Digital Commons Network^™

Turns Of The Contingent Fee Key To The Courthouse Door, Douglas R. Richmond

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Quasi-Constitutional Change Without Intent—A Response To Richard Albert, Reijer Passchier

Buffalo Law Review

In response to Richard Albert’s Quasi-Constitutional Amendments, 65 BUFF. L. REV. 739 (2017).

Characterizing Coseismic Ionospheric Disturbance For Surface-Rupturing Earthquakes, Rebekah Faith Lee

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Coseismic ionospheric disturbances (CID) are commonly identified using global navigation space system (GNSS) satellites. Little research, however, has focused on using total electron content (TEC) observations to characterize acoustic sources on Earth's surface. For this thesis, I investigate the applicability of an analytical method to invert the TEC for the acoustic wave. The inversion is based on the modeling of a transfer function. Deconvolving the TEC by the transfer function gives the acoustic wave. Inverting for the acoustic wave in this way would remove phase differences in the TEC created by atmospheric-ionospheric coupling. I test the assumption in the model …

Increasing Retention Among First-Year Master's In Counseling Students: Evaluation Of A Social Integration Program, James David Jensen

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Comprised of three individual articles, this article-based dissertation represents different aspects of a study involving a program designed to increase retention among master’s level Counselor Education (CE) students. Chapter One provides an overview of the dissertation’s purpose along with a discussion of how the studies comprising the dissertation extend the current literature on student retention in CE programs. Chapter Two discusses a qualitative study that explores students’ perceptions of a Social Integration Program designed to increase program satisfaction and sense of belonging among first-year students in a Master of Arts in Counseling program. The article in Chapter Two presents findings …

Application Of Hydrogeophysical Imaging In The Reynolds Creek Critical Zone Observatory, Travis Nielson

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The critical zone is defined as the upper most portion of the crust extending from the top of unweathered bedrock to the top of the vegetation canopy. It is the zone in which inorganic rock is transformed into biologically useful soils and saprolites in a process termed weathering. Because the critical zone is the connection between the subsurface and surface it plays a role in a wide variety of biological, hydrologic, and climatic processes. Understanding the critical zone though is inherently difficult because its scale and heterogeneity often means direct sampling methods, e.g. soil pits and cores, under represent the …

A Mixed Methods Exploratory Study Of Digital Literacies In Higher Education, Susan K. Shannon

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory study examines the assessment of digital literacy in higher education using Kurtz and Peled’s (2016) digital literacy framework and assessment instrument. As information and communications technologies have grown over the last part of the 20^th century and the first part of the 21^st century, so has the socio-cultural environment (Kurtz & Peled, 2016; Roxin & Rusitoru, 2016). Literacy has grown from a simple concept involving the ability to read and write to a complex concept that includes many more competencies. A review of the literature shows the emergence of many new literacies (Šorgo, Bartol, Dolničar, & …

Deriving Landscape-Scale Vegetation Cover And Aboveground Biomass In A Semi-Arid Ecosystem Using Imaging Spectroscopy, Andrew Poley

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Environmental disturbances in semi-arid ecosystems have highlighted the need to monitor current and future vegetation conditions across the landscape. Imaging spectroscopy provide the necessary information to derive vegetation characteristics at high-spatial resolutions across large geographic areas. The work of this thesis is divided into two sections focused on using imaging spectroscopy to estimate and classify vegetation cover, and approximate aboveground biomass in a semi-arid ecosystem.

The first half of this thesis assesses the ability of imaging spectroscopy to derive vegetation classes and their respective cover across large environmental gradients and ecotones often associated with semi-arid ecosystems. Optimal endmember selection and …

The Role Of Middle School Building Leadership Teams In Professional Development, Celine Wicks

Dissertations

The role middle school building leadership teams have in professional development (PD), through a distributed leadership model, was explored in this multiple-case study. There is minimal research regarding the impact of middle school building leadership teams (BLTs) related to their responsibilities of professional development. The intent of this study was to add to the body of research regarding the role that middle school BLTs, beyond the principal alone, have on designing and delivering professional development. Through a qualitative research design, data were collected through one-on-one interviews, focus group interviews, observations, and document collection. The findings illuminated four major themes of …

Criminal Justice Majors: Are They Tougher On Crime?, Anthony Javornik

Honors College Theses

The United States of America incarcerates more individuals than any other nation in the world. Therefore, the United States has one of the most active correctional systems and it is imperative to examine the system thoroughly. Generally speaking, there have been 3 accepted models of the correctional system since the 1940’s: custodial, rehabilitation, and reintegration. Although it is possible to find institutions that subscribe to each of these models respectively, the custodial model is the most common in the United States. Therefore, this study seeks to examine college students’ perception of crime, in order to help explain why the general …

Eva: An Indicator Of Corporate Bankruptcy?, Amanda (Jinxian) Lu

Honors College Theses

Economic value added (EVA) analysis is one of the most common methods to evaluate company’s performance in terms of value creation, which involves ROIC (Return on Invested Capital) and WACC (Weighted Average Cost of Capital) as key drivers. Past studies evaluate the superiority of EVA over other measures of performance and relationship between EVA and stock returns. This paper analyzes the relationship between EVA and bankruptcy on 373 public traded companies in U.S. of which 178 companies filed for bankruptcy between the year of 2015 to October 2017. We present descriptive statistics, conduct univariae grouping tests and correlation between ROIC, …

Controls On Modern Erosion And The Development Of The Pearl River Drainage In The Late Paleogene, Chang Liu, Peter D. Clift, Andrew Carter, Philipp Böning, Zhaochu Hu, Zhen Sun, Katharina Pahnke

Faculty Publications

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. The Pearl River and its tributaries drains large areas of southern China and has been the primary source of sediment to the northern continental margin of the South China Sea since its opening. In this study we use a combination of bulk sediment geochemistry, Nd and Sr isotope geochemistry, and single grain zircon U-Pb dating to understand the source of sediment in the modern drainage. We also performed zircon U-Pb dating on Eocene sedimentary rocks sampled by International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 349 in order to constrain the source of sediment to the rift before …

Reliability Of An Observational Method Used To Assess Tennis Serve Mechanics In A Group Of Novice Raters, Natalie L. Myers, W. Ben Kibler, Gilson J. Capilouto, Philip M. Westgate, Tony English, Timothy L. Uhl

Physical Therapy Faculty Publications

Background: Previous research has developed an observational tennis serve analysis (OTSA) tool to assess serve mechanics. The OTSA has displayed substantial agreement between the two health care professionals that developed the tool; however, it is currently unknown if the OTSA is reliable when administered by novice users.

Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was to determine if reliability for the OTSA could be established in novice users via an interactive classroom training session.

Methods: Eight observers underwent a classroom instructional training protocol highlighting the OTSA. Following training, observers participated in two different rating sessions approximately a week apart. Each observer …

Two-Phase Exhumation Of The Santa Rosa Mountains: Low- And High-Angle Normal Faulting During Initiation And Evolution Of The Southern San Andreas Fault System, Cody C. Mason, James A. Spotila, Gary Axen, Rebecca J. Dorsey, Amy Luther, Daniel F. Stockli

Faculty Publications

©2017. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. Low-angle detachment fault systems are important elements of oblique-divergent plate boundaries, yet the role detachment faulting plays in the development of such boundaries is poorly understood. The West Salton Detachment Fault (WSDF) is a major low-angle normal fault that formed coeval with localization of the Pacific-North America plate boundary in the northern Salton Trough, CA. Apatite U-Th/He thermochronometry (AHe; n = 29 samples) and thermal history modeling of samples from the Santa Rosa Mountains (SRM) reveal that initial exhumation along the WSDF began at circa 8 Ma, exhuming footwall material from depths of …

Minimalist Solution To Williamson County, Raymond J. Nhan

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

Williamson County Regional Planning Commission v. Hamilton Bank of Johnson County relegated Fifth Amendment takings claims to a second-class of federal rights. Before a takings plaintiff can sue in federal court, she must first seek compensation through an “adequate state procedure.” Many federal courts have held that requirement to mean a takings litigant must first seek compensation through state courts if that state provides an inverse condemnation proceeding. However, if a takings litigant sues in state court, she will be unable to sue in federal court because of issue preclusion. This effectively shuts the federal courthouse door to many property …

Aerodynamic And Performance Analysis Of A Morphing Helicopter Rotor System, Vinay Gopal Krishnan

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of rotor morphing, specifically variable rotor speed and variable blade twist, on various parameters such as the distribution of angle of attack, lift, power, thrust and/or other metrics describing the performance of a helicopter rotor. A MATLAB based blade element theory model was developed and executed for different flight conditions. The model was validated against the flight test data of a UH-60. Effects on power, lift to drag ratio and rotor drag from variations in blade twist, rotor speed, rotor radius and blade chord was analyzed. Morphing cases were applied …

Using An "Escape Room" Toolbox Approach To Enhance Pharmacology Education, Melinda Hermanns, Belinda Deal, Ann M. C, Shawn Hillhouse, J. Brian Opella, Casey Faigle, Robert H. Campbell Iv

Nursing Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Faculty are encouraged to use a variety of teaching/learning strategies to engage nursing students. While simulation and games are now common, there were no reports in the nursing literature using an “escape room” concept. Escape rooms use an entertainment approach as teams engage in critical thinking to solve puzzles and find clues to escape a room. In the classroom setting, this concept is modified to solve a mystery by finding various objects through a series of puzzles to locate clues. Some of these games involve finding numerical clues to open locks on a box, such as a toolbox. The …

Distributed Model Predictive Control Of Power Converters In Microsrids Under Different Modes Of Operation, Riyadh Toman Thahab Toman

Dissertations

Microgrids consist of many distributed energy sources (DERs) and the overall system is viewed as a number of subsystems. In this work, a finite control set model predictive control is proposed to control power converters in both grid and island modes of operation of the microgrid. Each subsystem is assigned a local controller that relies on measurements of common coupling point (PCC) and/or terminal quantities to provide accurate regulation of current or voltage components. This meets the local objective of each subsystem and contributes to the global objective of the microgrid.

In the first part of the work, a microgrid …

Cost Comparison Of Cement Concrete And Polymer Concrete Manholes In Sewer Systems, Sayan Sakhakarmi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Cement concrete manholes are generally used in sewer networks in the United States. However, these concrete manholes are highly vulnerable to chemical corrosion and require frequent maintenance and replacement. Polymer concrete manholes as a substitute to the cement concrete manholes in water and wastewater pipelines have proved to have longer service life and more resistance to various chemical corrosions than normal concrete manholes. Despite the benefits that polymer concrete manholes offer, the higher initial installation cost has been a barrier to its wide application in public works. This study has been conducted to compare the cost of cement concrete manholes …

Teaching Students Who Have Difficulty Mastering Lmitation, Jennifer Mrljak

Dissertations

Some children with autism are unable to acquire imitation despite receiving early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) meant to teach that and other important skills. Many EIBI programs use physical-prompting hierarchies either as a component of the discriminative stimulus or the correction procedure following an error (Lovaas, 1981; Maurice, Green, & Luce, 1996). But even after lengthy exposure to these teaching techniques, some children still do not acquire imitative repertoires. In the present study, working with students who were not acquiring imitative repertoires, we started with shaping the initial imitative responses as a method to gain stimulus control and then introduced …

The Proposed Dropping Of The Genus Crassostrea For All Pacific Cupped Oysters And Its Replacement By A New Genus Magallana: A Dissenting View, B.L. Bayne, M. Ahrens, S.K. Allen, M. Angles D'Auriac, T. Backeljau, P. Beninger, R. Bohn, P. Boudry, J. Davis, T. Green, X. Guo, D. Hedgecock, A. Ibarra, P. Kingsley-Smith, M. Krause, C. Langdon, S. Lapegu, C. Li, D. Manahan, R. Mann, L. Perez-Paralle, E.N. Powell, P.D. Rawson, D. Speiser, J.-L. Sanchez, S. Shumway, H. Wang

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Cost Of Roaming Free: Assessing The Effects Of Plant Secondary Metabolites On Diet Selection And Nutritional Condition In A Free-Ranging Generalist Herbivore, Daniel Patrick Melody

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Large vertebrate herbivores have a wide variety of browsing options available. However, most plants contain a suite of plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) that can have toxic effects when ingested. Herbivores must therefore make dietary choices that minimize the potentially harmful effects of PSM ingestion and maximize the use of available nutrients and protein. During winter months, in northern latitudes, climatological factors restrict browsing options and many populations of herbivores must subsist primarily on forage that is relatively poor in nutritional quality and high in PSMs. Many species of herbivores have developed a suite of behavioral and physiological adaptations to cope …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of A Hybrid Geosynthetic Reinforcement System To Mitigate Differential Heave On Flexible Pavement Due To Expansive Subgrades, Mir Md. Tamim

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Transportation industries encounter substantial challenges with respect to ride quality and serviceability when they deal with expansive soils underneath roadway structures. These soils exhibit swell-shrink behavior with moisture variations, which cause surficial heaving on the pavement structure and cost billions of dollars for the maintenance of pavements. For the past four decades, a particular stretch of US-95 (Oregon line to Elephant Butte) exhibited recurrent swelling distresses due to the underlying expansive soils. Despite remedial measures that exhibited satisfactory results for most of the sections, recurrent damage still continued in few sections. Further research indicated that the problematic soils were located …

Development Of A Production Estimation Model For Tunnel Boring Machines (Tbms), Saeed Janbaz

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Advance rate (AR) estimation is a crucial factor at the conceptual phase of a tunneling project for preliminary estimation of tunnel boring machines' (TBMs') usage. The primary objective of this research is to develop order of magnitude performance charts for advance rate of TBMs that can be used using the limited information about the tunneling progress at the conceptual phase. The secondary objective of this dissertation is to evaluate factors that impact TBM progress in large diameter applications. Tunnel diameter and uniaxial compressive strength of ground are found to be some of the primary parameters for prediction of advance rate. …

Assessing The Current Efficiencies Of Farm Credit Of Western Arkansas, Hailey Paulsen

Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Undergraduate Honors Theses

Farm Credit is a unique banking structure, as it is a cooperative which pays patronage dividends to its members. As such, the rates for loans (nominal interest rates) that Farm Credit offers can be slightly higher than larger commercial banks because the patronage payment can offset some, all or more of interest rate difference, which results in an effective rate. Farm Credit, like other globally evolving industries, must continuously look for ways to differentiate themselves to compete for new customers and retain existing ones. Thus, this study sets out to survey the members of Western Farm Credit of Arkansas to …

Analytical Solutions For The Black-Scholes Equation, Jalil Manafian, Mahnaz Paknezhad

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In this paper, the Black-Sholes equation (BS) has been applied successfully with the Cauchy-Euler method and the method of separation of variables and new analytical solutions have been found. The linear partial differential equation (PDE) transformed to linear ordinary differential equation (ODE) as well. We acquired three types of solutions including hyperbolic, trigonometric and rational solutions. Descriptions of these methods are given and the obtained results reveal that three methods are tools for exploring partial differential models.

Too Many Choices Confuse Patients With Dementia, R. C. Hamdy, J. V. Lewis, Amber Kinser, A. Depelteau, Rebecca Copeland, T. Kendall-Wilson, K. Whalen

ETSU Faculty Works

Choices are often difficult to make by patients with Alzheimer Dementia. They often become acutely confused when faced with too many options because they are not able to retain in their working memory enough information about the various individual choices available. In this case study, we describe how an essentially simple benign task (choosing a dress to wear) can rapidly escalate and result in a catastrophic outcome. We examine what went wrong in the patient/caregiver interaction and how that potentially catastrophic situation could have been avoided or defused.

Antidepressant-Like Actions Of Inhibitors Of Poly(Adp-Ribose) Polymerase In Rodent Models, Gregory A. Ordway, Attila Szebeni, Liza J. Hernandez, Jessica D. Crawford, Katalin Szebeni, Michelle J. Chandley, Katherine C. Burgess, Corwin Miller, Erol Bakkalbasi, Russell W. Brown

ETSU Faculty Works

Many patients suffering from depressive disorders are refractory to treatment with currently available antidepressant medications, while many more exhibit only a partial response. These factors drive research to discover new pharmacological approaches to treat depression. Numerous studies demonstrate evidence of inflammation and elevated oxidative stress in major depression. Recently, major depression has been shown to be associated with elevated levels of DNA oxidation in brain cells, accompanied by increased gene expression of the nuclear base excision repair enzyme, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1. Given these findings and evidence that drugs that inhibit poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 activity have antiinflammatory and neuroprotective properties, the present study …

On Memory And Resistance: Motherhood, Community And Dispossession In Zora Moreno’S Coqui Corihundo Vira El Mundo (1981), Stephanie Gomez Menzies

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

This paper examines Zora Moreno’s play Coquí corihundo vira el mundo (1981) as an alternative to the identitarian investment in the patriarchal myth of the gran familia puertorriqueña. I argue that by offering a feminist rewriting of Adolfina Villanueva through the protagonist Anastasia, Moreno combats the privileging of Puerto Rican identity as a light-skinned, male figure. Moreno critiques these colonial vestiges of racial discrimination through her interrogation of the spatial politics of home. Coquí corihundo vira el mundo problematizes the construction of a Puerto Rican identity that would erase Afro-Puerto Rican identity and thereby replicate a racialized hierarchy. Thus, in …

The Influence Of The Social And Cultural Environment On Maternal Mortality In Nigeria: Evidence From The 2013 Demographic And Health Survey, Oluwatosin Ariyo, Ifeoma D. Ozodiegwu, Henry V. Doctor

ETSU Faculty Works

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Introduction Reducing maternal mortality remains a priority for global health. One in five maternal deaths, globally, are from Nigeria. Objective This study aimed to assess the sociocultural correlates of maternal mortality in Nigeria. Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of nationally representative data from the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey. The analysis was based on responses from the core women’s questionnaire. Maternal mortality was categorized …

Ion Trajectory Simulations And Design Optimization Of Toroidal Ion Trap Mass Spectrometers, Jessica Marie Higgs

Theses and Dissertations

Ion traps can easily be miniaturized to become portable mass spectrometers. Trapped ions can be ejected by adjusting voltage settings of the radiofrequency (RF) signal applied to the electrodes. Several ion trap designs include the quadrupole ion trap (QIT), cylindrical ion trap (CIT), linear ion trap (LIT), rectilinear ion trap (RIT), toroidal ion trap, and cylindrical toroidal ion trap. Although toroidal ion traps are being used more widely in miniaturized mass spectrometers, there is a lack of fundamental understanding of how the toroidal electric field affects ion motion, and therefore, the ion trap's performance as a mass analyzer. Simulation programs …