Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Los Morteros: Early Monumentality And Environmental Change In The Lower Chao Valley, Northern Peruvian Coast, Ana Cecilia Mauricio Llonto

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This doctoral dissertation presents the results of archaeological and geoarchaeological studies carried out at the site of Los Morteros and the Archaeological Complex of Pampa de las Salinas, lower Chao Valley, North Coast of Peru, between September 2012 and July 2014. This research focuses on the study of the mound-shaped site of Los Morteros and the environmental contexts in which this site developed. Previous excavations at the site considered Los Morteros as a “stabilized dune” whose top was used as cemetery for pre-pottery people around cal. 5000 B.P (Cardenas 1995, 1999). However, geo-radar explorations of the mound in 2006 and …

Spatiotemporal Wireless Sensor Network Field Approximation With Multilayer Perceptron Artificial Neural Network Models, François Neville

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As sensors become increasingly compact and dependable in natural environments, spatially-distributed heterogeneous sensor network systems steadily become more pervasive. However, any environmental monitoring system must account for potential data loss due to a variety of natural and technological causes. Modeling a natural spatial region can be problematic due to spatial nonstationarities in environmental variables, and as particular regions may be subject to specific influences at different spatial scales. Relationships between processes within these regions are often ephemeral, so models designed to represent them cannot remain static. Integrating temporal factors into this model engenders further complexity.

This dissertation evaluates the use …

A Study On The Efficacy Of Sentiment Analysis In Author Attribution, Michael J. Schneider

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The field of authorship attribution seeks to characterize an author’s writing style well enough to determine whether he or she has written a text of interest. One subfield of authorship attribution, stylometry, seeks to find the necessary literary attributes to quantify an author’s writing style. The research presented here sought to determine the efficacy of sentiment analysis as a new stylometric feature, by comparing its performance in attributing authorship against the performance of traditional stylometric features. Experimentation, with a corpus of sci-fi texts, found sentiment analysis to have a much lower performance in assigning authorship than the traditional stylometric features.

Discovering Rock Features With Geophysical Exploration And Archaeological Testing At The Mississippian Pile Mound Site, Upper Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee, Jeremy G. Menzer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Pile Mound survey includes magnetometry paired with targeted ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and electromagnetic induction (EMI) surveys of the mound and testing of associated features over the ca. 6.5 ha site. The GPR survey discovered six rock features (five large rock features within the mound and one marking the outside of the mound). Knowledge of mounds in the Upper Cumberland Plateau (UCP) is lacking—the closest other studied sites are at the Corbin Site, Croley-Evans, Bell Site, and Beasley Mounds, approximately 75 – 100 km away. However, the most similar mound construction is found at Corbin and Cherokee sites, some 175 …

Using Kriging, Cokriging, And Gis To Visualize Fe And Mn In Groundwater, Crystal Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For aesthetic, economic, and health-related reasons, allowable concentrations of iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) found present in drinking water are 0.3 mg/L and 0.05 mg/L, respectively. Water samples taken from private drinking wells in the rural communities within Buncombe County, North Carolina contain amounts of these metals in concentrations higher than the suggested limits. This study focused on bedrock geology, elevation, saprolite thickness, and well depth to determine factors affecting Fe and Mn. Using ArcGIS 10.2, spatial trends in Fe and Mn concentrations ranges were visualized, and estimates of the metal concentrations were interpolated to unmonitored areas. Results from this …

Drivers Of Agricultural Land Use Change And Management Decisions In The Dakotas: The Influence Of Climate Change And Other Factors, Moses Luri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis conducts a general assessment of the: main drivers of land use change; recent and projected land use patterns; and the evolution of agriculture in the Dakotas. Specifically, it determines the main motives of land use change in the Dakotas by investigating individual and joint effects of external drivers of land use change on farm operators’ decisions and also examines recent and projected agricultural land use patterns in the Dakotas. Farm operators’ perceptions about the evolution of agriculture in the Dakotas based on observed changes in their local area were also analyzed. The study region consists of 37 counties …

Strategies For Enhanced Genetic Analysis Of Trace Dna From Touch Dna Evidence And Household Dust, Katherine Farash

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In forensic casework it is often necessary to obtain genetic profiles from crime scene samples that contain increasingly smaller amounts of genetic material, called Low Template DNA (LTDNA). Two examples of LTDNA sources are touch DNA evidence and dust bunnies. Touch DNA refers to DNA that is left behind through casual contact of a donor with an object or another person. Touch DNA can be used to prove a suspect was present at a crime scene. Dust bunnies, or dust conglomerates, typically contain trapped shed skin cells of anyone in the vicinity along with fibers, dirt, hair, and other trace …

Economic And Traffic Impacts Following The Installation Of New Bicycle Facilities: A Denver Case Study, Stephen Antonio Rijo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

America is currently experiencing a unique departure from the historical vehicle miles traveled (VMT) trend, often referred to as "peak travel." Decreasing VMT numbers suggest that the US is currently experiencing an unprecedented change in the way individuals utilize transportation systems. The following research calls on a need to understand the importance of improving alternative transportation infrastructure, namely cycling facilities, and how this impacts local businesses and their communities. This research informs the overarching question, "What are the economic and traffic impacts of cycling facilities?" A mixed methods analysis of retail sales tax, traffic count, and RTD transit access data …

When Wells Run Dry: Water And Tourism Along The Western Coast Of Nicaragua, Gary Thomas Lavanchy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation uses a political ecology approach to examine the relationship between tourism development and groundwater in southwest Nicaragua. Tourism in Nicaragua is a booming industry bolstered by ‘unspoiled’ natural beauty, low crime rates, and government incentives. This growth has led to increased infrastructure, revenue, and employment opportunities for many local communities along the Pacific coast. Not surprisingly, it has also brought concomitant issues of deeper poverty, widening gaps between rich and poor, and competition over natural resources. Adequate provisions of freshwater are necessary to sustain the production and reproduction of tourism; however, it remains uncertain if groundwater supplies can …

Quantitative Assessment Of The Effects Of Microbial Degradation Of A Simple Hydrocarbon Mixture, Jessica Kindell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ignitable liquids consist of either a single organic compound or a complex organic mixture. In regards to fire debris analysis, the analyst is responsible for determining if an ignitable liquid residue is present. However, when extracted from soil-containing fire debris evidence, chemical degradation from microorganisms is observed to result in the loss of compounds based on chemical structure. It can also happen when the evidence container is stored at room temperature before analysis. This can present a challenge to the fire debris analyst when identifying and classifying the ignitable liquid residue based on the criteria established by standard test methods. …

Providing Context To The Clues: Recovery And Reliability Of Location Data From Android Devices, Connie Bell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mobile device data continues to increase in significance in both civil and criminal investigations. Location data is often of particular interest. To date, research has established that the devices are location aware, incorporate a variety of resources to obtain location information, and cache the information in various ways. However, a review of the existing research suggests varying degrees of reliability of any such recovered location data. In an effort to clarify the issue, this project offers case studies of multiple Android mobile devices utilized in controlled conditions with known settings and applications in documented locations. The study uses data recovered …