Digital Commons Network^™

Incidental Take Under The Migratory Bird Treaty Act And How To Share The Skies, Erika Bosack

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This Note will focus on one piece of legislation that can protect birds from wind turbines: the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 (“MBTA” or “the Act”). The MBTA makes it illegal to hunt, kill, capture, import, export, sell, buy, pursue, possess, transport, or take a bird on the list of protected species, which covers hundreds of types of birds as well as their nests and eggs. The law forbids these acts in any manner, by any means, and at any time. The text itself does not explicitly state whether intentional and unintentional acts should both carry liability, which has …

Casting Pearls Before Swine: Why The Public's Darling Right To Pollute Should Have Been Overturned In Recent Scova Decision, Thummim Park

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This Note calls for the Virginia Supreme Court to recognize that a city’s right to freely pollute the public waterways is no longer valid under the Virginia Constitution, and to recognize that the line of Darling cases granting municipalities the public right to pollute waterways should have been overturned.

Part I will set out the foundation for this Note. It will discuss the background of Johnson v. City of Suffolk, laying the context for this Note’s discussion. Part II will engage in an analysis of the rationale for Darling. It will contextualize and compare it to current understandings …

Encouraging Sustainable Innovation: Is There Room For A Post-Grant Environmental Challenge In American Patent Law?, Samuel Habein

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This Note examines potential changes within the American patenting system that might renew the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (“USPTO”) dedication to the promotion of progress through a post-grant environmental challenge to patents. There are many ways to encourage “green” innovation by challenging practices that harm the environment, but the patent system has a unique ability to discourage environmentally harmful innovation by refusing to grant exclusionary rights—rights that many industries require to thrive. However, a post-grant environmental challenge would undoubtedly disrupt the American patent system in severe ways that this Note does not address. Therefore, this Note is not arguing …

A Genealogy Of Ideas: From Transcendentalism Onward, Jakob Resnik

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

Most, if not all, fields of study operate almost like a conversation. Significant figures influence those after them and were themselves influenced by their predecessors. Philosophy, as a broader academic discipline, is no exception to this. Generally when the function of intellectual influence is considered it is only between pairs of notable thinkers. By treating the subject genealogically a historian can uncover significantly longer chains of influence. This paints an international and intergenerational picture that accounts for the ways various ideas have evolved, who they shifted through, and how different people played a role in the formation of subsequent philosophers. …

Mit Deutscher Gründlichkeit: The People Behind The World’S Most Effective Police State, Evan Diliberto

History & Classics Undergraduate Theses

The Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (Stasi) was the infamous state security service of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR, or East Germany) active from 1950-1989. It was instrumental in keeping the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, or the SED) in power for nearly 50 years. Stasi agents engaged in psychological warfare, murder, and torture of perceived enemies, most of whom were citizens of East Germany. The official mission of the Stasi was the maintenance of security of the state, however, the Stasi acted mainly as an ideological enforcer, targeting those with perceived hostilities to the GDR. The …

Design And Development Of Distributed Lower Atmospheric Instrumentation Packages, Julio Guardado

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The recent miniaturization of embedded electronics and widespread availability of low-cost sensors, microcontrollers and transceivers has enabled development of sensor suites that can be used for high temporal and spatial resolution measurements of atmospheric parameters such as temperature, pressure, humidity, particulate counts, wind velocity and much more. This thesis presents the development of both airborne and ground based distributed atmospheric instrumentation suites. First, we present a low-cost radiosonde platform capable of simultaneous multipoint launches or high cadence back-to-back continuous launches. This radiosonde platform can do wind measurements on an approximately 60 m scale up to a minimum of 25 km. …

Locality Of Topographic Ground Truth Data For Salt Marsh Lidar Dem Elevation Bias Mitigation Using Machine Learning, Joelle S. Bobinsky

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Light detection and ranging (lidar) digital elevation models (DEMs) are crucial for modeling coastal salt marsh systems, simulating the coastal dynamics of sea level rise (SLR), and predicting storm surge inundation depth and duration. Improvements in lidar acquisition technology and data processing over the last decade have led to increased accuracy. However, the lidar-derived DEMs for coastal salt marshes that are densely vegetated are generally unreliable without adjustment based on local ground truth elevations. In this study, Random Forest (RF) DEM adjustment models are trained for two similar Northern Gulf of Mexico salt marshes. The need for local topographic ground …

Effects Of Emergency Vehicle Warning Lighting System Characteristics On Driver Perception And Behavior, Emily Hiebner

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Secondary crashes, including struck-by incidents are a leading cause of line-of-duty deaths among emergency responders, such as firefighters, law enforcement officers, and emergency medical service providers. The introduction of light emitting diode (LED) sources and advanced lighting control systems, provides a wide range of options for emergency lighting configurations. This study investigated the impact of lighting color, intensity, modulation, and flash rate on driver behavior while traversing a traffic incident scene at night. The impact of retroreflective chevron markings in combination with lighting configurations, as well as the measurement of “moth-to-flame” effects of emergency lighting on drivers was also investigated. …

A Whole-Food Plant Based Diet And Its Effects On Cardiovascular Disease, Meredith A. Childress

MSN Capstone Projects

The purpose of this paper and benchmark study is to present evidenced-based data regarding the impact diet choices have on heart disease and how adherence to a whole food plant based (WFPB) diet compared to a Western diet affects cardiac disease. The PICOT question being asked for this change project is as follows: In adults with history of cardiac disease (P), how does adherence to a whole-food plant-based (WFPB) diet (I) compared to the Western diet (C) impact outcomes associated with coronary artery disease (CAD) (O) over three months (T)? A search of evidenced-based literature was conducted to determine the …

Comparative Expression Of Soluble, Active Human Kinases In Specialized Bacterial Strains, Allison Sunderhaus, Ramsha Imran, Elanzou Enoh, Adesola Adedeji, Taiye Obafemi, May H. Abdelaziz

Pharmacy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Kinases act as molecular switches for cellular functions and are involved in multiple human pathogeneses, most notably cancer. There is a continuous need for soluble and active kinases for in-vitro drug discovery and structural biology purposes. Kinases remain challenging to express using Escherichia coli, the most widely utilized host for heterologous expression. In this work, four bacterial strains, BL21 (DE3), BL21 (DE3) pLysS, Rosetta, and Arctic Express, were chosen for parallel expression trials along with BL21 (DE3) complemented with folding chaperones DnaJ/K and GroEL/ES to compare their performance in producing soluble and active human kinases. Three representative diverse kinases were …

Cattle Diet Selection During The Growing Season On Upland Sandhills Rangelands, Alejandro Orozco-Lopez

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The Sandhills is a diverse and complex ecosystem comprised of different topographic positions (i.e. slopes and interdunes) that influence grazing distribution, plant species composition, and cattle diet selection. The first objective of this study was to evaluate how grazing intensity influences species composition on slopes and interdunes on native rangeland within the Hillside pasture (160 ha) at the UNL Gudmundsen Sandhill’s Laboratory (GSL). The second objective of this study was to evaluate forage quality of individual species from three plant functional groups (i.e. warm-season grasses, cool-season grasses, and forbs/shrubs) on native rangeland within the Hillside pasture (160 ha) at GSL. …

Greek Life In American Higher Education: Abolish Or Reform?, Richard Tian , '22

Senior Theses, Projects, and Awards

No abstract provided.

Second Amendment Realism, Michael Ulrich

Faculty Scholarship

In District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court declared a constitutionally protected individual right to keep and bear arms. Subsequently, the scope of the right has been hotly debated, resulting in circuit splits and lingering questions about what, exactly, the right entails. Despite these splits, the Court has denied certiorari to the myriad gun cases to land on its doorstep. But the balance of the Court has shifted, and likely, too, its willingness to hear these cases. Among the most pressing questions in Second Amendment jurisprudence is the constitutionality of public carry restrictions. With a constitutional challenge inevitable given …

Assessing Student Readiness To Work With People Who Use Drugs: Development Of A Multi-Disciplinary Addiction Educational Survey, Patrick C.M. Brown, Dana Button, Danika Bethune, Emily Kelly, Hannah R. Tierney, Rahee M. Nerurkar, Christina Nicolaidis, Rebecca Harrison, Ximena Levander

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: As health profession schools implement addiction curricula, they need survey instruments to evaluate the impact of the educational interventions. However, existing measures do not use current non-stigmatizing language and fail to capture core concepts.

Objective: To develop a brief measure of health profession student readiness to work with people who use drugs (PWUDs) and establish its content validity.

Methods: We conducted a literature review of existing instruments and desired clinical competencies related to providing care to PWUD and used results and expert feedback to create and revise a pool of 72 items. We conducted cognitive interviews …

Marine Robot Sample Retrieving System, Valeriya Chulyukina, Noah Villar, Kekoa Blair, Mandeep Singh, Nathan Burke

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

The exploration of our underwater ecosystems is critical. The aquatic ecosystem has a significant effect on human life, yet our understanding of the oceanic environment is severely lacking. Santa Clara University’s Robotic Systems Lab contributes to subsea exploration through its investment in remotely operated vehicle (ROV) technology. This project was done with the guidance of not only professors in the Robotics Systems Lab, but also stakeholders from the US Geological Survey scientists and researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). Our team goal was to further advance SCU’s efforts by creating a sediment sample collection system consisting of …

Marine Robot Sample Retrieving System, Valeriya Chulyukina, Noah Villar, Kekoa Blair, Mandeep Singh, Nathan Burke

Interdisciplinary Design Senior Theses

The exploration of our underwater ecosystems is critical. The aquatic ecosystem has a significant effect on human life, yet our understanding of the oceanic environment is severely lacking. Santa Clara University’s Robotic Systems Lab contributes to subsea exploration through its investment in remotely operated vehicle (ROV) technology. This project was done with the guidance of not only professors in the Robotics Systems Lab, but also stakeholders from the US Geological Survey scientists and researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). Our team goal was to further advance SCU’s efforts by creating a sediment sample collection system consisting of …

Culture Of Care And Prosocial Leadership: Autoethnography Of An Elementary School Principal Navigating Covid-19, Ashley Marie Davis

Dissertations and Theses

Since 2016, I have been serving as principal at Davis Elementary School, a Title 1 school in Portland, Oregon. This autoethnography is a reflective account of my role as a principal during Covid-19 school closures and reopening. School systems and school leaders had to become more adaptive to change and had to find ways to creatively deal with Covid-19 challenges. Utilizing the conceptual frameworks of (a) culture of care informed by the constructs of ethic of care, cultural wealth in critical race theory, and culturally responsive leadership; and (b) prosocial leadership, this autoethnography used self-reflection and thematic analysis to elucidate …

Recently Evolved Francisella-Like Endosymbiont Outcompetes An Ancient And Evolutionarily Associated Coxiella-Like Endosymbiont In The Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma Americanum) Linked To The Alpha-Gal Syndrome, Deepak Kumar, Surendra Raj Sharma, Abdulsalam Adegoke, Ashley Kennedy, Holly C. Tuten, Andrew Y. Li, Shahid Karim

Faculty Publications

Background: Ticks are hematophagous arthropods that transmit various bacterial, viral, and protozoan pathogens of public health significance. The lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum) is an aggressive human-biting tick that transmits bacterial and viral pathogens, and its bites are suspected of eliciting the alpha-gal syndrome, a newly emerged delayed hypersensitivity following consumption of red meat in the United States. While ongoing studies have attempted to investigate the contribution of different tick-inherent factors to the induction of alpha-gal syndrome, an otherwise understudied aspect is the contribution of the tick microbiome and specifically obligate endosymbionts to the establishment of the alpha-gal …

Caffeine Supplementation Strategies Among Endurance Athletes, Andreas Kreutzer, Austin J. Graybeal, Kamiah Moss, Robyn Braun-Trocchio, Meena Shah

Faculty Publications

Caffeine is widely accepted as an endurance-performance enhancing supplement. Most scientific research studies use doses of 3–6 mg/kg of caffeine 60 min prior to exercise based on pharmacokinetics. It is not well understood whether endurance athletes employ similar supplementation strategies in practice. The purpose of this study was to investigate caffeine supplementation protocols among endurance athletes. A survey conducted on Qualtrics returned responses regarding caffeine supplementation from 254 endurance athletes (f = 134, m =120; age = 39.4 ± 13.9 y; pro = 11, current collegiate athlete = 37, recreational = 206; running = 98, triathlon = 83, cycling = …

Donor Age And Body Weight Determine The Effects Of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation On Growth Performance, And Fecal Microbiota Development In Recipient Pigs, Xiaofan Wang, Tsungcheng Tsai, Xiaoyuan Wei, Feilong Deng, Ying Li, Charles V. Maxwell, Hua Yang, Yingping Xiao, Jiangchao Zhao

Animal Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background

The application of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) to improve swine growth performance has been sporadically studied. Most of these studies used a single microbiota source and thus the effect of donor characteristics on recipient pigs’ fecal microbiota development and growth performance is largely unknown.

Results

In this study, we collected feces from six donors with heavy (H) or light (L) body weight and different ages (d 42, nursery; d 96, growing; and d 170, finisher) to evaluate their effects on the growth performance and fecal microbiota development of recipient pigs. Generally, recipients that received two doses of FMT from …

Patient Access In Fourteen High-Income Countries To New Antibacterials Approved By The Fda, Ema, Pmda, Or Health Canada, 2010-2020, Kevin Outterson, Ebiowei S. F. Orubu, John Rex, Christine Årdal, Muhammad H. Zaman

Faculty Scholarship

In 2010, the Infectious Diseases Society of America called for 10 new antibiotics by 2020. This goal was achieved in terms of the number of drug approvals, but actual patient access requires commercial launches in many countries, which itself requires sustainable commercial markets. Prior work has described limited access to new antibacterials in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), in part due to the inability of many to afford these drugs. This study examines patient access for new antibacterials in the G7 and 7 other high-income countries in Europe, to better understand other barriers to patient access to effective antibacterial therapy.

Examining Discipleship Strategies In Christian And Missionary Alliance Churches, Osvaldo A. Alvarado

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

In this quantitative study, discipleship strategies of churches in the Christian and Missionary Alliance were surveyed, to determine if discipleship strategies were effective at fulfilling the mission of helping people connect with God and grow spiritually. Data were collected from 30 church attenders from Western Pennsylvania churches, 27 of which fully completed the research survey. The internal reliability level of participant responses was evaluated and considered excellent. Results showed that the study participant perceptions that they grew in their faith in Christ through the discipleship opportunities provided at their church was statistically significant with a very large magnitude of response …

Parental Involvement - Investigating The Roles, Barriers, And Strategies Of Effective Parent-Teacher Relationships In Middle School Math, Praise-El K. Pelemo

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The purpose of this single-instrument qualitative case study was to investigate the roles, barriers, and strategies for effective parent-teacher relationships in middle school mathematics. The focus of this study was the accounts of three parents of middle school mathematics students in independent schools and three middle school math teachers in independent schools on their perception of roles, barriers, and strategies that increase or reduce building effective partnerships. Audio recorded semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather details about participants' lived experiences. The goal of the research was to gain knowledge on current parent, teacher, and school practices on parental involvement and …

Differentiated Instruction In A General Children’S Ministry Curriculum: Evaluating Discipleship In An Inclusive Classrooom, Jennifer E. Pelissero

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the perception children’s pastors have in their ability to provide a comprehensive instructional program for children with special needs. The quantitative study utilized a survey research method to address three research questions. The survey instrument was distributed electronically to children’s pastors nationwide to identify instructional and environmental elements required to provide a comprehensive instructional program within the ministry setting for children with special needs. In an effort to further research why children with special needs do not regularly attend religious worship services, this research study focused on elements that create the greatest …

Comparing The Job Satisfaction Of Virtual School Educators To That Of Traditional Educators, Eric L. Sierra

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

Virtual education in the K-12 environment is a growing field in the education industry. Not only does virtual education provide new opportunities for students, it also changes how teachers work in the industry and how they perceive the job satisfaction. Using the Teacher Job Satisfaction Questionnaire (TJSQ), this study compares perceived job satisfaction of virtual educators to that of traditional educators in the K-12 environment. Data collected from 112 educators suggested that both virtual and traditional educators were satisfied with their jobs. When teachers in both environments were compared to one another, there was no statistically significant difference in their …

The Confidence Of High School Special Education (Sped) Teachers To Deliver Instruction In A 100% Virtual Learning Environment Due To Covid-19, Darius E. James

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic had substantially altered others' daily social interactions and the delivery of education globally. From preschool to universities, educational institutions worldwide temporarily closed their brick-and-mortar facilities to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The transition from in-person to virtual learning was very abrupt, and the transition forced teachers of all experience levels to adapt to a new normal of virtual instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the perceptions of high school special education teachers’ confidence to deliver virtual instruction to students within a school district that was …

Who Can Teach Us? An Exploration Of The Influences Of Pedagogy On The Disempowerment Of Indigenous Peoples Of Oaxaca, Mexico, Mariaelena G. Steiner

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

Persistent poverty coupled with inequality and marginalization continues to broaden the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous populations of Oaxaca, Mexico. Particularly in the field of education, Oaxaca exhibits an insufficient and inadequate pedagogical system. Federal, State, and NGOs educational interventions have been unreliable at best, demonstrating minimal outcomes predominantly in the degree and percentage of engagement that the indigenous of Oaxaca demonstrate at creating and implementing educational alternatives suitable to their local and state needs. The development of an ethnic pedagogical system—with all its propositions of community engagement for the purpose of progress—is critical to poverty exits as demonstrated by …

Esg Investing: From Fad To Force, Erin Cullen

Senior Theses

ESG Investing is the application of environmental, social, and governance factors to identify material investment risks and growth opportunities. Though traditionally viewed as non-financial factors, this paper asserts that ESG factors are indeed financially material. This work first surveys the current state of ESG Investing, its shortcomings, and its success despite these inherent issues. Section II adds a new perspective to ESG research by examining the applications of ESG scores in portfolio management. The study conducts t-tests to answer whether the typical holdings of an ESG mutual fund are more sustainable than those of traditional funds. The paper then focuses …

Seeking Reconciliation: An Examination Of Churches' Response To A History Of Lgb Discrimination, Alexandra Kauffman

Senior Theses

The Church’s response to LGB people has evolved quickly in the past century. Gay visibility and understandings of sexuality as it is known today only began to emerge in the mid- to-late 20th century. Within that time, responses to constantly evolving science and shifting understanding of LGB people invoked a variety of religious and political responses to the issue of legal protections of gay people. Theological interpretations of the Biblical passages surrounding same-sex relations have evolved as the church’s response to gay people has shifted from ex-gay therapy, to calls for celibacy or affirming gay marriage. The issues surrounding LGB …

Building A Future Microfinance Community In Kenya, Jack Spiehs

Senior Theses

The lack of access to financial tools has been a significant problem in many areas around the world for a long time. It prevents certain groups of people from being able to progress financially and improve their economic standing. This issue stems from an overall lack of resources and infrastructure in the area. Without the acquisition of new funds, there is no path to poverty alleviation in underdeveloped areas. Currently, the global response has been to try to provide these resources through various methods, including microfinance activities.

Microfinance institutions have been operating in Kenya for decades. They provide a variety …