Professional development is a lifelong learning process and technology has provided and will continue to provide new and different delivery methods. Regardless of the delivery method, the intention of professional development is to increase teacher knowledge, which in turn, increases student achievement. At a southeastern community college, meaningful professional development and technology training became a service requested by faculty and staff. The college identified the need to provide in-service training that could fit within their employees’ schedules and incorporate the college’s existing infrastructure. This need grew into the creation of virtual training sessions hosted by the eLearning department of the college. The virtual training sessions were conducted initially as a synchronous live web conference and recorded for later use as an asynchronous recorded webcast. Specifically, 7 research questions were developed determine if live web conference or recorded webcast training sessions were an effective delivery method of training, if the sessions were having an impact on professional learning, and if there were factors that were affecting participation in the sessions. The primary mode of data collection was though a survey instrument designed by the researcher. Results of the statistical analysis showed that faculty are participating in the sessions beyond minimum requirements, with the highest participation in recorded webcasts. The training program studied was very effective as indicated by high session attendance, high levels of information usage and moderate to high ability of participants being able to utilize the information gained from the sessions. Participants valued the elements of the live sessions including interaction and the ability to clarify information without delay. Several barriers raised for attending the live sessions included the following: lack of time, presentation speed, and lack of topic detail. Participants indicated the appreciated elements of a recorded webcast included the following: convenience, ease of use, and flexibility. Participants did not raise many barriers for attendance in recorded webcasts, although lack of time and repetitive topics were mentioned. The valued characteristics of both live web conference and recorded webcast mirrored the valued elements of the both individual delivery methods. The study concludes with implications and recommendations for further research.

Increased focus on sustainability and climate change has made reduction in CO2 emissions a priority across all industries. The construction equipment (CE) industry sees alternate powertrain technologies like battery electric and hydrogen fuel-cells as the solution to the climate problem and has therefore started investing in this domain. However, with their niche application, the demand on construction equipment is unique and this indicates that it is important to understand the customer preferences when introducing new technologies in this market. This presents the research question answered in thisthesis - do customers prefer non-fossil based alternate powertrain in construction equipment?. In order to answer this question, extensive literature review is carried out and parallelsare drawn with passenger vehicle and commercial truck industry. Based on previous workin this area, the first step is to calculate the total cost of ownership of the four different alternatives - diesel, bio-diesel, battery electric and fuel-cell electric. This information is then used to establish a discrete choice experiment, which is designed to gauge thes tated preference of the customers. A survey was conducted to this effect, where CE customers were provided with multiple choice scenarios and asked to choose between fouralternatives, differentiated by varying attributes such as total investment cost, total variablecost, operation range, refill duration and technology maturity. The survey responsewas then used to build a random utility model using logistical models like MultinomialLogit, Mixed Logit and Nested Logit. The utility coefficients were estimated in these three models and compared against each other and the most significant attributes were identified. Out of 54 respondents, even though majority 62% preferred a conventional diesel machine in the stated preference choices, an overwhelming 38% had opted for the sustainable alternatives which was more than expected, specially since such machines are not available in the mainstream market. The mixed multinomial logit model showed the best fit among the model alternatives tested and attributes like fixed cost, variable cost and market share showed statistical significance with this model. The results indicate that the market preferenceis still in favour of diesel machinery but the perception towards sustainable poweredmachinery looks positive and better than expected. Original Equipment Manufacturers(OEMs) need to target smaller fleet owners for adoption of sustainable alternatives like Battery Electric and Fuel Cell electric machines. Even though Sustainable powered machines show a lot of promise, they are still not competitive in terms of cost as the discrete choice analysis shows that variable cost significantly influence purchase decision.

Bark beetles regulate forest succession by removing weakened or stressed trees and exposing understory species to light from canopy gaps. Subterranean termites are predominate decomposers of coarse woody debris in southern pine forests; however, little is known about their role in forest health and succession. Both groups of insects rely heavily on fungal symbioses to fill their respective ecological niches in southern pine forests. During recent inspections of southern pine timber, we observed that trees in the early stages of bark beetle attack often had subterranean termites in blue-stained portions of the trunk. The frequency of subterranean termite presence in blue-stained areas of trees increased proportionally to the stage of bark beetle attack. However, practically no research has undertaken the challenge of describing how woody resources created by bark beetles are identified and utilized by subterranean termites before any signs of stress are visible. Therefore, this study examined possible facilitative interactions between subterranean termites, bark beetles and their blue-stain fungal associates, and other invertebrates, and investigated the effect of blue-stain fungi on surface properties of wood. Both native (Reticulitermes spp.) and Formosan subterranean termites exhibited a higher feeding preference for blue-stained sapwood than for unstained sapwood in laboratory assays. Native subterranean termites also consumed blue-stained sapwood at a higher rate than decayed wood. This study was the first to demonstrate that wood containing a non-decay fungus could elicit a feeding response from subterranean termites greater than that observed for decayed wood. Additionally, the surface properties of bark beetle-attacked southern pine were initially reduced by blue-stain fungal infection; however, the process of kiln-drying reversed this effect, resulting in a surface that was more conducive to wood product manufacturing.

A thorough understanding of transit customers’ preferences and travel behaviour is fundamental to offering a high-quality urban transportation system. The dominant approach in transit quality literature is rooted in understanding current transit users’ preferences. However, disregarding the heterogeneity in transit customers’ desired quality yields suboptimal conclusions regarding their preferences. Therefore, an effective transit system should strive to understand the broad spectrum of transit and non-transit users’ preferences to increase transit ridership. Towards that end, this research aims at deciphering the heterogeneity associated with transit customers’ service desired quality. The research utilized a primary dataset elicited from an online survey that was part of Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) Public Engagement efforts in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The research employed state-of-the-art discrete choice models (e.g., error components logit models, latent class choice models, nested logit models) along with multivariate statistical and spatial analysis. In this respect, this dissertation quantified and unveiled latent heterogeneity in transit customers’ preferences and its implications on their willingness to pay for service improvements through various techniques and specifications. Unlike the conventional classifications for transit customers, our research classifies transit customers into three latent segments: Direct Trip Enthusiastic (DTE), Cost-Sensitive (CS), and Real-time Information Supporter (RIS). The dissertation also investigated and further quantified the influence of subjective psychological factors in shaping transit customers’ preferences towards service attributes. For instance, environmental consciousness is found to be associated with less sensitivity to walking time while higher appreciation to at-stop real-time information provision. Furthermore, the research highlighted how the built environment and its contextual effects influence customers’ travel behaviour while accounting for variations in socioeconomic characteristics. The spatial analysis concluded that the built environment's influence is not equally efficacious over geography. Overall, this research presents a unique contribution to the knowledge of public transit research for practitioners, policymakers, and academia. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The thesis is comprised of three separate studies that each relate to one of the aforementioned therapy types: complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine (CAIM), natural health products (NHPs), and medical cannabis. Parallels can be drawn across these therapy types in general including patient preference and prevalence of use, quality of patient health information, and safety and effectiveness concerns. Knowledge of these parallels both informed the development of these three studies and emerged across findings. Chapter 1 provides a comprehensive introduction to these parallels in the context of CAIM, NHPs, and medical cannabis. Chapter 2 comprises a cross-sectional survey determining NHP use disclosure to primary care physicians among patients attending a Canadian naturopathic clinic. Chapter 3 comprises a qualitative interview study identifying attitudes towards medical cannabis among family physicians practicing in Ontario, Canada. Chapter 4 comprises a sentiment analysis of Twitter data to understand how CAIM is mentioned during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lastly, chapter 5 serves as the conclusion of this thesis, and summarizes the most important findings, addresses study strengths and limitations, and discusses future directions from this work. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Historically, coyotes were associated with the western United States. During their expansion eastward, coyotes have become more tolerant of humans and have been able to live in varying degrees of urbanization. One main question ecologists around the country are asking is how coyotes are surviving in anthropogenic environments. To aid in answering this question, I have compared coyote land use preference generally and specifically during coyote breeding season, winter and summer, human tourist seasons, and day and night. I also compared coyote land cover preference for deciduous and evergreen cover types during natural seasons. I found that, in general, there was a high variation of preference between and within land use categories. More broadly however, they prefer natural areas over non-natural areas. They used natural and non-natural land use types equally in winter and summer, and during tourist and off-tourist seasons with increased variation in preference during seasons with higher human activity. They had a higher preference for non-natural land use types at night. There is no difference in coyote preference for deciduous or evergreen cover types during the seasons.

Low-density residential development patterns in New England have resulted in the excessive loss of farms, forests and other open spaces and increased automobile dependence. Coupled with increasingly high land costs, sprawl has contributed towards an affordable housing crisis in Massachusetts. The need for sustainable development (such as new urbanism and smart growth) has been increasingly recognized, yet efforts have been hampered, in part, due to apathy and local residents’ resistance towards increasing residential densities, resulting in limited choices for willing homebuyers. This study examines perceptions of residential neighborhoods and sustainable development among residents in Hopkinton and Southborough, Massachusetts; two communities with rural and suburban character located in the rapidly growing metropolitan Boston region. A photo-based survey sent through the mail asked respondents to rate scenes of innovative residential settings and to answer questions about their attitudes towards environmental issues, planning approaches and neighborhood preferences, their current residential setting and demographic characteristics. The results from 253 survey respondents showed three important themes: (1) that residents expressed strong environmental values yet many lacked awareness of the environmental impacts of low density housing, (2) strong preference for views of nature and open spaces was prevalent and (3) visual design variables can dramatically influence perceived density. Key findings indicate two sub-groups. Approximately one-third of the respondents strongly support denser, sustainable development alternatives and value neighborhood planning that reduces auto dependency, meets the needs of households with various incomes and protects open space. While, the other two-thirds of the sample favor calm, scenic, low density neighborhoods and would like to see their community preserve its open spaces and maintain its historic and rural aesthetic. The study concludes with recommendations for regionally appropriate approaches to sustainable development that take into account the multiple scales and stakeholder involvement.

The prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster), a highly social species, offers a unique opportunity to examine the effects of parent-pup separation in a biparental family system similar to humans. We hypothesized that 1) repeated separation from pups affects parental behavior and emotionality in parents, and 2) neonatal parental separation affects emotional and physiological development in pups, and thus induces altered adult parental, emotional, and social behaviors. During postnatal day (PND) 1-10, pups were removed from their parents for 0, 15, or 360 min and housed either individually or with siblings. Unhandled controls experienced only daily lid opening. Tests for parental responsiveness and emotionality were conducted on PND11 for parents and PND90-92 for their offspring. Emotionality tests included the elevated plus maze, open field, and forced swim tests. Starting at PND150, half of each litter was paired with an opposite-sex vole for 24 hours and tested for partner preference. Additionally, behavioral response to stress was measured in all animals 0, 30, or 60 min after exposure to a forced swim. Generally, the behavior of the parents and adult offspring was influenced by daily handling, the length of the separation, and presence of siblings. Parental behaviors in parents did not differ among groups, while their anxiety- and depression-like behaviors were influenced by pup separation. For the adult offspring, separation treatment altered parental behavior, emotionality, partner preference, and stress response. Our results demonstrated that parent-pup separation affects emotional and social behaviors in prairie vole parents and adult offspring.

Several researchers posit the tendency of adults and children to behave positively towards individuals similar to themselves (in-group bias) and to behave hostilely towards those dissimilar to themselves (out-group bias) is not learned, but is instead innate.! Using infant-parent dyads, Mahajan and Wynn (2012) examined this question by asking infants (n = 32), seated in their parents' lap, to choose between two foods, watch a puppet show during which two puppets verbally stated a liking or disliking of these foods, and then choose one of the puppets. They found more infants chose the puppet that "liked" the same food the infants chose. Based on these results, Mahajan and Wynn suggest this tendency is innate. However, methodolgical limitations cling the unintentional effects of parent bias and use of a single choice-trial make this conclusion premature. The purpose of the current study was to replicate and extend the methodology of Mahajan and Wynn by addressing these limitations. Twenty-four. infant-parent dyads were separated into two groups. Affer choosing a food and watching the puppet show, infants in Group 1 (mutiple-baseline across participants design) chose a puppet 3-5 times before their parents were exposed to the parent bias measure and then chose an additional five times; parents in Group 2 (between-subjects comparison group) were exposed to the parent bias measure first, then infants chose a puppet five times. In Group 1, 7 of 12 infants (58%) selected the similar puppet on the first choice trial In Group 2, 2 of 12 infants (17%) selected the similar puppet on the first choice trial. Repeated choice triat showed no influence of parent bias but did show patterns of side stability with 18 of 24 infants making a majority of their puppet selections on the same side.

Based on prior research, people tend to be more prone to save women before saving men, and this thesis presents two studies examining the social acceptance of having these different preferences. Participants (N=805) were randomly assigned to one of two studies, and within each study they were assigned to one of two conditions (allocation condition or choice condition). The participants first read a description of two medical helping project in which one project can treat only men while the other one can treat only women. Participants then read and rated six targets’ answers (three male targets and three female targets), based on their first impression (level of warmth and competence) of targets expressing a preference towards men, women, an equal preference, or no preference. In the first study, the projects presented the same number of treated patients (three patients), and in the second study, the project treating male patients was higher (four patients) than the project treating female patients (three patients). Results showed that a female preference are viewed as a more socially accepted preference than a male preference, but only when the number of treated patients in each project are equal. Also, when male targets express a female preference, they are seen as more competent than female targets with a female preference, but only when they express their preference in ratings of the project. When the number of treated patients differed between the projects, a female preference is not viewed as a more socially accepted preference than having a male preference, there were also no significant difference between how men and women were perceived in their competence level.