Digital Commons Network^™

Artifacts Of Imagination, Rachel Emily Simpson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

My MFA thesis and supporting exhibition focus on works ranging from video and sculpture to installation. The work has evolved from an intimate spiritual dialogue and interaction with the terrestrial world. This personal narrative is a jumping off point to pursue more universal themes and ideas of layering of information, shared versus collective perceptions and creating systems of understanding. Many of the processes involved in this exhibition contain some form of collage. The use of these various collage techniques furthers the idea of complexity in perception and expression and the many layers of experience. I will explain how the creation …

Coaches' Preparedness For Sudden Death Conditions In Secondary School Athletics In West Virginia, Jillian Mary Sarm

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Context: Coaches in the secondary school setting may encounter and be expected to provide emergency medical care for student athletes in the absence of a healthcare professional such as athletic trainers. The National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) categorized ten sudden death conditions which are common in athletics and may warrant a medical emergency. Since the coaches may not be cognizant of these common sudden death conditions, they may not be prepared to handle a medical emergency which threatens the life of student athletes. Objective: Determine if West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission (WVSSAC) coaches are aware and prepared to provide …

The Role Of Sirt1 In Skeletal Muscle Function And Repair Of Older Mice, Matthew John Myers

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Human skeletal muscle is a highly metabolic tissue necessary for mobility and coordination. Responsible for approximately one-fifth of the resting human metabolism, skeletal muscle is also an important regulator of metabolites like glucose and contributes to the regulation of body temperature. Although there is a gradual decline in muscle mass associated with aging, a certain percentage of the population suffer from severe muscle mass and strength deterioration, classified as sarcopenia (5-13% for people aged 60-70 years old, 11-50% for those 80 or older). Sarcopenia is linked to increased morbidity and mortality rates in the elderly population, while annual healthcare costs …

Evaluation Of A Marketing Strategy Based On The Concept Of Virtual Energy Audit, Goutham Kumar Reddy Challa

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

With the growing world population and efforts to bring better energy access to the people, energy needs of the world are expected to grow in the coming years. Given the limited availability of non-renewable resources, there has been a mounting consensus among the users and the stakeholders to utilize the available energy in the most efficient way by implementing various methods like use of advanced technologies, source reduction, behavioral changes, etc. Energy efficiency in general is considered as a win-win scenario for all the users and/or stakeholders involved as it not only lowers the base load for power generating companies, …

Mine Reclamation Using Biofuel Crops: Insights Into The Microbial Ecology Of The Switchgrass (Panicum Virgatum) Microbiome, Brianna L. Mayfield

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Bioenergy crop production has steadily increased due to growing political support for renewable energy, thus initiating a demand to find alternative agricultural land. An innovative option is the use of marginal soils, such as reclaimed mine lands, to produce bioenergy crops. Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) is a promising bioenergy crop that can be grown on marginal lands due to its robust growth in various soil types and climates. However, little is known regarding plant-microbe interactions among switchgrass systems within reclaimed mine lands. A study conducted in 2008 grew switchgrass on high- and low- quality reclaimed mine sites (Hampshire and …

Roses & Thorns, Stephanie Alaniz

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This written thesis has been created alongside the thesis exhibition shown in the Laura Mesaros Gallery at West Virginia University (displayed March 18th to March 22nd). The work presented consisted of drawings, bookmaking, and various forms of printmaking and collage. This body of work is meant to create an analysis of insecurities and body positivity we associate with our physical selves. This work is a collective experience that has been a collaboration with over 80 participants. The number of participants help to create a larger overall collective voice. By creating this collective voice, we can experience these feelings together and …

Quantifying The Announcement Effects In The U.S. Lumber Market, Zarina Mamadalievna Ismailova

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The impact of public reports on price fluctuations has been widely investigated in many commodity markets, but little attention has been paid to the lumber market. In this thesis, we examine the impact of two housing market reports, namely the New Residential Construction (Housing Starts) and the New Residential Sales reports, on the U.S. lumber futures market. Our results suggest that the housing starts report does indeed affect lumber market volatility, while the New Residential sales report exerts a minor impact on lumber price volatility. Price volatility is measured by changes future contract prices for lumber. We further find that …

The Effect Of Resident Attitudes, Social Capital, And Stakeholder Engagement On Rural Tourism Development In West Virginia., Doug Arbogast

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

While rural tourism has been a prominent topic of tourism research sine the 1970’s, more research is needed to further identify key factors for success and methodologies successful in achieving both theoretical and practical outcomes that can advance field of study. This study attempted to apply a mixed methods approach, utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methods to explore factors for success by gathering data from a wide range of stakeholders attempting to triangulate results using a transdisciplinary approach. Multi-stakeholder engagement (key informants, local residents, and visitors) in the tourism development process is essential in identifying opportunities and challenges and appropriate …

Amazon Nights Ii: Electric Boogaloo-Neural Adaptations For Communication In Three Species Of Weakly Electric Fish, Kathryne M. Allen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Sensory systems have to extract useful information from environments awash in noise and confounding input. Studying how salient signals are encoded and filtered from these natural backgrounds is a key problem in neuroscience. Communication is a particularly tractable tool for studying this problem, as it is a ubiquitous task that all organisms must accomplish, easily compared across species, and is of significant ethological relevance. In this chapter I describe the current knowledge of what is both known and still unknown about how sensory systems are adapted for the challenges of encoding conspecific signals, particularly in environments complicated by conspecific-generated noise. …

Deformation Correlations And Machine Learning: Microstructural Inference And Crystal Plasticity Predictions, Michail Tzimas

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The present thesis makes a connection between spatially resolved strain correlations and material processing history. Such correlations can be used to infer and classify prior deformation history of a sample at various strain levels with the use of Machine Learning approaches. A simple and concrete example of uniaxially compressed crystalline thin films of various sizes, generated by two-dimensional discrete dislocation plasticity simulations is examined. At the nanoscale, thin films exhibit yield-strength size effects with noisy mechanical responses which create an interesting challenge for the application of Machine Learning techniques. Moreover, this thesis demonstrates the prediction of the average mechanical responses …

The Impact Of Using Selected Art Therapy Approaches On Students Diagnosed On The Autism Spectrum (As) Or With Behavioral Disabilities (Bd) In An Elementary School Art Classroom., Amie Dawn Perriello

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Students with autism and behavior disorders frequently have a difficult time communicating with their teachers and peers. Art can serve as a vehicle for communication while supporting strengths and encouraging self-esteem. Yet few art teachers have the specialized training needed to work with students on the spectrum, and we are often times left to our own intuition and devices on how to deal with these students. These students deserve greater individualized education, yet this can present a unique challenge to any classroom art teacher who does not have the training to deal with students who come from these special populations. …

Empirical Studies Related To Open Questions Regarding Geomagnetic Storms, Bruce Patrick Tepke

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Earth’s magnetosphere is subject to disturbances, as evidenced by variations of the geomagnetic field in space and on the ground. It is generally understood that most such disturbances are controlled by variations in the solar wind, with interplanetary magnetic field orientations directed southward opposite to Earth’s dipole magnetic axis being most conducive to energy transfers into the magnetosphere, thus resulting in more disturbed intervals. However, the exact functional form for solar wind driving of the magnetosphere has been widely studied, with proposed functional forms varying from the simple half-wave electric rectifier to expressions with a much more complicated dependence upon …

Confirmation Of Data-Driven Reservoir Modeling Using Numerical Reservoir Simulation, Al Hasan Mohamed Al Haifi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Data driven reservoir modeling, also known as Top-Down Model (TDM), is an alternative to the traditional numerical reservoir simulation technique. Data driven reservoir modeling is a new technology that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to build full-field reservoir models using field measurements (data - facts) instead of mathematical formulations that represent our current understanding of the physics of the fluid flow through porous media. TDM combines all field measurements into a comprehensive reservoir model to predict the production from each well in a field with multiple wells.

There are many opinions, speculations and criticism about not using the physics-based …

Analyzing Satisfiability And Refutability In Selected Constraint Systems, Piotr Jerzy Wojciechowski

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation is concerned with the satisfiability and refutability problems for several constraint systems. We examine both Boolean constraint systems, in which each variable is limited to the values true and false, and polyhedral constraint systems, in which each variable is limited to the set of real numbers R in the case of linear polyhedral systems or the set of integers Z in the case of integer polyhedral systems. An important aspect of our research is that we focus on providing certificates. That is, we provide satisfying assignments or easily checkable proofs of infeasibility depending on whether the instance …

Effects Of Teacher Training In Trial-Based Functional Analysis Via Video Modeling, Mary Haspel

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Trial-based functional analysis (TBFA) is an efficient strategy for assessing challenging behavior in the classroom and a necessary step in developing effective functional assessment- based interventions (FABI). However, researchers have identified several barriers limiting the applicability of this practice in schools, including difficulty in (a) training teachers to mastery; (b) assessing whether teachers can implement this practice independently, with fidelity, in natural settings; and (c) determining whether teachers can use functional analysis (FA) to identify functions of problem behavior and develop effective interventions. This study will address these gaps in the literature by using a novel approach for training teachers …

Service Dogs For Veterans With Ptsd: Taxonomy, Work Stress Reduction, And Matching, Lindsay Parenti

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Research suggests that many veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) struggle with reintegration (Sayer et al., 2010), but are unlikely to seek help or complete treatment (Schottenbauer et al., 2008). To make matters worse, available treatment options are often time consuming, challenging, and/or associated with negative side effects (Carafano & Hutchinson, 2017). Using animals as a treatment modality for veterans with PTSD is an emerging topic of interest and has shown promise (Owen, et al., 2016; Richie et al., 2016). However, several factors have hindered the advancement of this field. Obstacles include a lack of standard terminology and classification system, …

Predictors And Health Outcomes Of Treatment-Resistant Depression Among Adults With Chronic Non-Cancer Pain Conditions And Major Depressive Disorder, Drishti Shah

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Understanding major depressive disorder (MDD) as a comorbidity in patients with chronic non-cancer pain conditions (CNPC) is of importance because of the high prevalence and well documented bi-directional relationship between MDD and pain. Furthermore, presence of CNPC among adults with MDD often reduces benefits of antidepressant therapy, thereby increasing the possibility of treatment resistance. Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) commonly defined as insufficient response to multiple antidepressant trials, often worsens depression and pain symptoms and can amplify the clinical and economic burden among adults with CNPC and MDD. Additionally, long-term opioid therapy (LTOT) may be prescribed at a higher rate to adults …

Reflectivity And Photoemission Electron Microscopy Studies Of Magnetic Heterostructures, Chih-Yeh Huang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

When a thin film thickness becomes ultrathin, the magnetic properties of the thin film can be altered, degraded or even lost. The loss of magnetism has been called the magnetic dead layer (MDL). Considering the trend for miniaturization of information storage and other devices, the MDL is a significant challenge for materials science and engineering. La_1-xSr_xMnO₃ (LSMO) with x=0.3 is an excellent model material that exhibits ferromagnetism at room temperature to study the MDL. This dissertation focuses on understanding the MDL in LSMO films on their own and the effect of this dead layer when …

Field Performance And Rating Evaluation Of A Modular Press-Brake-Formed Steel Tub Girder With A Steel Sandwich Plate Deck, Nicole Marie Hegele Underwood

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Short Span Steel Bridge Alliance (SSSBA) is a group of bridge and culvert industry leaders (including steel manufacturers, fabricators, service centers, coaters, researchers, and representatives of related associations and government organizations) who have joined together to provide educational information on the design and construction of short span steel bridges in installations up to 140 feet in length. The SSSBA technical working group has developed a shallow press-brake-formed tub girder, a trapezoidal cold bent girder, to address the demand in the short span steel bridge market for rapid infrastructure replacement solutions.

Following extensive experimental testing and design work at West …

Object-Based Supervised Machine Learning Regional-Scale Land-Cover Classification Using High Resolution Remotely Sensed Data, Christopher A. Ramezan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

High spatial resolution (HR) (1m – 5m) remotely sensed data in conjunction with supervised machine learning classification are commonly used to construct land-cover classifications. Despite the increasing availability of HR data, most studies investigating HR remotely sensed data and associated classification methods employ relatively small study areas. This work therefore drew on a 2,609 km2, regional-scale study in northeastern West Virginia, USA, to investigates a number of core aspects of HR land-cover supervised classification using machine learning. Issues explored include training sample selection, cross-validation parameter tuning, the choice of machine learning algorithm, training sample set size, and feature selection. A …

Evaluating The Effects Of Exogenous Enzyme Supplementation On Broiler Growth, Victoria E. Ayres

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of exogenous enzymes in poultry diets. In Chapter 4, a study was conducted to determine the effects of a corn-expressed recombinant carbohydrase (AC1) on broiler performance and digesta viscosity in high non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) diets through 21 days of age. One day-old Hubbard × Cobb 500 chicks were assigned to 6 dietary treatments. Each treatment consisted of 12 replicate pens of 10 birds. The positive control diet (PC) was a corn and soybean meal formulation. The negative control diet (NC) included 10% wheat and 10% corn distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS). The …

The Effect Of Feed Manufacture Techniques On Pathogen Reduction And Feed Nutrient Value, Timothy Paul Boltz

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Experiments were conducted to evaluate how differing feed manufacture techniques, such as varying conditioning times and new equipment, can affect pathogen mitigation, feed manufacture metrics, amino acid digestibility, and enzyme recovery in feed. Feed hygienics are of increasing importance in providing safe feed to animals, and ultimately safe food for consumers. Salmonella has been identified as a major microbial hazard in animal feed that has been linked to animal and human illness. In chapter 2, the effects of standard pelleting and more thermally aggressive techniques were utilized to determine pathogen mitigation potential. Use of antibiotics has decreased in recent years …

Three Essays On Applied Semiparametric Methods, Qinling Lu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The first chapter studies a varying coefficient panel data model with different smoothing variables and fixed effects using a two-step estimation approach. The first-step pilot estimator is constructed by ap- approximating the varying coefficients with B-spline functions. The pilot estimator is then used to perform a one-step backfitting to obtain the second-step efficient estimator with kernel local linear estimation. The second-step estimator is efficient in the sense of being equivalent to a procedure knowing the other components of the varying coefficient. The asymptotic properties of both the pilot and efficient estimators are obtained. A Monte Carlo simulation indicates that the …

Technology Use By Teachers Of Deaf And Hard-Of-Hearing Students, Nichole K. Zirzow

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This nationwide study explored the types and frequency of technology used by

teachers of deaf and hard-of-hearing (d/hh) students to design and deliver instruction, as

well as the types and frequency of technology being used by teachers of d/hh students to

promote communication and collaboration. It also examined the extent of professional

development in the area of technology use with d/hh students, and the related challenges

experienced by these teachers. The following research questions guided this study.

Research question 1. What kinds of technology do teachers of d/hh students use

to design and deliver academic content-based learning activities? With what …

Insulation In Windows Using Resin & Aerogel Mixture, Priyanka Mallikarjun Pujar

Construction Management and Engineering

Insulation materials are essential in building construction; this study proposed to use one such material called silica aerogel, which is known for its excellent thermal properties, and a UV acrylate resin that has been formulated to mix with the aerogel. In this experiment, existing methods of aerogel insulation are discussed and a novel method is investigated. U- value and R- values were obtained by LHICD (i.e., Laser Heating Infrared Camera Detecting method), and K - values were calculated using an equation for 0%, 22.5% and 45% volume of aerogel. The study suggests that using aerogel and resin coating on windows …

Geostatistical Interpolation And Analyses Of Washington State Aadt Data From 2009 – 2016, Kunle Meshach Owaniyi

Construction Management and Engineering

Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) data in the transportation industry today is an important tool used in various fields such as highway planning, pavement design, traffic safety, transport operations, and policy-making/analyses. Systematic literature review was used to identify the current methods of estimating AADT and ranked. Ordinary linear kriging occurred most. Also, factors that influence the accuracy of AADT estimation methods as identified include geographical location and road type amongst others. In addition, further analysis was carried out to determine the most apposite kriging algorithm for AADT data. Three linear (universal, ordinary, and simple), three nonlinear (disjunctive, probability, and indicator) …

Jean Raspail, Michel Houellebecq, And Jenny Erpenbeck: Acknowledging The Barbarian Within, John C. Hawley

English

This paper seeks to discuss recent sites of contestation of the implications one assigns to migration from Africa and the Middle East to Central and Western Europe. It will be predominantly Eurocentric in its data and analysis, dealing less with the motivations of the migrants and the second generation, and more with the various responses to that migration among Europeans (e.g., what are “they” doing to “us”). The major literary texts involved in the paper will be Michel Houellebecq’s Submission (2015), and Jenny Erpenbeck’s Go, Went, Gone (2015), with initial consideration of Jean Raspail’s The Camp of the Saints (1973). …

“What Shall Befall Him Or His Children”: The Figure And Anxiety Of The Child In Mary Shelley’S The Last Man, Jasmine Del Banasik

English

The scholarship currently surrounding Mary Shelley’s The Last Man is scarce in comparison to the amount of scholarship with her more well-known text Frankenstein. One of the popular trends of Frankenstein scholarship centers on analyzing anxieties of motherhood in the text. This paper utilizes this scholarship to examine a set of analogous anxieties present in The Last Man, set against an apocalyptic future where there is no next generation. This paper uses a combination of feminist theory, psychoanalysis, and new historicism to examine the anxieties surrounding motherhood and children in The Last Man. I begin by analyzing the figures of …

Chironomids Then And Now: Climate Change Effects On A Tundra Food Web In The Alaskan Arctic, Alec Ray Lackmann

Environmental and Conservation Sciences

Although climate change is a global phenomenon, the Arctic is warming faster than any other region on earth. These climatic changes have driven rapid regional changes over the past half-century in both the physical landscape and the ecosystems therein. One such ecological interaction is between migratory shorebird survival and local insect emergence. Annually, tens of millions of migratory shorebirds travel to the Arctic to rear their young in the relative absence of predators, but in a relative abundance of food (insects). Over evolutionary time, these trophic levels have coupled: shorebird chicks tend to hatch during the period of highest terrestrial …

The Effect Of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles On Plants, And On Host-Pathogen Interactions, Priyanka Deka

Environmental and Conservation Sciences

Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) are a type of engineered nanomaterial that is currently being explored for use in different aspects of agriculture. So far, research on this area is limited to evaluating the phenotypical responses of plants to a high concentration of the NPs which is realistically not feasible in the actual environment. This research aims to investigate the molecular-level interactions between ZnO NPs and plants, together with another significant component of the environment, a fungal plant pathogen. Prior to studying these molecular-level interactions, the uptake of ZnO NPs in planta was validated using a fluorescent zinc ion sensor, …