Digital Commons Network^™

The Shape Of Water, Ken Derry

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of The Shape of Water (2017), directed by Guillermo del Toro.

A Study Of The Nature And Impact Of Shona And Chinese Rhyming Words/Phrases, Herbert Mushangwe, Muchinei Musona

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

Pairs of rhyming words/phrases in Chinese and Shona were investigated in an attempt to bring out the effect of such words to the teaching and learning of Chinese language. The pairs were grouped in accordance to their effects and nature of relationship. The selection of the words was based on samples obtained during classroom teaching. Students’ reaction to Chinese words automatically tells the story of the effect of such rhyming words. For instance, for embarrassing rhyming words learners naturally shy out to pronounce the words or they laugh instead of imitating the teacher. It is clear that the study of …

Motivation, Learning Strategies, And Language Competency In A Technology Facilitated Chinese As A Second Language Classroom, Xiongyi Liu, Lih-Ching Chen Wang

Chinese Language Teaching Methodology and Technology

The present study examines the effectiveness of a game-based mobile technology application Kahoot on the motivation and language competency of high school student learning Chinese as a second language, and the relationship among student motivation, learning strategy use, and language competency in such a technology-facilitated classroom. Data was collected using pre and post surveys from a class of 18 students taught by a teacher candidate in a Chinese teaching licensure program at a state university. The results indicate significant student improvements in two areas of Chinese language learning: reading and speaking, though no significant difference was found in the areas …

Ecological And Evolutionary Genomics: Differential Variability Of Gene Expression And Fine-Scale Adaptive Divergence Among Microhabitats Of Large Fundulus Heteroclitus Populations, Dominique Neitzel Wagner

Open Access Dissertations

Adaptive evolution on ecological timescales shapes communities. However, adaptation among environments relies on isolation or large selection coefficients that exceed migration effects. This reliance is tempered if adaptation from standing genetic variation is polygenic – does not depend on one allele completely replacing another but instead requires small allele frequency changes at many loci. Thus, whether individuals can evolve adaptation to fine-scale habitat variation is not resolved. To investigate this process, the gene expression and genetic divergence of a teleost fish, Fundulus heteroclitus, was explored. Among nearby (< 200m) microhabitats in three separate saltmarshes, and over the course of a season (spring to fall), thousands of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were analyzed. Among these SNPs, 1.3-2.3% have large and highly significant differences among microhabitats (mean FST = 0.15; false discovery rate (FDR) ≤ 1%), and 1.8-5.7% are significantly different between seasons (mean FST = 0.077 to 0.597; FDR ≤ 1%). The divergence among microhabitats and between seasons for these SNPs is larger than that among populations, exceeds neutral expectation, and indicates surprising population structure among microhabitats. These data suggest that polygenic selection is surprisingly effective in altering allele frequencies over very small geographic distances.

Mems Scale Integrated Lab-On-A-Chip System For Detection And Analysis Of Human Tumor Cells, Rajapaksha Waththegedara Randil Lalinda Gajasinghe

Open Access Dissertations

Detection and analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) present in human blood is gaining attention as a reliable technique for obtaining information that are vital for diagnostic and research procedures. Only a limited number of semi-automated commercial tools capable of single cell detection and analysis exist; they are expensive and bulky instruments that require highly trained operators. Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) are ideal for the application due to their inherent advantages. A method for immobilizing target CTCs at MEMS scale regions of interest was developed. Developed MEMS device utilized superparamagnetic micro beads and micro electromagnets to immobilize MCF-7 cells flowing in …

Environmental Durability And Degradation Of Fiber-Reinforced Bismaleimide/Quartz Composite For Aircraft Radome Applications, Luis A. Rodriguez

Open Access Dissertations

Bismaleimide (BMI) is a polymeric thermoset material that is suitable for high temperature structural and electrical applications, particularly when used as a matrix in fiber-reinforced composites for radar-protecting structures (radomes) on commercial and military aircraft. In this role, BMI’s high service temperature and high strength-to-weight ratio are of significant importance in supersonic aircraft. A main disadvantage of this material is the propensity to absorb environmental and aircraft related fluids in many applications, even in hot, dry environments. Moisture absorption has been known to be a deleterious factor in the service life of aircraft structures, especially in the case of dielectric …

Anomalous Structures In Oceanic Turbulence: Dynamics, Energetics, Transport, Mykhailo Rudko

Open Access Dissertations

In this thesis, anomalous structures of oceanic mesoscale turbulence, as exemplified by coherent vortices and zonally-elongated transient flows (ZELTs), are considered. All simulations of mesoscale turbulence flows are performed in a two-layer, quasi-geostrophic model. The first chapter explores stability of and transport by baroclinic vortices on the β-plane. The study adapts a wave-mean flow formalism and examines interactions between the axisymmetric flow (“the vortex”) and residuals (“the waves”). Unlike baroclinically unstable vortices on the f-plane, such vortices on the β-plane can be also vulnerable to barotropic instability as revealed by the globally integrated energy balance analysis. The spatial structure of …

Deposition And Diagenesis Of Subtropical Microbial Carbonates, Chelsea L. Pederson

Open Access Dissertations

The primary objective of this dissertation is to characterize freshwater microbial palustrine deposits, and assess how their textures and geochemical characteristics change over various stages of early burial and diagenesis in order to assess their recognition and preservation in the geologic record. A detailed study of sediments, microbial communities, and chemical environments was carried out for a sequence of cored Holocene deposits, from the modern surficial freshwater environment and seaward to those similar sediments buried during the Holocene transgression in the Florida Everglades (mainly terrestrial) and Florida Bay (full marine). In addition, the early diagenesis of microbial lime mud is …

La Bella Vita, Llc V. Shuler Appellant's Brief Dckt. 45378

Not Reported

No abstract provided.

Linking Heterogeneous Climate Policies (Consistent With The Paris Agreement), Michael A. Mehling, Gilbert E. Metcalf, Robert N. Stavins

Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei Working Papers

The Paris Agreement has achieved one of two key necessary conditions for ultimate success – a broad base of participation among the countries of the world. But another key necessary condition has yet to be achieved – adequate collective ambition of the individual nationally determined contributions. How can the climate negotiators provide a structure that will include incentives to increase ambition over time? An important part of the answer can be international linkage of regional, national, and subnational policies, that is, formal recognition of emission reductions undertaken in another jurisdiction for the purpose of meeting a Party’s own mitigation objectives. …

Preparing Today’S Middle School Science Students For The Real World Of Science Through Relevant And Inquiry-Based Activities, Hannah F. Walsh

Honors Program Theses and Projects

During the past several decades we have seen an increase in the demand for individuals trained in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines (Rothwell, 2013). While this is this case, according to the Bureau of Labor, the United States will see a shortage of STEM workers over the next decade, with the demand for highly trained STEM workers exceeding the minimal supply (Rothwell, 2013). In a study of bachelor and associate students in the academic year of 2003 and 2004, only 28% of bachelor students and 20% of associate students entered STEM fields (Chen & Soldner, 2013). This study …

Redesign Of The Bridgewater State University Website, Jordan Rossetti

Honors Program Theses and Projects

In this thesis, I studied human-computer interaction (HCI), analyzed the usability of the Bridgewater State University website, and redesigned it guided by HCI principles and user experiments. A goal of the project is to apply suggestions from HCI research to the usability analysis of an existing website. I redesigned the website based on this analysis and by conducting user experiments compare the redesign against the existing BSU website. With this project, I redesigned a website that demonstrably improves users’ success at information seeking and navigation while reducing frustration and hassle compared to the current Bridgewater State University (BSU) website. This …

2017 Fall Engr333 Project Final Report (Section A), Trevor Nyeholt, Francis Kapesa, Justin Thalmayer, Erik Karlson, Kyle Van Veen, Kirk Brink, Steven Tarske, Brent Homan, Nathan De Haan, Paul Bootsma, Megan Anders, Philip Holmes, Melanie Fox, Noah Pirrotta, Abigail Berkompas, Ben Wellman, Halley Press, Christopher Greaves, Josh Templeman, Tim Bosch, Jake Zandstra, Hendrik Vermeulen

ENGR 333

Calvin College currently spends $836,000 annually on natural gas consumption. The engineering 333-A class was tasked with the question, "What would it take for Calvin College to save $75,000 per year on natural gas costs". The class was split into five groups (Boilers, Dorms and Dining Hall, Academic Buildings, Finance, and PE Complex) to research possible areas of savings. Through the class' research, it was determined that Calvin College has the potential savings of $87,000 a year through the reduction of natural gas usage.

In Re: Franklin Baines

2017 Decisions

USDC for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Dante Burton V. William Schamp

2017 Decisions

USDC for the Western District of Pennsylvania

Usa V. Michael Cerruti

2017 Decisions

USDC for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Data Descriptor: An Open Resource For Transdiagnostic Research In Pediatric Mental Health And Learning Disorders, Lindsay M. Alexander, Jasmine Escalera, Lei Ai, Charissa Andreotti, Karina Febre, Alexandra Mangone, Natan Vega-Potler, Nicolas Langer, Alexis Alexander, Meagan Kovacs, Shannon Litke, Bridget O'Hagan, Jennifer Andersen, Batya Bronstein, Anastasia Bui, Marijayne Bushey, Henry Butler, Victoria Castagna, Nicolas Camacho, Elisha Chan, Danielle Citera, Jon Clucas, Samantha Cohen, Sarah Dufek, Megan Eaves, Brian Fradera, Judith Gardner, Natalie Grant-Villegas, Gabriella Green, Camille Gregory, Emily Hart, Shana Harris, Megan Horton, Danielle Kahn, Katherine Kabotyanski, Bernard Karmel, Simon P. Kelly, Kayla Kleinman, Bohwang Koo, Eliza Kramer, Elizabeth Lennon, Catherine Lord, Ginny Mantello, Amy Margolis, Kathleen R. Merikangas, Judith Milham, Giuseppe Minniti, Rebecca Neuhaus, Alexandra Levine, Yael Osman, Lucas C. Parra, Ken R. Pugh, Amy Racanello, Anita Restrepo, Tian Saltzman, Batya Septimus, Russell Tobe, Rachel Waltz, Anna Williams, Anna Yeo, Francesco X. Castellanos, Arno Klein, Tomas Paus, Bennett L. Leventhal, R. Cameron Craddock, Harold S. Koplewicz, Michael P. Milham

Publications and Research

Technological and methodological innovations are equipping researchers with unprecedented capabilities for detecting and characterizing pathologic processes in the developing human brain. As a result, ambitions to achieve clinically useful tools to assist in the diagnosis and management of mental health and learning disorders are gaining momentum. To this end, it is critical to accrue large-scale multimodal datasets that capture a broad range of commonly encountered clinical psychopathology. The Child Mind Institute has launched the Healthy Brain Network (HBN), an ongoing initiative focused on creating and sharing a biobank of data from 10,000 New York area participants (ages 5–21). The HBN …

Carl Whitehead V. John Wetzel

2017 Decisions

USDC for the Western District of Pennsylvania

2017 Fall Engr333 Project Final Report (Section B), Eric Ball, Mitchell Debruin, Raymond Kolocek, Edwin Kpodzro, Jacob Vandekieft, Nate Anderson, Brennan Steenhoek, Darbi Meyer, Derek Vermerris, Jessica Bouma, Devon Loerop, Reuben Saarloos, Richmond Amoh, Matthew Boelens, Tyson Butler, Laura Van Winkle, Alex Keizer, Kwame Ohemeng, Cameron Richman, Julie Van De Riet

ENGR 333

Currently, Calvin College spends $2.8M on electricity and natural gas. In the recent past Calvin has alleviated some of these costs by running a cogeneration system that combusts fuel and produces electricity and heat, this old system has since been removed due to age. With the old system removed Calvin is fully reliant on grid, leading to increased electricity cost. In addition to saving Calvin money, President Leroy formally signed the President’s Carbon Commitment that announced Calvin’s intent to be Carbon neutral by 2057. To meet both the cost and emissions saving needs, the objective of the energy savings project …

State V. Cook Appellant's Brief Dckt. 45273

Idaho Supreme Court Records & Briefs, All

No abstract provided.

Libertarianism, Bas Van Der Vossen

Philosophy Faculty Books and Book Chapters

Libertarianism is a theory in political philosophy that strongly values individual freedom and is skeptical about the justified scope of government in our lives. Libertarians see individuals as sovereign, as people who have a right to control their bodies and work, who are free to decide how to interact with willing others, and who cannot be forced to do things against their will without very strong justification.

For some, the argument in support of this view hinges on the principle of self-ownership. To them, individual rights are morally foundational, the basic building blocks of their theory. Many others, however, take …

Evaluation Of A Field-Deployable Reverse Transcription-Insulated Isothermal Pcr For Rapid And Sensitive On-Site Detection Of Zika Virus, Mariano Carossino, Yanqiu Li, Pei-Yu A. Lee, Chuan-Fu Tsai, Pin-Hsing Chou, Dennis Williams, Ashley Skillman, R. Frank Cook, Grayson Brown, Hsiao-Fen G. Chang, Hwa-Tang T. Wang, Udeni B. R. Balasuriya

Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center Faculty Publications

Background: The recent emergence of Zika virus (ZIKV) in Brazil and its precipitous expansion throughout the Americas has highlighted the urgent need for a rapid and reliable on-site diagnostic assay suitable for viral detection. Such point-of-need (PON), low-cost diagnostics are essential for ZIKV control in vulnerable areas with limited resources.

Methods: We developed and evaluated a ZIKV-specific field-deployable RT-iiPCR reagent set targeting the E gene for rapid detection of ZIKV in ZIKV-spiked human and mosquito specimens, and compared its performance to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) RT-qPCR assays targeting the E …

A Developmental Study On Assessing The Cybersecurity Competency Of Organizational Information System Users, Richard K. Nilsen, Yair Levy, Steven R. Terrell Ph.D., Dawn Beyer

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

Organizational information system users (OISUs) that are open to cyber threats vectors are contributing to major financial and information losses for individuals, businesses, and governments. Moreover, technical cybersecurity controls may be rendered useless due to a lack of cybersecurity competency of OISUs. The main goal of this research study was to propose and validate, using subject matter experts (SMEs), a reliable hands-on assessment prototype tool for measuring the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that comprise the cybersecurity competency of an OISU. Primarily using the Delphi methodology, this study implemented four phases of data collection using cybersecurity SMEs for proposing and …

A Toolkit Approach To Information Security Awareness And Education, Peter Korovessis, Steven Furnell, Maria Papadaki, Paul Haskell-Dowland

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

In today’s business environment where all operations are enabled by technology, information security has become an established discipline as more and more businesses realize its value. The human component has been recognized to have an important role in information security since the only way to reduce security risks is through making employees more information security aware. Towards this goal the research will appreciate the importance of information security awareness by illustrating the need for more effective user training. Further to that it proposes and develops an information security toolkit as a prototype awareness raising initiative. Apart from the elements of …

Synergistic Security: A Work System Case Study Of The Target Breach, Martha Nanette Harrell

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

Recent publicized security breaches can be used to evaluate information security programs. The processes and procedures that allowed the event to occur can be examined in a case study and then be used to find methods for future mitigation of risk. The Target security breach is used in this study to examine the organization’s information security program using a macro-ergonomic model. This research posits that an information security program should consider the work system design, based in macro-ergonomics, to help mitigate information security risk to the organization and ensure an efficient and effective information security program. Based on a seminal …

Analysis Of The Relationship Between The Shortage Of Skilled Labor In The Construction Industry And Vocational Education, Heather Linton Hightower

Theses and Dissertations

There has been a noted shortage in skilled labor throughout the construction industry. This shortage has been attributed by some professional organizations to generational differences in the workforce participants. Leading some to suggest that younger generations exhibit character flaws such as laziness at a higher rate than that of older generations. It is the position of this author that this conclusion is flawed. The decrease in vocational training in public schools and the societal preference for America’s youth to attend college rather than learn a skilled trade must be considered primary drivers of this trend. Research will analyze the causation …

The Official Rulebook For Choice In Video Games: An Examination Of Choice In Modern Narrative Games, Tyler Paulley

Undergraduate Theses

Film, drama, and novels are each capable of telling stories in a specialized way. This thesis makes the claim that video games are the newest means of storytelling and that they can tell stories in unique and engaging ways by using choice. The first goal of this thesis is to determine how and why choice is being used by game developers by examining several modern narrative games. After this examination, it is determined that the increase of choice-driven and narrative games have had an impact on the expectations of players, the goals of video games, and on game culture itself. …

Intelligent Design, Christopher Buccafusco, Mark Lemley, Jonathan Masur

Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics Research Paper Series

No abstract provided.

Code Of Regulations Of The University Of Dayton, Effective 2017-12-19, University Of Dayton

University Governing Documents

No abstract provided.

Basic Governing Documents, Effective 2017-12-19, University Of Dayton

University Governing Documents

No abstract provided.