This qualitative study investigated how urban adolescents' in Botswana personalized bedrooms to express identity and develop place attachment because identity development in adolescents is important. Participants living in Gaborone, capital city of Botswana, were purposively selected from local schools. There were ten (10) non-sharing urban adolescents aged 14-18 years. Data...
The extent to which thermoacoustic data determines the acoustic properties of an object was studied. In the case of one dimensional thermoacoustic imaging it was shown that constant acoustic profiles are uniquely specified from measurements. For a radial thermoacoustic problem we have shown that if the acoustic source is radial...
Like other species interactions in ecological systems, host-pathogen interactions are influenced by environmental factors, landscape characteristics and the broader community context. My thesis explores the potential influences of food-web interactions (Chapter 2), climate change (Chapter 3), landscape structure and host movement patterns (Chapter 4), and the combined influences of local...
This dissertation presents research that investigated the experiences and
perceptions of Christian therapists who work with conservative Christian women who
experienced intimate partner violence (IPV). Despite the widespread occurrence of IPV,
therapists continue to face challenges in areas of training and supervision in working with
this type of trauma. In...
Sagebrush steppe ecosystems in the Great Basin have become increasingly threatened by the proliferation of cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.), an invasive annual grass. Diverse sagebrush and perennial bunchgrass landscapes can be converted to homogenous cheatgrass grasslands mainly through the effects of fire. Although the consequences of this conversion are well...
Policy makers in the United States (US), following recommendations made by the international scientific community, have drafted national emissions reduction legislation in hopes of minimizing the harmful effects of global climate change. Included in this legislation is a national cap-and-trade system with provisions for carbon offsets. Specific provisions for forest...
Different specimen preparation methods such as moist tamping, dry funnel deposition, slurry deposition, dry air pluviation have been reported in the literature to investigate the undrained behavior of silty sands. Similarly, different means have been used to densify the soils prepared with such methods. However, the influence of the densification...
The 100 North Pacific rockfish species in the genus Sebastes are highly diverse. Rockfishes fertilize their eggs internally and release swimming larvae. Complex courting behaviors may allow female rockfish to be selective about their mates and may promote and maintain speciation. In this study, I applied genetic techniques to survey...
Recent advances in nanocrystalline materials production are expected to impact the development of next generation low-cost and/or high efficiency solar cells. For example, semiconductor nanocrystal inks are used to lower the fabrication cost of the absorber layers of the solar cells. In addition, some quantum confined nanocrystals display electron-hole pair...
Since the Industrial Revolution, automated systems have increasingly become a part of everyday life. Automated systems range in scale and scope from simple assists to complete robotic replacements. Inexpensive integrated circuits, sensors and microprocessors have allowed automated systems to become smaller, cheaper and more prevalent. Identifying appropriate opportunities for automation,...
This dissertation consists of three essays on meta-analysis, benefit transfer and recreation use valuation. The first two essays were based on the sportsfishing valuation literature in the US and Canada while the third essay was based on a study
site in the Philippines and selected study sites from the US....
Nearly 3000 juvenile Chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and coho (O. kisutch) salmon captured in nearshore waters off the coasts of Washington and Oregon from 1999-2004 were tested for infection by Renibacterium salmoninarum, Nanophyetus salmincola, and skin metacercariae. First, three quantitative PCR primer/probe sets were compared for detection of R. salmoninarum; amplification...
Transition metal oxides are an important class of materials for the wide variety optical, electrical, dielectric, magnetic, and thermal properties observed. Their unique structure-property relationships allow for property tuning and often provide insight into the fundamentals of chemistry. The work in this thesis was focused on the design, synthesis and...
Biological organisms, phenomena and strategies, herein referred to as biological systems, provide a rich set of analogies that can be used to inspire engineering innovation. Biologically-inspired, or biomimetic, designs are publicly viewed as creative and novel solutions to human problems. Moreover, some biomimetic designs have become so commonplace that it...
China has experienced rapid economic growth in the last twenty years, accompanied by large-scale land conversion, severe environmental degradation, and rising carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Designing policies for sustainable development requires a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between economic growth, land-use change, carbon sequestration and emissions in China. This dissertation...
It is essential to study the relationship between environmental features and human land-use activities that can provide a better understanding of human-environment interactions. In a response, this dissertation addresses the human-environment issues from different perspectives in three essays. The first essay conducts an integrated analysis to investigate the impacts of...
The purpose of this study is to examine the learning that occurs in Latina students
who enroll in learning communities designed for underprepared community college
students. The research question guiding this study is: What are the experiences of Latina
students enrolled in developmental learning community courses which have the greatest...
The purpose of this study was to describe the leadership development process
of former student leaders at Snow College. More specifically, the study focused on
understanding how, when, and where leadership development took place in their
"lived experience" within the student government at Snow College (Van Manen,
1998). Examining the...
High speed and high resolution analog-to-digital converter is a key building block for broadband wireless communications, high definition video applications, medical images and so on. By leveraging the down scaling of the latest CMOS technology and the noise shaping properties, delta-sigma (ΔΣ) ADCs are able to achieve wide-band operation and...
The primary goal of this study is to access the processes that alter primary melts after segregation from a mantle source and ultimately form petrologic Layers 2 and 3 of the Ocean Crust. Mineral, melt inclusion, and whole rock chemical compositions are utilized to further the understanding of 1) the...