Digital Commons Network^™

Review Of Major Crop And Animal Arthropod Pests Of South Texas, Holly N. Davis, John A. Goolsby, Donald B. Thomas, Ismael Badillo, Rupesh R. Kariyat, Christopher Vitek, Danielle Sekula

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

The Lower Rio Grande Valley is an area in Texas that consists of the four southern-most counties. This area contains a diverse range of agriculture and land-use including vegetable, row-crop and livestock production. The year-around cool to hot subtropical climate means that green vegetation is continually present, including many crops. Geographically, it shares an international border, making it a region vulnerable to new invasive species and the re-introduction of pests that have been previously eliminated in the United States. These combined factors lead to an array of arthropod pests that may have serious impacts on the crops, animals, and people …

Terrestrial Snail Communities Of The Lower Rio Grande Valley Are Affected By Human Disturbance And Correlate With Vegetation Community Composition, Briante S. Lewis Najev, Alison Schofield, Raziel I. Flores, Benjamin T. Hutchins, J. Andrew Mcdonald, Kathryn E. Perez

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

The lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas (LRGV) contains a unique, subtropical, semiarid floodplain with most of the few remaining Tamaulipan thorn forests in the United States. Less than 2% of Tamaulipan thorn forest remains, with urban and agricultural conversion potentially threatening diverse plant and animal communities native to the habitat. We performed vegetative community surveys and conducted a comprehensive survey of terrestrial snail communities in intact (refugia sites, minimally altered in recent times) and altered (previously cleared and regrown or restored) Tamaulipan thorn forest habitats of the LRGV. In a comparison of intact and altered sites that have comparable …

Left Atrial Posterior Wall Isolation In The Treatment Of Atrial Fibrillation, Guy Oliver Furniss

Peninsula Medical School Theses

The optimal approach for the ablation of persistent atrial fibrillation is undefined. Left atrial posterior wall isolation (LAPWI) is a promising lesion set, based on techniques for surgical AF ablation. The left atrial posterior wall can be isolated via catheter, surgical or hybrid ablation techniques. This MD thesis aims to inform a comparative trial of catheter versus hybrid ablation. In series of catheter and hybrid ablation with left atrial posterior wall isolation in patients with atrial fibrillation outcomes are suggested to be superior to published outcomes of alternative lesion sets. A complete lesion set with intact LAPWI ablation lines is …

Cultural Literacy In Building The Character Of The Community In Sindangkerta District, Tasikmalaya Regency, Encang Saepudin, Ninis Agustini Damayani, Tine Silvana Rahmawati

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The lack of appropriate strategies in cultural development has become one of the reasons for the weakness of Sundanese culture in maintaining the power and quality of its life. Thus, there is a need for an appropriate and tested cultural development strategy. This strategy must be compiled and built together based on the principles of strategic and equitable. This study aims to create a literacy model as part of cultural preservation.The researcher used a descriptive method with a case study approach. Data collection is done through participatory observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation study. Respondents in this research were the managers …

Media Literacy To Overcome Cyberbullying: Case Study In An Elementary School In Bandung Indonesia, Nuning Kurniasih, Engkus Kuswarno, Andri Yanto, Dadang Sugiana

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Cyberbullying of children is a very worrying phenomenon. Media literacy is needed to avoid children from cyberbullying. This study aims to formulate media literacy in children in primary schools on several research focuses, namely on how students' understanding of cyberbullying, efforts of students and schools to overcome cyberbullying and media literacy to overcome cyberbullying in elementary school students. The method used in this study is a qualitative research method with a case study approach. We selected the 5th-grade students and the teachers from a Private Elementary School in Bandung Indonesia to become research informants. Meanwhile, the triangulation is done through …

Indian Wheat Research Output In Two Decades: A Bibliometric Study Based On Scopus Data From 1996-2015, Anil Kumar Siwach

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the Indian wheat research output during 1996 to 2015 from a bibliometric point of view.

Methodology: The data for the study was extracted from Scopus database for the 20 years time period from 1996-2015 using the keywords identified through MeSH. A total of 8554 Indian papers on wheat research were selected and analyzed to study the year-wise output, most prolific authors, document types, top journals, top institutions, international collaborations, funding agencies, citation profile and top cited papers.

Findings: With 8.52% of the global research output on wheat, India …

Challenges In Monitoring Mobile Populations - Applying Bayesian Multi-Site Mark-Recapture Abundance Estimation To The Monitoring Of A Highly Mobile Coastal Population Of Bottlenose Dolphins, Simon N. Ingram

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.

Integration Of Open Educational Resources Through Linked Data: Challenges And Benefits Review, Amna Farzand Ali, Dr.Nosheen Fatima Warraich

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Purpose of the Study: This study explores that how Linked Data (LD) technology can be implemented in educational sector to use Open Educational Resources (OERs) more effectively or what kind of benefits and challenges it retains for educational sector. Because now teaching is supported and integrated with the use of different interactive resources such as videos, blackboards and virtually available platforms in formal and informal education. The objective of this research study is to highlight the nature of LD and OERs and their associated benefits and barriers for educational sector that are related to the adoption of LD technologies in …

Growth And Productivity Of Agricultural And Biological Sciences Research In State Agriculture Universities Of Gujarat (India), Jignesh Amin, Yogesh Parekh

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This paper presents a scientometric analysis of growth and productivity of agricultural and biological sciences research in state agriculture universities of Gujarat, India. The publications, which have been published during 2010-2019, are considered for the present research. The required data was extracted from the indexing database SCOPUS for the analysis, which includes 1,742 publications. Necessary metric-based indicators are considered to draw the conclusion about the growth and status of research outputs of selected samples. Several aspects like patterns and trends about authorship and publications, are also discussed. These include a ranking of authors based on a number of publications and …

Impact Of Web 2.0 Technologies On Academic Libraries: A Survey On Affiliated Colleges Of Solapur University, Patel Adam Burhansab, M Sadik Batcha, Muneer Ahmad

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The paper aims to present the results of a survey of academic libraries about the adoption and perceived impact of Web 2.0 technologies. A total of 26college libraries affiliated with Solapur University participated among the members. It was found that each library was using some form of technology, such as RSS, blogs, social networking sites, wikis, and instant messaging. Analyzing the entire college web technology usages, it is observed from the results that most of the web technologies are not used by the mainstream of the users due to lack of awareness, training, etc. Accurate and appropriate training should be …

A Vacant Approach For Ranking Of Open Access Journals Of India’S: A Scientific Evaluation, Shakil Ahmad, Abdurahiman Pattukuthu, Sameh Nour Mahfouz, Abu Waris, Isam Mohmmed Abdel-Magid Ahmed

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The aim of this research is to show the presence and effect of vacant approaches to open access journals of India’s scientific journal with a view published in 2018. The excellence of the scientific journal mainly formed bibliometric indicators; Journal Impact Factor (JIF), Eigen Factor Score (ES), SCImago Journal Rank Indicator (SJR), Cite Score rank and Google Index rank. A special vacant approach of open access journals of India was chosen from their community. JIFs and ESs were collected from the Journal citation report and the SJR and Cite Score from the Scopus database, Google index from google scholar Metrix. …

Incorporating The Internet In Learning By The Management Science Students And Its Effect On Their Academic Achievements, Shehzad Ahmad Dr, Rafiq Muhammad Dr, Sajjad Ahmad Sajjad

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Abstract

Purpose: The study was planned with a clear purpose to examine how Management Science students incorporate the internet in their education and what outcomes it has on their academic performance.

Research Design: A quantitative survey approach was adopted. For this purpose data were collected from a sample of 225 Management Science students scattered in five selected universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan using non-random proportionate sampling technique.

Key Findings: The findings of the study indicate that 55% of students do not possess personal computer/Laptops. A vast majority of the respondents (79%) used the internet at their homes and 80% students …

Weather Information Needs Of Displaced Artisanal Fishermen In Bakassi Pennisula Nigeria, Friday O. Idiku, Kalu Iroha Ogbonna, Patrick Ogar Ogar, Goodness Mosiokpahe David

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Abstract

Information on weather forecast is necessary to guide fishermen on their fishing adventure. The purpose of this study was assessed the weather information needs of displaced fishermen in Bakassi Pennisula, Nigeria. This study was conducted in Bakassi which is a peninsula on the Gulf of Guinea that lies between latitudes 4°25′ and 5°10′N and longitudes 8°20′ and 9°08′E. It has an area of 665 km² (257 sq mi) with displaced Fishermen settling in the area who were the main respondents. It was a descriptive study. One hundred and five (105) displaced fishermen were randomly selected as respondents using snowball …

Information Literacy Among Students Of The University Of Ghana Business School And Ghana Institute Of Management And Public Administration Business School, Prosper Kwame Amegashie, Samuel Ankamah

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The acquisition of information literacy skills empowers students to understand the content, extend their research and assume greater control over their learning. The purpose of the study is to assess information literacy skills of levels 300 and 400 students of the University of Ghana Business School, Legon and Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration Business School, Achimota. From a population of 2,579 respondents (students), a sample size of 202 that is, 86 UGBS and 116 GIMPABS were selected for the study. The questionnaire was used to gathered and analysed data. The findings of this study show that students agreed …

Highly Cited Publications Of Selected Indian Institutes Of Technology (Iits): A Bibliometric Study, Shipra Awasthi, Shiva Kanaujia Sukula

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study highlights the highly cited publications published by selected five Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) during the period 2010-2020. The IITs are the institutes of eminence and produced the quality scholarly output. They always occupy top positions in the ranking of institutions by different agencies. The data has been collected from the Essential Science Indiactor (ESI) which is a tool of Web of Science database. A total of 468 highly cited articles have been downloaded and analysed. The various parameters considered for the study are the year-wise distribution of articles, subject-wise distribution; the renowned journals published these articles, and …

Agent-Based And Continuous Models Of Hopper Bands For The Australian Plague Locust: How Resource Consumption Mediates Pulse Formation And Geometry, Andrew J. Bernoff, Michael Culshaw-Maurer, Rebecca Everett, Maryann E. Hohn, W. Christopher Strickland

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Markus Lampe And Paul Sharp. A Land Of Milk And Butter: How Elites Created The Modern Danish Dairy Industry, J. R. Christianson

The Bridge

In her Copenhagen apartment, she had a gray stoneware jug decorated with a verse in blue letters: Før sled de bønder rent forbandet, nu er de herrerne i landet – “They used to slave with little say / But farmers rule the land today.” My wife’s grandmother had come to Copenhagen from Jutland as a pretty sixteen-year-old on the eve of the First World War, leaving behind her deep rural roots to become a city woman. The legend on her jug came true in 1901, when the farmers’ party (Venstre) took control of the Rigsdag and forced King Christian X …

Ouroboros: The Evolution From Industrialized Mass Production To Auteurism In American Animation, Heather Knott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The evolution of animation in the United States and its resulting classification varies significantly from its global counterparts. Through a convergence of complex cultural, regulatory, and entrepreneurial influences, the medium's experimental artistic principals have remained firmly rooted in the mass-production style studio pipeline codified by Hollywood. Through the advent of academically centered animation education, the development of the internet, self-distribution, and the growing affordability of industry level hardware and software, the industry has expanded beyond the traditional narrow scope. This re-globalization of entertainment in the United States encourages an auteur approach to animated filmmaking that is challenging the strict association …

Comparing Human And Machine Learning Classification Of Human Factors In Incident Reports From Aviation, Claas Tido Boesser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Incident reporting systems are an integral part of any organization seeking to increase the safety of their operation by gathering data on past events, which can then be used to identify ways of mitigating similar events in the future. In order to analyze trends and common issues with regards to the human element in the system, reports are often classified according to a human factors taxonomy. Lately, machine learning algorithms have become popular tools for automated classification of text; however, performance of such algorithms varies and is dependent on several factors. In supervised machine learning tasks such as text classification, …

Acid Hydrolysis-Based Sugarcane Bagasse Biorefining For Levulinic Acid Production: Dynamic Mechanistic Modeling Under Varying Operating Conditions, Emília S. Lopes, Julio C.J. Gariboti, Luis H.Z. Feistel, Elmer Ccopa Rivera, Rubens Mac Iel Filho, Laura P. Tovar

Faculty Publications

© 2020, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l. The study on the lignocellulosic material conversion into bio-based platform chemicals, such as levulinic acid (LA), is one of the most promising routes to promote the development of advanced biorefineries. In this work, a dynamic mechanistic model is developed to simulate the LA production from lignocellulosic material. A wide operating range is used to estimate the parameters of the reaction kinetics. Because multi-parameter estimation problem is complex, a genetic algorithm-based optimization procedure is used to determine the optimum parameters values. Measurements are obtained for various reaction times (0 - 45 min) temperatures (150 - 200 …

Athletic Identity, Greg Camillone

Research Papers

Limited data exists in college athletics about mental health conditions, while physical health remains the higher priority. In order to contribute to the limited understanding of student-athletes’ cognitive behavior, a documentary on collegiate student-athletes is produced, utilizing athletic identity as its main theme. Furthermore, the documentary shares personal experiences of how athletes have handled the transition from athletic role to an alternate identity, and how that change effected them mentally.

The purpose of this study is to present evidence from a Division I athletic program to contribute towards answering the following questions:

1. Are collegiate student-athletes struggling mentally with life after …

High-Speed Interferometry And Visible Videography For Meniscus Curvature Analysis During Anisotropic Hemiwicking, John Bal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Recent advancements in microelectronics have increased the need for thermal management systems capable of high heat flux dissipation within significant spatial constraints. One method of increasing local heat fluxes is the fabrication of superhydrophilic materials via micro/nanostructuring of the surface. Superhydrophilic surfaces act in a self-pumping capacity, spreading fluid beyond its intrinsic meniscus length to form thin-films, a process known as "hemiwicking", with practical applications in evaporative cooling, as well as flow, pool, and thin-film boiling. Of particular interest is anisotropic hemiwicking via asymmetric microstructuring. The microscopic asymmetricity of the design induces a macroscopically preferred direction of wicking, which has …

Afrofuturism In Animation: Self Identity Of African Americans In Cinematic Storytelling, Dana Barnes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

My work addresses the importance of self-identity within the Black culture of the United States of America through the depiction of an African American boy who must look into himself to overcome a difficult bullying situation. Animation as a medium is an ideal tool for interrogating the Western perspective of identity through cinematic storytelling. Using established animation methods, I created a visual narrative to portray the impact self-identity has on an individual's actions in certain social conditions. The film expands the medium of animation to subvert the narrative expectations of bullying and presents the idea of identity as a nonconforming …

Open-Ended Search Through Minimal Criterion Coevolution, Jonathan Brant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Search processes guided by objectives are ubiquitous in machine learning. They iteratively reward artifacts based on their proximity to an optimization target, and terminate upon solution space convergence. Some recent studies take a different approach, capitalizing on the disconnect between mainstream methods in artificial intelligence and the field's biological inspirations. Natural evolution has an unparalleled propensity for generating well-adapted artifacts, but these artifacts are decidedly non-convergent. This new class of non-objective algorithms induce a divergent search by rewarding solutions according to their novelty with respect to prior discoveries. While the diversity of resulting innovations exhibit marked parallels to natural evolution, …

Alexander: A Dive Into Identity, Inspiration, And Release Of The Creative Self, Alyssa Garoogian

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Alexander is a story of overcoming the fear of personal artistic expression. Alexander is the son of an affluent family who was found to have musical talent at a young age. Alex grows to enjoy music, but rote exercises alone begin to disillusion the promising musician. Regardless, Alexander dutifully practices piano exercises daily, bored by the lack of creative stimulation but afraid to openly admit it. After an accidental music note sparks his imagination, Alexander escapes into fantasy: a colorful visualization of the original music he creates. Within this fantasy, a warm, supportive community leads Alexander to his most significant …

Mill Cove Complex Lithic Typology: Understanding Early Mississippian Period Social Exchange In Northeastern Florida, Sherman Johns

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

A large focus of Mississippian period archaeological research concerns itself with the role groups have played in the long distance social exchange networks prevalent across the Mississippian World. The Mill Cove Complex, a Mississippian period (A.D. 900-1250) village and dual sand mound burial complex situated on the periphery of the Mississippian World in Jacksonville, Florida is one such case. The St. Johns II people living at the Mill Cove Complex had connections deep into the Mississippian southeast reaching all the way to Cahokia. Understanding the role of these unique people within the large social networks requires an examination of all …

Incels And The Manosphere: Tracking Men's Movements Online, Annie Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Throughout history, men have responded to feminist progress with political backlash. Pre-internet men's groups used biological constructions of gender as a method of reinforcing patriarchal power by restricting the rights of women. Today, the same methods are used in a loose collection of men's rights groups online called 'the manosphere'. Within the manosphere, men who identify as involuntarily celibate (incels) blame women for their perceived loss of masculine power. Some incels have taken their anti-feminist backlash offline through acts of mass violence, suggesting an emergent need for social science research into the incel identity. This paper outlines the theoretical orientation …

Forests And Farmers: A Landscape Approach To Settlement Pattern Analysis In The Bolivian Amazon, Thomas Lee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The Llanos de Mojos of the Bolivian Amazon is a domesticated landscape with a long history of management by pre-Columbian communities. This project uses a landscape approach to interpret the settlement patterns of pre-Columbian raised field farmers in west central Mojos. The pre-Columbian landscape was reconstructed by mapping the distribution of three types of landscape features: forest islands, raised agricultural fields and water systems (rivers, streams & wetlands). Previous research has identified four types of patterned clustering or 'constellations' of these landscape features in west central Mojos. These constellations and the immediate area of the landscape that surrounds them afforded …

Bat Boxes As Mitigation Tools: Factors Impacting Microclimate And Myotis Sodalis Roost Selection, Reed Crawford

Online Theses and Dissertations

Environmental degradation has led to declines in available natural roosting habitat for bats. To mitigate this loss, practitioners often deploy artificial roosts (e.g., bat boxes). There are no established species-specific practices for deployment strategy and roost design selection, but occupancy rates are known to vary across species and roost microclimates can be harmful to bats. Providing bats with thermally beneficial roosts during summer could enhance overwinter survival of WNS-affected species. To further our understanding of roost preference and microclimate, we deployed 40 rocket box roosts of 5 designs at field sites in Indiana and Kentucky. Roosts were deployed in clusters …

The Importance Of Surface Mining As A Landscape Variable In Shaping Wild Bee Communities In Central Appalachian Forests, Amanda Sheryl Dunaway

Online Theses and Dissertations

Anthropogenic disturbance has led to widespread losses in biodiversity. Native bees (Hymenoptera, Apoidea) provide essential pollination services and have been declining in abundance dramatically in recent years. One potential cause of these declines is anthropogenic disturbance. Eleven sites were established in Southeastern Kentucky, U.S.A. where surface mining for coal is common. Data was analyzed using generalized linear mixed-effect models to detect the most important landscape scale variables, including mining, in shaping bee communities. Bee species richness was significantly lower on sites that contained surface mines, but abundance was similar between mined and unmined sites. The proportion of each nesting group …