A New Parallel Algorithm for Planarity Testing

Determining whether a graph is planar is both theoretically and practically interesting. Although several sequential algorithms have been introduced which accomplish planarity testing in O(V ) time for graphs with V vertices, very few of these have been parallelized. In a recent comparison of sequential planarity testing algorithms, the newest algorithms were found to be fastest; however, these are the ones which have not been parallelized. The goal of this thesis is to introduce a method for parallelizing one of the newest planarity testing algorithms

Defining Social and Ecological Interactions in West Hawai‘i Using Participatory Conceptual Ecosystem Modeling

M.S. University of Hawaii at Manoa 2016.Includes bibliographical references.Numerous threats compromise the West coast of Hawaiʻi Island’s capacity to deliver socially valuable ecosystem services. The problem’s complexity and region’s ecological and economic importance prompted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to initiate an Integrated Ecosystem Assessment (IEA), a program focused on conducting scientific research to support ecosystem-based management. Initial IEA phases characterize the ecosystem and identify monitoring indicators. Participatory workshops involving managers, scientists, and community members gathered place-based knowledge to develop conceptual ecosystem models (CEMs) guided by the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response framework. Generated CEMs represent ecosystem state components (corals, reef fishes, pelagic fishes, and water body), biophysical and anthropogenic threats, and ecosystem services, as well as the interactions between these attributes. CEMs identify the strongest perceived ecosystem pressures, and impacted ecosystem components and services. Identified indicators suggest key ecosystem attributes are not currently monitored. CEM development is an important phase of the IEA, informing future research and prioritizing management decisions

Who Is an ACE Member? Results From a 2005 ACE Member Survey

This study describes the demographics of the population of current, active, U.S.-based agricultural communications practitioner respondents in the Association for Communication Excellence in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences (ACE) in an effort to gain a better understanding of membership demographics. In fall 2004, the researchers mailed questionnaires to 510 ACE members. Returned questionnaires were accepted through January 2005 and processed in the following months. The overall response rate was 35.1% (n = 179). Analysis of demographic results showed that the majority of U.S. respondents were female (58.8%, n = 104) and Caucasian (95%, n = 168). More than 80% of the respondents worked for an agricultural institution of higher education. When asked to select the ACE special interest group (SIG) to which their job function was most closely related, most respondents selected the writing / media relations /marketing and publishing/graphic design/photography SIGs. When compared with data from other communications studies, the demographic profile of ACE members demonstrated by these survey results suggests that employment trends within ACE are similar to those seen in other communications fields in the United States. Understanding the demographics of a professional association like ACE might make it easier for members to participate in and help lead the organization

Nutrient stores predict task behaviors in diverse ant species

In eusocial species, including ants and honeybees, sterile or non-reproductive workers can specialize in task-specific behaviors, such as brood care and foraging for food. The mechanisms underlying task-specific behaviors include genetic, physiological and environmental factors. Here we compare corporeal nutrient storage in nine species that differ in primary food preferences (carbohydrate-, protein- or lipid-based diet) to test whether foraging behavior is associated with lower individual nutrient stores. We also investigate whether low nutrient stores are limited to foragers or occur in other external, morphologically distinct, worker sub-castes. In six out of eight species where both brood care workers and foragers were sampled, foragers had significantly lower nutrient stores relative to brood care workers; the exceptions were two Solenopsis species. Foragers from five of these six species had lower lipid levels, supporting the link between lipid content and foraging behaviors reported in previous studies. Interestingly, three species had lower levels of both lipid and carbohydrate stores in foragers relative to brood care workers, and foragers of one species, Formica fusca, had lower carbohydrate levels but not lipid levels, suggesting that the association between nutrient stores and foraging behavior is not universal across ant species or across all seasons. In all three species with morphologically distinct sub-castes, lipid levels were lowest in non-foraging, external workers, i.e., majors or soldiers, indicating an additional link between nutrient depletion and the allocation of external tasks other than foraging

The Voices of Minority Students in an Agricultural Communications and Journalism Program: A Case Study

In 1998, the National Association of State University and Land Grant Colleges addressed the “access challenge” for minority students, stating nothing less than open opportunity and commitment would embrace the land grant history. Researchers have documented barriers and strategies for the recruitment and retention of minority students in agricultural education. The experiences minority students have in college are unique, and effective recruitment and retention strategies should only be developed after in-depth, explorative conversations with the students; therefore, the purpose of this study was to begin the dialogue with minority students in agricultural communications. Nine students, eight female and one male were interviewed for this qualitative case study. This research was framed by the following questions: (1) Who are minority students within the predominantly White agricultural communications and journalism program at a southern university, (2) What are the experiences of minority students within the predominantly White agricultural communications and journalism program at a southern university, and (3) What are the perceptions of minority students of the predominantly white agricultural communications and journalism program at a southern university

Race, Gender, and Media Practices: A Critical Framing Analysis of the Media’s Coverage of USDA Worker Shirley Sherrod

On July 19, 2010, conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart posted a story on his website claiming USDA worker Shirley Sherrod was racist in her work with farmers. The edited video included with the story as proof, showed Sherrod speaking at an NAACP banquet. Sherrod was subsequently vilified in the media and fired from her job, only to be exonerated and rehired later that week. Although the media claims their routine writing and reporting practices (such as newsworthiness, source selection, objectivity, and perpetual news cycle) make the industry better, researchers have shown that these practices lead to the use of shortcuts and stereotypes. This is especially detrimental to Black women because of the double-dose of stereotyping they are subject to when they are portrayed in the media. The purpose of this study was to understand how media practices influenced the framing of race and gender in the media coverage of Sherrod. In order to integrate key elements of critical theory (i.e. activism, intersectionality, speaking position, subjectivity) I chose a mixed-methods approach for my framing analysis. This included open-ended reading of the news stories, constant comparative analysis of possible frames, quantitative coding sheet, analysis of statistics in SPSS, and inclusion of qualitative examples. I analyzed a total of 93 news articles from 12 news sources for this study. Most of the news stories came from newer, online publications (n=67, 72.0%) and over half came from new sources with a liberal philosophy (n=47, 50.5%). I found three frames that were used to describe Sherrod in terms of race and gender: victim, good woman, and above her place. I also found that these frames were closely aligned with news values that help determine a story’s newsworthiness. I found seven sources were used repetitively and selectively associated with the frames. I also found differences in frames by news source type and philosophy. Finally, I found that the frames followed an identifiable news cycle. The results of this study show that the media do indeed utilize negative stereotypes of Black women in their products and that media’s use of routine writing and reporting practices exacerbate this problem

Faience and glass beads from the late Bronze Age shipwreck at Uluburun

Beads are one of the earliest forms of ornamentation created by humans; prized during the Bronze Age for both their aesthetic as well as amuletic value, beads also served to signify the social status of the wearer. Beads functioned as an important trade commodity during the Late Bronze Age, as demonstrated by their abundance aboard the Uluburun shipwreck. This Late Bronze Age shipwreck, discovered off the Turkish coast at Uluburun in 1982, dates to approximately 1300 B.C. Thousands of beads of vitreous material were found on the shipwreck, including approximately 75,000 faience beads and 9,500 glass beads. Bead form and style represented in the faience and glass beads at Uluburun are relatively simple and are quite common at archaeological sites throughout the Late Bronze Age Levant. Faience beads found at Uluburun vary widely in form and comprise eight distinct categories. While the surface glaze remains in rare patches only, most faience beads exhibit a blue undertone. Other colors, while less common, include red, yellow, white and turquoise. The glass beads found at Uluburun may be loosely grouped into two categories, small and large. Many of the large glass beads exhibit yellow and white spot or crumb decoration, or a combination of both, and there is a distinctpossibility that all the large glass beads were decorated in this way, but surface deterioration masks the decoration. Many of the faience and glass bead categories represent items of cargo, as evidenced by a concreted lump of small glass beads transported inside a Canaanite jar. Other, less prolific, bead categories probably represent the personal belongings of the crew or passengers aboard the ship. Beads found in archaeological contexts are notoriously difficult to date due to their extended use throughout generations; for this reason, the Uluburun beads represent an important contribution to the archaeological record and bead studies in particular, for the mere fact that they may be dated by provenance alone to the late 14th century B.C

Teaching Elementary Children with Autism: Addressing Teacher Challenges and Preparation Needs

Teachers’ perception of self-efficacy may have a significant impact on their ability to accept the challenges inherent in including children with autism in their classrooms. The Nominal Group Technique (NGT) was used to identify perceived challenges and needs of 31 graduate students in a university course of which 14 of the 23 students were actively teaching in rural schools located in southeast Alabama. Five faculty members used the resulting NGT data to draft six recommendations for improving the teacher preparation program at Troy University

A Critical Dialectical Pluralistic Examination of the Lived Experience of Select Women Doctoral Students

The purpose of this study was to explore and to understand the daily life experiences of 8 women doctoral students who were in pursuit of their doctorates. A partially mixed concurrent dominant status design was utilized in this study embedded within a mixed methods phenomenological research lens and driven by a critical dialectical pluralistic philosophical stance. Specifically, these 8 students were interviewed individually to examine their lived experiences as doctoral students. The interview responses then were subjected to a sequential mixed analysis that was characterized by 2 qualitative analyses (i.e., constant comparison analysis, classical content analysis) and 1 quantitative analysis (i.e., correspondence analysis). The 2 qualitative analyses revealed the following 3 metathemes: adjustment (how these doctoral students made necessary accommodations with regard to all aspects of their lives), which comprised the themes of time management, interaction, belief, and lifestyle; encouragement (circumstances that motivated them to pursue their doctoral degrees), which comprised the themes of intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation; and discouragement (circumstances that demotivated them from pursuing their doctoral degrees), which comprised the themes of internal discouragement and external discouragement. The correspondence analysis revealed a fourth metatheme, namely, marital status (separating the single students from the married/divorced students), which comprised the themes of locus of motivation and locus of discouragement. Seven of these women doctoral students struggled to balance either dual roles (i.e., as doctoral students and wives/mothers, or as doctoral students and professionals) or triple roles (i.e., as doctoral students, wives/mothers, and professionals). Implications of the findings are discussed