Digital Commons Network^™

United States Court Of Appeals For The Federal Circuit, Noel Trujillo

Water Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reflections On Psychological And Psychiatric Consequences Of Covid-19 Pandemic, Donatella Marazziti

Animal Sentience

Although far from reaching a clear conclusion, some evidence increasingly highlights the possible connections among climate change, environmental pollution and the current COVID-19 pandemic, as well as their intertwined detrimental effects on both physical and mental health. Such a catastrophic event calls for a novel awareness of the interdependence of all biotic and nonbiotic factors in our environment and planet.

Protecting Nature, Freeing Beings, Eileen Crist

Animal Sentience

Large-scale protection of nature is needed to address the ecological crisis. Big animals are connected with this mandate: They are threatened worldwide; they play important ecological roles; and the vast areas they require support a host of lifeforms. But visionary conservation is not only a pragmatic necessity. It is an ethical imperative, for comprehensive nature protection and restoration that supports the good life for all. The story of Asian elephants is part of this bigger story. We must find compassionate ways to free captive elephants and restore a world in which they, and countless others, may live free and flourish.

Invertebrates Should Be Given Ethical Consideration, Marie-Claire Cammaerts

Animal Sentience

Invertebrates are far more numerous than vertebrates. Most of them are essential to the survival of humanity. Their physiology, behavior, know-how, and cognitive abilities are often as complex as those of vertebrates. Invertebrates should be considered and studied as are vertebrates, i.e., ethically, and cautiously.

Virtue Ethics And The Likelihood Of Invertebrate Suffering, Jeffrey A. Lockwood

Animal Sentience

Mikhalevich & Powell (2020) review evidence that invertebrates have the capacity to suffer. If they do, then, according to utilitarians (those advocating “the greatest good for the greatest number”) and deontologists (those advocating rights and corresponding duties), research practices and funding policies should be required to protect invertebrates. But if the evidence is mistaken, then, according to utilitarians and deontologists, our constraints would be unjustified and even morally suspect. Virtue ethicists, in contrast, endorse acting rationally in an effort to cultivate the virtues — even if the basis for our action is mistaken. Virtue ethics seems more compelling than the …

On The Possibility Of Invertebrate Sentience, David Degrazia

Animal Sentience

Mikhalevich & Powell (M&P) set up the basic criteria for according moral status equitably, including the capacity for affect. They argue persuasively against assuming that all invertebrates are insentient and hence ineligible for moral consideration. In addition to the relatively clear case of cephalopods, various arthropods may prove to be sentient. We should be aware of various sources of prejudice that M&P discuss and not assume that it would be absurd to attribute sentience and moral status to certain invertebrates.

Generating Trauma: How The United States Violates The Human Rights Of Incarcerated Mothers And Their Children, Christina Scotti

City University of New York Law Review

The male standard of incarceration in the U.S. correctional system creates additional punishments for mothers, who most often serve as primary caregiver to their children prior to imprisonment. This inadequate attention to their gender-specific characteristics and needs is not only punitive and discriminatory, but it also breaks fundamental bonds by separating children from their mothers, which neuroscience research shows can substantially alter a child's brain development, leading to devastating long-term outcomes. Such actions violate international human rights laws and standards that recognize the rights of the mother and the rights of the child, including provisions in the International Covenant on …

Telehealth Efforts To Reduce Hospital Readmissions Of Congestive Heart Failure Patients, Sirfornia L. Deasfernandes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a chronic condition that affects millions of individuals in the United States. There is no cure for CHF, but medical interventions can help treat the symptoms and improve health outcomes. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if telehealth services help to reduce the readmission status of patients diagnosed with CHF. The theoretical framework used in this study was the individual and family self-management theory to help focus on self-management behaviors that contribute to improving the patients' health outcomes. The research questions were focused on addressing CHF patients receiving telehealth services and whether …

Marital Outcomes And Attachment In Children Of Divorce Versus Children Of Intact Families, Julirae Gunter Castleton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Previous studies have investigated many aspects of the lives of children of divorce, including delinquency, emotional aspects, and attachment; however, they have not investigated the patterns of marital partnership formation and persistence among children of divorce who were raised in long-term blended families versus children of other types of families. Based on attachment theory, this study compared adult children from 4 family types: children of divorce raised in (a) long-term blended families, (b) single parent families postdivorce, (c) serial matrimony families postdivorce, and (d) children raised in intact families. A quantitative, causal-comparative, ex post facto survey design was employed with …

The Improvement Of Shewhart-Stable Time Series Processes By Applying Jensen-Shannon Complexity Measures To Characterize Emergent Structure, Blaine Lorimer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Despite the nearly universal imperative to continuously improve processes, Shewhart-stable time series are often ignored for improvement because of various generalized assumptions and "rules", many of which are actually very context dependent. The process control literature presents widely divergent views, including the extreme position that stable processes are completely random and therefore any further compensation ("tampering") can only increase process variability. The traditional reductionist approach to process improvement characterizes underlying factors using statistical variance measures, which has been very effective for unstable processes. However, this approach, especially when it involves Shewhart control charts, is generally much less effective for directing …

The Effects Of A Plant-Based Diet On Inflammation Of Patients With Cardiac Disease, Rachel L. Butcher

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Cardiac disease is the primary cause of death in the United States of America (CDC, 2017). Despite ongoing efforts and investments to improve cardiac health in the United States, most of the population will suffer from cardiovascular diseases. There is a multitude of research supporting that diet can contribute to cardiac disease, but it is less known that diet can greatly contribute to regulation and reversal of cardiovascular disease processes (Huang et al., 2012; Satija et al., 2017; Kim et al., 2019). Existing research supports the efficacy of plant-based diets to manage and reverse certain cardiac diseases (Tuso et al., …

Child Vehicular Heatstroke Deaths: How The Criminal Legal System Punishes Grieving Parents Over A Neurobiological Response, Amanda Washabaugh

Cardozo Law Review de•novo

Twenty states have passed criminal statutes aimed at reducing heat stroke deaths resulting from a child being left in a vehicle. This Note examines those statutes and the legal theories of punishment they rely upon. The Note proposes that state legislatures repeal these statutes and instead increase funding for programs aimed at expanding awareness and technological advances focused on preventing these tragedies.

Does Knowing The Mental Health History Of A Mass Shooter Heighten Stigma And Negative Attitudes Toward Mental Illness?, Lianna Artessa

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Mass-shooting incidents are an ongoing epidemic that continues to take countless lives. Despite the prevalence of gun-related mass-shooting events, the research on this phenomenon is scarce. Following these events, individuals often receive news from differing media outlets and programs. The current media portrayal of mass-shooting events often appears to support a widely accepted connection between mass shootings and mental illness. This portrayal may reflect an existing and perhaps growing misunderstanding and negative stigma toward individuals diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder. This experimental study sought to determine the degree to which individuals’ attitudes toward and opinions of a perpetrator of a …

Aphid-Responsive Defense Networks In Hybrid Switchgrass, Kyle Koch, Nathan A. Palmer, Teresa Donze-Reiner, Erin D. Scully, Javier Seravalli, Keenan Amundsen, Paul Twigg, Joe Louis, Jeffery D. Bradshaw, Tiffany Heng-Moss, Gautam Sarath

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Aphid herbivory elicits plant defense-related networks that are influenced by host genetics. Plants of the upland switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) cultivar Summer can be a suitable host for greenbug aphids (Schizaphis graminum; GB), and yellow sugarcane aphids (Sipha flava, YSA), whereas the lowland cultivar Kanlow exhibited multi-species resistance that curtails aphid reproduction. However, stabilized hybrids of Summer (♀) x Kanlow (♂) (SxK) with improved agronomics can be damaged by both aphids. Here, hormone and metabolite analyses, coupled with RNA-Seq analysis of plant transcriptomes, were utilized to delineate defense networks induced by aphid feeding in SxK switchgrass and pinpoint plant transcription factors …

Genome-Wide Transcriptome And Physiological Analyses Provide New Insights Into Peanut Drought Response Mechanisms, Sailaja Bhogireddy, Abishek Xavier, International Crops Research Institute For The Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat), Hyderabad, India, Nancy Layland, Renee Arias, Paxton Payton, Spurthi N. Nayak, Manish K. Pandey, Naveen Puppala, Rajeev K. Varshney

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Drought is one of the main constraints in peanut production in West Texas and eastern New Mexico regions due to the depletion of groundwater. A multi-seasonal phenotypic analysis of 10 peanut genotypes revealed C76-16 (C-76) and Valencia-C (Val-C) as the best and poor performers under deficit irrigation (DI) in West Texas, respectively. In order to decipher transcriptome changes under DI, RNAseq was performed in C-76 and Val-C. Approximately 369 million raw reads were generated from 12 different libraries of two genotypes subjected to fully irrigated (FI) and DI conditions, of which ~329 million (90.2%) filtered reads were mapped to the …

Note: First Records Of Alcathoe Carolinensis Engelhardt And Synanthedon Alleri (Engelhardt) In South Carolina, U.S.A., Juang Horng Chong, James D. Young

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Clearwing moths (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) are day-flying hornet and wasp mimics that can be found visiting flowers for nectar. Larvae bore in the roots, branches and trunks of woody and some herbaceous plants. Some of these larvae are pests in orchards, nurseries and commercial forestry operations. For example, Synanthedon exitiosa (Say) and Synanthedon pictipes (Grote & Robinson) are major pests of peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch; Rosaceae] (Johnson et al. 2005), and Synanthedon scitula (Harris) is a major pest of apple (Malus domestica Borkh.; Rosaceae) (Bergh & Leskey 2003). These species, and Podosesia syringae (Harris), Podosesia aureocincta Purrington & …

Analysis Of Small Rna Populations Generated In Peanut Leaves After Exogenous Application Of Dsrna And Dsdna Targeting Aflatoxin Synthesis Genes, Imana L. Power, P. C. Faustinelli, Valerie Orner, Victor S. Sobolev, Renee S. Aria

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Previously, we have shown that RNA interference (RNAi) can prevent aflatoxin accumulation in transformed peanuts. To explore aflatoxin control by exogenous delivery of double-strand RNA (dsRNA) it is necessary to understand the generation of small RNA (sRNA) populations. We sequenced 12 duplicate sRNA libraries of in-vitro-grown peanut plants, 24 and 48 h after exogenous application of five gene fragments (RNAi-5x) related to aflatoxin biosynthesis in Aspergillus flavus. RNAi-5x was applied either as double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) or RNAi plasmid DNA (dsDNA). Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) derived from RNAi-5x were significantly more abundant at 48 h than at 24 h, and the …

Genetic Diversity Of Puccinia Kuehnii, The Causal Agent Of Orange Rust Of Sugarcane, From Brazil, Alfredo Seiiti Urashima, Tatiane De Mistura, Lis Natali Rodrigues Porto, Paige Dariel Austin, Renee Silvia Arias

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

The use of resistant genotypes is the preferred method to control orange rust of sug- arcane (Saccharum spp) caused by Puccinia kuehnii. This approach has been adopted in Brazil but outbreaks of the disease on previously resistant varieties showed that the efficacy of this method is limited and requires a better understanding of pathogen diversity. Nevertheless, adequate molecular markers for examining pathogen diversity at population level are not available, which limits the success of orange rust control by genetic resistance. Therefore, two independent investigations were conducted to examine genetic diversity of P. kuehnii from São Paulo state, the most important …

Spices, Spirituality, And Scarcity: Experiences Of Food And Drink In The Middle Ages, Thomas Nelson

History - Master of Arts in Teaching

I. Synthesis Essay………………………….......3

II. Primary Documents and Headnotes………27

III. Textbook Critique…………………………...37

IV. New Textbook Entry………………………...40

V. Bibliography…………………………………..49

What Does It Mean To Be White: Investigating White Culture, White Privilege And Allyship Through The Lens Of Aspiring White Allies, Brett Kirkpatrick

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

In 2017, prominent counseling psychologists stressed the need to make Whiteness and allyship a focus of future research. In particular, they noted that a comprehensive definition of what it means to be White was missing from the extant literature within counseling psychology. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), the present study recruited 10 White individuals, who self-identified as an ally, and asked them to describe how they experienced being White and an ally in their everyday lives. Findings revealed that White culture and White privilege have components that are visible and invisible to White individuals. The more visible component of White …

Examining Family Hierarchy Through The Eyes Of Former Mac Baller Gang Members, Jerome Lee Rice

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Criminal gang membership is growing, which corresponds to a continued breakdown of the family unit in the United States. Most of the young people who form gangs come from broken families or single-parent-headed households. This study explored the role of family hierarchy on gang membership. A qualitative case study approach was used to gather information on what motivates young people to join criminal gangs. A random sampling technique was used to recruit former members of the Mac Baller Brim gang. Ethical concerns were addressed to minimize the risks to the participants. The collected data from interviews were analyzed using an …

Traumatic Early Life Stress In The Developing Hippocampus: A Meta-Analysis Of Mri Studies, Sharon Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Advancements in neuroimaging techniques afford researchers the opportunity to examine the actual brains of living persons, which exponentially contributes to new insights regarding brain and behavior phenomena. However, empirical studies investigating stress and the hippocampus attend primarily to adult populations - less on children and adolescents. Covariates such as the type of trauma, the duration and severity of the abuse, genetic predispositions, gender, poverty, and age often present as confounding factors that muddle the attempts to establish linkages between interpersonal, environmental, and neurobiological correlates. Although researchers primarily agree that traumatic early life stress (TELS) has some impact on early brain …

Risk Perception Of Terrorism And Individual Preparedness In Thailand, Pinida Neenlapathna

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Since 2001, terrorist incidents in Thailand have caused more than 6,600 deaths and nearly 13,000 people have been injured. The Thai government has employed various counterterrorism measures, but there is little attention paid to terrorism awareness and preparedness. Following the tenets of social cognitive theory, the purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the predictive relationship between the risk perception of terrorism (i.e., perceived probability, perceived seriousness, perceived impact, perceived coping efficacy, perceived government preparedness, and perceived frontline responder preparedness) and individual preparedness among Thai people. The study was conducted with a convenience sample of 327 Thai adults who …

Adult Attachment For African American Women Who Have Mothers With Borderline Personality Disorder, Elizabeth Uchechi Onyeali

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The effects that borderline personality disorder (BPD) can have on the loved ones of those who suffer from the mental illness is significant and can be deleterious and enduring. Maternal BPD can adversely impact mother-daughter relationships by fostering abnormal connections and insecure attachment bonds. This is particularly the case for African American mothers, of whom research suggests that the early attachment bond between them and their daughters significantly shapes how their daughters behave, perceive themselves, and relate to others. The purpose of this qualitative transcendental phenomenological study was to explore how the experiences of being raised by a mother diagnosed …

The Experiences Of Noncustodial Fathers Enrolled In The Georgia Fatherhood Program, Patricia Ann Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The federal child support program was designed in the United States in 1975 to reduce the amount of public assistance that is needed by collecting child support from noncustodial fathers. Due to financial barriers, many noncustodial fathers face challenges in paying their child support consistently. Noncustodial fathers are referred to Fatherhood Programs when they are delinquent in paying their child support. While extensive research was conducted on the impact of child support delinquency on families, very little focus has been placed on the challenges that noncustodial fathers face when attempting to complete Fatherhood Programs. The purpose of this generic qualitative …

African American Sibling Survivors Of Homicide Victims: A Phenomenological Study, Terra Natia Brown

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American bereavement experiences are underrepresented in the literature in comparison to Caucasian experiences. Due to cultural differences, the available literature may be misleading and unhelpful to African Americans dealing with grief. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to fill the void in the literature regarding African American bereavement. Guided by attachment theory and social constructivism as the theoretical frameworks, this study explored the lived bereavement and grief experiences of 12 African American siblings bereaved by homicide. A qualitative phenomenological approach was used to gain firsthand knowledge of the siblings’ bereavement experiences via semi-structured interviews, which allowed the participants …

Association Of Social Support And Depressive Symptoms Among African Americans, Jacketta Renee Cobbs

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Depression affects over 120 million individuals worldwide; in the United States, depression is a leading cause of disability for individuals’ ages 15-44 years. Social support can affect both physical and depressive symptoms; therefore, most patients with heart failure (HF) need support from family and/or friends to effectively manage their health condition. This indicates family and/or friends are expected to be the core support system for long term care of those with HF. The purpose of this study was to determine whether social support contributes to depressive symptoms among African Americans with HF. The research questions examined the experience of different …

Predictive Factors Of Risky Sexual Behaviors Of Emerging Adult Women, Corey Dabney

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study offered a predictive model to better understand the social dynamics of risky sexual behavior through examining how reproductive coercion, self-esteem, and peer relationships that present with risky sexual behaviors correlate to unintended pregnancy. The participants were 104 emerging adult women between the ages 18-25 who resided in the United States and were proficient in the English language. Using the theoretical lens of reciprocal determinism, direct logistic regression was performed to assess the likelihood that the variables reproductive coercion, peer relationships, and self-esteem would impact unintended pregnancy. The full model containing all predictors was statistically significant, indicating that the …

Clinical Practice Guideline Development To Diagnose And Treat Adolescents With Obesity, Barbara Hunter Hudgens

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Adolescent obesity is a worldwide multifaceted epidemic. This disease affects the medical, physical, psychosocial, and family aspects of adolescent life. Identification, diagnosis, and referrals to providers that can initiate early interventions that improve weight status have been recommended as critical steps in curtailing childhood obesity. This evidence-based clinical practice guideline (CPG) was developed for the healthcare providers at a rural clinic in Southwest Arkansas to provide consistency in the identification, diagnosis, and referral of adolescents. The health belief model (HBM) and the trans-theoretical model (TTM) were used to consider adolescents’ individual characteristics and beliefs as well as their readiness to …

Ex-Offenders Perceptions Of Community-Based Substance Abuse Treatment Programs, Yolanda Michelle Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many ex-offenders develop negative attitudes and lifestyles-based on adverse childhood experiences that lead to substance abuse problems, as well as negative coping strategies for managing life stressors. To understand ex-offenders negative perspectives and attitudes, one must understand the motivation for change. The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions and feelings of ex-offenders involved in community-based treatment programs pivotal in changing their attitudes and lifestyles. The theoretical framework consisted of labeling theory and social learning theory. A qualitative phenomenological approach was used to explore participants perceptions of community-based treatment. There was a total of 10 participants, 5 men and …