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Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy was used in conjunction with cyclic voltammetry to probe the initial stages of the deposition and dissolution of calcium carbonate. Gold nanoparticles were synthesised and employed for their SERS activity so that the weak signal usually associated with calcium carbonate was enhanced to a degree whereby the very initial stages of both deposition and dissolution would be revealed. Reduction potentials were utilised along with electrolyte composition to encourage the deposition and control the phase or morphology of calcium carbonated produced, this was further explored using core-shell type gold nanoparticles with calcium carbonate shells. Novel multinucleated calcite particles were produced with numerous nanoparticle seeds contained within, the presence of which was attributed to the multinucleated nature of the particles, Au@calcium carbonate nanoparticles were also synthesised with various shell features. Gold coated platinum single crystals were produced and calcium carbonate was electrochemically deposited on the surface to probe this interface and ascertain whether epitaxial growth occurred and could be controlled for the purpose of better understanding this interface in the hope that it would better inform of the conditions governing core-shell particle synthesis. It was found that epitaxial growth of calcite occurred on the Au(111) and Au(110) but not the Au(100). Finally the reaction of carbon dioxide with caesium to form carbonate on gold single crystals was studied under ultra-high vacuum conditions. The aim being to improve the understanding of the fundamental properties of carbonates forming and interacting with the gold surface. The development of the carbonate was investigated with XPS and STM. At well annealed, ordered gold surfaces dissolution of Cs into the gold to form CsAu alloys was reversed on adsorption of carbon dioxide and caesium carbonate was formed. On roughened surfaces however, neither Cs dissolution nor carbonate formation was observed. This was attributed to the availability of high energy adsorption sites at the sputtered surface. Thermal decomposition of the carbonates occurred between 473 K and 673 K with the desorption of CO2 and the formation of Cs oxide.

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of high school principal, special education teacher, and key school personnel perceptions of the process that leads to disciplining students with disabilities. Case Study methodology was used to ascertain the perceptions of eleven participants employed at a Mid-Western high school, purposefully selected based on their experience with the research topic. Data were gathered through face-to-face interviews, field notes, and documents related to the discipline of students with disabilities. The findings indicated that (1) students with disabilities potentially have the capacity to harm themselves or others; (2) school personnel consider the student's disability before implementing discipline; (3) the participants followed the rules governing students with disabilities discipline delineated by federal, state, and local authorities; (4) the participants noted a willingness to see things from the perspective of the student with disabilities when considering discipline; and (5) the participants noted a willingness to use personal experience as a basis for introspection and examination when considering discipline. I concluded that (1) students with disabilities who harm themselves or others is a major concern for the participants; (2) the participants placed value upon considering the student's disability before implementing discipline; (3) school personnel followed the rules mandated for disciplining students with disabilities; and (4) school personnel appeared to see merit in employing the tenets of Symbolic Interaction Theory and Phenomenology Theory as I interpret them to aid them in understanding the process of disciplining students with disabilities. These conclusions led to the following recommendations (1) training on how school personnel might deal with students who harm themselves or others; (2) consider establishing an on-site compliance facilitator at other schools; (3) identification of a particular theory/plan to follow to systemize the processes of disciplining students with disabilities; and (4) future research within and outside state related to the discipline of students with disabilities. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The three teaching techniques used in three freshmen composition classes at a community college were lecture/discussion, semantic differential, and role playing. Teachers using the lecture/discussion approach presented information especially relevant to either the author, the work, or the milieu and followed the lecture with an open discussion. Teachers using the semantic differential approach established scales of opposite, or nearly opposite, concepts in regard to certain excerpts from the stories. The students recorded their responses to these excerpts by an appropriate mark on the scales. These responses were collected and analyzed, and a discussion was developed based on the results. Excerpts were also used as the basis for the role-playing technique. The goal was to have students identify with and project themselves into future behavior of characters, expressing the feelings and responses that may not have been given in the stories. The written responses to various excerpts were collected and analyzed. Conclusions indicated that the lecture/discussion method of teaching literature appeared to be more effective than the semantic differential one. The nonwritten responses were not affected by the various techniques. (Author/LL)

Oceanic climates, such as those found in Scotland and Norway, contain globally important ecosystems including heather (Calluna vulgaris) dominated heathlands and moorlands. These areas are commonly influenced by traditional managed burning that provides optimal patchy-mosaic habitat for red grouse (Lagopus lagopus scoticus), and improved forage quality for livestock and deer. Recently, there has been a growing trend to remove traditional management and grazing in favor of alternative land-uses. Simultaneously, an increase in the prevalence of wildfire has highlighted a need to better understand fuel structures and the current state of fire behavior prediction models for these areas. This thesis evaluates the outputs of several empirical and quasi-empirical prediction models against observations of fire behavior. From these, suggestions are made as to the efficacy of these models and their generalizability across oceanic heathlands and moorlands. Most notably, the Rothermel model predicts rates of spread similar to baseline empirical models and observed fire behavior. Further, landscape-scale fire behavior was predicted, using the software Farsite, for current and potential management patters across a range of fire weather conditions representative of oceanic climates. Findings suggest that management actions which produce the most heterogenous arrangements of fuels, including current management using rotational burning, lead to the lowest overall predictions for mean rates of spread and fireline intensity. Conversely, limited fuel reduction management, such as that found in early-successional forest restoration, leads to the highest overall predictions for mean rates of spread and fireline intensity.

System Engineering can help derive requirements and specifications to build virtual environments which are good to test behaviors and attitudes. Virtual simulations can have a strong impact because role-playing facilitates active learning, permits the acceptance of new concepts, and generates increased interest, enthusiasm, and motivation. Research over the last 50 years has shown that reasoning with and about context is an essential aspect of human cognition, permeating language, memory, and reasoning capabilities. This integral process is developed over a lifetime through experiential learning. In this research, we utilize systems engineering to capture guidelines from psychologist and concepts of technological leadership. These guidelines are converted in requirements and technical specifications (using SySML) of virtual simulation environments (built in OpenSim). Then, this virtual simulation environments are used to test subjects and see the potential changes in leadership skills. The research is a promising step in the test of attitudes and leadership in STEM environments.

Observing the efficacy of school-community partnerships has historically been a challenge for researchers. This study seeks to investigate a city-wide partnership between the community and local educational agency through the lens of the cross-sector collaboration theoretical framework. The three components of the theoretical framework which will guide this study are observing the antecedent conditions present in collaboration, the processual dimensions of collaborations and lastly making sense of the perceived public value created by collaboration. By utilizing a multi-case embedded case study design, this research seeks to analyze the bounded case of the CARDS partnership to determine the reasons for choosing a multi-organizational partnership model, to explain the perceived benefits and/or challenges of a multi-organizational partnership model and examining the ways that external stakeholders make sense of the public value of a multi-organizational partnership. Findings from my study indicate a clearly defined explanation for this initiative to operate within a multi-organizational partnership model. Data also reveal the benefits and challenges for organizations working within a multi-organizational partnership. Finally, organizations that are a part of the CARDS partnership communicate how they make sense of their participation in the CARDS partnership. Finally, my study will conclude with implications for policy, practice and future research.

My dissertation studies major transitions in labor, agriculture, and health in Brazil. In recent decades, Brazil moved from a relatively poor, highly unequal country to an increasingly prosperous and egalitarian middle-income country. These successes, combined with the breadth and detail of available data, offer the opportunity to discover new insights about process of development. In each of three chapters, I focus on different but related topics in the growing Brazilian economy: the adoption of mechanical harvesting in one of Brazil's major crops, measuring the effect of air pollution on health, and the transitions of workers exposed to technological change. I combine confidential, country-wide microdata with modern statistical methods to overcome identification challenges and to draw lessons from the experience of Brazil. My results emphasize that market forces can lead to technology adoption when government intervention does not, that remote sensing data is an inadequate substitute for ground-based pollution monitoring, and that local labor market conditions are primary determinants of workers' success in coping with technological displacement.

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of high school principal, special education teacher, and key school personnel perceptions of the process that leads to disciplining students with disabilities. Case Study methodology was used to ascertain the perceptions of eleven participants employed at a Mid-Western high school, purposefully selected based on their experience with the research topic. Data were gathered through face-to-face interviews, field notes, and documents related to the discipline of students with disabilities. The findings indicated that (1) students with disabilities potentially have the capacity to harm themselves or others; (2) school personnel consider the student's disability before implementing discipline; (3) the participants followed the rules governing students with disabilities discipline delineated by federal, state, and local authorities; (4) the participants noted a willingness to see things from the perspective of the student with disabilities when considering discipline; and (5) the participants noted a willingness to use personal experience as a basis for introspection and examination when considering discipline. I concluded that (1) students with disabilities who harm themselves or others is a major concern for the participants; (2) the participants placed value upon considering the student's disability before implementing discipline; (3) school personnel followed the rules mandated for disciplining students with disabilities; and (4) school personnel appeared to see merit in employing the tenets of Symbolic Interaction Theory and Phenomenology Theory as I interpret them to aid them in understanding the process of disciplining students with disabilities. These conclusions led to the following recommendations (1) training on how school personnel might deal with students who harm themselves or others; (2) consider establishing an on-site compliance facilitator at other schools; (3) identification of a particular theory/plan to follow to systemize the processes of disciplining students with disabilities; and (4) future research within and outside state related to the discipline of students with disabilities.

The purpose of this Delphi study was to identify strategic indicators for use at Assemblies of God colleges. Strategic indicators are metrics which synthesize data to report on the current condition and trajectory of an institution in terms of the institution’s ability to pursue its mission. While some indicators are useful to almost all types of institutions of higher education, other indicators reflect the unique mission and goals of the individual institution. These indicators can be used to monitor trends over time at the same institution, or to compare data among a group of peer institutions. Peer institutions compare their indicator data in order for academic leaders to see how their own institution is faring in relation to its peers. This study consisted of three Delphi rounds, using a panel of 40 academic leaders from five Assemblies of God colleges. The panel identified the spiritual formation of students as the most important aspect of the mission of Assemblies of God colleges. The integration of faith and learning was identified as the main contributor to spiritual formation. The panel selected a total of 28 strategic indicators, 14 of which were selected from among indicators that are typically used in higher education. The panel also selected 12 indicators that were suggested by panelists, as well as 2 indicators that were suggested by the researcher. The panel reported that the set of indicators they identified would provide a suitable framework for data sharing among Assemblies of God colleges. Adviser: Brent Cejda

In comparing the effectiveness of two treatments, suppose that nondecreasing repeated measurements of the same characteristic are scheduled to be taken over a common set of time points for each study subject. In this case, if there is a missing observation at a particualr time u, then the observations at times s and t, where s $

This study analyzes special education due process hearings in Oklahoma. The study included all hearings conducted prior to January 1, 1983. The written decisions for each hearing was reviewed to determine the issues, the characteristics of the participants, and the successful party. This data was quantified to allow the researcher to investigate intravariable and intervariable relationships.

https://archive.org/details/theworshipvalueo00davi

As one peers across the vistas of the past two types of holy men stand out with striking prominence and significance. The advance of religious thought and life has largely been due to the activities and contributions of these two, the priest and the prophet. It has been the purpose of this research to seek to discover the particular functions of each of these, to show their correlation in producing religious advance, and to make certain suggestions as to how the values each has to contribute to the program of the modern Christian church may be more adequately realized.

Ferns are the only major lineage of land plants with haploid (gametophyte) and diploid (sporophyte) stages that can grow separately from each other for extended periods. Gametophytes, as the sexual stage, are critical to fern evolution. However, the ecology of fern gametophytes is poorly known due to their small size and cryptic morphology. In this dissertation, I use the ferns of Moorea and Tahiti, French Polynesia to investigate the relative roles of sporophytes and gametophytes in community assembly and evolution. In Chapter 1, I use DNA sequences to identify field-collected gametophytes to species and compare community diversity between fern sporophytes and gametophytes on Moorea and Tahiti. I find that phylogenetic community diversity decreases with elevation in sporophytes, but not gametophytes. I observe several species with gametophytes that are distributed beyond the range of conspecific sporophytes, and at least one species that may lack sporophytes on the islands completely. My results suggest that the transition from gametophyte to sporophyte functions as a filter restricting phylogenetic diversity of fern communities. In Chapter 2, I use the filmy ferns (Hymenophyllaceae) of Moorea to investigate how changes in physiology between fern gametophytes and sporophytes are correlated with ecological niche. I find that the gametophytes of filmy ferns are not more stress-tolerant than sporophytes. Rather, they are adapted for microhabitats that are buffered relative to those of sporophytes. I suggest that the gametophytes of filmy ferns rely on asexual reproduction via gemmae to achieve dense population sizes over a wide range. In Chapter 3, I conduct a phylogenetic investigation of epiphytic traits in the ferns of Moorea. I find that epiphytes tend to have shorter stipes, smaller rhizomes, and gametophytes with non-cordate morphotypes relative to terrestrial species. I demonstrate that epiphytic communities are clustered phylogenetically and functionally relative to terrestrial communities, supporting a scenario of extreme environmental conditions in the forest canopy acting as a filter on epiphytic ferns. In Chapter 4, I describe a new hybrid fern species, Microsorum × tohieaense, from Moorea based on morphological and molecular phylogenetic analysis, and discuss the significance of my findings to the taxonomy of microsoroid ferns., Biology, Organismic and Evolutionary

The Andean mountain chains of South America are home to exceptionally high levels of biodiversity, including one-sixth of all plant species. Among them, the 550 species in the Neotropical bellflower clade (Campanulaceae: Lobelioideae) represent one of the single largest endemic radiations. In this dissertation, I perform a series of studies, ranging from alpha taxonomy to phylogenetic comparative biology, to understand this group’s evolution. In Chapter 1, I resolve phylogenetic relationships of the Neotropical bellflowers from five plastid DNA regions using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference. This phylogeny greatly improves the resolution within this group and highlights the need for taxonomic revisions. My results demonstrate that the majority of species of Centropogon, Burmeistera, and Siphocampylus together form a primarily mainland Neotropical clade, collectively termed the centropogonids. Within the centropogonids, I identify high support for the monophyly of Burmeistera and the polyphyly of Centropogon and mainland Siphocampylus. Caribbean Siphocampylus, however, group with other Caribbean lobelioid species. Ancestral character state reconstruction identifies a dynamic pattern of fruit evolution within the centropogonids, which underscores the difficulty of diagnosing broad taxonomic groups on the basis of fruit type. Finally, we identify that the centropogonids form a Pan-Andean radiation with broad habitat diversity, which sets the stage for a subsequent chapter in my thesis (Chapter 4). In Chapters 2 and 3, I describe four species of centropogonids as new to science. In Chapter 2, two species of Burmeistera from the Cordillera de Talamanca are described: B. serratifolia Lagom. & D. Santam., endemic to Panama, and B. monroi D. Santam. & Lagom., from both Panama and Costa Rica. These species are included in a dichotomous key to all Central American species of Burmeistera. In Chapter 3, I describe two species of Siphocampylus from the Central Andes of Peru and Bolivia: S. antonellii Lagom. & D. Santam., endemic to high elevation grasslands of Calca, Peru, and S. siberiensis Lagom. & D. Santam., endemic to cloud forests of Cochabamba, Bolivia. Both species are robust shrubs that produce tubular pink flowers that are likely pollinated by hummingbirds. In Chapter 4, I use the Neotropical bellflowers as a model system to understand the triggers of rapid diversification in the Andes. I explore the interaction of abiotic and biotic factors by applying a series of diversification models that incorporate orogeny, climate, and biological trait evolution to a time-calibrated phylogeny of the group. Here, I demonstrate that speciation rates rose with increasing Andean elevation, while extinction decreased during global cooling. Of these, climate appears to have played the more important role, which I attribute to preadaptation to cool climates. Biotic traits that facilitate plant-animal mutualisms, specifically fruit type and pollination syndrome, additionally enhanced diversification rates. These results suggest that, while the Andes acted as a species pump for this lineage, a synergistic interaction of abiotic and biotic factors underlies its rapid diversification, which culminated in one of the fastest plant radiations documented to date: the centropogonids. This study underscores the complex interplay of ecological and historical determinants in generating the world’s biodiversity. Finally, in Chapter 5, I use comparative methods to explore shifts between vertebrate pollination syndromes in the centropogonid clade. Such shifts, which are often associated with convergent floral phenotypes, are invoked as key factors underlying floral diversification in angiosperms. Using phylogenetic principal components analyses, I show that, despite morphological similarities between these pollination syndromes, centropogonid flowers adapted to pollination by bats and by hummingbirds fall into separate regions of morphospace. I further document the repeated evolution of pollination syndromes: the clade is ancestrally hummingbird pollinated, and bat pollination has evolved independently fourteen times, with nine reversions to hummingbird pollination. An obligate relationship with sicklebill hummingbirds, characterized by extremely curved bills, evolved only once. While the evolution of floral morphology has been dynamic in this clade, there is no difference in diversification rate in hummingbird and bat pollinated linages. These results suggest that specialized pollination syndromes are not evolutionary dead-ends. Instead, shifts between vertebrate pollinators may have greatly facilitated the maintenance of an ancestrally high diversification rate among centropogonid species., Biology, Organismic and Evolutionary

Rafflesiaceae produce the largest flowers among all flowering plants, measuring up to a meter in diameter and weighting 7 kg, and have been a source of amazement since their discovery about two centuries ago. In addition to producing the world's largest flowers, Rafflesiaceae are obligate holoparasites, residing inside their vine hosts vegetatively and emerging out only during flowering. Despite their record- breaking status and iconic significance for the conservation of the tropical rainforest, remarkably little is known about these fascinating plants, due to their remote habitat, rarity, and our inability to cultivate them. The goal of my dissertation is to provide an integrated picture of the vegetative and reproductive morphology of Rafflesiaceae.

The angiosperm order Malpighiales includes \(\sim 16,000\) species and constitutes up to 40% of the understory tree diversity in tropical rain forests. Despite remarkable progress in angiosperm phylogenetics during the last 20 years, relationships within Malpighiales have remained poorly resolved, possibly due to its rapid rise during the mid-Cretaceous. Using phylogenomic approaches, including analyses of 82 plastid genes from 58 species, we identified 12 new clades in Malpighiales and substantially increased resolution along the backbone (Chapter 1). This greatly improved phylogeny revealed a dynamic history of shifts in net species’ diversification rates across Malpighiales, with bursts of diversification noted in the Barbados cherries (Malpighiaceae), cocas (Erythroxylaceae), and passion flowers (Passifloraceae). We also found that commonly used a priori approaches for partitioning data in similar large-scale analyses, by gene or by codon position, performed poorly relative to the use of partitions identified a posteriori using a Bayesian mixture model. Another aspect of my thesis focused on investigating horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in Malpighiales. Recent studies have suggested that plant genomes have undergone potentially rampant HGT. Parasitic plants have provided the strongest evidence of HGT, which appears to be facilitated by the intimate physical association between the parasites and their hosts. Using phylogenomic approaches, we analyzed the nuclear transcriptome (Chapter 2) and mitochondrial genome (Chapter 3) of the holoparasite Rafflesiaceae, which represents an enigmatic subclade of Malpighiales. Our analyses show that several dozen actively transcribed nuclear genes, and as many as 34–47% of its mitochondrial gene sequences, show evidence of HGT depending on the species. Some of these HGTs appear to have maintained synteny with their donor and recipient lineages suggesting that vertically inherited genes have likely been displaced via homologous recombination, as is common in bacteria. Finally, our results establish for the first time that although the magnitude of HGT involving nuclear genes is appreciable in these parasitic plants, HGT involving mitochondrial genes is substantially higher. Moreover, the elevated rate of unidirectional host-to-parasite gene transfer raises the possibility that HGTs may provide a fitness benefit to Rafflesiaceae for maintaining these genes.