Digital Commons Network^™

The Poetics And Politics Of Dissolution: Beyond Queer Identities And Re-Imagining The Nocturnal Community In Nightwood., Pan (Helena) Hu

Comparative Literature M.A. Essays

No abstract provided.

The Papal Encyclical Laudato Si’: A Focus On Sustainability Attentive To The Poor, Ann-Marie Kennedy, Nicholas J. C. Santos

Marketing Faculty Research and Publications

This article seeks to reflect upon Laudato Si’, the papal encyclical on ecology and sustainable development, and uncover its apparent philosophical and practical approach to the environment. It begins with a discussion of paradigms of thought that outline the new ecological paradigm (NEP) suggested in the ecological literature, thereby helping to situate the ecosophy of Laudato Si’ within current thought. As we will show, Laudato Si’ differs from the NEP by linking the poor to our approach to sustainability and in its consideration of integral ecology. Specific principles for sustainability in business are then identified and strategic approaches are recommended, …

Racial Anxieties In Adoption: Reflections On Adoptive Couple, White Parenthood, And Constitutional Challenges To The Icwa, Addie C. Rolnick

Scholarly Works

The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is under fire from people who argue that it interferes with adoptions and violates the constitution by doing so. The current crop of lawsuits is an outgrowth of a 2012 case in which the Supreme Court heard its second-ever challenge to the law. While the Court sidestepped the most far-reaching anti-ICWA arguments, the majority opinion evidenced a deep skepticism about the law. This skepticism led the Court to narrow the law’s application so that it didn’t apply to the family involved, and it seemed to invite further challenges to the law.

The Professional Prospectus: A Call For Effective Professional Disclosure, Benjamin P. Edwards

Scholarly Works

Without easy access to relevant information, many consumers unwittingly trust serious decisions to professionals with histories of malpractice and negligence-leading to both individual and societal harms. This Article proposes to improve professional services markets with a tool that has already proven effective in the securities markets: a prospectus. A "Professional Prospectus" would reduce information asymmetries and improve the market for professional services through disclosure and consumer choice.

A Professional Prospectus would alter the market for professional services by making professional reputation a more potent force. Economic theory often relies on "reputation effects" to ensure the efficient functioning of the market …

Assessing Dynamic Soil Properties In Southern New England Using An Ecological Site Framework, Andrew James Paolucci

Open Access Master's Theses

An ecological site is defined as a distinctive kind of land based on recurring soil, landform, geological, and climate characteristics that differs from other kinds of land in its ability to produce distinctive kinds and amounts of vegetation and in its ability to respond similarly to management actions and natural disturbances. The primary objective of this study was to initiate provisional ecological site concepts for upland, riparian, salt marsh, and subaqueous soils in southern New England by comparing sites that share similar geomorphic settings, but differing soil types. For each system, I also determined how a specific disturbance or management …

Mineral Identification And Preliminary Mapping Of Organic Compounds In Serpentinite-Related Lithologies Using Μftir, Abigail M. Johnson

Open Access Master's Theses

Serpentinization, the water-rock reaction forming serpentine mineral assemblages from olivine and pyroxene-bearing protoliths, can co-occur with the production of hydrogen, methane, and diverse organic compounds. Serpentinization is regarded as a geologic process important to the sustainability of the deep biosphere and the origin of life. Serpentinization has been found to support metabolisms involving anaerobic CO-oxidation, acetogenesis, reduction of sulfur compounds, H₂ oxidation, CO₂ fixation, and fermentation. There is on-going research to develop a method that can visually depict mineral associations in serpentinites with serpentinization-related organics. In this report, we describe new findings, using µFTIR to map minerals and …

Assessing Hydrology, Carbon Flux, And Soil Spatial Variability Within Vernal Pool Wetlands, Bianca N. Ross

Open Access Master's Theses

Vernal pools are small isolated wetlands that are covered by shallow water for variable periods in the winter and spring but may be completely dry for most of the summer and fall. Despite their small size, vernal pools are a dominant wetland type throughout New England. These wetlands are hotspots of floral and faunal biodiversity, as their unique hydrology and landscape characteristics allow them to serve as a home and breeding ground for many distinct plant and animal species. Because of their abundance in New England, vernal pools may also be an important long-term regional storehouse for organic carbon. Despite …

Effects Of 10 Weeks Of Periodized Resistance Training On Sarcopenia Classification In Older Women, Samuel Slezak

Open Access Master's Theses

Sarcopenia is defined as the progressive, age related loss of lean muscle mass, which in turn has been associated with osteoporosis, decreases in physical function, and loss of independence. Newly established sarcopenia classification criteria include measures of appendicular lean mass (ALM), grip strength, and gait speed. Periodized resistance training (PRT) has been investigated in older adults, however the impact of PRT, particularly daily undulating periodized resistance training (DUP) on current sarcopenia classification criteria is unknown. The aim of this randomized controlled trial was to investigate the effects of a 10-week DUP intervention on sarcopenia classification in older women. Inactive women …

Interactions Of Polymers And Energetic Materials, Rebecca M. Levine

Open Access Master's Theses

Trace explosive detection is the primary way for quick and easy sampling of various surfaces in a check-point environment, e.g. an airport. The swabs used for commercial explosive detectors, such as ion mobility spectrometers, are made of various materials. The difficulty in collection and analysis of explosive traces is that the swabs must be effective at adsorbing as well as desorbing materials, i.e. pickup from the surface and release into the detection device. This dichotomy results in a tradeoff for development of new swabs. Generally, desorption is considered to be the more desirable property; therefore, Teflon is one choice for …

A Native Lepidopteran Is Impacted By Host Defenses Induced By Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (Adelges Tsugae), Mary M. Mallinger

Open Access Master's Theses

Eastern hemlock, Tsuga canadensis, is currently experiencing widespread mortality due to the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA; Adelges tsugae). Eastern hemlock looper (Lambdina fiscellaria), another hemlock pest, is a native lepidopteran that has reached outbreak levels in the past. While these insects share a host and overlap in range, little is known about their interactions. Research has shown that HWA infestation increases methyl salicylate concentrations (an indicator of the induction of the salicylic acid pathway) in hemlock tissue while hemlock looper, a chewing insect, likely elicits the jasmonic acid pathway. While plants are capable of inducing …

Assessment Of Salt Marsh Shoreline Degradation And Restoration On Benthic Invertebrate Infaunal Community, Anna Gerber-Williams

Open Access Master's Theses

The benthic invertebrate infaunal community is sensitive to disturbance and is an indicator for the overall health of estuarine ecosystems. To quantify the effect of salt marsh shoreline stabilization and restoration approaches on adjacent habitat quality, we compared invertebrate community assemblages of benthic infauna between four different shoreline types, two of which were erosion control methods, hardened and living shoreline, and two unaltered shorelines, natural and eroded. We quantified benthic infauna density, biomass, richness, and diversity and evaluated physical-chemical factors (water quality, sediment carbon and nitrogen content, and grain size) that may be influencing the benthic invertebrate community associated with …

Moderating Effects Of Gender And Coping Style On The Relationship Between Childhood Maltreatment And Social Anxiety, Bryana E. Killion

Open Access Master's Theses

The relationship between childhood maltreatment and maladaptive outcomes, such as increased rates of psychopathology, is well-documented in the literature. Specifically, research has indicated that higher rates of social anxiety are observed in maltreatment victims in comparison to the general population. These rates also appear to differ according to gender, with higher prevalence rates being observed among females. However, although the relationship between childhood maltreatment and social anxiety has been substantiated, little is known about the mechanisms that contribute to its development and perpetuation over time. A developing body of literature has suggested that coping styles (i.e., task-oriented, emotion-oriented, avoidance) may …

Evaluation Of Geospatial Features For Forecasting Parking Occupancy Using Social Media Data, Johannes Riedel

Open Access Master's Theses

Urbanization and growing individual mobility are globally active trends that intensify the needs for transportation in cities. In this context, parking space has become a scarce resource. Drivers searching for open parking spots cause about one third of the total traffic in urban areas. This creates significant fuel consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and time loss. Intelligent Transportation Systems with particular focus on parking are a promising approach to overcome the information asymmetry and lead drivers directly to available parking spots. This requires highly accurate occupancy data for parking areas on a geographically extended scale.

The ultimate goal of this thesis …

A High-Resolution Reconstruction Of Late-Holocene Relative Sea Level In Rhode Island, Usa, Rachel B. Stearns

Open Access Master's Theses

To investigate spatial and temporal variability of relative sea-level (RSL) changes in southern New England, USA, we reconstructed ~3,300 years of RSL change in lower Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. We applied a regional-scale, foraminiferal-based Bayesian transfer function to foraminiferal assemblages contained within a ~3.4 m salt-marsh peat sequence recovered at Fox Hill Marsh. To develop the chronology, we obtained 30 accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates from plant macrofossils and identified historical chronological markers of known age using ¹³⁷Cs, heavy metals, and lead isotope ratios. We combined our geologic reconstruction with local tide gauge measurements from Newport, Rhode Island …

Diet Quality Of Preschool Aged Children In Family Child Care Homes, Maggie You Ming Tsai

Open Access Master's Theses

Background: Although family child care homes (FCCH) are the second most utilized form of non-relative child care in the US, little is known about what children eat in this setting.

Objectives: The primary objective is to assess the quality of meals and snacks consumed by children aged 2-5 in FCCH compared to the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA 2015). The secondary, exploratory objective is to explore the association between childcare provider acculturation and dietary consumption of children in FCCH.

Design: This cross-sectional study used baseline data from an ongoing cluster randomized controlled intervention trial in FCCH.

Participants/setting: Family …

Extracting Parking Areas From Remote Sensing Imagery And Spatiotemporal Traffic Data, Julian Glaab

Open Access Master's Theses

The increasing world-wide demand for mobility caused urban parking space to become a scarce resource. Searching for parking is not only annoying to drivers, it also represents a serious cause of urban traffic. A previous study found that vehicles searching for parking contribute as much as 30 percent to the total traffic [1]. To solve this problem, a comprehensive Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) is necessary to supply drivers directly with information about open parking spaces in their surrounding area, so they do not need to “go and look” themselves.

However, in order to create an ITS for urban parking, a …

Variety Trials And Production Methods For Vegetable Amaranth In The Northeast, Sarah Schweig

Open Access Master's Theses

This study investigated the production of amaranth (Amaranthus spp.) as a leafy green in the northeastern temperate climate. Amaranth is a productive and resilient crop with cultural, economic, and nutritional significance to many cultures around the world. Growing ethnic crops in the northeastern U.S. is an opportunity for growers to expand into new and diverse markets. Amaranth’s pervasiveness in global foodways and tolerance of many biotic and abiotic stresses make it a promising option for growers to engage with the ethnic produce market and diversify production. However, intensive production research for vegetable amaranth is lacking, especially in temperate climates, …

Conserving Milkweed: The Effects Of Environmental Change And Viral Prevalence On Asclepias Syriaca, Courtney Devoid

Open Access Master's Theses

Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus L.) undergo a cross-continental migration each year, depending on the presence of common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca L.), both as a food source and for breeding purposes. The past two decades have seen a marked decline in monarch populations. These declines are partially attributed to a loss of milkweed plants in agricultural areas. To prevent monarch butterfly extinction, conservation efforts are working to increase milkweed prevalence.

Common milkweed is able to grow in a variety of habitat types and environmental conditions; however, the plants response to environmental change has not been extensively studied. …

Simulating Thermal Stress In Rhode Island Coldwater Fish Habitat Using Swat, Britta Marie Chambers

Open Access Master's Theses

Climate studies have suggested that inland stream temperatures and streamflow will increase over the next century in New England, thereby putting aquatic species sustained by coldwater habitats at risk. To effectively aid these ecosystems it has become ever more important to recognize historical water quality trends and anticipate the future impacts of climate change. This thesis uses the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to simulate historical and future streamflow and stream temperatures within three forested, baseflow driven watersheds in Rhode Island. The results provide a site-specific method to fisheries managers trying to protect or restore local coldwater habitats.

The …

Investigating Lateral Line Canal Morphogenesis As A Bone Remodeling Process In Lake Malawi Cichlids, Julia W. Johnstone

Open Access Master's Theses

The lateral line (LL) system is a key non-visual sensory modality founded in all fishes and larval and adult aquatic amphibians. In bony fishes, the LL system consists of series of superficial neuromasts (on the skin surface) and canal neuromasts (housed in bony canals). Differences in LL canal phenotype have consequences for LL sensory capabilities, and, as such, could contribute to speciation. The LL system develops with a process of neuromast patterning followed by the genesis of canals from dermal bone around a subset of neuromasts. This study used histochemical methods to describe canal morphogenesis by assessing osteoblast (OB, bone …

Density-Based Clustering Heuristics For The Traveling Salesman Problem, Matthew Agostinelli

Open Access Master's Theses

The Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) is one of the most ubiquitous combinatorial optimization problems. Given a set of cities, the objective of the TSP is to generate a solution that ultimately minimizes the total distance traveled and ensures that each city on the tour is visited exactly once. The TSP is classified as NP-hard, which implies that there is no polynomial time algorithm to solve the problem to optimality. Consequently, exact algorithms cannot be utilized to generate solutions in reasonable computing time. Metaheuristics have drawn much attention in recent years and many advancements have been facilitated by hybrid approaches …

Hibernal Phenology Of The Eastern Box Turtle, Terrapene Carolina Carolina, Margarete Walden

Open Access Master's Theses

The eastern box turtle, Terrapene carolina carolina, is a terrestrial ectotherm that is vulnerable due to sustained population declines across its range in the Eastern United States. Where this species uses managed fields, conservation measures could be implemented to restrict field mowing until the local population enters into hibernation, and such mowing restrictions could be adjusted each year only if the precise timing of the entry into and emergence from hibernation could be predicted based on proximate environmental conditions. I monitored twenty turtles each winter over two years to determine movement and activity patterns at the William Floyd Estate, …

Biocontrol Of Acute Hepatopancreatic Necrosis Disease (Ahpnd), Jason Laporte

Open Access Master's Theses

Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) causes mass mortalities in farmed penaeid shrimp and has proven difficult to control using typical disease control measures. The causative agent of AHPND has been identified as Vibrio parahaemolyticus strains possessing the 69 kbp plasmid pVPA3-1 containing genes homologous with Photorhabdus insect-related (Pir) toxin-like genes (pirA- and pirB-like). Probiotics have been used successfully in shrimp aquaculture to control disease outbreaks caused by pathogenic Vibrio, but there are currently no probiotics available that have been proven to control AHPND. The goal of this study was to screen and characterize marine bacterial isolates …

Humboldt Journal Of Microbiology: Volume 19, Number 1- May 2017, Press Humboldt

Humboldt Journal of Microbiology

No abstract provided.

Sex-Ratio Of Miridae (Hemiptera) Taken Via Uv Light-Traps In Arkansas, Usa., Stephen W. Chordas Iii, Renn Tumlison

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

We determined the sex-ratio of 1,095 plant bugs (Hemiptera: Miridae) taken from 60 individual UV light-trap samples in Clark County, Arkansas over a two year period. We found that of the 21 taxa in which a sex-ratio determination could be made, 61.9% of them (13 of 21) contained a majority (over 50%) of males. Three taxa were exclusively represented by males, while two taxa were exclusively represented by females. Although taxa dependent, our data indicate that male mirids are, in general, more frequently encountered in UV light-traps. However, contrary to the notion that sparked this study (see herein) light-trap content …

New Records Of Parasites (Apicomplexa, Nematoda, Acari, Anoplura) From Rodents In Arkansas, M. B. Connior, L. A. Durden, Chris T. Mcallister, R. S. Seville, C. R. Bursey, Henry W. Robison

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Survey Of Rodents Within Arkansas Game And Fish Commission Wildlife Management Areas, M. B. Connior, C. Renn Tumlison, D. P. Holland, J. L. Hunt, L. A. Durden, D. Blake Sasse

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Literature Record Checklist Of True Bugs (Hemiptera) For Arkansas, U.S.A., As Of 2018., Stephen W. Chordas Iii

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Anti-Inflammatory And Neuroprotective Role Of Natural Product Securinine In Activated Glial Cells: Implications For Parkinson’S Disease, Dmitri Leonoudakis, Anand Rane, Suzanne Angeli, Gordon J. Lithgow, Julie K. Andersen, Shankar J. Chinta

Faculty Publications & Research of the TUC College of Pharmacy

Glial activation and subsequent release of neurotoxic proinflammatory factors are believed to play an important role in the pathogenesis of several neurological disorders including Parkinson’s disease (PD). Inhibition of glial activation and inflammatory processes may represent a therapeutic target to alleviate neurodegeneration. Securinine, a major natural alkaloid product from the root of the plant Securinega suffruticosa, has been reported to have potent biological activity and is used in the treatment of neurological conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, poliomyelitis, and multiple sclerosis. In this study, we explored the underlying mechanisms of neuroprotection elicited by securinine, particularly its anti-inflammatory effects …

Relationship Between Grit With Academic Performance And Attainment Of Postgraduate Training In Pharmacy Students, Adrian Jason L. Palisoc, Rae Reiko Matsumoto, Jackie Ho, Paul J. Perry, Terrill T. Tang, Eric J. Ip

Faculty Publications & Research of the TUC College of Pharmacy

Objective. To determine if Grit-S scores correlate with academic success in a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) program, as well as the pursuit and attainment of pharmacy postgraduate (residency or fellowship) training.

Methods. A 28-item survey was administered to third- and fourth-year (P3 and P4) pharmacy students. Variables queried included Grit-S score, demographics, pharmacy experience prior to the PharmD program, and factors that may affect academic performance during didactic coursework. Didactic coursework GPA was used as a surrogate for academic success. Information about pursuit and attainment of a postgraduate training position was also documented and used in the analyses. …