Digital Commons Network^™

Technically Important: The Essential Role Of Technical Corrections And How Congress Can Revive Them, Mollie M. Wagoner

Minnesota Law Review Vols. 106:2 onward (2021-present)

Drafting mistakes are an inevitable part of legislation being written by human institutions. In the context of tax, the complex and nuanced field is rife with opportunities for unintended glitches and mistakes to find their way into legislation. What happens when these mistakes result in the law not properly reflecting the intent of the drafters? In recognition of this reality, specifically in the realm of tax, Congress uses technical corrections to bring the letter of the law into line with the original drafter’s intent post-enactment. Technical corrections are meant to be uncontroversial, bipartisan, and revenue neutral. They are not intended …

Motility Of Escherichia Coli Near Surfaces, Mikayla M. Greiner

Physics & Astronomy Honors Theses

Most bacteria, including the well-studied Escherichia coli, exist in two modes of life: individual cells swimming in bulk fluid, and cells that have aggregated on surfaces in relatively immotile communities. In bulk fluid, E. coli swims in relatively straight paths. However, as E. coli approaches a surface, hydrodynamic interactions between the bacterium and the surrounding fluid change, causing the bacterium to acquire circular trajectories. This near-surface swimming behavior provides a measure of what bacteria experience as they transition from free swimming to surface aggregation, which is an important step in early biofilm formation.

Here we examine the near-surface dynamics …

The Many Sides Of Social Capital: How Social Capital Is Related To Entrepreneurship?, Vivian M. Williams

Student Theses and Dissertations

This study explores two questions about the relationship between social capital and entrepreneurship that have not received much attention. The first is, how different dimensions of social capital relate to entrepreneurship? The second is, to what extent community social capital is related to the level of entrepreneurship among marginal and dominant members of a community? Social capital is the benefits derived from social connections. We know about the positive aspects of the relationship between social capital but it is also important to examine if there are negative effects. Further, community social capital, which is the aggregate level of social capital …

How Innovation Occurs In The Software Industry: A Qualitative Study On Innovation Management, Jihoon Rim

Student Theses and Dissertations

Research in innovation has been widely conducted by academics. However, many of them merely define associations among innovation factors, findings are often contradictory, and research that involves innovation leaders with rich experiences, both successes and failures, is rare. Thus, how to best innovate remains a question among practitioners. This qualitative research is aimed at filling this gap in the literature. To that end, 23 innovation leaders, most of whom founded software companies worth hundreds of millions to billions of dollars, were interviewed with a grounded theory approach using Peter Drucker’s innovation theory as a lens through which to view new …

Determinants Of The Uptake Of Prenatal Aneuploidy Screening Among Pregnant Women At The Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya, Duncan Ndegwa

Master of Medicine in Obstetrics and Gynecology

INTRODUCTION: Aneuploidies present with an abnormal copy number of chromosomes. Majority are lethal with only a handful carrying on to term and beyond in pregnancy. Its currently recommended that all pregnant women be offered screening for aneuploidies. This is to facilitate pregnant women make informed choices regarding their pregnancies. At present the current uptake rate of aneuploidy screening in Kenya is unknown. The purpose of this study this study was to determine whether pregnant women are aware of aneuploidy screening, the uptake rate of screening and the determinants of screening at a tertiary private healthcare facility in Nairobi, Kenya. METHODS: …

Association Between Third Trimester Cerebro-Placental Ratio And Adverse Outcomes In Appropriate For Gestational Age Foetuses, Morris Wabacha Kimani

Master of Medicine in Obstetrics and Gynecology

Background: Small for gestational age (SGA) fetuses are at increased risk of adverse outcomes and appropriate vigilance is put in place in terms of antenatal and intrapartum surveillance. Appropriate for gestational age (AGA) fetuses have a lower incidence of adverse outcomes, although majority of these outcomes occur in this cohort. AGA fetuses can fail to reach their genetic growth potential due to placental insufficiency and 25 % have actually been found to have placental histological features of chronic hypoxia. Therefore, there is need to use other methods of screening for adverse perinatal outcomes apart from estimated fetal weight (EFW), with …

Beast Feasts Nonprofit Business Plan, Nathan R. Grilley

Student Projects for Graduate Degrees

The Beast Feasts nonprofit organization will fill a gap in the local community for those with challenges, primarily feeding their pets. Doing this will help families stay together, as pets are a part of the family, without causing malnourishment and health problems that can cost far more than providing proper food. The business plan focuses on the Kenai Peninsula's central area in Alaska, including Soldotna, Kenai, Sterling, Nikiski, and Kasilof. Relevant details concerning research, including targeted population numbers, types and number of pets, and distance to travel each delivery day with pet food, were gathered to understand the capabilities required …

Notu Site (8br1641) Mapping And Historical Background, Jason Oliver

NOTU Site Reporting and Archiving

This document is a student report containing a historical account of the NOTU archaeological site (8BR1461) and details concerning 2022 mapping of the site.

Starch Grain Analysis At The Penny Site (8br158), Eva Fountain

Penny Site Reporting and Archiving

This document is a student report containing the results of starch grain analysis on residue from five pottery sherds at the Penny site (8BR158).

Determining Seasonality At The Penny Site, Allyson Shenkman

Penny Site Reporting and Archiving

This document is a student report presenting evidence for the hypothesis that the Penny Site (8BR158) was a seasonal hunter-gatherer site for the Ais Indigenous tribe who lived on Cape Canaveral.

Identifying Ceramics At Penny Site (8br158) And Its Impact On Dating Techniques, Kate Torres

Penny Site Reporting and Archiving

This document is a student report containing an examination of the relationship between ceramics found at the Penny site (8BR158) and archaeological dating.

Florida Archaeology: Why It's Important And Impending Effects Of The Climate Crisis, Sara Winklepleck

Penny Site Reporting and Archiving

This document is a student report discussing the importance of Florida archaeology through sites such as the Penny site (8BR158) in Cape Canaveral.

Connecting Process Performance And Microbial Community Dynamics During Anaerobic Wastewater Treatment To Improve Microbial Resource Management, Jessica Anne Deaver

All Dissertations

Anaerobic wastewater treatment technologies produce renewable energy and recover resources through microbial conversion of organics. Anaerobic digestion is commonly utilized for municipal wastewater sludge treatment, and co-digestion with other organic-rich substrates like fats, oils, and grease (FOG) can improve methane production. Methane can be captured for combined heat and power production. Microbial electrochemical cells (MXCs) convert organic waste to electrical current to produce electricity or other valuable chemicals. Both these technologies would benefit from understanding the microbial conversion processes more thoroughly. FOG co-digestion sometimes inhibits rather than bolsters methane production. MXCs have potential for blackwater (urine and feces) treatment in …

Material Significance In Identification Of Indigenous Occupation At Penny Site, Cape Canaveral, Florida, Kaley Haff

Penny Site Reporting and Archiving

This document is a student report containing details of the artifacts collected at the Penny site (8BR158) in the 2022 field season.

Preliminary Analysis Of Shell At The Penny Site (8br158), Mel Jordan

Penny Site Reporting and Archiving

This document is a student report containing a preliminary analysis of the kinds of shell remains found at the Penny site (8BR158).

Excavation And Paleoethnobotanical Methods At Site 8br158, Camryn Burgs

Penny Site Reporting and Archiving

This document is a student report containing details of excavation and paleoethnobotanical material retrieval and analysis at the Penny site (8BR158).

Exploring The Expansive Properties Of Interpretive Description: An Invitation To Anti-Oppressive Researchers, Mia Ocean, Rose Montgomery, Zoe Jamison, Karon Hicks, Sally Thorne

Social Work (Graduate) Faculty Publications

There is an ever-present need to challenge, create, and expand upon qualitative research approaches in the applied and practice disciplines to avoid repeating mistakes of the past and to realize a research agenda for socially just practice. Toward these goals, anti-oppressive researchers engage with a variety of methodologies to co-produce accounts that reflect a comprehensive understanding of social problems with the people who experience them and to enact solutions for real world change. In this article, we reflect on the manner in which Interpretive Description may be a useful option for anti-oppressive researchers to consider as a methodological approach in …

Multi-Scale And Multi-Approch Investigations Of Petrophysical Properties And Fluid Flow In Natural Rocks, Qiming Wang

Earth & Environmental Sciences Dissertations - Archive

Natural rock is one of the most important geological attributes on the Earth that have been widely related to human daily life in various aspects. Rocks are usually utilized with respect to their petrophysical properties and performance within the context of building & construction, petroleum recovery, carbon sequestration, geothermal energy utilization, nuclear waste storage and repositories, and contamination remediation. Contrary to the well-studied rocks such as sandstone and carbonate rocks, the fluid storage and migration in the tight rock (e.g., shale matrix) is more complex and still poorly understood. Due to the low porosity, extremely low permeability, complex mineral composition, …

Community Characteristics And Financial And Operational Performance Of Rural Health Clinics In The United States: A Chartbook, John Gale Ms, Zachariah Croll Mph, Jamar Croom Ms, Louisa Munk Mph, Yvonne Jonk Phd

Rural Health Clinics

This chartbook provides an overview of Rural Health Clinic (RHC) characteristics and issues using data from CMS’s Provider of Services file, Medicare Cost Reports, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s’ County Health Ranking and will be useful to policymakers and others interested in the performance of RHCs nationally. It can also be useful to RHC administrators to benchmark staffing patterns, productivity, and efficiency. Finally, it provides a discussion of the challenges related to collection and reporting of RHC quality data.

For more information, please contact John Gale, [email protected]

The Effects Of Disorder In Van Der Waals Materials, Jake Riffle

Doctoral Dissertations

Due to their two-dimensional structure and wide range of electronic behaviors, van derWaals materials have garnered a lot of attention for new technological applications. However, much is still unknown about the consequences that impurities and disorder have on the performance of many new van der Waals materials. In my research I use scanning tunneling microscopy(STM) and electronic transport techniques to study the different types of disorder in three common van der Waals materials: tantalum disulfide (TaS2), black phosphorus (BP), and two-dimensional graphene. In TaS2 I show a sample preparation dependence on the surface state of the bulk crystal and emphasize …

I. Incorporation Of Functionality At The Β-Position For The Zinc-Mediated Chain Extension Reaction Ii. Formal Synthesis Of Heliotridane And Pseudoheliotridane Through A Zinc-Mediated Chain Extension Approach, Nicholas Alexander Arnista

Doctoral Dissertations

The zinc-mediated chain extension reaction has been previously developed to incorporate alkyl or aryl substituents at the β position of the chain-extended product. The incorporation of heteroatom functionality at the β position of the chain-extended product was demonstrated through the use of a functionalized zinc carbenoid species. Silyl ether-functionalized geminal diiodides were used in the chain extension reaction with low to modest yields. Optimization of the chain extension reaction was performed by modification of solvent, reaction temperature, reaction time, and addition of diiodide. The chain extension reaction was performed on several different substrates, such as β-keto esters, β-keto amides, and …

Primary Cilia In The Pathogenic Mouse Brain & Eeg Waveform Analysis Of A Mouse Model Of Alzheimer's Disease, Ashley Diemand Sterpka

Doctoral Dissertations

In the last two decades, primary cilia have become recognized as tiny sensory organelles with considerable physiological function including regulation of cell division and modulation of transduction pathways. Scientists build on former discoveries, identifying new connections and accentuating the value of primary cilia in disease and intercellular signaling. Astrocytes, the most numerous cell type within the brain, act in support of neurons and maintain neurological health by providing neurotrophic factors and removing synaptic debris. These cells are particularly significant in reparations following neural injury and diseases, altering shape and function to protect healthy tissue. Astrocytes display primary cilia, yet little …

Climatic And Biotic Interactions In Terrestrial Systems During Ancient Warm Periods, Sarah Johnson Widlansky

Doctoral Dissertations

This work focuses on two terrestrial sedimentary records in the western United States that record the ancient greenhouse interval of the early Paleogene (~ 55 million years ago). The Paleogene, and past warm periods in general, offer a means of understanding potential biotic and environmental response to future warming scenarios. Part One of this dissertation establishes a new stable isotope climate record from the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming that is tied to an extensive fossil mammal assemblage (Chapter 1). This new stable isotope record captures carbon isotope excursions (CIEs) associated with the early Eocene hyperthermals ETM2, H2, and potentially I1 …

Heat Transport By Baroclinic Acoustic Streaming, Jacques Abdul Massih

Doctoral Dissertations

Acoustic streaming refers to time-averaged flows generated by time-periodic sound waves. In classic“Rayleigh streaming”, the mean flow is generated by the interaction of a standing acoustic wave with a solid boundary (e.g., a channel wall). Applications of acoustic streaming include inducing fluid mixing in microfluidic medical devices, improving the efficiency of chemical reactions, and enhancing heat transfer. Recently, Chini et al. [J. Fluid Mech., Vol. 744 (2014)] and Michel & Chini [J. Fluid Mech., Vol. 858 (2019)] demonstrated that strong acoustic streaming flows can be generated in gases subjected to an imposed cross-channel temperature gradient. In contrast with Rayleigh streaming, …

First-Generation Student Status As A Predictor Of Participation In Selected High-Impact Practices At The University Of New Hampshire, Paula Marie Dinardo

Doctoral Dissertations

Institutions of higher education are under increased scrutiny as graduation rates decline while student loan debt soars. One proposed strategy to improve completion rates is to give additional support to those students who are most at-risk of leaving college before graduating. Research has shown that first-generation students are more likely to leave college before attaining a degree than their non-first-generation counterparts.

Research has also suggested that engaging in two or more High-Impact Practices (or HIPs) during college can improve one’s academic achievement and persistence to graduation. HIPs are defined as educationally purposeful activities that require students to delve deeply into …

Penalized Regression Splines-Based Tests For Comparing Two Time Series With Unequal Lengths, Mirajul Islam

Doctoral Dissertations

The Spline-based modeling has been an established tool for parametric and nonparametricregression modeling because of its continuous progress on theoretical and computational fronts over the last three decades. This thesis explores the idea of penalized spline modeling and goodness of fit testing in the context of time series testing in the frequency domain approach. The comparison of different time series is an important topic in statistical data analysis and has various applications in scientific research. One approach to identifying similarities or dissimilarities between two stationary processes is to compare the spectral densities of both time series. This thesis examines whether …

Efficient Data-Driven Robust Policies For Reinforcement Learning, Bahram Behzadian

Doctoral Dissertations

Applying the reinforcement learning methodology to domains that involve risky decisions like medicine or robotics requires high confidence in the performance of a policy before its deployment. Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) have served as a well-established model in reinforcement learning (RL). An MDP model assumes that the exact transitional probabilities and rewards are available. However, in most cases, these parameters are unknown and are typically estimated from data, which are inherently prone to errors. Consequently, due to such statistical errors, the resulting computed policy's actual performance is often different from the designer's expectation. In this context, practitioners can either be …

N-Heterocyclic Carbene Functionalized Single-Chain Nanopartcles Aqueous Catalytic Platform, Xianggeng Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

Single-chain nanoparticles (SCNP) are a class of intramolecular cross-linked polymericnanoparticles with a variety of applications including catalysis, sensors, nanomedicine, and nanoreactors. Such nanoparticles are synthesized by folding or collapsing single polymer molecules. By implementing a single-chain folding technique, the single-chain nanoparticles with uniform degrees of cross-linking are synthesized by parent polymer chains with similar chain lengths and polymer microstructure. Polymer chains that are synthesized by various controlled polymerization techniques can be converted to SCNPs through a variety of covalent chemistry and supramolecular interactions. Based on the expected cross-linking chemistry, related functional groups can be installed either during monomer synthesis or …

Recombination Drives Genomic Divergence And Cooperation Across Bacterial Populations, Isaiah Paolo Atienza Lee

Doctoral Dissertations

Genetic recombination is a major driving evolutionary force across the Tree of Life, but it plays a special role in bacteria. In the absence of sexual reproduction, bacteria rely on horizontal transmission to recombine their genetic material. Horizontally transferred genes can spread rapidly across a population, greatly expanding the niches available to bacteria. We are only beginning to understand the degree to which recombination varies between and even within bacterial taxa. In the first part of this dissertation (Chapter 1 and Chapter 2), I investigate how patterns of recombination influence bacterial diversity. In Chapter 1, I studied the pan-genome of …

Sociocultural Dimensions Of Environmental Stewardship In New Hampshire: Implications For Adult Environmental Education, Ian Patrick Hanley

Doctoral Dissertations

The overarching aim of this dissertation is to expand evidence and theory of adult identity processes in the context of environmental stewardship, as well as to provide knowledge and recommendations to environmental stewardship and environmental education professionals. The intent is to better understand variation in how adult environmental stewards report on and value their own engagement with both sociocultural and natural systems. This line of inquiry stems from the fundamental claim that environmental stewardship activity is not singularly based on environmental content knowledge but is also related to forms of cultural and social engagement. By recognizing these dual aspects of …