluted, and degraded. These habitats are further damaged by the effects of climate change. This thesis focuses on wetlands in the Northeastern United States, using the Long Island Sound as a case study to explore the devastating effects of development and climate change on wetlands. In this thesis, I use environmental history, economics, and government policy to explore the importance of wetland …

The Relationship Between Academic Motivation And Parenting Styles In Multiple Socioeconomic Status Areas, Stephanie Rubin

Theses and Dissertations

Academic motivation is an important topic that has been discussed in hopes to increase the levels within students, especially during college. Many factors can influence academic motivation, including the student's perceived parenting style and socioeconomic status. The purpose of this study was to examine the correlation between undergraduate student's academic motivation and perceived parenting style as well as the relationship between academic motivation and socioeconomic status of the student. An anonymous survey was given to undergraduate students through Rowan University's SONA system. Bivariate correlational tests, one-way ANOVA tests, and Post-Hoc tests in SPSS were used to determine if the relationships …

The Maternity Ward As Mirror: Maternal Death, Biobureaucracy, And Institutional Care In The Tanzanian Health Sector, Adrienne Elizabeth Strong

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

As public health policies continue to encourage women to give birth in biomedical care facilities, this research provides insight into the sequences of events leading to deaths in these settings from the unique perspective of the healthcare providers and administrators themselves, in addition to that of women and their communities. While the term maternal mortality implies biological processes and clinical practices, this dissertation focused on sequences of events at the hospital, and on historical, institutional, and political economic structures that shaped maternal risk in this region through 23 months of mixed-methods, ethnographic fieldwork in the Rukwa region of Tanzania and …

The Technological And Socio-Economic Organization Of The Elmenteitan Early Herders In Southern Kenya (3000-1200 Bp), Steven Thomas Goldstein

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Understanding how the modern world has been shaped by the origins and spread of food production deeper in our past is an enduring and fundamental goal of anthropological archaeology. In Africa, mobile pastoralism emerged as a way of life that is economically and ideologically focused on herding livestock, and spread across the continent over the last 8000 years. Despite the potential importance of African pastoralism within global dialogues on the origins of food production, the social and economic systems that sustained its spread through the continent remain poorly understood. A culture-complex known as the Elmenteitan is associated with the spread …

Coexistence Of Confamilial, Folivorous Indriids, Propithecus Diadema And Indri Indri, At Betampona Strict Nature Reserve, Madagascar, Lana Kerker Oliver

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I examine how two confamilial and ecologically similar indriids, indri (Indri indri), and diademed sifakas (Propithecus diadema) maintain coexistence in Betampona Nature Reserve (BNR), an eastern lowland rainforest in Madagascar. These two species occur sympatrically throughout much of their species ranges and are similarly-sized folivorous primates. As anatomic folivores, they present an opportunity to investigate how niche differentiation and resource partitioning allow two sympatric primate species with similar feeding patterns to coexist. I examined coexistence strategies and the general behavioral ecology of each species by examining their activity patterns, dietary profiles, home range use, and daily path …

Population Genomics Of A Baboon Hybrid Zone In Zambia, Kenneth Lyu Chiou

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Hybridization is increasingly recognized as a common, important process shaping the evolution of organisms including humans. Across hybrid zones, the genomes of incipient species are mixed and recombined through hybridization and backcrossing, creating conditions ideal for evaluating the actions of natural selection on gene variants in novel genomic contexts. This dissertation aims to increase our understanding of hybridization using a Zambian baboon study system in which two species, Kinda baboons (Papio kindae) and grayfoot baboons (Papio griseipes), hybridize despite exhibiting pronounced differences in body size and behavior. Using genome-wide genotypic data prepared using double-digest RADseq, I scan for genomic regions …

Seeds As Artifacts Of Communities Of Practice: The Domestication Of Erect Knotweed In Eastern North America, Natalie Graham Mueller

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Humans are the ultimate ecosystem engineers, and in transforming ecosystems we also change the selective environment for the plants and animals that live among us. The bodies and behaviors of domesticated plants and animals are thus rich artifacts of traditional ecological knowledge and practice. I study the morphology and behavior of domesticated plants as a proxy for ancient agricultural communities of practice. The transition from food procurement to food production is one of the most significant shifts in human history. I consider this process as the evolution and spread of a knowledge system. Domestication studies are usually focused on differentiating …

Sins Of The Father: An Investigation Into Judgments And Processes Involved In Within-Family Tainting, Stephanie Allison Peak

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The present research focused on a real-world event (i.e., the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks) as a basis for gaining insight about the spread of negativity (i.e., “tainting”) from a guilty father to an innocent son. The nature of the relationship between the son and the father was varied experimentally, a manipulation that allowed for investigation into the subjective importance of genetic versus social relationships. Across three experiments, I examined two types of judgments about the son, including responsibility and general evaluation of the target. Responsibility ratings were, on the average, extremely low. Indeed, many participants explicitly attributed no responsibility to …

2017 Ursinus College Commencement Program, Ursinus College

Ursinus College Commencement Programs

This Ursinus College Commencement program from 2017 contains the list of speakers and order of events for the day.

Life Was Like That: The Grotesque Medieval In The Modern Imagination, Elizabeth Wawrzyniak

Foley Library Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Ua45/6 Commencement Program, Wku Registrar

WKU Administration Documents

Commencement program listing graduates and a tribute to WKU president Gary Ransdell.

Search In T Cell And Robot Swarms: Balancing Extent And Intensity, George M. Fricke

Computer Science ETDs

This work investigates effective search and resource collection algorithms for swarms. Deterministic spiral algorithms and L ́evy search processes have been shown to be optimal for single searchers. We extend these strategies to swarms of robots and populations of T cells and measure performance under a variety of conditions.

Search extent and intensity lie on a continuum: more intensive patterns search thoroughly in the local area, while extensive patterns cover more area but may miss targets nearby. We show that the most efficient trade-off between search intensity and extent for swarms depends strongly on the distribution of targets, swarm size …

University Of Montana Commencement Program, 2017, University Of Montana--Missoula. Office Of The Registrar

University of Montana Commencement Programs, 1898-2020

Commencement program from the University of Montana.

University Of Mississippi 164th Commencement, 2017, University Of Mississippi, Jeffrey S. Vitter, Noel E. Wilkin, Jon Meacham

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

2017 Commencement Program, State University Of New York College At Cortland

Commencement Programs

May Commencement, Undergraduate Ceremony.

Structural And Stratigraphic Reconstruction Of The Whiting Dome Salt Structure In Viosca Knoll-Mississippi Canyon, Gom, Using 3d Seismic Data, Matthew R. Worrell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the complexities of salt tectonics is one of the most important factors regarding seismic interpretation of stratigraphy, structure, and geomorphology in the Gulf of Mexico. Evaluating the processes affecting recent mobilization of salt in the shallow, well-imaged section can help provide analogues for older, similar occurrences in the deeper section, thereby providing structural models for the autochthonous salt and its effect on stratigraphy and even potential timing and migration issues of hydrocarbons.

Progradation of delta front and shelf to slope transitional sediments has expulsed and emplaced an allochthonous salt structure (Whiting Dome) in the Viosca Knoll and Mississippi Canyon …

After The Shoe Fits: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Four Versions Of The Cinderella Narrative, Faith L. Boren

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fairy tales hold the power to influence societies and to challenge societal injustices, and the story of Cinderella exemplifies both of these roles. In this study, I conduct a rhetorical analysis of four different versions of the Cinderella narrative: Charles Perrault’s “Cendrillon,” the Brothers Grimm’s “Ascenputtel,” Anne Sexton’s "Cinderella,” and Disney’s Cinderella (2015). I examine Perrault’s “Cendrillon” and the Grimms’ “Aschenputtel” using constitutive rhetoric. This theory operates around the basic premise that rhetoric holds the power to aid in the shaping of societies. While analyzing “Cendrillon” and “Aschenputtel,” I specifically look for themes of classism and nationalism, respectively. I then …

College Student & Parenting: How Many Hours Does This Take?, Kristi Lynn Riggs

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Nontraditional students with children are a growing population within the college and university environment (Ross-Gordon, Jovita 2011). Many questions about the struggles these students endure to achieve a degree have yet to be discovered. The aim of this exploratory descriptive study is to examine the relationships between the average study times of nontraditional students with children, versus students without children who attend Pittsburg State University (PSU) in the Spring 2017 semester. Data for this study was collected through a survey instrument which was administered through Survey Monkey^tm. The instrument was delivered via the PSU Mr.Bulke email system to …

For The Greater Good: A Decade Of K-12 Education Philanthropy In New Mexico, Amy Jane Ballard

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

In an increasingly complex landscape of education practitioners, goals and funding models, the need for a comprehensive understanding of the role of private foundations in public school philanthropy is more crucial now than ever. This dissertation examines the evolving role of foundations in supporting education in the United States, as a prelude to an in-depth examination of school-focused education philanthropy in New Mexico. New Mexico’s education reform environment and national education reform themes from 2000-2012 provide a structure to consider three questions: 1) Who have been the major donors to and recipients of school-focused philanthropy in New Mexico?; 2) What …

Predictors Of High School Students' Performance And College Readiness, Octaviana Imelda Prima Hemmy Asamsama, Danessa Mayo, Jessica Stillman, Christine Mathews, Donna Schnorr, Brett Nelson

Journal of Educational Research and Innovation

Identifying the best predictors of academic performance and college readiness is crucial for promoting success in postsecondary institutions. This cross-sectional study of 587 students examined the association between ethnicity and gender on high school students’ 1) high school grade level competence in reading, writing, and mathematics, and 2) a test of college readiness. Additionally, we determined whether the following parental factors were associated with students’ perceptions of attending college and performance on a college readiness test: 1) parents’ highest level of education, 2) parents’ perceptions of students’ level of education, and 3) parents’ perceived reasons of why students might not …