Digital Commons Network^™

Temporal And Spatial Analysis Of The Wage Gap For Women And Underrepresented Minorities In The Architecture, Engineering, And Construction (Aec) Workforce, Saba Nikkhah Manesh

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry has failed to solve persistent labor shortage problems or to fill the labor demand in the workforce by recruiting from untapped/underrepresented groups such as Women and Underrepresented Minorities (WUMs). There have been several studies on diversity and inclusion in the AEC industry, but the issue still persists, as the AEC industry has failed to solve these issues. If the industry better understands the status of wage gaps by gender and race, as well as how the industry has performed in terms of providing comparable wages for the workforce over time, along with the …

International Student Recruitment, Retention, And Transfer Efforts At Top Community Colleges Hosting International Students In The United States, Alejandra Diaz-Rangel

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The number of international students enrolled at community colleges across the U.S. has significantly shifted in recent years. As a result, higher education institutions across the country have developed and integrated rationales for attracting and retaining international students to their campuses. The purpose of this research study was to examine international student recruitment, retention, and transfer efforts taking place at community colleges in the U.S. The data that influence the international student recruitment, retention, and transfer plans set forth by community colleges in the U.S. was collected from decision makers at 15 U.S. higher education institutions through the means of …

Perioperative Anticoagulation Management In Spine Surgery: Initial Findings From The Ao Spine Anticoagulation Global Survey., Philip Louie, Garrett Harada, James Harrop, Thomas Mroz, Khalid Al-Saleh, Giovanni Barbanti Brodano, Jens Chapman, Michael Fehlings, Serena Hu, Yoshiharu Kawaguchi, Michael Mayer, Venugopal Menon, Jong-Beom Park, Sheeraz Qureshi, Shanmuganathan Rajasekaran, Marcelo Valacco, Luiz Vialle, Jeffrey C Wang, Karsten Wiechert, K Daniel Riew, Dino Samartzis

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional, international survey.

OBJECTIVES: This study addressed the global perspectives concerning perioperative use of pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis during spine surgery along with its risks and benefits.

METHODS: A questionnaire was designed and implemented by expert members in the AO Spine community. The survey was distributed to AO Spine's spine surgeon members (N = 3805). Data included surgeon demographic information, type and region of practice, anticoagulation principles, different patient scenarios, and comorbidities.

Results: A total of 316 (8.3% response rate) spine surgeons completed the survey, representing 64 different countries. Completed surveys were primarily from Europe (31.7%), South/Latin America (19.9%), and …

Straight Men Come Out: Queer Eye And The Path To A More Mindful Masculinity, Eli M. Roush

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

My thesis explores the culture surrounding the 2018 reboot of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy in relation to contemporary arguments in masculinity studies about the costs of hegemonic masculinity, performance, and identity. This paper examines how Queer Eye carefully creates space where heteronormative men can safely express emotional vulnerability and embody a more functional masculinity that expands beyond the bounds of hegemonic performance. The bulk of the analysis involves close readings of specific episodes and scenes from Queer Eye that introduce and examine the strategies the Fab Five use to redefine their subject's engagement with masculinity, explore the effectiveness …

The Sacred Circle: Ostension In Native American Hoop Dancing, Emma George

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This thesis examines the role of the semiotic concept ostension in folk dance, specifically in Native American hoop dance. Although the discipline of folklore is well-versed in ostension, folk dance has not been examined through this lens. I argue that dance is a form of ostension, of demonstrating a narrative, and this is especially apparent within Native American hoop dancing. I begin with a brief history of Native Americans in North America before discussing the origins of powwows, intertribal culture, and hoop dance. I then look at both the sacred nature and material culture of the modern hoop dance before …

Analysis Of The Role Of Dnaa Recognition Site Position In Directing Assembly Of The Pre-Replicative Complex In Escherichia Coli, Christopher Aaron Czerwonka

Theses and Dissertations

Prior to initiating new rounds of DNA replication, all cells assemble pre-replicative complexes (pre-RC) consisting of initiator proteins and regions of DNA termed origins of replication. In the bacterial model system, E. coli, multiple copies of the initiator protein, DnaA,assemble into a complex with the unique chromosomal replication origin, oriC, to produce a pre-RC that unwinds the DNA helix, preparing the origin for the new replication forks. Nine base pair (bp) low affinity DnaA recognition sites are distinctly arrayed in each half of oriC and both arrays are bounded by high affinity recognition sites. Although it is known that DnaA …

Merging Diverse Architecture For Multi-Mission Support, Kyle Colton, Joseph Breu, Bryan Klofas, Sydney Marler, Chad Norgan, Matthew Waldram

Small Satellite Conference

Planet Labs Inc. (“Planet”) currently operates the world’s largest commercial earth observation constellation with over 150 active on-orbit satellites collecting daily medium resolution imagery of the whole earth, and high resolution imagery of targeted areas of interest. In 2017, Planet combined the SkySat high-resolution satellite constellation with its own existing medium resolution Dove constellation to expand its ability to make global change visible, accessible, and actionable. While the two satellite designs use largely similar ground station architectures, nuances in implementation caused early operations to focus on maintaining separate, siloed ground station networks with unique software and hardware.

As Planet looks …

Mapping Geographical Inequalities In Oral Rehydration Therapy Coverage In Low-Income And Middle-Income Countries, 2000-17, Local Burden Of Disease Diarrhoea Collaborators, Ziyad Al-Aly, Et Al

Open Access Publications

BACKGROUND: Oral rehydration solution (ORS) is a form of oral rehydration therapy (ORT) for diarrhoea that has the potential to drastically reduce child mortality; yet, according to UNICEF estimates, less than half of children younger than 5 years with diarrhoea in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) received ORS in 2016. A variety of recommended home fluids (RHF) exist as alternative forms of ORT; however, it is unclear whether RHF prevent child mortality. Previous studies have shown considerable variation between countries in ORS and RHF use, but subnational variation is unknown. This study aims to produce high-resolution geospatial estimates of relative …

When Doing More Requires Knowing More: Explaining The Intention To Seek Procedural Information About Recycling, Sonny Rosenthal, Yan Wah Leung

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This study examines the relationship between the intention to recycle more and the intention to seek procedural information, in this case, information about how to recycle. In contrast to prior research that used information seeking as a predictor of behavior change, this study considers behavioral intention as a predictor of intention to seek information. Regression analysis of survey data from Singapore residents confirms that prediction, explaining 27% of the variance in intention to seek procedural information. Moderation analysis suggests the effect of intention to recycle more is stronger among individuals with low recycling self-efficacy. An alternative analysis suggests the greater …

Usma Space Cadets: The First Class, Chalie L. Galliand, Alex L. Kedrowitsch, Diana C. Loucks

Small Satellite Conference

The United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point has been developing leaders of character since 1802. This year’s graduating class, the Class of 2020, includes West Point’s first Space Science majors. The United States Army has officially had space professionals in its ranks since 1997 with the inception Space Operations Officer career field, also known as Functional Area 40 (FA40). It is only recently that the Army has shifted its focus to building the FA40 ranks from officer accessions programs (USMA, ROTC, and OCS). The establishment of the Space and Missile Defense Program under USMA’s Physics and Nuclear Engineering …

Design Drivers For A Viable Commercial Remote Sensing Space Architecture, Walter S. Scott, Neal Anderson, Aaron Q. Rogers

Small Satellite Conference

Private sector investment into new commercial remote sensing constellations over the past five years has exceeded $1B. The capabilities of these systems—many still in development or at pre-initial operational capability (IOC) thresholds—are intended to address a combination of new or underserved global markets. Additionally, the combination of ever-increasing technical collection requirements with static programmatic resources, has now driven historically traditional space system operators to embrace hybrid architectures that leverage commercially-sourced data into their service baselines. While enticing to many new entrants, many considerations must be practically addressed to field an enduring, commercially viable space architecture solution. Foremost it must deliver …

Beliefs And Perceptions Of Millennials Pertaining To Climate Change And Sustainability, Rae Cade

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The purpose of this qualitative multi-case study is to explore the beliefs and perceptions of millennials on the subjects of climate change and sustainability. Some millennials pursuing an undergraduate degree in a non-environmental science field may lack knowledge pertaining to climate change and sustainability. The conceptual framework for this qualitative explanatory multi-case study is grounded in contributions from Henri Lefebvre, Nicholson-Smith (1991), and Simpson (2014) who explore how the notion of space has evolved in recent years, as well as researchers who are quantitatively studying climate change and sustainability. I conducted semistructured focus groups and drafted field notes from two …

The Role Of Presentation Type And Spatial Perspective On Wayfinding, Sejeong Park

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Wayfinding refers to the process people use to find where to go and how to get there. For that, they need information on the presence and location of landmarks in their environment to be able to navigate through their surroundings. Furthermore, spatial awareness is also crucial in the process. The present study aimed to study how modality, spatial perspective, and language influence (a) wayfinding accuracy, (b) cardinal term, (c) relative term, and (d) landmark usage in directions. The map and text were presented to native and non-native English speakers. They provided directions under route and survey perspective. The results indicated …

The Role Of Information And Communication Technology (Ict) In Securing Books In Irish Academic Libraries., Emmanuel Oguche

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study examined how effective the ICT gadgets are used in securing books in academic libraries and what technological approach the libraries will adopt in the future to ensure books are secured from mutilation and theft. The study was also to understand why students steal or mutilate books. A semi-structured interview was the qualitative research design used to collect data from six librarians. It was discovered that the libraries had adopted the use of ICT security gadgets like Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, surveillance cameras, self-service machine, magnetic strips. The combined use of these gadgets led to the drastic reduction of …

Nafanua And The Afakasi Sister : Seven Linked Lyrical Memoir Essays With A Craft Essay, Tiffany Herron

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

After receiving my adoption file from Hawaii, discovering my ethnic DNA, and finding biological family located on the islands of the South Pacific, I knew I had to document my experience. The process I used to create my collection combined conversations with relatives, and research of Pacific Island culture. During my research I found that many people in the southern region of the United States, were unfamiliar with Samoan culture. I hope my work will expand the field of creative writing by connecting readers to culture, and the adoptee experience, and to encourage readers to discover and feed their own …

Analysis Of Interdunal Wetlands And Ecosystem Dynamics Using Uas And Obia In Ludington State Park, Michigan, Claire Gilbert

Masters Theses

The Great Lakes sand dunes are the world's largest freshwater dune complex. There is a functional relationship between coastal wetlands and freshwater sand dune, referred to as interdunal wetlands. Interdunal wetland systems are highly dynamic and change dramatically seasonally and annually. Using geographic information systems (GIS) and unoccupied aerial systems (UAS), this thesis project is focused on understanding the spatial distribution of sparse and dense vegetation, and abiotic influence such as distance to coast, slope, and aspect influence interdunal wetland stability within a Great Lakes shoreline dune system. Object-based image analysis (OBIA) classification results extracted meaningful vegetation densities of growth …

The Neighborhood-Level Association Between Alcohol Outlet Density And Female Criminal Victimization Rates, Aleksandra J. Snowden, Sara Hockin, William Alex Pridemore

Social and Cultural Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

The aim of this study was to explore the neighborhood-level association between alcohol outlet density and non–intimate partner violent victimization rates among females. Violent offending and victimization are more prevalent for males than females, and most research on alcohol outlets and violence emphasizes males. Studies that do focus on alcohol outlets and female violent victimization tend to focus on intimate partner violence (IPV), yet non-IPV events are over three quarters of all female violent victimization incidents in the United States. We collected data on violent victimization rates, on- and off-premise alcohol outlet density, and neighborhood-level covariates of violence rates for …

China Maritime Report No. 7: Gwadar: China's Potential Strategic Strongpoint In Pakistan, Isaac B. Kardon, Conor M. Kennedy, Peter A. Dutton

CMSI China Maritime Reports

This China Maritime Report on Gwadar is the second in a series of case studies on China’s Indian Ocean “strategic strongpoints” (战略支点). People’s Republic of China (PRC) officials, military officers, and civilian analysts use the strategic strongpoint concept to describe certain strategically valuable foreign ports with terminals and commercial zones owned and operated by Chinese firms.

Exploring The Louisiana Purchase And Its Borderlands: The Lewis And Clark, Hunter And Dunbar, Zebulon Pike, And Freeman And Custis Expeditions In Perspective [Part 1], Jay H. Buckley

Faculty Publications

When Americans contemplate the exploration of the Louisiana Purchase, the names Meriwether Lewis and William Clark quickly come to mind. Their historic journey was well conceived, well executed, and well documented. It was one of the first and longest U.S. government-backed explorations of the American West. The name Zebulon Pike, for some, conjures up notions of a lost explorer who was arrested by the Spanish as an alleged American spy. Fewer still have heard of the names William Dunbar, George Hunter, Thomas Freeman, and Peter Custis. Even those who have heard of these men may be hard-pressed to identify any …

Detrital Zircon Petrochronology For Sedimentary Provenance Analysis: Source To Sink Of The Mississippi/Missouri River Drainage Basin, Sage Denali Muttel

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Detrital petrochronology can provide a detailed look into sedimentary provenance through integrated mineral radioisotopic ages with corresponding mineral chemistry. By combining U-Pb ages and Th/U values of detrital zircon from 13 samples collected from Quaternary sand deposits in the Upper Missouri, Yellowstone, Bighorn, Platte, Kansas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Red and Brazos Rivers, an interpretation of detailed signatures that record evidence of the evolution of the Mississippi/Missouri River drainage and the tectonic events that shaped it were observed. Low Th/U values in zircon correlate temporally to convergent magmatism, whereas, higher and more variable Th/U zircon are coeval with known extensional tectonism. Using …

A Geochemical And Statistical Investigation Of The Big Four Springs Region In Southern Missouri, Jordan Jasso Vega

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The Big Four Springs region hosts four major first-order magnitude springs in southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. These springs are Big Spring (Carter County, MO), Greer Spring (Oregon County, MO), Mammoth Spring (Fulton County, AR), and Hodgson Mill Spring (Ozark County, MO). Based on historic dye traces and hydrogeological investigations, these springs drain an area of approximately 1500 square miles and collectively discharge an average of 780 million gallons of water per day. The rocks from youngest to oldest that are found in Big Four Springs region are the Cotter and Jefferson City Dolomite (Ordovician), Roubidoux Formation (Ordovician), Gasconade Dolomite …

Evaluating Particulate Matter 2.5 In The Yangtze River Delta, Muhammad Abdullah

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM_2.5) is a growing concern in industrialized countries. In China, high concentrations of PM_2.5 are causing devastating health and environmental effects for the people living there. Coal-burning for domestic and industrial purposes is the main culprit for decreasing air quality in China. The focus of this paper is on the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) located on the eastern coast of China. Hourly PM_2.5 readings from March 2015 to June 2016 were obtained from 125 air quality monitoring stations (AQMS) in 23 cities in the YRD. In this study, PM_2.5 readings were examined …

Airline Brand Experience Passengers’ Perceptions Of The Big Three Carriers In The United States, Sarinthree Udchachone

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to observe passengers’ perceptions about brand experience research in the airline industry by applying a transcendental or descriptive phenomenological methodology designed to evaluate interview transcriptions and organize derived knowledge into defined themes. The NVivo program was utilized to analyze data from textual transcriptions. The experiences of passengers of the Big Three United States legacy carriers, including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines, were described. The participants comprised three couples and seven individuals, all frequent-flyer members of the Big Three carriers and their partnering global airline alliances. The researcher-constructed instrument was used for …

Estimation Of Wildlife Damage From Federal Crop Insurance Data, Sophie Mckee, Stephanie A. Shwiff, Aaron M. Anderson

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

BACKGROUND: Wildlife damage to crops is a persistent and costly problem for many farmers in the USA. Most existing estimates of crop damage have relied on direct assessment methods such as field studies conducted by trained biologists or surveys distributed to farmers. In this paper, we describe a new method of estimating wildlife damage that exploits federal crop insurance data. We focused our study on four crops: corn, soybean, wheat, and cotton, chosen because of their economic importance and their vulnerability to wildlife damage.

RESULTS: We determined crop-raiding hot spots across the USA over the 2015–2019 period and identified the …

Correlates Of Access To Hand Hygiene Resources In Ghanaian Households: An Exploratory Analysis Of The 2014 Demographic And Health Survey, Paul Lawer Kenney, Herman Nuake Kofi Agboh, Florence Akosua Agyemang, Seth Sylvester Dadzie, Henry Ofori Duah, Pascal Agbadi

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Objectives

Handwashing with soap and water remains the most effective public health measure to reduce the risk of infectious diseases, which kill over 2.5 million people annually, mostly children in developing countries. The absence of hand hygiene resources in homes put many at risk of these infectious diseases. In the wake of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) and governments around the world have stressed the importance of regular handwashing to prevent the spread of the virus. This suggests that research on water, sanitation, and hygiene issues deserve continuous scholarly attention. In Ghana, studies on …

Financial Technology And Inclusion In Asean, David Fernandez, Marc Rakotomalala

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Financial technology (FinTech) has the potential to be a positive, game-changing force for boosting financial inclusion in ASEAN, as mobile money and greater access to basic financial services have the capacity to improve the economic well-being of households. Indeed, technology has been shown to drive broader increases in economic growth, which itself interacts positively with financial inclusion. In a more direct way, new, specific fintech developments globally and in ASEAN itself can be beneficial for financial inclusion. In this paper, we look at financial inclusion and technology, and how cooperative efforts between ASEAN policymakers, the private sector, and their broader …

Geology, Soils And Climate Of The Margaret River Wine Region, Peter J. Tille, Angela Stuart-Street, Peter S. Gardiner

All other publications

This report is an extract from the broader description and analysis of the Geology, soils and climate of Western Australia's wine regions. It expands on the brief descriptions in the second edition of 'Viticulture' (Coombe & Dry 2004) concerning the soils and landscapes of Western Australia’s main wine growing regions. We have tailored this report extract to the specific needs of the Margaret River wine region. It contains local soil names and soil-landscape zones and systems maps.

The wine industry recognises the importance of giving customers an understanding of the vines’ environment and how that may influence wine character …

Advancing Water Resources Systems Modeling Cyberinfrastructure To Enable Systematic Data Analysis, Modeling, And Comparisons, Adel Mohammad Kheir Abdallah

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Water resources systems models aid in managing water resources holistically considering water, economic, energy, and environmental needs, among others. Developing such models require data that represent a water system’s physical and operational characteristics such as inflows, demands, reservoir storage, and release rules. However, such data is stored and described in different formats, metadata, and terminology. Therefore, Existing tools to store, query, and visualize modeling data are model, location, and dataset-specific, and developing such tools is time-consuming and requires programming experience. This dissertation presents an architecture and three software tools to enable researchers to more readily and consistently prepare and reuse …

Boron In The Pariette Wetlands, Uinta Basin, Ut, Palak Vasudeva

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Boron is a naturally occurring mineral in shale and coal beds formed in marine environments, as found in the Uinta Basin. Mining activity and the application of excess irrigation water on agricultural lands in the Pariette watershed lead to mobilization of B via surface run off. Water quality monitoring records from 2006- 2009 reported violations of Utah B standard for irrigation water 43-100% of the time, for water flowing through the Pariette Wetlands. This study aims to determine B distribution in abiotic (water, sediments) and biotic samples (macroinvertebrates, aquatic vegetation, fish, bird eggs), and to establish correlations between B concentrations …

Development Of A High-Resolution Land Cover Dataset To Support Integrated Water Resources Planning And Management In Northern Utah, Ellie Irene Leydsman Mcginty

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Integrated planning and management approaches, including bioregional planning and integrated water resources planning, are comprehensive strategies that strive to balance the sustainability of natural resources and the integrity of ecosystem processes with human development and activities. Implementation of integrated plans and programs remains complicated. However, geospatial technologies, such as geographic information systems and remote sensing, can significantly enhance planning and management processes.

Through a United States Environmental Protection Agency Region 8 Wetland Program Development Grant, a high-resolution land cover dataset, with a primary emphasis on mapping and quantifying impervious surfaces, was developed for three watershed sub-basins in northern Utah - …