Digital Commons Network^™

Beyond What's Missing: Silence In Women-Authored Novels From Wollstonecraft To Shelley, Kelli Wilhelm

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation responds to and intends to subvert binary interpretations of silence, particularly women’s silences, as representing either submission or resistance to oppressive institutions and societal expectations. I examine five women-authored novels from British Romanticism. The first half of this dissertation focuses on three radical works of the 1790s, Mary Wollstonecraft’s The Wrongs of Woman, Mary Hays’s The Victim of Prejudice, and Charlotte Smith's The Old Manor House. The second half discusses two well-known early nineteenth-century novels, Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818). Through examinations of these novels, I discuss how silence functions …

Methodology For Enhanced Filtration And Dewatering Of Fine-Grain Amd Precipitate Using Geocomposites For Rare Earth Elements Recovery, Iuri Lira Santos

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Research performed by the West Virginia Water Research Institute (WVWRI) in partnership with the Department of Energy (DOE) has identified that coal mining by-products contain significant amounts of Rare Earth Elements (REEs). REEs currently are in high demand, and extraction from coal mining reject presents a potential for commercialization if extraction is feasible. The coal mining reject include Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) in the aqueous phase and sludge from AMD treatment. A novel two split selective precipitation method was implemented to remove gangue metals, increasing the concentration of REEs in the sludge.

This process presents a two-fold benefit: 1) treatment …

The Discover Model: A Prescriptive Method For Instructional Tool Selection And Use In Seeking To Boost Instructor Immediacy And Social Presence In Online Courses, Lee O. Silverman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Higher education faculty who teach online can face numerous challenges in providing optimal experiences for their students. Besides their potentially limited instructional design expertise and understanding of how to optimize technology to support learning, faculty may have difficulties in finding ways to make themselves be perceived as real people who are approachable, caring, and likeable due to online nature of the learning context. As a preliminary means to address these issues, the current study focused on the development of the DISCOVER Model, which was designed to provide higher education faculty with a framework to develop actionable plans in the creation …

Reinforcement Learning For Process Control: Applications To Energy Systems, Elijah Ballard Hedrick

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Reinforcement learning (RL) is a machine learning method that has recently seen significant research activity owing to its successes in the areas of robotics and gameplaying (Silver et al., 2017). However, significant challenges exist in the extension of these control methods to process control problems, where state and input signals are nearly always continuous and more stringent performance guarantees are required. The goal of this work is to explore ways that modern RL algorithms can be adapted to handle process control problems; avenues for this work include using RL with existing controllers such as model predictive control (MPC) and adapting …

A Monte Carlo Simulation Of Rat Choice Behavior With Interdependent Outcomes, Michelle A. Frankot

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Preclinical behavioral neuroscience often uses choice paradigms to capture psychiatric symptoms. In particular, the subfield of operant research produces nested datasets with many discrete choices in a session. The standard analytic practice is to aggregate choice into a continuous variable and analyze using ANOVA or linear regression. However, choice data often have multiple interdependent outcomes of interest, violating an assumption of general linear models. The aim of the current study was to quantify the accuracy of linear mixed-effects regression (LMER) for analyzing data from a 4-choice operant task called the Rodent Gambling Task (RGT), which measures decision-making in the context …

Phenomic And Genetic Controls Of The Drought Stress Response In Sorghum, Melissa A. Lehrer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Drought, one of the most common abiotic stressors, is a result of the precipitation and temperature fluctuations influenced by climate change. As consistent weather patterns are crucial for the maintenance of crop yield, drought threatens food security through its impact on plant growth and development. It is essential to ensure the quality, availability, and affordability of grain-based products in the face of climate change due to expectations of population growth. Therefore, shedding light on the mechanisms associated with drought tolerance is integral to maintaining agricultural production under water-limited conditions. My dissertation work aimed to uncover the morphological, physiological, and genetic …

Impact Of Haemonchus Contortus On Feed Efficiency And Feeding Behavior Of Katahdin And Suffolk Lambs, Camren L. Maierle

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Nutritional impact of internal parasitism, specifically Haemonchus contortus (Hc), is a significant contributor to production losses in small ruminants. Both chronic and subclinical infections generate millions of dollars of losses worldwide. Understanding the nutritional impact of Hc on lamb performance is crucial in determining the additional nutrient requirements of infected individuals. The aim of this study was to evaluate nutritional impact of Hc on infected Katahdin lambs with extensive genetic selection for parasite resistance and susceptible Suffolk lambs. Growth, feeding behavior, and feed efficiency (RFI. F:G) were evaluated during artificial Hc infection. Katahdin ewes from the Virginia …

Investigation Of Geomechanical Behavior Of Laminated Rock Mass Through Experimental And Numerical Approach, Qingwen Shi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Roof failure in the Appalachian underground coal fields occurs often in laminated shale. Laminated shale roof in coal mines fails in unique ways, such as cutter failure or delamination failure. Extensive studies have investigated the influential factors that cause laminated roof failure, which include in-situ stress, entry layout, roof span, and roof support. However, cutter failure continues to occur frequently and erratically. This is due to the lack of in-depth understanding of the inherent properties of the laminations, such as bedding plane strength, matrix strength, and bedding plane spacing, which in turn influence the geomechanical behavior of the laminated rock. …

Development Of Machine Learning Algorithm To Identify High-Emitters From On-Road Data For Heavy-Duty (Hd) Vehicles, Filiz Kazan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The process of on-road, heavy-duty engine family certification is regulated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). Currently, the US EPA 2010 emissions standards require the threshold from the Federal Testing Procedure (FTP) engine dynamometer cycle to be at or below a brake-specific NO_x (bs-NO_x) value of 0.20 g/bhp-hr for heavy-duty (HD) engines. The engine manufacturers are also required to conduct in-use portable emission measurement system (PEMS) testing to prove their products' compliance. The selected vehicles are required to satisfy not-to-exceed (NTE) analysis under normal driving conditions in the heavy-duty in-use testing (HDIUT) program. California …

Investigating The Mitochondrial Protein Mitoneet In C. Elegans Models Of Aging And Alzheimer's Disease, Jacob Ryan Boos

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Oxidative stress is an imbalance between reactive oxygen species production and elimination, favoring the former. Reactive oxygen species serve as important signaling molecules for physiological homeostasis. However, when produced in excess, these once important signaling molecules become detrimental, disrupting cellular functions, and ultimately leading to cell death. In aging, reactive oxygen species production is increased, accompanied with reductions in oxidative stress resistance, increasing the risk for developing age-related diseases including cardiovascular disease, cancer, stroke, and neurodegenerative diseases. The outer mitochondrial membrane iron-sulfur cluster containing protein mitoNEET (CISD1; gene CISD1) has shown to be a mediator of mitochondrial function and …

Performance Of Peltier Cooled Technology During Preconcentration Of Volatile Organic Compounds Analyzed By Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (Gc-Ms) Using Niosh Manual Of Analytical Methods (Nmam) 3900, Elizabeth Ann Fernandez

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Using evacuated canisters for whole-air sampling allows for sampling without specific knowledge of the environment and potential analytes. Evacuated canisters are able to tolerate concentrations ranging from parts per trillion (PPT) to parts per million (PPM). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has used evacuated canisters for years to sample volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from ambient air using their method TO-15 (LeBouf, et al., 2019). The GC-MS system used for the development of NMAM 3900 used liquid nitrogen to cool sorbent traps in the preconcentrator. Liquid nitrogen allows for cooling of specified points below ambient temperature. An alternative to liquid …

Low-Temperature Hot Corrosion Of Boilers In The Coal-Fired Power Plant, Artem Gavrilev

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Hot corrosion of materials has remained a relevant topic since its introduction in the second half of the 20th century as gas turbine engines suffered severe corrosion during operation over seawater. Hot corrosion is observed in a multitude of high temperature components, such as gas turbines, power plants, refineries, fluidized bed combustion systems, pipelines, and industrial waste incinerators.

Hot corrosion experiments in the laboratory have been conducted under constant temperatures of interest, while in the actual working conditions of coal-fired power plants, boiler tubes are cooled down via water cooling from a relatively high fireside temperature, e.g., 1000°C. To investigate …

Multifunctional Organoboron Compounds And Boralactonate Salts, Randika T. Abeysinghe

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Organoboron compounds have gathered an important significance within the chemistry community on account of their wide range of applications in synthesis, catalysis, and medicinal chemistry. Even though the uses of boron compounds in drug discovery have been overlooked until the last several decades, boronic acid containing molecules have garnered increased attention due to the unique chemical properties of the boron center. Boron-functionalized ��-aryl propionic acid non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug derivatives (bora-NSAIDs) can be accessed via copper(I)-catalyzed alkene boracarboxylation, using CO2 and B2pin2. To explore and expand the current synthetic and future medicinal chemistry applications of these bora-NSAIDs, methods …

Classifying Blood Glucose Levels Through Noninvasive Features, Rishi Reddy

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Blood glucose monitoring is a key process in the prevention and management of certain chronic diseases, such as diabetes. Currently, glucose monitoring for those interested in their blood glucose levels are confronted with options that are primarily invasive and relatively costly. A growing topic of note is the development of non-invasive monitoring methods for blood glucose. This development holds a significant promise for improvement to the quality of life of a significant portion of the population and is overall met with great enthusiasm from the scientific community as well as commercial interest. This work aims to develop a potential pipeline …

"My 'Eh' Is Authentic"; Commodification Of Language And Identity In Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Meg Elaine Perry

English

The following paper is an investigation of the historic, economic, social, and ideological processes that have shaped dialect awareness in Michigan’s Upper and Lower peninsulas. The goal of this study is to explore dialect perceptions between “Yoopers” and “Trolls” with a specific focus on the tourist industry and material items. This work performs textual analysis of various commodified dialect features in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to examine the complex relationship between language use and identity. Secondary research is used to synthesize the historical, political, and cultural circumstances resulting in present day dialect features, while textual analysis reveals that material artifacts circulate …

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy For Insomnia (Cbt-I): A Primer, Jamie Walker, Alexandria Muench, Michael L. Perlis, Ivan Vargas

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) is a multi-component treatment for insomnia that targets difficulties with initiating and/or maintaining sleep and is delivered over the course of six to eight sessions. The primary focus of CBT-I is to address the perpetuating factors (according to the three-factor model of insomnia) that contribute to the development of chronic insomnia. Chronic insomnia is the most prevalent sleep disorder, occurring in approximately 6-10% of the population, and is a risk factor for multiple medical and psychiatric disorders. Despite its prevalence and morbidity, the widespread dissemination of CBT-I is not commensurate with insomnia's overall public …

Fractures Of Memory: Filmic Depth As A Method To Mourn, Jacob Foster

Architecture Theses

The living and the dead are currently separated from each other within our American cities. This divide has pushed society to disassociate the living and the dead, making them appear as separate entities. This creates a sense of fear amongst the living. We fear the dead, but cherish the memories and moments we shared when they were alive. This project will serve as a medium between the living and the dead to communicate through memories and moments in time. It will provide and an opportunity for sharing these special moments amongst family , friends, community and more to let your …

A Study Of Conformal Metasurfaces On Passive Beam Steering For Arrays, Ruisi Ge

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Beam-steering has drawn significant interest due to the expansion of network capacity. However, a traditional beam steering system involves active phase shifters and controlling networks which can be complex. This work proposes a passive conformal metasurface design on beam steering. The phase shifting is achieved by changing the curvature of a conformal metasurface. In addition, three conformal prototypes were fabricated and tested using different techniques such as 3D printing. The simulations and test results indicate up to 20° of beam shifting. This study can be extended to higher frequency bands for lower power consumption beam steering systems.

A Study Of Inverter-Based Resources On Power Grid Operation Under Uncertain Operating Conditions, Manisha Maharjan

Electrical and Computer Engineering

The electric power grid is undergoing a rapid change predominantly driven by high penetration levels of renewable energy resources (RERs) such as wind and solar. These resources are interfaced with the power grid through power electronic inverters that use control algorithms to define their performance characteristics. As a group, these types of resources are commonly referred to as inverter-based RERs (IB-RERs). While IB-RERs use power electronic controls to change active and reactive power injection, the fast inverter controls, separating the power source from the grid, have changed grid dynamics and posed new challenges to maintaining reliable and safe grid operation. …

Impact Of Inverter-Based Resources On Grid Dynamics, Almir Ekic

Electrical and Computer Engineering

The increasing integration of renewable energy resources such as wind and solar into the electric power grid through power electronic inverters has changed grid dynamics and posed challenges to grid planning, operation, and protection. The growing penetration of renewable energy resources may drive the grid towards weak power grid conditions, under which grid stability issues may affect the operation of inverter-based renewable generators. To more accurately identify the weak grid conditions for guiding grid planning to prevent potential weak grid issues, a method for grid strength assessment is proposed by considering not only the impact the of interaction between interconnected …

Microwave Measurement Of Grain And Biomass, Ryan Striker

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Microwave measurement is a powerful method for mass prediction and grain detection. Existing systems are well adapted for small volume grain measurements, but cannot accommodate materials other than grain (e.g. biomass), which are larger in size or dimensional ratios. Therefore, an enlarged measuring system with unique design is needed. This new system’s large size improves measurement repeatability by capturing an average response for randomly aligned bulk samples. The system supports homogenous samples up to 0.5 m thick and 1 m square, and it has been validated from 1-50 GHz. By increasing the measurement system’s physical size relative to existing systems, …

Faith And Faithfulness, Daniel J. Mckaughan, Daniel Howard-Snyder

Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers

No abstract provided.

Soil And Soul: Fostering Cultural Healing Through Reconnection To The Land, Makeda Bullock Floyd

Pomona Senior Theses

Before the traumatic history of slavery, Black people had a sacred relationship with the land. Now Black farmers are beginning to heal the association of farming with slavery through finding healing in the land. From experiencing cathartic release in the sensation of pulling out weeds, to healing in the reciprocity of caring for one’s own health while caring for the land, to empowerment and community in knowing how to feed oneself in food deserts, Black people are experiencing healing on farms today. Through the development of four essays: Who Cared, Healing Land, Healing Reparations, and Homeland, I engage with this …

Concentrated Exploration: Reconstructing The Professional Life Of Lucille Paris, Noor Tamari

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis uses archival sources to track the artistic trajectory and professional life of American abstract expressionist artist Lucille Paris.

Portrait Statistique Des Lésions Professionnelles Indemnisées Au Québec En 2015-2016, Marc-Antoine Busque, Martin Lebeau, Marilyn-Anne Tremblay, Alexandre Boucher, Patrice Duguay

Portraits statistiques

Ce portrait statistique s’inscrit dans un processus de surveillance qui s’appuie sur l’exploitation de données administratives de la Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST) et sur des données du recensement de Statistique Canada. Ce processus, qui a débuté il y a plus de 35 ans à l’Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST), permet notamment d’identifier des groupes de travailleurs et des industries-catégories professionnelles dont les problèmes de SST sont les plus importants, ce qui constitue une information précieuse pour la planification de la recherche et …

Portrait Statistique Des Lésions Professionnelles Indemnisées Au Québec En 2015-2016 : Tableaux De Classement Par Industrie-Catégorie Professionnelle, Marc-Antoine Busque, Martin Lebeau, Marilyn-Anne Tremblay, Alexandre Boucher, Patrice Duguay

Portraits statistiques

Ce document s’inscrit dans le cadre d’une activité de surveillance statistique portant sur les indicateurs de lésions professionnelles en santé et en sécurité du travail. Cette étude vise principalement à fournir des mesures statistiques sur la fréquence et la gravité des lésions avec perte de temps indemnisée (PTI) et sur les coûts des lésions acceptées par la CNESST, par industrie-catégorie professionnelle en utilisant un niveau de granularité le plus fin possible. L’étude a été scindé en deux documents distincts. Le premier offre une vue d’ensemble des résultats produits tandis que celui-ci présente la totalité des tableaux de classement des industries …

Negotiating Social Change: Backstory Behind The Repeal Of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Linell A. Letendre, Hal Abramson

University of Florida Journal of Law & Public Policy

This Article is about negotiating social change in the largest U.S. institution, the Military and its five Services. Inducing social change in any institution and society is notoriously difficult when change requires overcoming clashing personal values among stakeholders. And, in this negotiation over the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT), clashing values over open service by gays and lesbians were central to the conflict. In response to President Obama’s call to repeal DADT, the Secretary of Defense selected a Working Group to undertake studies, surveys and focus groups to inform the debate. During the nine-month process of gathering a …

Educational Malpractice: Is It A Tort Whose Time Has Come? An Exploratory Mixed Methods Study, Todd A. Demitchell, Stefanie King, Terri A. Demitchell

University of Florida Journal of Law & Public Policy

Peter Doe, a high school student with an average IQ and an average attendance record, graduated from high school in 1972. His reading ability at the time of graduation was approximately at the fifth-grade level. Peter Doe brought suit against the school district and its employees for negligence resulting in his inability to read and write. He sought damages of $500,000. The plaintiff claimed that these actions resulted in depriving him of basic academic skills thus limiting his lifetime stream of earnings. In other words, he asserted that he was injured because the school district and its “teachers negligently or …

A Call For Constitutionalizing The Affirmative Insanity Defense, Mia C. Larson

University of Florida Journal of Law & Public Policy

This Note sheds light on varied insanity defense formulations which fail to adequately protect the constitutional rights of people deemed legally insane. An emerging trend has arisen whereby states adopt alternative approaches to legal insanity focused solely on the mental state of a criminal offender at the time the offender committed a crime. Rather than operating as an excusal from criminal liability, this alternative approach offers insanity as mitigating evidence to be used at the sentencing phase of trial. The result is that a person deemed not guilty in a state employing the affirmative defense could be deemed guilty in …

Don't Make A Run For It: Illinois V. Wardlow In Light Of Police Shootings And The Nature Of Reasonable Suspicion, Edith Perez

University of Florida Journal of Law & Public Policy

Fear and distrust of law enforcement have been longstanding in the Black community. Those in power have fueled this fear and distrust through brutal beatings, harassment, and general discrimination. The reasonable suspicion standard is problematic because it allows for unchecked biases to guide interactions between police officers and minorities, creating incentives to persecute. But today, a new tool exacerbates this problem and makes escaping the violence nearly impossible, deepening the contempt, and spreading its adverse effects: the media. Using a hierarchy of “if it bleeds it leads,” the capitalistic fear-based media targets the anxieties and biases of Americans, creating a …