Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Effects Of High Density Septic Systems On Surface Water Quality In Gwinnett County, Georgia, John R. Anderson Ii

Geosciences Theses

Gwinnett County, Georgia experienced rapid growth in the 1970’s without the infrastructure so septic systems were installed for residential homes. The number of septic systems grew to over 85,000 with a density of 487 septic systems per square mile. This study mapped the distribution of septic systems to determine regions of potential pathogen surface water. This study addressed what potential health risks do high density septic systems have on surface water quality and how can the history of Gwinnett County assist in future development in the Metropolitan Atlanta area? It was found that the density of septic systems has reduced …

African Water: An Experience With Project Management In Bulima, Tanzania, Robert Sharp

Honors Theses

Details the author's experiences researching, designing, and implementing a water system for a boarding school in Africa.

When Curiosity Kills More Than The Cat: The Perils Of Unchecked Scientific Inquiry, Jamie Shannon

Pomona Senior Theses

This work analyzes the ecological, physical, emotional and health impacts of the US nuclear testing done in the Marshall Islands in the mid-20th century.

Human Decomposition Ecology At The University Of Tennessee Anthropology Research Facility, Franklin Edward Damann

Doctoral Dissertations

The University of Tennessee Anthropology Research Facility (ARF) is well known for its unique history as a site of human decomposition research in a natural environment. It has been integral to our understanding of the processes of human decomposition. Over the last 30 years 1,089 bodies have decomposed at this 1.28 acre facility, producing a density of 850 corpses per acre of land. This project evaluated the abiotic and biotic characteristics of the soil exposed to various levels of human decomposition in order to determine the effect on the physicochemical properties and the indigenous bacterial communities.

Specifically, 75 soil samples …

Like Mother Like Child: An Investigation Of Mother Characteristics And Child Temperaments, Tempus Fugitt

Statistics

Much research has gone into what biological and social factors raise the risk of children developing cognitive, social, or behavioral problems. This project looks at what characteristics of the mother are significantly associated with different temperaments in the child which may predict problems developed in the child later in life. These characteristics include mother’s age, her education level, household income, parenting attitudes, involvement with the child, and drug and alcohol use. Data was used from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study conducted by the Office of Population Research at Princeton University. Cumulative logistic regression was used to analyze the …

Design Standards Within Constructed Wetlands For The Reduction Of Mosquito Populations In Clark County, Nevada, Phillip C. Bondurant

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Wetlands are considered one of the most productive ecosystems in the world and provide many benefits to the environment. However, the slow moving and sometimes stagnant water created by the vegetation in the wetland creates an ideal environment for the proliferation of mosquitoes. Mosquitoes are the most important insect disease vector worldwide. The presence of mosquitoes within wetlands increases the risk of disease transmission among workers and visitors creating a public health concern. Effective design standards aimed at reducing mosquito breeding habitat should be implemented during the construction and planning phase of wetland development to effectively reduce the mosquito populations. …

Factors That Influence The Adoption Of Agricultural Conservation Programs In Northwest Arkansas, Edison Anthony Froelich

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A survey was developed and administered to agricultural producers in Northwest Arkansas in order to better understand producer awareness of, application for and participation in six federal and state conservation programs available in Arkansas: the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, the Arkansas Revolving Loan Program, the Arkansas Nonpoint Pollution Management Program , the Arkansas Soil Nutrient and Poultry Litter Application and Management Program, and the Surplus Poultry Litter Removal Incentives Cost Share Program. Survey results found that less than half of the sample was aware of any one of the programs. A logit model was developed …

Geophysical Study At Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park, Manchester, Tennessee, Stephen Jay Yerka

Masters Theses

The Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park covers over 800 acres within Manchester, Tennessee, and is owned and managed by the Tennessee Division of State Parks. The central archaeological site within the park boundary is The Old Stone Fort mounds that enclose about 50 acres on a plateau above the convergence of the Big Duck and the Little Duck Rivers. The hilltop enclosure dates to the Middle Woodland Period, and radiocarbon dates obtained at the site range from the first to the fifth century A. D. Because of its size and apparent complexity, previous investigations of the site have been …

Recommendations For The Chamlidere Petrified Forest Management Plan, Fatma Ertem

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Anything inherited from our ancestors or from nature can be considered as our heritage. Heritage can be classified as cultural and natural heritage. Turkey has been the cradle of many civilizations, religions, and ethnic groups because of the unprecedented natural heritage and critical geopolitical location of Anatolia. Given all the treasure of cultural and natural heritage in Turkey, heritage management practices have not been emphasized as they deserve. A petrified forest was found in Chamlidere, Ankara (Turkey) in 2004. Chamlidere petrified forest preserves information related to the biodiversity of forests in the Galatian Volcanic Province during the Early-Middle Miocene. When …

Xpath-Based Template Language For Describing The Placement Of Metadata Within A Document, Vijay Kumar Musham

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

In the recent years, there has been a tremendous growth in Internet and online resources that had previously been restricted to paper archives. OCR (Optical Character Recognition) tools can be used for digitalizing an existing corpus and making it available online. A number of federal agencies, universities, laboratories, and companies are placing their collections online and making them searchable via metadata fields such as author, title, and publishing organization. Manually creating metadata for a large collection is an extremely time-consuming task, and is difficult to automate, particularly for collections consisting of documents with diverse layout and structure. The Extract project …

Who Wins And Who Loses? A Community Approach To Understanding The Well-Being Of Boomtown Residents, Douglas Alan Malloy

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this thesis is to accurately identify residents of a boomtown who are either experiencing a higher level of well-being, or lower level of well-being. By definition, we consider the former to be winning, and the latter to be losing. Multivariate ordinary least squares regression analyses help to distinguish between winners and losers by generating statistical coefficients which will show both strength and direction of the relationship between individuals and various indicators of social well-being.

The data used in this thesis are from a community impact study issued in the spring of 2009, to residents of …

Assessing Linkages Among Landscape Characteristics, Stream Habitat, And Macroinvertebrate Communities In The Idaho Batholith Ecoregion, Andrew C. Hill

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Understanding the composition of lotic communities and the landscape processes and habitat characteristics that shape them is one of the main challenges confronting stream ecologists. In order to better understand the linkages among landscape processes, stream habitat, and biological communities and to understand how accurately our measurements represent important factors influencing biological communities, it is important to test explicit hypotheses regarding these linkages. Increasing our understanding of aquatic communities in a hierarchical context and recognizing how well our measurements represent factors structuring aquatic communities will help managers better evaluate the influence of land management practices on aquatic ecosystems, direct conservation …

Residential Landscape Water Check Programs: Exploring A Conservation Tool, Diana T. Glenn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In response to drought and regional growth in the arid western United States, urban water demand management is increasingly important. Single family residences use approximately 60% of their water consumption to irrigate landscapes often in excess of plant water requirements. This study utilized a quasi-experimental design to investigate outdoor water consumption and assess the effectiveness of a landscape water check conservation program. Study objectives included describing a contextualized landscape system to reveal variables influencing water use, identifying better ways to evaluate landscape water use, and more effectively targeting and delivering water conservation programs.

The study was conducted during the 2004 …

Spatial Epidemiology Of Birth Defects In The United States And The State Of Utah Using Geographic Information Systems And Spatial Statistics, Samson Y. Gebreab

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Oral clefts are the most common form of birth defects in the United States (US) and the State of Utah has among the highest prevalence of oral clefts in the nation. The overall objective of this dissertation was to examine the spatial distribution of oral clefts and their linkage with a broad range of demographic, behavioral, social, economic, and environmental risk factors through the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial statistics. Using innovative linked micromaps plots, we investigated the geographic patterns of oral clefts occurrence from 1998 to 2002 and their relationships with maternal smoking rates and proportion …

Dynamic Indexing, Viswada Sripathi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In this thesis, we report on index constructions for large document collections to facilitate the task of search and retrieval. We first report on classical static index construction methods and their shortcomings. We then report on dynamic index construction techniques and their effectiveness.

Effects Of Acculturation On Hiv/Aids Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Asian And Pacific Islander (Api) Women, Margaret Cabotage Salud

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Background. In the US women are the fastest growing group for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV and AIDS. In addition, the estimated AIDS cases among female adults and adolescents, aged 13-19, increased from 7% in 1985 to approximately 26% in 2002. Most infections occur by heterosexual transmission with 53% occurring through contact with a high-risk sexual partner. While overall HIV/AIDS rates in the Asian Pacific Islander (API) community remain low, they are rising and HIV testing rates, one of the major prevention strategies for HIV, are lower than that of other populations. Furthermore, very little is known about APIs …

Psychological Profiles In A Female Bariatric Surgery Sample, Aimee L. Donato

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Morbid obesity is an epidemic. Current literature suggests that people with morbid obesity tend to show increased levels of psychological dysfunction. This is especially pertinent to the clinicians who work with morbidly obese patients who seek bariatric surgery as the method for weight control. Surgery should be performed on patients who are psychologically ready to adjust to the stringent post-operative lifestyle.

The purpose of the present study was (1) to compare two groups of bariatric patients (a White group and a non-White group) on pre-surgery measures: specific scales on the Millon Behavioral Medicine Diagnostic (MBMD), the Beck Depression Inventory II …

Veterans Of The 1st Persian Gulf War: A Study Of Medically Unexplained Symptom Models, Alexis H. Collins

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

In 1990-1991, shortly after the Persian Gulf War, a number of veterans began complaining about a wide range of symptoms, the most common of which were; fatigue, headache, sleep disturbance, low mood, and memory loss. These symptoms were similar to those experienced by individuals with Medically Unexplained Illnesses such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, and Somatoform Disorders. Utilizing structural equation modeling and data gathered from the Gulf War Veterans Health Questionnaire, this study attempted to determine whether symptoms experienced by veterans were best explained as individual items, discrete illnesses, or as a conglomeration of …

Comparison Of Non-Surgical And Surgical Endodontic Retreatment: A Systematic Review, Robert Corr

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Primary root canal therapy has been shown to be a predictable procedure with a high degree of success ^1-4, however failures can occur after treatment. Treatment options for the preservation of teeth that have had previous endodontic treatment but demonstrate persistent disease include non-surgical (orthograde) or surgical (retrograde) endodontic retreatment, assuming the tooth is restorable, periodontally sound, and the patient desires to retain the tooth. The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the current available evidence to compare the clinical and radiographic outcomes of nonsurgical with those of surgical endodontic retreatment. Methodology began with …

The Use Of The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Ii (Mmpi-2) In Pre-Employment Evaluations, Ana M. Gamez

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Psychological testing is an important facet in the selection and hiring processes of law enforcement and public safety personnel. Research in this area suggests that the MMPI-2 scales have been correlated with problematic behavior among police officers, poor job performance, and officer misconduct. This study examined the extent to which suitability for hire could be predicted by the MMPI-2 scale L (Lie), scale K (correction), Infrequency scale (F), scale 4 Psychopathic Deviate (Pd), scale 6 Paranoia (Pa), scale 7 Psychasthenia (Pt), and scale 9 Hypomania (Ma). It examined whether profile differences emerged as a function of suitability across gender, between …

K-Ar Age Values Of Bulk Soil Samples And Clay Fractions: Effects Of Acid Extraction And Implications For The Origin Of Micaceous Clay In Savannah River Site Soils, South Carolina, Usa, Thomas E. Naumann

Geosciences Theses

Understanding how natural Cs, Rb, and K have been redistributed in Savannah River Site (SRS) soils during pedogenesis is important to understanding how radiocesium released to the soils will behave over the long term. In this effort, it is important to distinguish K that has participated in mineral-water reactions from that still residing in primary silicate structures, particularly in the clay fraction. The impact of different degrees of acid extraction on K and radiogenic Ar in bulk soil and in clay from five SRS soil samples has been determined. Strong treatment (50% HNO3, three hours, 100°C) releases K from primary …

Consumer Willingness To Pay For E85, Denise A. Skahan

Masters Theses

Concerns regarding energy security, resource sustainability, and environmental protection have heightened interests in renewable fuels and sparked the research and development of ethanol as a transportation fuel. This study examines consumers’ willingness to pay for ethanol from various potential feedstocks; corn, switchgrass and wood wastes. Data was collected via a survey of fuel consumers across the United States in 2009. Results show that consumers have a preference for E85 (a fuel blend with 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline) from corn, switchgrass and wood wastes compared to E0 (gasoline) and a preference for E85 from switchgrass and wood wastes, …

A Vegetation History From Emerald Pond, Great Abaco Island, The Bahamas, Based On Pollen Analysis, Ian Arthur Slayton

Masters Theses

Emerald Pond (26° 32' 12" N, 77° 06' 32" W) is a vertical-walled solution hole in the pine rocklands of Great Abaco Island, The Bahamas. In 2006, Sally Horn, Ken Orvis, and students recovered an 8.7 m-long sediment core from the center of the pond using a Colinvaux-Vohnout locking piston corer. AMS radiocarbon dates on macrofossils are in stratigraphic order and indicate that the sequence extends to ca. 8400 cal yr BP. Basal deposits consist of aeolian sands topped by a soil and then pond sediment, suggesting that the site began as a sheltered, dry hole during a Late Pleistocene …

The Relationship Between The Level Of Support Group Participation And Psychosocial Factors In Prostate Cancer Patients Treated With Proton Therapy, Carol A. L. Davis

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Background. The role of support groups for cancer patients is known to be beneficial in helping people adjust to the disease, and cope with the myriad of effects that cancer has on quality of life. Although many people express interest in attending such support groups, few attend regularly. It is unclear what characteristics distinguish those who use such services from those who do not, especially among proton therapy patients.

Objective. To examine demographic and psychosocial characteristics associated with the Brotherhood of the Balloon (BOB) prostate cancer support group membership, a unique treatment-focused group originating at Loma Linda University Medical Center …

Cloud Storage And Online Bin Packing, Swathi Venigella

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Cloud storage is the service provided by some corporations (such as Mozy and Carbonite) to store and backup computer files. We study the problem of allocating memory of servers in a data center based on online requests for storage. Over-the-net data backup has become increasingly easy and cheap due to cloud storage. Given an online sequence of storage requests and a cost associated with serving the request by allocating space on a certain server one seeks to select the minimum number of servers as to minimize total cost. We use two different algorithms and propose a third algorithm; we show …

The Role Of Rater Motivation In Personnel Selection Validation Studies, Dan Ispas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Personnel selection validation studies are routinely conducted in contemporary organizations for selecting and placing employees. Although numerous studies have been conducted with the goal of identifying new predictors, less research was focused on the criterion side. In the current paper, across three studies and five samples, I examined the role played by rater motivation in validation studies. I proposed that rater motivation would impact criterion-related validity of various predictors, the reliability, and the variance of performance ratings. In Study 1, these hypotheses were tested in two samples with varied operationalizations of predictors and of rater motivation. In Study 2, I …

Perception Of Ecological Risk To Water Environments And How It Affects Water Consumption And Water Resource Management In Southern Nevada, Tanju Kiriscioglu

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Climate is harsh in southern Nevada where there is (and has been) a drought alert in effect for over a decade now (Kerr, 2007; Southern Nevada Water Authority, 2009). Las Vegas Valley is a major center of population in the region (1.9 million people), receiving only 4.5 inches of average annual precipitation yet in need of securing more water resources in the near future (SNWA, 2009). Water resource management in southern Nevada is a challenge, especially when 90% of the area’s water needs are met by a single source, the Colorado River, the flow rates of which have been in …

Fire: Ecology & Prevention, Justin R. Frey

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Variations In Vulnerability To Climate Change In Southeast Asia, Kelsey Margaret Allard

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Sustainable Agriculture: A Time For Education, Kortnie Millhouse

Agricultural Education and Communication

This study used a fifteen-question survey to identify the articulation between education of water quality practices and the willingness to implement sustainable water quality techniques on farmland according to twenty-five agricultural operations residing on the Central Coast. Questions one through eight asked respondents to indicate their agreement or disagreement with various water quality assessment tools. Questions nine through twelve asked respondents to personally rate their operation’s level of water quality management on a scale from one to ten. Questions thirteen through fifteen were open-ended questions to generate responses about demographics. Consensus was reached that the higher the level of education …