Digital Commons Network^™

A Review Of Bast Fibres And Their Composites: Part 4 ~ Organisms And Enzyme Processes, John Summerscales

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Distribution Ecology Of The Harpy Eagle: Spatial Patterns And Processes To Direct Conservation Planning, Luke James Sutton

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

Accurately demarcating species distributions has long been at the core of ecology. Yet our understanding of the factors limiting species range limits is incomplete, especially for tropical species. Human-driven threats to the survival of many taxa are increasing, particularly habitat loss and climate change. Identifying distributional range limits of at-risk species can thus inform spatial conservation planning to mitigate these threats. The harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) is a large raptor distributed across Neotropical lowland forests, from southern Mexico to northern Argentina, currently threatened by habitat loss and persecution. Coupled with climate change, harpy eagle distribution may contract or shift leading …

The Role Of Environmental Temperature In Immunocompetence And Disease Susceptibility In Bivalves, George Mason

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

Disease outbreaks and mass mortality events affecting marine species and ecosystems during periods of high temperature have increased in frequency and intensity over the past several decades. Accordingly, understanding the causes of such thermally-induced outbreaks is increasingly important, particularly in the context of global climate change and predictions of increased pathogen prevalence and disease incidence. Whilst our understanding of immune functions and their adequate energetic provisioning for disease resistance is well developed, little is known on how temperature affects immunological and energetic status in bivalves. Furthermore, even less is known on the potential combined effects between thermal and pathogenic stressors …

Disentangling The Roles Of Social And Physical Environment In Driving Reproductive Plasticity, Emily Rose Churchill

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

Resource patchiness results in spatially fluctuating population densities and thus variable levels of competition. If different traits are favoured in different population densities, individuals should adjust their physiology and behaviour in response, to maximise their fitness. In this thesis I manipulate resource distributions to investigate the implications this has on the social environment, and the sex differences in subsequent reproductive responses. Under high levels of perceived sperm competition, male Drosophila melanogaster will lengthen copulation durations. Despite this being a well established responses, little is known about the biological mechanism that facilitates this behaviour, as most of the studies that have …

Global Syndromes Induced By Changes In Solutes Of The World’S Large Rivers, Jiang Wu, Nan Xu, Yichu Wang, Wei Zhang, Alistair G.L. Borthwick, Jinren Ni

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

AbstractSolute-induced river syndromes have grown in intensity in recent years. Here we investigate seven such river syndromes (salinization, mineralization, desalinization, acidification, alkalization, hardening, and softening) associated with global trends in major solutes (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, SO42−, Cl−, HCO3−) and dissolved silica in the world’s large rivers (basin areas ≥ 1000 km2). A comprehensive dataset from 600 gauge stations in 149 large rivers reveals nine binary patterns of co-varying trends in runoff and solute concentration. Solute-induced river syndromes are associated with remarkable increases in total dissolved solids (68%), chloride (81%), sodium (86%) and sulfate (142%) fluxes from rivers to oceans …

A Novel Multimodal Biometric Authentication System Using Machine Learning And Blockchain, Richard Brown, Gueltoum Bendiab, Stavros Shiaeles, Bogdan Ghita

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Ocean Acidification And Carbon Limitation Affect Photosynthetic Capacity Of The Seagrass (Amphibolis Antarctica) And Its Calcifying Epiphytes, Daniel Grove

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

Amphibolis antarctica seagrass meadows, and their associated calcifying epiphytes, are abundant on Australia’s west coast, but have declined in recent years due to anthropogenic factors such as marine heatwaves, damaging fishing practices and increased turbidity resulting from eutrophication which causes light limitation. Burning fossil fuels has increased the flux of CO2 in to the ocean, lowering surface seawater pH, and making more carbon available for photosynthetic life. There are benefits of increasing CO2 for those seagrasses that are carbon limited, as this alleviates their energetic use of carbon concentrating mechanisms (CCM’S) which are less efficient, and more energy costly than …

Estimating The Background Error For Variational Data Assimilation Of An Ocean Model Using A Binless Analysis Of Innovations, Lewis William Lloyd Sampson

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

In order to create the cost function for variational data assimilation one needs to compute the background error covariance matrix, and this in turn requires information on the true state of the physical variables being modelled. This introduces a large difficulty which is often overcome by estimating the background error and then using this behaviour of the error to model the entire covariance during assimilation. A common approach for the estimation is the Hollingsworth and Lonnberg method, whereby the model forecasts subtracted from the observational data, known as the innovations, are manipulated using assumptions of correlation. This method requires the …

Biological Constraints On Neural Network Models Of Cognitive Function, Friedemann Pulvermüller, Rosario Tomasello, Malte R. Henningsen-Schomers, Thomas Wennekers

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Neural network models are potential tools for improving our understanding of complex brain functions. To address this goal, these models need to be neurobiologically realistic. However, although neural networks have advanced dramatically in recent years and even achieve human-like performance on complex perceptual and cognitive tasks, their similarity to aspects of brain anatomy and physiology is imperfect. Here, we discuss different types of neural models, including localist, auto-associative, hetero-associative, deep and whole-brain networks, and identify aspects under which their biological plausibility can be improved. These aspects range from the choice of model neurons and of mechanisms of synaptic plasticity and …

A Sph Model With Open Relaxation Boundary For Wave Generation And Absorption, G Zhu, J Hughes, S Zheng, D Greaves

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

In this paper, a numerical wave tank with open relaxation boundaryfor wave simulation is presented under the framework of weakly compressible Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH). The open relaxationboundary consists of open boundaries and relaxation particles. A relaxation function is applied for the relaxation particles which are placed between the inflow/outflow zone and the fluid domain. Open particles lie inthe inflow/outflow regions to avoid kernel truncation. The open particlesand relaxation particles can be created and deleted depending on the fluidmotion around the open boundaries, and the properties of these particlescan be obtained from theoretical resolution or by extrapolating withinthe domain. The …

Global Trade-Enabling Law, Panagiotis Delimatsis

Indian Journal of International Economic Law

Trade regulation may never have been in more flux than it is nowadays. Apart from the emergence of ‘megaregionals’ (more recently, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership – RCEP, or the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-pacific Partnership–CPTPP) and the difficulties in pursuing the objectives of the Doha Development Agenda, the increased heterogeneity of interests within the World Trade Organization (WTO) puts into question its ability to achieve its central objective of free(r) trade. While internally rethinking the future of the WTO, it seems opportune to discuss, and factor in the realities of everyday global trade. To this end, this Article argues that …

Online Medical Education And Examinations During Covid-19: Perspectives Of A Teaching Associate, Syed Mujtaba Baqir, Fatima Mustansir

Department of Biological & Biomedical Sciences

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has not only challenged global health systems but also social, economic, and educational systems. In this short communication, our focus is on its impact on medical education in Pakistan. We discuss the structure of undergraduate medical education in Pakistan; and how it has evolved in the wake of COVID-19. We describe our role as teaching associates (TAs) at the Aga Khan University (AKU); and how it has enabled us to be a part of the transition to online medical education, with a specific focus on online examinations in medical schools.

Integrated Report 2021; Adapt + Thrive, Association Of International Certified Professional Accountants

AICPA Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

Telementoring For Breast Surgeons Practicing In Remote Areas, Fatima Mubarik, Hania Shahzad, Syeda Sakina Abidi, Sana Zeeshan, Lubna Mushtaque Vohra, Sadaf Khan, Abida Khalil Sattar

Medical College Documents

Telementorship allows an expert surgeon to mentor another surgeon through an advanced procedure from a remote location via 2-way audio-visual communication. The current article was planned to review the existing literature and evaluate the utility of telementorship regarding educating rural surgeons in Pakistan about multidisciplinary breast cancer care. Publications from 2016 to 2020 were searched on PubMed and GoogleScholar and 10 most recent publications were selected. Review of literature revealed that even though telementorship in this context might be comparable to onsite mentorship, multiple concerns need to be addressed before its implementation. These include lack of concrete evidence regarding its …

Peer-Led Surgery Education: A Model For A Surgery Interest Group, Muhammad Ali, Shahmir Chauhan, Ayesha Noor, Sadaf Khan, Ather Enam, Sig Core

Medical College Documents

We present a systematic, sustainable, student-led model for a Surgery Interest Group in a low and middle-income country setting to encourage other medical students to establish similar groups in their institutions. Our model was developed at the Aga Khan University Medical College, Karachi, and is comprised of medical students, teaching associates, residents, faculty and alumni. The group focuses on connecting medical students with an interest in surgery with opportunities to help them match in surgery training programs. The opportunities include, but are not limited to, skill development, personal development, mentorship and research. Our model has shown growth and expansion over …

Surgical Education And Training During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Strategies And Solutions For Pakistan, Edward Anthony Joseph, Russell S. Martins, Javeria Tariq, Namrah Aziz, Hina Inam, Mahim Malik

Medical College Documents

The coronovirus disease-2019 pandemic has severely impacted surgical education and training in Pakistan and worldwide, causing problems, such as risk of infection, limited hands-on training, examination delays, and trainee redeployment to non-surgical specialties. The current review was planned to describe innovative strategies adopted by surgical training programmes worldwide in order to suggest comprehensive recommendations at the level of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan and individual institutions to counter the challenges presented by the pandemic in Pakistan. The innovative use of technology, including open-access online educational portals, virtual educational activities and simulation-based learning, can help reform education delivery during …

Antiracism, Reflection, And Professional Identity, Andrew King-Ries, Monte Mills, Eduardo R.C. Capulong

Faculty Law Review Articles

Intent on more systematically developing the emerging professional identities of law students, the professional identity formation movement is recasting how we think about legal education. Notably, however, the movement overlooks the structural racism imbedded in American law and legal education. While current models of professional development value diversity and cross-cultural competence, they do not adequately prepare the next generation of legal professionals to engage in the sustained work of interrupting and overthrowing race and racism in the legal profession and system. This article argues that antiracism is essential to the profession’s responsibility to serve justice and therefore key to legal …

Copyright Silencing, Cathay Y. N. Smith

Faculty Law Review Articles

Copyright has been weaponized to suppress speech,1 frustrate competition,2 punish third parties,3 and silence criticism and erase facts.4 This Essay highlights one form of copyright weaponization I call “copyright silencing.” Copyright silencing is a form of copyright weaponization where owners assert copyrights to silence criticism or suppress facts instead of to protect copyright owners’ legitimate interests5 in their works. This Essay identifies recent or notable instances of copyright silencing, examines the harm copyright silencing perpetrates, and explains why it is increasingly difficult to stop the assertion of copyright to silence, suppress, and censor facts, information, and criticism.

Strategies To Integrate Innovation Into Business Practices In The Nigerian Private Sector, John Nbanefo Chukwudifu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Business leaders not integrating innovation into their business practices exhibit lower financial performance. Business leaders integrating innovation into their business practices increase operational and financial performance. Grounded in the diffusion of innovation theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies business leaders in the Nigerian private sector use to effectively integrate innovation into their business practices to increase financial performance. Study participants were three business leaders who developed successful strategies to effectively integrate innovation into their business practices to increase financial performance. Data were collected from semistructured interviews, organizational documents, and artifacts. Thematic analysis was …

Relationship Between Employee Perception Of Work Experience, Employee Perception Of Supervisors, And Intent To Leave, Kathryn F. Denning

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Employee turnover can be costly; estimates for recruiting and training new hires are between 90% and 200% of the employee's annual salary. Understanding employee intent to leave is critical for managers to reduce turnover rates. Grounded in Herzberg’s two-factor model, the purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the relationship between federal government agency employees' perception of their work experience, employee perception of supervisors, and employee intent to leave. Secondary data from 359,120 completed surveys from the 2020 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) were analyzed. The results of the binary logistic regression were significant, X2 (359,120) = 17609.539, …

Leader Strategies That Increase Employee Performance In The Nigerian Public Sector, Oluwashola Martha Elias-Fatile

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractLow employee performance can hinder productivity in the Nigerian public sector. Leaders of public sector organizations in Nigeria who lack strategies to increase employees’ performance experience decreased productivity. Grounded in transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies leaders in the Nigerian public sector used to increase employee performance. Participants were four public sector leaders in Nigeria who successfully developed and implemented strategies to increase employee performance. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and internal and external documents, such as training programs, training calendars, meeting agendas, staff letters of recommendation, and staff handbooks. …

Effective Postdischarge Communication From Nursing Staff To Mental Health Patients, Paula Renee Garrison

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractMental health patients have a history of decreased follow-up appointments, poor diet, and medication noncompliance after discharge from inpatient facilities in addition to multiple co-morbidities, making a return to the community difficult. The practice problem was an increase in hospital readmissions of mental health patients within 30 days postdischarge due to inadequate post-discharge education and follow-up communication. Using Rodgers’s recovery on mental health theory and Revan’s action learning theory, a staff education program was developed to educate 10 nursing staff and two social workers on how to effectively implement postdischarge communication at 3 days and 30 days after discharge from …

Young Adults’ Community Trust And Participation In A Community Service Center In Indonesia, Adhytiawarman Gautama Putra

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the field of national security, Indonesia has community service centers known as the community police communication forum, or FKPM, an informal institution formed by community members to assist the police in implementing community policing (CP). FKPM can be found in various regions of Indonesia. The purpose of this study was to obtain the opinions of young adult members about FKPM regarding their trust and participation in FKPM activities. Fifteen active FKPM members participated in telephone interviews. The results showed that the young adults in this study believed in FKPM but lacked information about FKPM programs and activities in their …

Employee Retention Strategies In The Quick Service Restaurant Industry, Jason Gorham

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Organizations whose managers cannot retain their employees often experience additional hiring and training costs, a loss of continuity and productivity, and risk damaging employee morale. Some managers in the quick-service restaurant industry (QSRI) lack strategies to retain employees, thereby adding to an organization’s expense. Grounded in the transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this single case study was to explore employee retention strategies in the QSRI. The eight participants were managers of two restaurants in the QSRI located in the Midwest who have successfully implemented employee retention strategies. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and a review of company documents …

Maritime Cybersecurity Strategies For Information Technology Specialists, Angela Mizelle Griffin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Dependence on digital technology increases cyber-related risks for maritime industries. As a result, the U.S. Coast Guard network is challenged with maritime cybersecurity, both economically and for national security. Grounded in the general systems theory, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies information technology (IT) specialists use to implement standard practices for ensuring cyber security. The participants included six IT specialists who have successfully implemented standard practices for maritime organizations in Virginia and West Virginia. Data were collected from individual semistructured interviews and a review of 12 external organizational documents available to the public from IT …

Increasing Employee Motivation Through Job Satisfaction And Empowerment, Alicia Banks Myers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Leaders with high employee dissatisfaction have excessive absenteeism, complaints, and attrition, leading to low employee motivation. Dissatisfied employees are directly linked to customer dissatisfaction, resulting in decreased sales revenue. Grounded in Herzberg’s motivation–hygiene theory, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore motivation strategies that three department store managers have used to increase job satisfaction and empowerment in a retail store in South Carolina. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and company documents, including employee handbooks, strategic plans, and business forecasts. The three primary themes that emerged using thematic analysis were (a) effective leadership attributes, (b) understanding …

Electric Cooperative Managers’ Strategies To Enhance Organizational Commitment To Increase Employee Productivity, Michael Edward White

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Lack of effective leadership strategies contributes to a reduction in employee engagement and productivity. Managers are concerned about the lack of effective leadership strategies because it negatively affects employee engagement and productivity, reducing organizational growth. Grounded in Bass’s transformational leadership theory, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore effective leadership strategies used to enhance employee engagement and increase productivity. Five managers from an electric cooperative in Northwest Florida who implemented effective leadership strategies participated in the study. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and a review of organizational documents. Data were analyzed using Yin’s five-step approach. …

Associations Between The Use Of Bed Nets And Malaria Infection On The School Performance Of Juveniles In Ghana, Ans Bumbokuri

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Millions of malaria cases are reported yearly in sub-Saharan Africa, events which adversely influence children’s school performance. The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional study was to investigate the effectiveness of major malaria control policies in reducing malaria cases as a means of improving academic performance among school children in the greater Accra region of Ghana. A secondary data set was obtained from the 2014-2016 data from the Ghana Malaria Indicator Survey (GMIS). Findings indicated that bed net use and malarial episodes in children of participant recorded a p-value of 0.43 which is a significant association between the variables. The likelihood …

Ligo Detector Characterization In The Second And Third Observing Runs, D. Davis, J. S. Areeda, B. K. Berger, R. Bruntz, A. Effler, R. C. Essick, R. P. Fisher, B. Martinez, Karla E. Ramirez, P. Godwin

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

The characterization of the Advanced LIGO detectors in the second and third observing runs has increased the sensitivity of the instruments, allowing for a higher number of detectable gravitational-wave signals, and provided confirmation of all observed gravitational-wave events. In this work, we present the methods used to characterize the LIGO detectors and curate the publicly available datasets, including the LIGO strain data and data quality products. We describe the essential role of these datasets in LIGO–Virgo Collaboration analyses of gravitational-waves from both transient and persistent sources and include details on the provenance of these datasets in order to support analyses …

Hard Battles Over Soft Law: The Troubling Implications Of Insurance Industry Attacks On The American Law Institute Restatement Of The Law Of Liability Insurance, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

ALI Restatements of the Law have traditionally exerted significant influence over court decisions and the development of the common law. During the past two decades, however, the ALI has seen an upsurge in interest group activity designed to shape or even thwart aspects of the Institute's work. Most recently, the Restatement of the Law of Liability Insurance (RLLI) has been the focus of not only criticism of particular provisions but a concerted effort by members of the insurance industry to demonize the project as a whole and bar use of the document by courts.

The vehemence of insurer opposition seems …