Marshall University Music Department Presents a Senior Recital, Matthew Pritt, composition

https://mds.marshall.edu/music_perf/1503/thumbnail.jp

Improving Seeding and Mulching Specifications In West Virginia and Creating a Materials Estimate Tool

Vegetation is established following construction through various seeding and mulching practices. Environmental permits in West Virginia require a minimum of 70% of ground cover by area for release of a construction site. The West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH), like many other states, has specifications for temporary and permanent seeding and mulching practices. This research critically evaluated the best management practices (BMPs) utilized in the WVDOH specifications, developed recommended revisions to the specifications, and created supplemental materials for future application.;Recommended revisions to the WVDOH include: topsoil, improved soil tests, rolled erosion control products (RECPs), biological growth stimulants (BGSs), hydraulic growth mediums (HGMs), and different types of hydraulic erosion control products (HECPs). Topsoil contains many important properties for the establishment and longevity of vegetation, such as organic matter, water, minerals, and microorganisms. BGSs are a source for organic matter and other important nutrients for vegetation. HGMs are products that can be used as a direct topsoil replacement in areas topsoil may not be available. Soil testing determines the amount of soil amendments to add to the soil for optimal vegetation results, such as limestone, fertilizer, and organic matter. Mulching procedures, such as HECPs and RECPs, were added based on their effectiveness in erosion prevention during seed germination and long term vegetation establishment. The most effective methods in each of the BMPs were added to a revised version of the WVDOH specifications.;A materials estimate tool was created to assist in the application of the revised specifications. The tool takes information about a construction area to determine the most cost effective method of seeding and mulching. The tool compares different methods within the revised specifications to guide a user to choose the most efficient practices for a site. The tool creates a custom output to allow a user to create a detailed cost analysis of applying the seeding and mulching BMPs within the revised specifications to a construction site. Three case studies were developed with this research to show the applicability of the tool. The results of the case studies show the price comparisons of applying seeding and mulching to each site

El trabajo y el boxeo: elegir su destino frente a la desigualdad

Florence Jaugey’s La Yuma was the first feature-length Nicaraguan film in twenty years when it was released in 2009 (Adams 172). Not only does the film constitute an effort by the director to establish the Nicaraguan film genre, but it also narrates a realistic vision of Nicaraguan society (Murillo 235). In this way, La Yuma can be considered both the dawn of the Nicaraguan film genre and an indictment of the actual social asymmetries present within the country’s capital, Managua. The film exposes the audience to the challenges that the protagonist, Yuma, faces due to the complex intersections between various forms of social exclusion caused by gender and class discrimination. In the film, Yuma utilizes work and boxing as two forms of resistance to these social asymmetries. For Yuma, work is a way to abandon a life of crime that social inequality often perpetuates against the lower classes of society. Boxing constitutes both a temporary freedom from her conditions within society and a way to resist gender discrimination. At the end of the film, Yuma obtains freedom from these social asymmetries by uniting her two methods of resistance into a position as a boxer in the circus. Although the journey may be difficult, Yuma’s story reflects the human capacity to fight against inequality and adversity through willpower. Therefore, La Yuma symbolizes hope for the citizens of Managua that face the difficulties that are represented in the film

At the Moscow trial.

https://stars.library.ucf.edu/prism/1055/thumbnail.jp

The transformative impacts of international study on Omani nationals: a phenomenological investigation

This study aimed to identify and understand the long-term impacts on study abroad participants' concept of self-identity and to also examine transformative learning experiences in an international setting. Using a qualitative research design guided by a phenomenological approach and underpinned in Mezirow's (1991) theory of transformative learning, the researcher collected data from 16 Omani citizens who studied in the United States and now live and work in Oman. Findings suggest that participants of study abroad persistently reflect on the experience for the rest of their lives and prefer diverse connections, personally and professionally. Further findings suggest that their concept of self-identity now straddles both their nationality and an American sensibility fused together in their lived experience. These experiences bolster meaning-making for participants through such activities as advocating, either actively or passively, for study abroad to others in their spheres of influence.Includes bibliographical references

A Study of Grade Distributions and Withdrawal for Selected Courses at a Community College in Northeast Tennessee.

In addition to the ever-changing demands of the workforce and student demands, the community college must address how performance and withdrawal are affected by traditional classroom instructional delivery and the inclusion of alternate instructional delivery settings such as internet-based approaches in courses. This quantitative study was conducted to provide evidence-based research to a community college in Northeast Tennessee. Specifically, this research study focused on an important aspect of instructional course delivery methods: What are the relationships between traditional classroom and internet-based course instructional delivery methods in relation to withdrawal and grade-distribution patterns for specified courses (English 1010, Math 1710, Biology 2010, and Business CSCI 1100) at a community college in Northeast Tennessee? Course instructional delivery practice is expensive, regardless of the course delivery method. The community college officials wish to best use their resources and instructional delivery practices. Student withdrawals have a significant effect on the fiscal stability of an institution of higher education. Reducing the number of students who withdraw from a course is instrumental to positive financial health and educational program practices. In this quantitative study, data were gathered through a method of secondary analysis by a community college in Northeast Tennessee and distributed to the researcher for compilation and statistical analysis. Independent samples t tests were used to evaluate whether the mean grade point average and percentage of students withdrawing in English 1010, Math 1710, Biology 2010, and Business CSCI 1100 differed between traditional classroom course sections and internet-based course sections taught in the same academic period. Findings from this study indicated that instructional delivery method does not significantly influence mean grade point averages, and students tend to perform consistently regardless of the instructional delivery setting; however, percentage of student withdrawals vary between instructional delivery methods with the analysis of Biology 2010 finding that traditional classroom course sections had higher withdrawals than did the internet-based course sections

Medical parasitology taxonomy update, January 2018 to May 2020

The taxonomy of parasites of medical and public health importance is rapidly evolving. This minireview provides an update of taxonomic revisions and additions in the field of medical parasitology from January 2018 to May 2020. Several established human parasites have been reassigned to different genera over the past 2 years, while a number of novel parasites of humans have been identified. A comprehensive summary of these changes is provided here, and Taenia suihominis is proposed as a replacement name for Taenia asiaticus Eom et al., which is a homonym of Taenia asiatica von Linstow. © 2021 American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved. Erratum: Medical parasitology taxonomy update, January 2018 to May 2020 (Journal of Clinical Microbiology (2021) 59:2 (e01308-20) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.01308-2

Detecting the Presence of Vehicles and Equipment in SAR Imagery Using Image Texture Features

In this work, we present a methodology for monitoring man-made, construction-like activities in low-resolution SAR imagery. Our source of data is the European Space Agency Sentinel-l satellite which provides global coverage at a 12-day revisit rate. Despite limitations in resolution, our methodology enables us to monitor activity levels (i.e. presence of vehicles, equipment) of a pre-defined location by analyzing the texture of detected SAR imagery. Using an exploratory dataset, we trained a support vector machine (SVM), a random binary forest, and a fully-connected neural network for classification. We use Haralick texture features in the VV and VH polarization channels as the input features to our classifiers. Each classifier showed promising results in being able to distinguish between two possible types of construction-site activity levels. This paper documents a case study that is centered around monitoring the construction process for oil and gas fracking wells.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, 2019 IEEE Applied Imagery Pattern Recognition Workshop (AIPR