Digital Commons Network^™

An Overview Of Salient Factors, Relationships And Values To Support Integrated Energy-Economic System Dynamics Modelling, Martin De Wit, Matthew K. Heun, Douglas Crookes

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Integrated energy-economic modelling is needed to support the development of energy and climate policies. This study asserts that it is important to consider a system dynamics modelling approach that includes dynamics, endogenous treatment of uncertainty and risks, and both aggregate economic and disaggregate technical or engineering levels of analysis. The study examined the economic growth and the factors of production, elasticities, macroand technical substitutability; energy cost shares, heat engine efficiencies and energy services efficiencies. Emphasis was laid on the support of the future development of integrated energy-economic models covering (a) the key factors or components; (b) the relationships among these …

2018 School Performance Report: Innovation In Learning, Grand Valley State University

Charter School Portfolio Performance Reports

No abstract provided.

Investigation Into Composting Efforts At Wvu: A Case Study., Marina Alexis Berry

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Institutional composting systems have been adopted by many land grant universities to help better manage their waste and protect the environment. West Virginia University (WVU) has yet to begin formally managing their animal manure and waste at the university farms. This investigation will look into what has been done at other land grant universities to see which methods could be applied at WVU. This could have environmental, economic, and social benefits and also serve as a living learning classroom. University composting systems have often started small and grown to accommodate campus food waste, which could also be a possibility for …

Beyond The Bosses' Constitution: The First Amendment And Class Entrenchment, Jedediah Purdy

Faculty Scholarship

The Supreme Court’s “weaponized” First Amendment has been its strongest antiregulatory tool in recent decades, slashing campaign-finance regulation, public-sector union financing, and pharmaceutical regulation, and threatening a broader remit. Along with others, I have previously criticized these developments as a “new Lochnerism.” In this Essay, part of a Columbia Law Review Symposium, I press beyond these criticisms to diagnose the ideological outlook of these opinions and to propose an alternative. The leading decisions of the antiregulatory First Amendment often associate free speech with a vision of market effi­ciency; but, I argue, closer to their heart is antistatist fear of entrench­ment …

If We Pay Football Players, Why Not Kidney Donors, Philip J. Cook, Kimberly D. Krawiec

Faculty Scholarship

Ethicists who oppose compensating kidney donors claim they do so because kidney donation is risky for the donor’s health, donors may not appreciate the risks and may be cognitively biased in other ways, and donors may come from disadvantaged groups and thus could be exploited. However, few ethical qualms are raised about professional football players, who face much greater health risks than kidney donors, have much less counseling and screening concerning that risk, and who often come from racial and economic groups deemed disadvantaged. It thus seems that either ethicists—and the law—should ban both professional football and compensated organ donation, …

The Craft Of Christian Higher Education, Susan M. Felch

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Although “the integration of faith and learning” quite rightly promotes holistic Christian higher education, the language itself may suggest two separate spheres that must be combined, thus subtly reinforcing the very dualism the phrase seeks to overcome. Understanding Christian higher education as a craft, situated within a tradition that extends historically across cultures but that is also locally inflected, counterbalances the abstract notion of “integration” by re-positioning our academic work as skilled labor. “Craft” focuses our attention on tradition, apprenticeship, well-chosen materials and tools, and artifacts, creating an image that can help to transform the modern university into an inculturated, …

Impacts Of Trace Metal Pollution, Urbanization And Aquifer Recharge On Spokane River Macroinvertebrates, Carolyn K. Connelly

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

This study analyzed macroinvertebrate communities of the Spokane River to determine: 1) accumulation of toxic trace metals in macroinvertebrate tissue, 2) effects of aquifer recharge, and 3) impact of urbanization. I predicted that aquifer inflows of cold, clean water would mitigate effects of pollution, and that reaches above the City of Spokane would be less negatively affected by urbanization; both were unsupported. I also predicted that effects of toxic trace metals would decrease within distance downstream; this prediction was supported. I sampled 12 riffles of the Spokane River between the Washington/Idaho border and Riverside State Park in late summer 2010. …

Perceptions And Attitudes Of Healthcare Students Towards Marijuana, Carrie Crosby

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Perceptions of marijuana were studied in healthcare students at EWU. It was found that most students had an average self-reported knowledge of marijuana use. Marijuana comes in several forms such as, edibles, smoked, patches, and lotions. With its recent legalization in Washington State, sales tax alone has accumulated $400 million dollars in the past 3 years. With this increase in use an examination of healthcare students was warranted. Most students also felt there was a need for more education on marijuana and that their current knowledge level was not enough to be competent when talking with patients about use. Overall, …

Comparing Literate And Oral Cultures With A View To Improving Understanding Of Students From Oral Traditions: An Autoethnographic Approach, Carol Lee Anderson

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

In his book Orality and Literacy, Walter Ong describes the difference between cultures that have never been exposed to literature and those that have been highly influenced by literature and literacy. He suggests that such learners have a different “consciousness” as a result of their life experience. This notion is later confirmed by research on brain structures that shows preliterate people having developed very different structures from those of highly literate people. In this paper, I describe my own process of becoming literate in a highly literate culture. By comparison, I cite my 34-year experience living with a people group …

Patterns Of Variation In The Benthic Macroinvertebrate Community Of The Upper Columbia River, Wa, Sarah J. Hindle

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Chapter 1. Benthic macroinvertebrate (BMI) assemblages are important in the field of aquatic ecology for assessing water quality and ecosystem health. However, knowledge of BMI community structure and seasonal patterns in large impounded rivers is relatively limited in scope. In the Upper Columbia River, WA, the BMI community is of particular concern due to hypothesized starvation of native fish larvae. The population of white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) which inhabits the Upper Columbia and feeds primarily on BMIs has been experiencing high mortality rates at the onset of exogenous feeding, leading to chronic larval recruitment failure. To determine the potential suitability …

The Relationship Between Adult Attachment Theory, Jealousy, And Attitudes Towards Monogamy, Zachary Michael Szabrowicz

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

The purpose of this study was to look at how jealousy manifests through different attachment styles, and whether an individual’s attachment style was related to their attitude toward monogamy. The participants consisted of undergraduate psychology students at Eastern Washington University. Participants were assessed and put in to categories based on how they placed in the four attachment styles: secure, preoccupied, dismissive, or fearful. Participants were evaluated on three dimensions of jealousy (cognitive jealousy, emotional jealousy, and behavioral jealousy). Finally, participants were evaluated on their attitude towards monogamy, and whether they viewed monogamy as enhancing to the relationship or a sacrifice …

The Indigenization Of Crisis Response Strategies In The Context Of China, Augustine Pang, Yang Hu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Crisis communication, which has been dominated by a practical perspective, has become a nexus where theory meets application. Despite mounting interest in theoretical studies, crisis communication lacks cultural contextualization. Asian communication researchers have advocated for the need to indigenize communication, drawing relevance to cultural influences. In this study, the authors explored indigenous corporate crisis response strategies in the context of China through nine cases. Three Chinese indigenous strategies were identified through qualitative content analysis of corporate crisis responses. These strategies are “barnacle,” “third-party endorsement,” and “setting up new topics.” The differences with Western frameworks were also discussed.

Do Athletic Department Mission Statements Influence Employees’ Perceptions Of Psychological Contract Fulfillment?, Christopher R. Barnhill, Lauren Brown

Global Sport Business Journal

Mission statements are utilized by organizations to influence perceptions of key stakeholders, including employees. For more than two decades, scholars theorized mission statement content influenced employees’ psychological contract terms and perceptions of fulfillment although empirical research remained limited. Athletic department employees function to fulfill the mission of their department and host university. Utilizing a large sample of employees from National Collegiate Athletic Association athletic departments, this study explored how mission statement content influenced employees’ psychological contract terms and perceptions of fulfillment.

The Relationship Between Perceived Event Service Quality And Direct Spending By Marathon Participants, Robert Case, Tanujit Dey, Christian Boughner, Greg Dowd, Bryan Smith

Global Sport Business Journal

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between participant perceived event service quality and direct spending at a marathon event while controlling for demographic differences. Data for this study was collected online after the conclusion of the event from 1,370 respondents who participated in a multi-day marathon event. A relatively strong positive relationship was found between the marathon participant’s perceived event service quality levels and direct spending at the event. The higher the level of perceived service quality then more direct spending by event participants occurred. It was found that demographic data could not be used to …

The Typology Of American Wnba Transnational Sport Labor Migrants, B. Nalani Butler

Global Sport Business Journal

Within the area of sport labor migration, the motivations of women athletes as sport labor migrants has been limited (Maguire, 2004). According to Maguire and Bale (2013), “sport labour migration is not, then, a uniform experience. It has its own political economy” (p. 77). Therefore, only understanding the experiences and motivations of men as sport labor migrants may leave many with a skewed perspective on the motivations of a sport labor migrant. Within this paper you will find an expanded typology of sport labor migration, which was created based on collected data from Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) transnational sport …

The Importance Of Identity In Preparing A Diverse Computing Workforce, A. Nicki Washington Phd

Journal of Business, Industry, and Economics

As one of the fastest growing disciplines in the United States, computing suffers from a lack of qualified candidates as well as diversity. Underrepresented minorities represent a grossly small percentage of computing graduates, yet an increasingly larger percentage of the population. In this work, we present identity as an important factor to improving underrepresented student interest and participation in computing. Results indicate identity is an important measurement for underrepresented students in computing, and ultimately, diversifying the computing workforce.

The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence And Work-Family Balance, Thembi Aquil, Ingrid Rader, Sandy S. Weiss, Russell Clayton

Journal of Business, Industry, and Economics

Organizations benefit when employees are adept at understanding both the emotions of self and others, and how that understanding helps to successfully manage their personal and professional commitments. Given the characteristics of emotional intelligence (EI) and those maintaining a satisfactory work family balance (WFB), a positive relationship between EI and WFB was hypothesized. This quantitative study examined survey results from 189 adults working at least 20 hours per week to reveal a positive relationship between EI and WFB, and specifically EI and job performance.

Irreconcilable Differences? Whole Woman’S Health, Gonzales, And Justice Kennedy’S Vision Of American Abortion Jurisprudence, O. Carter Snead, Laura Wolk

Journal Articles

A law is unconstitutional if it "has the purpose or effect of placing a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion of a nonviable fetus."' Twenty-five years have elapsed since a plurality of the Supreme Court articulated this undue burden standard in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, yet its contours remain elusive. Notably, two current members of the Court-Justice Breyer and Justice Kennedy-seem to fundamentally differ in their understanding of what Casey requires and permits. In Gonzales v. Carhart, Justice Kennedy emphasized a wide range of permissible state interests implicated by abortion and indicated …

Addressing Individual And Community Needs In The Aftermath Of Campus Sexual Misconduct: Restorative Justice As A Way Forward In The Re-Entry Process, David R. Karp Phd

School of Leadership and Education Sciences: Faculty Scholarship

Restorative justice is an approach to incidents of harm involving a high level of support and accountability for people who cause harm. To date, there is no federal regulation nor commonly applied standard of care for re-entry to campus by a student who has been found responsible for sexual misconduct. Restorative justice re-entry circles represent a promising approach to the reintegration of students, taking into account the needs of the individual survivor, the student who violated policy, and the safety concerns of the campus community. Using a case study, this article outlines an example of a re-entry circle and discusses …

2018 Usd Fact Book, University Of San Diego

USD Fact Books (1985- )

No abstract provided.

Evidence Of Racial And Geographic Disparities In The Use Of Medicare Observation Stays And Subsequent Patient Outcomes Relative To Short-Stay Hospitalizations, Brad Wright, Xuan Zhang, Momotazur Rahman, Mahshid Abir, Padmaja Ayyagari, Keith E. Kocher

Research Collection School Of Economics

To examine racial and geographic disparities in the use of-and outcomes associated with-Medicare observation stays versus short-stay hospitalizations.\nWe used 2007-2010 fee-for-service Medicare claims, including 3,555,994 observation and short-stay hospitalizations for individuals over age 65. We estimated linear probability models with hospital fixed effects to identify within-facility disparities in observation stay use, and estimated in-hospital mortality, and 30- and 90-day post-discharge mortality, return ED visits, and hospital readmissions as a function of placement in observation using linear probability models, propensity-score matching, and interaction terms.\nWe identified racial and geographic disparities in the likelihood of observation stay use within hospitals (blacks 3.9 percentage …

Assessing Environmental Flow Targets Using Pre-Settlement Land Cover: A Swat Modeling Application, Sean J. Zeiger, Jason A. Hubbart

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Determining environmental flow requirements to sustain aquatic ecosystem health remains a challenge. The purpose of this research was to quantify the extent of current flow alterations relative to baseline hydrologic conditions of a simulated historic flow regime prior to anthropogenic flow disturbance (i.e., pre-settlement flows). Results allowed assessment of the efficacy of environmental flow targets based on pre-settlement land cover in a contemporary mixed-land-use catchment (i.e., urban, agricultural, and forested). Pre-settlement flows were simulated using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). Pre-settlement land cover, based on soil physical characteristics, was used to simulate pre-settlement flows with the SWAT model. …

Plant Probiotic Bacteria Bacillus And Paraburkholderia Improve Growth, Yield And Content Of Antioxidants In Strawberry Fruit, Mosaddiqur Rahman, Abdullah As Sabir, Julakha Akter Mukrta, Mohibul Alam Khan, Mohammed Mohi-Ud-Din, Giashuddin Miah, Mahfuzur Rahman, M. Tofazzal Islam

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Strawberry is an excellent source of natural antioxidants with high capacity of scavenging free radicals.

This study evaluated the effects of two plant probiotic bacteria, Bacillus amylolequefaciens BChi1 and Paraburkholderia fungorum BRRh-4 on growth, fruit yield and antioxidant contents in strawberry fruits. Root dipping of seedlings (plug plants) followed by spray applications of both probiotic bacteria in the field on foliage significantly increased fruit yield (up to 48%) over non-treated control. Enhanced fruit yield likely to be linked with higher root and shoot growth, individual and total fruit weight/plant and production of phytohormone by the probiotic bacteria applied on plants. …

Parasitaemia Data And Molecular Characterization Of Haemoproteus Catharti From New World Vultures (Cathartidae) Reveals A Novel Clade Of Haemosporida, Michael J. Yabsley, Ralph E.T. Vanstreels, Ellen S. Martinsen, Alexandra G. Wickson, Amanda E. Holland, Sonia M. Hernandez, Alec T. Thompson, Susan L. Perkins, Christopher A. Lawrence Bryan, Christopher A. Cleveland, Emily Jolly, Justin D. Brown, Dave Mcruer, Shannon Behmke, James C. Beasley

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background: New World vultures (Cathartiformes: Cathartidae) are obligate scavengers comprised of seven species in five genera throughout the Americas. Of these, turkey vultures (Cathartes aura) and black vultures (Coragyps atratus) are the most widespread and, although ecologically similar, have evolved differences in morphology, physiology, and behaviour. Three species of haemosporidians have been reported in New World vultures to date: Haemoproteus catharti, Leucocytozoon toddi and Plasmodium elongatum, although few studies have investigated haemosporidian parasites in this important group of species. In this study, morphological and molecular methods were used to investi- gate the epidemiology and molecular biology of haemosporidian parasites of …

Pinch Testing Positions Among Certified Hand Therapists: A Cross-Sectional Survey, Sueann R. Woods, Christa Lilly

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background: Pinch strength is indicative of later functional hand use following injury to hand. However, we believe clinicians (and more specifically CHTs) currently do not use a consistent measurement of pinch grip, despite availability of a “gold standard” of current (2015) ASHT standards for measuring pinch grip.

Methods: This cross-sectional survey (N = 175, 35% response) was designed to determine whether CHTs adhere to the standardized testing position for palmar pinch strength as recommended by the ASHT.

Results: Results determined that only 5.7% (n = 10) of the CHTs surveyed complete the entire ASHT standardized testing …

Effects Of Signal Bandwidth And Noise On Individual Speaker Identification, Jeremy C. Schwartz, Ashtyn T. Whyte, Mohanad Al-Nuaimi, Jeremy J. Donai

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of increasing spectral bandwidth from 3 to 10 kHz on individual speaker recognition in noisy conditions (þ5, 0, and 5 dB signal-to-noise ratio). Experiment 1 utilized h(Vowel)d (hVd) signals, while experiment 2 utilized sentences from the Rainbow Passage. Both experiments showed significant improvements in individual speaker identification in the 10 kHz bandwidth condition (6% for hVds; 10% for sentences). These results coincide with the extant machine recognition literature demonstrating significant amounts of individual speaker information present in the speech signal above approximately 3–4 kHz. Cues from the highfrequency region for speaker identity …

Cluster-Based Network Proximities For Arbitrary Nodal Subsets, Kenneth S. Berenhaut, Peter S. Barr, Alyssa M. Kogel, Ryan L. Melvin

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The concept of a cluster or community in a network context has been of considerable interest in a variety of settings in recent years. In this paper, employing random walks and geodesic distance, we introduce a unified measure of cluster-based proximity between nodes, relative to a given subset of interest. The inherent simplicity and informativeness of the approach could make it of value to researchers in a variety of scientific fields. Applicability is demonstrated via application to clustering for a number of existent data sets (including multipartite networks). We view community detection (i.e. when the full set of network nodes …

Communication Surrounding Estrangement: Stereotypes, Attitudes, And (Non)Accommodation Strategies, Christine Rittenour, Stephen Kromka, Sara Pitts, Margaret Thorwart, Janelle Vickers, Kaitlyn Whyte

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

To address Americans’ general attitudes and behavioral intentions toward adult children who are estranged from their parents, the current study employed online survey data from 151 Americans recruited through Amazon MTurk. Their responses revealed negative stereotypes (e.g., childish, ungrateful) and positive stereotypes (e.g., independent, strong) of the adult child who is estranged, as well as negative assessments of the parent who is estranged. Generally, participants perceived the adult children as more competent than warm. Compared to other participants in this sample, those participants who were estrangers or estrangees themselves held more positive attitudes overall, including more positive perceptions of estranged …

Essays On Measuring Dynamic Community Responses To Environmental Events, Patrick Prendergast

Open Access Dissertations

One of the things that makes economics such an interesting social science sub-field to study is the analysis of unintended or unforeseen consequences. In order for policies to be efficient and equitable, it is important to first understand how endogenous policy decisions and exogenous events can affect communities either directly or indirectly. In this dissertation research, I examine how communities react to discrete environmental events over time. I do so in the context of tropical storm and hurricane activity in U.S. counties and media markets as well as land conservation spending decisions in Massachusetts and New Jersey municipalities. Using micro-level …

Nurse Practitioners’ And Certified Nurse Midwives’ Experiences Providing Comprehensive Early Abortion Care In New England, Katherine Elisabeth Simmonds

Open Access Dissertations

Access to safe abortion care has been linked to better maternal and child health outcomes (Sedgh et al., 2012) and identified as essential for advancing women’s economic and social equality (Bengsch, 2015; Lang, 2013). Around the world, nurses, including nurse practitioners (NPs) and certified nurse midwives (CNMs), are integral members of the health care teams that provide care to women considering or electing to have an abortion. Evidence supports NPs and CNMs as safe and effective providers of comprehensive early abortion care, and acceptable to patients (Barnard, Kim, Park, & Ngo, 2015; Kopp Kallner et al., 2015; Weitz et al., …