Digital Commons Network^™

Team Psi: Making The Frederik Meijer Honors College Experience More Distinctive, Selena Brown, Kendra Smith, Sara Harman, Michael Guscar, Josh Schneider, Cassondra Anderson

Liberal Studies Undergraduate Research

We are grateful for your interest in our proposed solution to increase the distinction of the Frederik Meijer Honors College. This journey spanned four months, and included countless hours of research, interviews, ideating, and prototyping. Our portfolio will walk you through this process, to help you understand our insights, and how we used Design Thinking to create our final innovation.

We would also like to express our gratitude for the teaching and guidance of professor Linda Chamberlain of the Frederik Meijer Honors College, and all the ways in which she helped us navigate the Design Thinking process. Without her, this …

A Study Of The Material Inspection Record And Quality Systems: A Case In The United States Department Of The Navy, Larry W. Brown Jr.

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Defective products and services are a part of every industry, sector, and organization. Minimization of those defects is essential for business success. The later those defects are found, the more they cost the business and consumer. This study investigated the impact having an accredited Quality Management System (QMS) had on the acceptance of delivered product. The study focused on the products delivered to the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) and Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) organizations. This study investigated the statistical significance between the means of the groups within size and number of accreditation. The dependent variables were Material Inspection …

Going Beyond ‘Do No Harm’: A Critical Annotation, Robert F. Johnson

Peer Reviewed Articles

The Op-Ed article in the New York Times (November 4th, 2016), “On Assisted Suicide, Going Beyond Do No Harm” by Haider Javed Warraich provided an articulate and timely plea for more widespread availability and application of physician-assisted dying, or “suicide”, as part of end-of-life medical care. While this profound intervention should be considered by physicians and others as an option for those able to express their wishes at the end-of-life, it must be considered in the context of the ethical principles appropriate for all health care interventions and recognized for its limited role in the overall approach to compassionate care …

Dolley Madison And Anecdotes In Early Twentieth Century Textbooks, Ryann Finley Warlick

All Theses

On August 24, 1814, during the War of 1812, British troops were quickly advancing upon the American capital, Washington City. Inside of the Executive Mansion, First Lady, Dolley Madison, was gathering items to be rescued in the event that the British troops should advance into the capital. Following the American defeat at the Battle of Bladensburg, American General John Armstrong ordered a retreat of his troops, resulting in the final exodus of Washington City. As she was leaving the Executive Mansion, Dolley Madison decided the Gilbert Stuart portrait of General George Washington also needed to be saved, and according to …

Improving Cell Seeding Of Decellularized And Porated Porcine Arterial Scaffolds, Harrison Smallwood

All Theses

Coronary artery disease is one of the number one killers in the U.S. Current treatment of using CABG surgery has limitations from availability of autologous grafts, and low patency of artificial grafts. Tissue engineered grafts would ideally provide more availability, while also replicating the mechanical properties of the native grafts. Current issues in tissue engineering arteries lie in using an effective scaffold to get correct mechanical properties, and allowing for cell infiltration to assist in integrating with native tissue once implanted. This study shows the use of a decellularized and chemically and mechanically porated porcine carotid artery in mechanical characterization …

Geochemical Controls Of Iodine Sorption To Wetland Sediments, Allison C. Sams

All Theses

Understanding the transformations of iodine during sorption to soils present in redox transition zones is critical for understanding risks from iodine-129 release into the environment. In this work, sorption of iodine to a wetland soil from the Savannah River Site was monitored as a function of time and total iodine concentrations from initially iodide or iodate sources. Batch experiments were performed in order to investigate the effects of organic matter on total iodine sorption and to investigate the rates of iodate and iodide sorption and desorption in a wetland soil. Sorption of iodide was slower than sorption of iodate. Indirect …

Influential Factors In The College Decision-Making Process For Chinese Students Studying In The United States, Madeline Adele Rafi

All Theses

For more than 974,000 international students, the United States is the destination of choice to pursue higher education. Although Chinese students account for almost one in three international students in the U.S., there are many unknowns about the influential factors behind their college decision. This phenomenological study explores the self-described most important factors for Chinese students' decision to attend college in the United States and the sources they seek to make their decision. Through interviews with students originally from China who attained their undergraduate degree from a U.S. university, my goal was to understand how individuals arrive at his/her alma …

Effects Of Rider Experience Level On Horse Kinematics And Behavior, Rebekah Strunk

All Theses

Large riding lesson programs are an essential part of the horse industry. To meet demand and remain profitable, lesson barns sometimes require horses to work multiple times a day with different rider levels. There is little guidance as to the behavioral and physical effects of such protocols, so lesson program managers have limited scientific evidence upon which to base horse management and welfare decisions. The current data regarding horse and rider interactions includes motion pattern variability, trunk and spine kinematics and force plate analyses. While these data are helpful to explain scenarios that can affect the horse with an accomplished …

Integrating Decision Aids To Enhance The Sensemaking Process Of Online Information Consumers In Social Media, Amal Pradeep Ponathil

All Theses

With the increase in the number of online review websites, electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) has become a vital information source for consumers. People share their views on the Internet in different forms from blogs to reviews on various websites. At the same time, people prefer to remain anonymous or use fake virtual identities for reasons extending from privacy to enjoyment. This freedom afforded by anonymity has led people to write posts without fully considering the potential consequences of their actions. Moreover, there is increasing concern about the trustworthiness of such posts as there is typically no editorial process for verification of …

Influence Of Beam Rotation On The Response Of Cantilevered Flow Energy Harvesters Exploiting The Galloping Instability, James H. Noel

All Theses

Energy harvesters are scalable devices that generate microwatt to milliwatt power levels by scavenging energy from their ambient natural environment. Applications of such devices are numerous, ranging from wireless sensing to biomedical implants. A particular type of energy harvester is a device which converts the momentum of an incident fluid flow into electrical output by using flow-induced instabilities such as galloping, flutter, vortex shedding and wake galloping. Galloping flow energy harvesters (GFEHs), which represent the core of this thesis, consist of a prismatic tip body mounted on a long, thin cantilever beam fixed on a rigid base. When the bluff …

Geometric Path-Planning Algorithm In Cluttered 2d Environments Using Convex Hulls, Nafiseh Masoudi

All Theses

Routing or path planning is the problem of finding a collision-free path in an environment usually scattered with multiple objects. Finding the shortest route in a planar (2D) or spatial (3D) environment has a variety of applications such as robot motion planning, navigating autonomous vehicles, routing of cables, wires, and harnesses in vehicles, routing of pipes in chemical process plants, etc. The problem often times is decomposed into two main sub-problems: modeling and representation of the workspace geometrically and optimization of the path. Geometric modeling and representation of the workspace are paramount in any path planning problem since it builds …

Cross Flow Filtration Modeling Using Analytical And Numerical Solutions Along With Implementation As A Web-Based Calculator, Lauren Paige Mcintyre

All Theses

In this thesis, we present a 1D model for the complex phenomenon of cross-flow filtration. We begin by developing the governing equations and providing analytical solutions that can be found using Laplace transforms for both the simple clean filter case, and the more complex filter with fouling in the form of cake, and depth plugging of the filter media. A walk through of the set up and implementation of a simple web-based application is given, and the code to produce the web application for this model is included in an appendix. The web application acts as a calculator, accepting model …

Precision Agriculture Technology Development And Utilization For Hay Production, Perry Jonathan Loftis

All Theses

Mass flow sensor algorithms were developed for a hay yield monitoring system using ultrasonic sensors to measure windrow height. The algorithms indicated accuracies of 17.34% to 9.51%, with a wide tolerance to mounting positions. The developed mass flow algorithms were used in a nitrogen rate strip test on a 25 ac irrigated Tifton 85 bermudagrass field. Results suggested that yield, crude protein content and profit was maximized with the highest nitrogen rate only during the first harvest of 2017. All other harvest suggested a lower rate of nitrogen should be applied in order to maximize profit. A second method of …

Groundwater-Surface Water Interaction In The Headwater Of The White River, Manistee National Forest, Michigan, Ziqian Li

Masters Theses

Groundwater is a significant fresh water source in most areas and can be affected by potential changes to climate and precipitation from anthropogenic influences. Considering groundwater and surface water can be regarded as one hydrologic system, it is significant to understand the dynamics between precipitation, shallow groundwater and surface water in order to manage these resources.

Water samples were collected roughly biweekly from July 2016 to June 2017, and analyzed for electrical conductivity and stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen. During sample collection site visits, stream discharge and the groundwater heads from different wells were measured.

The stable isotopes of …

Evaluating The Affective Impact Of A Place-Based Learning Course Project In The Geosciences, Nathan Charlton

Masters Theses

Coping with issues such as climate change and depletion of natural resources demands a scientifically literate public. For many students, the only exposure to earth science comes in a college-level general education geoscience course. One way to engender positive attitudes toward and interest in earth science among these students (the future public) is to connect learning to actual places to which students have a personal attachment.

This study seeks to evaluate the impact of a place-based learning project (MyPlace) currently in use in an introductory geosciences general education course at Western Michigan University. Students in the MyPlace project select a …

Enhancing Intersection Safety For The Blind And Visually Impaired (Bvi) Pedestrian Using Device-To-Infrastructure Communication, Mohammad Sayyah Al-Akash

Masters Theses

Visually impaired pedestrians have limited mobility options, where they rely heavily on walking and transit for their transportation needs. One of the major issues facing these pedestrians is intersection crossing. Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS), as a means of helping their intersection crossings, were introduced in the United States as early as 1920 but were not included in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Device (MUTCD) until 2000. The most recent type of APS is the beaconing APS which has shown improvements in road crossing abilities of blind pedestrians though it has many downsides to it. This study developed a cane …

Life Among Good Women: The Social And Religious Impact Of The Cathar Perfectae In The Thirteenth-Century Lauragais, Derek Robert Benson

Masters Theses

This Master’s Thesis builds on the work of previous historians, such as Anne Brenon and John Arnold. It is primarily a study of gendered aspects in the Cathar heresy. Using inquisitorial registers from the mid-thirteenth century to the early-fourteenth, as well as a few poetic and prose sources, it seeks to understand how the Cathar “Good Women” were perceived by their lay believers. The methodology of prosopography is utilized throughout to measure witness testimonies against one another and to compare the connections between the Cathar constituency and the female ministers.

Two main inquiries are investigated: the sacerdotal and pastoral roles …

Evaluation Of A New Surgical Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Core Team In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Megan Rose Stephany

Doctoral Scholarly Projects & Capstones

The healthcare workforce is moving from a traditional physician-only model to a multi-level medical provider model. Neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) have come to rely on neonatal nurse practitioners due to the decrease in resident physician hours and the lower cost of hiring a neonatal nurse practitioner. Studies have found advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) can provide benefits in the areas of communication, patient outcomes, patient satisfaction, and cost. An increasing number of critically ill infants are requiring specialized pre- and postoperative care in one Level IV NICU, which has led to continuous quality improvement in communication and continuity of …

Stroke Reduction In Elderly Patients With Atrial Fibrillation Through Utilization Of An Anticoagulation Toolkit In The Primary Care Setting, Rachel J. Mommer

Doctoral Scholarly Projects & Capstones

Patients, especially those older than 65-years-old, do not receive adequate assessment or management of atrial fibrillation, resulting in higher ischemic stroke rates and worse outcomes related to strokes. Oral anticoagulation is recommended indefinitely for patients with atrial fibrillation and a moderate to high risk of stroke; yet this population is not receiving oral anticoagulation consistently. Factors such as overexaggerated bleeding risk in the elderly, the lack of head-to-head studies comparing anticoagulants, cost, patient compliance, safety, lab monitoring, and reversal agents convolute the process of prescribing anticoagulation for atrial fibrillation. Variations exist with assessing bleeding risk and stroke risk for every …

Barriers To Managing Childhood Overweight/ Obesity In American Indian Children, Amanda Gerise Vignaroli

Doctoral Scholarly Projects & Capstones

The number of overweight and obese children continues to rise in the United States and across the world, creating a growing need for providers to practice evidence- based interventions for this population of children and adolescents. An estimated 17% of children and adolescents in the United States are affected by being overweight or obese (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2016a). Obesity puts these children and adolescents at risk for physical complications such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, Type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, asthma, joint pain, gastroesophageal disease, and fatty liver disease (CDC, 2016b). Obesity is even higher among ethnic groups …

The Audacity Of Protecting Racist Speech Under The National Labor Relations Act, Michael Z. Green

Faculty Scholarship

This Article, written for a symposium hosted by the University of Chicago Legal Forum on the Disruptive Workplace, analyzes the most recent failures of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to determine a thoughtful and balanced approach in addressing racist speech. Imagine two employees in the private sector workplace are discussing the possibility of selecting a union to represent their interests regarding wages and working conditions. During this conversation, a black employee notes the importance of using their collective voices to improve working conditions and compares the activity of selecting a union with the Black Lives Matter protests aimed at …

One Good Plaintiff Is Not Enough, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl

Faculty Publications

This Article concerns an aspect of Article III standing that has played a role in many of the highest-profile controversies of recent years, including litigation over the Affordable Care Act, immigration policy, and climate change. Although the federal courts constantly emphasize the importance of ensuring that only proper plaintiffs invoke the federal judicial power, the Supreme Court and other federal courts have developed a significant exception to the usual requirement of standing. This exception holds that a court entertaining a multiple-plaintiff case may dispense with inquiring into the standing of each plaintiff as long as the court finds that one …

Were The 1982 Merger Guidelines Old News?, Alan J. Meese, Sarah L. Stafford

Faculty Publications

This paper examines the impact of the 1982 Department of Justice Merger Guidelines on the stock market prices of publicly traded firms in the United States. We argue that those Guidelines were perceived by the market as a real change in enforcement policy that would result in substantial deregulation of mergers throughout the economy. We conduct an event study of S&P 500 firms to test this hypothesis and find evidence of a significant positive effect on the stock prices of firms in moderately concentrated industries subject to antitrust regulation, the firms for which the 1982 Guidelines articulate a substantially less …

Orwell's 1984 And A Fourth Amendment Cybersurveillance Nonintrusion Test, Margaret Hu

Faculty Publications

This Article describes a cybersurveillance nonintrusion test under the Fourth Amendment that is grounded in evolving customary law to replace the reasonable expectation of privacy test formulated in Katz v. United States. To illustrate how customary law norms are shaping modern Fourth Amendment jurisprudence, this Article examines the recurrence of judicial references to George Orwell’s novel, 1984, within the Fourth Amendment context when federal courts have assessed the constitutionality of modern surveillance methods. The Supreme Court has indicated that the Fourth Amendment privacy doctrine must now evolve to impose meaningful limitations on the intrusiveness of new surveillance technologies. …

Comments On Preliminary Draft 3 [Black Letter And Comments], Jane C. Ginsburg, June M. Besek

Faculty Scholarship

The absence of stated principles underlying the articulation of the black letter and comments – principles that the Reporters have said they will provide at the end of the process – continues to trouble the Draft. It remains unclear whether the Reporters are synthesizing positive law, or seeking to reform it. We are not contending that ALI should not push for law reform (even though Principles or some other form might provide a preferable and more transparent vehicle for aspirational endeavors), but we do think the objectives and methodology should be clear from the outset. We remain concerned that ALI’s …

Hierarchical Off-Road Path Planning And Its Validation Using A Scaled Autonomous Car', Angshuman Goswami

All Theses

In the last few years. while a lot of research effort has been spent on autonomous vehicle navigation, primarily focused on on-road vehicles, off-road path planning still presents new challenges. Path planning for an autonomous ground vehicle over a large horizon in an unstructured environment when high-resolution a-priori information is available, is still very much an open problem due to the computations involved. Localization and control of an autonomous vehicle and how the control algorithms interact with the path planner is a complex task. The first part of this research details the development of a path decision support tool for …

A Hybrid Approach For Treatment Of Naphthenic Acid Fraction Compounds In Oil Sands Process-Affected Water, Daniel Peter Gaspari

All Theses

Extensive volumes of oil sands process-affected waters (OSPWs) are produced at surface mines in the Athabasca Oil Sands. OSPW contains constituents, including a complex mixture of refractory organics known as naphthenic acid fraction compounds (NAFCs), that require treatment prior to government-mandated reclamation of mining leases. Hybrid constructed wetland treatment systems (CWTSs) implementing film-based TiO2 photocatalysis were investigated as a passive, low-energy method for treatment of constituents of concern (COCs) in OSPW.

Bench-scale settled TiO2 batch reactors were assembled and degradation of NAFCs in a specific OSPW was measured as a function of cumulative solar ultraviolet radiation (UV insolation) and by …

Comparison Of Growth And Reproductive Traits Of Young Growing Beef Bulls Developed On Forage With Or Without Concentrate Supplementation, Graham Scott Sell

All Theses

The objective of this study was to evaluate the growth and reproductive development of young growing beef bulls on a complete forage ration (F) to development of similar young growing beef bulls on a forage ration supplemented with concentrate (CT). Data was collected from the 665 beef bulls, grouped into breed codes (BC) of continental (CN; n = 103) or British (B; n = 562) that participated in the Edisto Forage Bull Test (EFBT) in Blackville, SC from 2006 to 2016 with the exception of 2012. Data from 2012 was lost in a clerical mishap. All Angus, red Angus, and …

Probability Models And Compounding, David L. Farnsworth, James E. Marengo

Articles

We present the case that the ideas contained in a particular sequence of formulas are important in probability and statistics. The synthesis offered by the concepts in the sequence can be very valuable. Facility with this sequence and its underpinnings should be in the skill set of anyone who uses or studies probability or statistics. For illustrative purposes, we give applications to mixture distributions and Bayesian analyses.

Social Balance And The Bernoulli Equation, J. J. P. Veerman

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Since the 1940s there has been an interest in the question of why social networks often give rise to two antagonistic factions. Recently a dynamical model of how and why such a balance might occur was developed. This note provides an introduction to the notion of social balance and a new (and simplified) analysis of that model. This new analysis allows us to choose general initial conditions, as opposed to the symmetric ones previously considered. We show that for general initial conditions, four factions will evolve instead of two. We characterize the four factions, and give an idea of their …