Digital Commons Network^™

Cultural Criticisms Within Thomas Hardy's Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Holly Rose Litwin

ETD Archive

To understand fully Thomas Hardy’s cultural criticisms within his 1891 novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles, one must look simultaneously at the full range of these cultural criticisms. The novel is a scathing condemnation of capitalism, Victorian beliefs about women, church doctrine, the shortcomings of the educational and judicial systems, and the destructive forces that industrialization and mechanization bring to the natural world in rural agrarian England. Within the past twenty years, scholars have explicated this text in ever-more specific, detailed, and narrow areas of focus, often coming up with fascinating and meticulously researched individual topics. However, I believe that …

Fe/Male Mother Of Two: Gender And Motherhood In Lionel Shriver's We Need To Talk About Kevin, Amy B. Smialek

ETD Archive

There are critical reviews regarding Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk About Kevin that discuss many controversial topics in the novel. Of these reviews, most critics limit their arguments to the taboo topics of American school shootings and Eva’s character as an ostensibly ambivalent mother. Unfortunately, there is little academic criticism on Shriver’s most recognized novel and, among such analyses, two of Shriver’s most crucial depictions are overlooked. Firstly, readers must acknowledge the impact that contemporary American society has on females and mothers. This novel shows how much a culture relies on societal “rules” that govern human expectations. Secondly, Shriver’s …

Leveling The Playing Field: Ensuring African-American Students Access To Advanced Placement Courses, Alisa L. Lawson-Mckinnie

ETD Archive

The under-representation of African-American high school students in advanced placement classes must be understood in terms of broader school contexts and practices. This qualitative study investigated how teachers and guidance counselors contribute to the academic success of African-American students of high potential at a large suburban high school in the city of Cleveland. The purpose was to improve the participation and performance of these students in AP courses. Data indicates that (a) school employees (teachers and guidance counselors) can positively affect achievement, (b) their definitions of success shape these students’ opportunities for achievement, and (c) developing the capacities of high-potential …

Self-Regulated Learning Prompts In The Enhancement Of Critical Thinking Skills, Patricia A. Pawlak

ETD Archive

Critical thinking has been recognized as an essential concept in nursing curricula, as well as an important outcome for nursing students. The process of journaling has been used as an educational tool within nursing education to evaluate the critical thinking skills in nursing students. Despite its vigorous use, there is no specific format or conceptual model that is used consistently in nursing education to guide the journaling process or to evaluate if critical thinking is or has indeed occurred. This study will introduce the concept of using self-regulated learning (SRL) theory to prompt Basic BSN students in the development of …

Bilingualism Across The Adult Life-Span: Age And Language Usage Are Continuous Variables, Sara Incera Burkert

ETD Archive

The purpose of this dissertation research was to analyze the effects of bilingualism and age on cognitive function. Specifically, I investigated the impact of bilingualism and age on two measures of executive control. The Stroop task is a measure of response inhibition, and the Flanker task is a measure of attention selection. Participants responded using a computer mouse. The mouse-tracking paradigm allowed me to examine the continuous dynamics of the responses as participants completed each trial. A better understanding of the impact of bilingualism and age on cognitive function has the potential to minimize cognitive decline in older age. The …

Secret History In Contemporary America: Re-Reading All The King's Men And Primary Colors, Megan Nicole Petraska

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There exists a little known connection between the seventeenth-century genre of secret history and contemporary political novels. Secret histories such as Procopius’ The Secret History of the Court of Justinian, Sebastien Bremond’s Hattige or the Amours of the King of Tamaran, and Aphra Behn’s Love Letters Between a Nobleman and his Sister have in common three defining structural characteristics of the genre: active narrators, narrative layers, and unusual character names. Two contemporary texts which have long resisted categorizing, Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men and Joe Klein’s Primary Colors, also contain these characteristics. Re-reading these texts …

Cascade Control Of A Hydraulic Prosthetic Knee, Xin Hui

ETD Archive

A leg prosthesis test robot with hydraulic knee actuator is modeled and tested with closed loop control simulation. A cascade control architecture is designed for the system, the outer loop is controlled by a robust passivity-based controller (RPBC) and the inner loop is controlled by an optimization method. The control algorithm provides knee angle tracking with an RMS error of 0.07 degrees. The research contributes to the field of prosthetics by showing that it is possible to find effective closed loop control algorithm for a newly proposed hydraulic knee prosthesis. The simulations demonstrate the efficiency of RPBC's ability to control …

The Regulatory Role Of Interleukin-1 Receptor Associated Kinase M In Toll-Like Receptor Signaling, Hao Zhou

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Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are one of the major groups of pattern recognition receptors. TLRs are able to recognize the pathogen-associated molecular patterns and transduce their signals through the adaptor molecule MyD88 and members of the IL-1R-associated kinase family (IRAK1, 2, M and 4). IRAKM was previously known to function as a negative regulator that prevents the dissociation of IRAKs from MyD88, thereby inhibiting downstream signaling. However, we now found that IRAKM was also able to interact with MyD88-IRAK4 to form IRAKM Myddosome to mediate TLR7-induced MEKK3-dependent second wave NF¿B activation. As a result, the IRAKM-dependent pathway only induced expression of …

Student Perceptions Of Faculty's Social Presence In Online Health Science Courses, Samantha J. Mencini

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With continued surges in enrollment in the various online health science programs, especially nursing programs, there is a great need for additional research to be conducted regarding how students perceive their professors social presence in an online learning environment through the use of Computer-Mediated Communications - CMCs. The objectives of this descriptive phenomenological qualitative study were to: 1) illustrate how students perceive their professors’ social presence as used in various types of CMCs; 2) identify emotions which the students have experienced in response to their professor’s CMCs; 3) unveil common themes regarding student perception of their professors’ social presence; and …

The Synthesis And Characterization Of Multifunctional Nanoparticles Of Elastin-Like Polypeptides For Theranostic Applications, James T. Cole

ETD Archive

Theranostics is a promising field that aims to combine therapeutics and diagnostics into single multifunctional formulations. This field is driven by advancements in nanotechnology and specifically in the creation of multifunctional nanoparticles capable of providing the necessary functionalities. Elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) are a class of environmentally responsive biopolymers that are known to undergo a transition in response to various stimuli. The organic nature of ELPs along with the ability to control their design at the gene level and the aforementioned responsive behavior make them a promising candidate for use in theranostic systems. The system presented here is one of the …

Development Of Robust Control Techniques Towards Damage Identification, Ryan J. Madden

ETD Archive

Robust control techniques have enabled engineers to create uncertain models which are able to describe any differences between the model and experimental system with uncertainties defined as a combination of exogenous inputs and plant perturbations. Subsequently, robust model validation techniques arose to provide a guarantee that the uncertain model is able to recreate all observed experimental data. As a result, the complete model set is robust to any model inaccuracies or external noise. At the same time, the technique of model-based identification was developed in the robust control framework to identify the dynamics resulting from unmodeled or under-modeled components in …

Predicting Student Success: Factors Influencing Nclex-Rn® Rates In An Urban University's Pre-Licensure Programs, David M. Foley

ETD Archive

As the US population becomes more diverse, schools of nursing are faced with the formidable challenge of graduating diverse groups of competent students who will pass the NCLEX-RN® and serve an equally diverse public in the safest manner possible. Although institutions of higher learning have adopted plans to enhance diversity among nursing graduates, tension is created between these initiatives and the academic rigor required by nursing education. In particular, schools of nursing in diverse urban metropolitan areas face unique challenges educating increasing number of men, minorities, and students for whom English is a second language (ESL). Stanton-Salazar’s (2011) Social Capital …

The Unemployed Adult In The Liminal Space Of A Job-Training Program: Transformations Of Learner Identities, Anthony Craig Adkisson

ETD Archive

This research addresses the impact job-readiness programs have on the identity of unemployed adults. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the transformational learning that happened for a group of seven unemployed adults seeking employment. The research considered: 1) what meaning do unemployed adults make out of their experience going through job-training programs; 2) what are the liminal aspects of job-training programs; 3) how do aspects of the job-training programs influence the development of their identity; 4) what are the ways the programs shapes their views toward learning; and 5) in what ways was this experience transformative? …

Institutional Agents In The Lives Of Chagrin Falls Park Youth, Alison Taylor Kaufman

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This qualitative case study researched how adults from a community center and school acted as institutional agents in assisting youth navigating between community and school settings. The research was conducted in the context of Chagrin Falls Park, a historically marginalized community in the Cleveland metropolitan region. The research included semi-structured interviews with eleven participants across three participant categories, including institutional agents from Kenston Local Schools and Chagrin Falls Park Community Center and young adult Kenston graduates. The research explored: (1) the perceptions and roles of institutional agents in how Black youth construct identities, relationships, and navigate between institutional and community …

"I Warn You Ming, Stay Away From My Friends!”: The Language Of Superhero Mythology In Flash Gordon, R. James Buehner

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The Flash Gordon (Stephani, 1936) serial is a profoundly important, indeed seminal superhero film that has not been granted the critical attention that it deserves within modern film scholarship. Its position at the beginning of the genre of the modern screen superhero is examined through its evident thematically mythic implications and its culturally centered historical aspects. The serial Flash Gordon is treated and analyzed as a self-standing text that provides clues to the ontological and genealogical foundation and conventions of the screen superhero that is dominant in the media landscape today. This analysis is conducted through the Freudian – Jungian …

Six Stories, James Silver

ETD Archive

The six stories contained in this thesis were created during my graduate studies at Cleveland State University. All six stories resulted from different class writing prompts, and each exercise encouraged a new idea that was then work shopped and revised. Still, there is a common thread running through these stories: the writer. My interest in communicating and entertaining has always been present and well nurtured. I have had the good fortune to be in constant contact with that inner voice, both professionally and personally. These six stories represent a brief hesitation in sixty years of accumulated feelings, insights and beliefs. …

University Homepage Affordances: The Influence Of Hyperlinks On Perceptions Of Source Credibility, Patricia Dellacorte

ETD Archive

The technology affordances of university website homepages were evaluated to inform the development of prototypical examples of accessible public university and exclusive private university homepages. Affordances are characteristic of the environment that, when perceived, afford or provide opportunities for action (Gibson, 1986). In addition, affordances, such as hyperlinks, also prompt heuristic processes that lead to judgments that are based on peripheral cues rather than substantive information. Integrating the MAIN model (Sundar, 2008) and the Two-Factor Theory (Herzberg, 1966; Zhang & Von Dran, 2000), eye tracking and survey methodology were used to assess differences in perception and credibility judgments of the …

Neighborhood Revitalization And Historic Preservation In U.S. Legacy Cities, Kelly L. Kinahan

ETD Archive

Legacy cities – also known as shrinking, rust belt, and post-industrial cities – are places facing persistent population decline, disinvestment, and structural economic challenges. Scholars and practitioners argue that historic buildings are among the key assets for neighborhood stabilization and revitalization, yet demolition of existing buildings is a dominant public policy approach in legacy cities. Using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods, this three-essay dissertation (1) develops a typology of legacy city neighborhoods across five cities (Baltimore, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Richmond, & St. Louis) and five census decades (1970-2010), (2) identifies patterns of federal historic rehabilitation tax credit (RTC) activity …

Modified Electrodes With Grafted Dna And Oligonucleotides For Detection And Quantification Of Peroxynitrate, Heba Azmy Salim

ETD Archive

Peroxynitrite (ONOO-) is a strong oxidizing and nitrating agent, and its formation has been correlated with many pathological conditions. It is generated in-vivo through the diffusion-controlled reaction between nitric oxide and superoxide. Peroxynitrite has been linked to nitration of protein and DNA as well as to DNA strand breaks. Accumulation of mutations and/or other kinds of DNA damage represent a carcinogenic risk. The accurate measurement of peroxynitrite concentration has been a challenge since this analyte is very unstable and reacts with many cellular targets. Development of analytical techniques capable of rapid and sensitive detection of this fast-reacting and damaging agent …

The Discourse Of Female Mental Illness In Kate Chopin's The Awakening, Elise M. Collman

ETD Archive

This study addresses the consequences that befell Edna Pontellier for seeking an identity apart and outside of the roles of wife and mother. In particular, it focuses on the correlation made by the male characters in the novel between rejecting motherhood and marriage and perceived mental illness. Edna’s onset of contradictory behavior causes Leonce and Dr. Mandelet to hypothesize the cause of her new behavior. In an attempt to understand and cure Edna, they take a diagnostic approach towards her awakening. Their misunderstanding of her awakening reveals the misinformed societal dogma that linked women’s desire for autonomy to mental instability. …

The Effects Of The Menstrual Cycle On Agility, Kheniser G. Karim

ETD Archive

It has long been speculated that the menstrual cycle affects athletic performance. Whether athletic performance is impacted by menstrual cycle phase is dependent upon an array of factors: the type of activity (i.e., aerobic or anaerobic); oral contraceptive (OC) use; and, possibly, if mental processing is required during the execution of the task. Prior research has indicated that alterations in estradiol (E2) affects cognitive performance. However, there is a paucity of information about whether E2 modulates the speed of cognitive processing in a sports setting, which may cause alterations in sport performance throughout the menstrual cycle. Additionally, variations in E2 …

The Impact Of School Policing Practices On Student Behaviors In Ohio Public Schools, Jennifer Marie Dohy

ETD Archive

Many American public schools began to employ School Resource Officers (SROs) in the 1990s as a result of mass school shootings in the early 1990s (Weiler & Cray, 2011). An SRO is a law enforcement officer serving primarily within a school community whose mission is to ensure safety, order, and discipline through conflict mediation and critical incident response (Clark, 2011). According to national data, there are currently SROs in 35% of schools, regardless of level (e.g., elementary, middle, and high school), location (e.g., rural, town, suburban, or city), or student population (Weiler & Cray, 2011). Despite a heavy reliance on …

Executive Mba Programs: Impact On Female Executive Career Development, Monica A. Butko

ETD Archive

Corporate America faces an erosion of senior leadership talent due to the exodus of many baby boomers who had occupied these positions.Many of them have either retired or will do so in the next decade. The erosion of this talent will become a major problem that can be avoided by grooming women to assume many of these positions.

Over the past 60 years women have made significant strides in middle management as cited by their progression in the workforce since World War II. Education has been viewed as a key to career development by women. While women have made significant …

Pure And Binary Adsorption Of Methane And Nitrogen On Silicalite, Prahar S. Vaidya

ETD Archive

Separation processes comprise a large portion of the activity in the chemical and petrochemical industries. For the chemical, petroleum refining, and materials processing industries as a group, separation processes are considered to be critical. Almost all the applications of chemical industries involves mixtures, so innovation in separation technology not only enhances productivity and global competitiveness of U.S. industries, but is also critical for achieving the industrial energy and waste reduction goals. Traditionally, air separation to produce nitrogen and oxygen and to separate nitrogen from methane was practiced by cryogenic distillation, which involved expensive high pressure units and large requirement of …

The Voice And Cystic Fibrosis: A Descriptive Case Study, Veronica Smitley

ETD Archive

Cystic fibrosis is a common autosomal recessive disease with severe effects on the respiratory, digestive, and endocrine systems. Symptoms include chronic cough and wheezing, frequent upper respiratory tract infections, and reflux disease. While most treatments for cystic fibrosis aim to mitigate the respiratory and gastrointestinal dysfunction, the potential adverse effects on an individual’s voice has not been researched in a systematic manner. We hypothesized that individuals with cystic fibrosis may show physical signs of vocal fold damage, as well as common dysphonic symptoms. Given the impact voice disorders have an overall quality of life, identification and management of cystic fibrosis-related …

An Exploration Of Parenting Styles, Emotion Regulation, Depression, And Culture's Role, Krysten L. Monzon

ETD Archive

The present research examined whether cultural background had an effect on depressive symptoms through parenting style and emotion regulation strategies. Recent literature suggests that parenting styles differ across cultures, thus leading to different levels of depressive symptoms as a result differences of parenting styles aligning with cultural values. Additionally, it is suggested that some emotion regulation strategies are harmful in western cultures, but are not in collectivistic culture. Lastly, it is suggested that certain parenting techniques foster both harmful and helpful emotion regulation strategies. Participants (N=83) completed measures of PAQ (Parental Authority Questionnaire), ERQ (Emotion Regulation Questionnaire), and CES-D (Center …

Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (Rsa) In Adults With Possible Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asd) Symptoms, Arielle Bowers

ETD Archive

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are a group of developmental disorders, which are becoming a major health concern within the US. According to The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM–5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) an ASD includes the following features: continuous impairments associated with social communicative and interactive skills, replication of specific, patterned behaviors and/or attentiveness to specific interests. Recent psychophysiological research has looked at how high and low respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) activity may be related to a lack of social communicative skills relating to social cognition, which are hallmark features of individuals who have been …

Decitabine-Loaded Nanogel Treatment To Reverse Cancer Drug Resistance, Samantha A. Cramer

ETD Archive

Cancers in which epigenetic changes, such as hypermethylation of DNA, lead to drug resistance cause the cancer to become unresponsive to existing chemotherapeutic treatments. The epigenetic drug – 5-aza-2’-deoxycytidine (decitabine, DAC) – is a potent hypomethylating agent, but its effect is transient due to its instability. Previous studies have shown that loading DAC into nanogel significantly enhances its antiproliferative effect (compared to DAC in solution) in drug-resistant breast cancer cells (MCF-7/ADR). Further, the previous studies demonstrated changes in the membrane lipid profile of resistant cells following treatment with DAC either as solution or in nanogels. The objective of the present …

A Multilevel Analysis Of Student, Community, And School Factors That Predict Students’ Achievement In Visual Art, Christine Baker Mitton

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Multiple access points for visual art education exist within the nation’s schools and communities. How these diverse school and community contexts collectively impact the development of student visual art achievement and perceived competence has not been sufficiently researched. The purpose of the study was to identify student, community, and school factors that impact middle school students’ achievement and perceived competence in visual art. The study sought to contextualize the structures and policies that shape visual art instruction within the nation’s schools by building understanding of how visual art experiences influence adolescents at a crucial moment in their social, emotional, and …

The Mediating Effects Of Self-Handicapping On Eating Disorder Symptomatology, Brooke Kelly Strumbel

ETD Archive

With the high prevalence of eating disorders (ED) and the functional impairment that they cause, there is a pressing need to more fully identify their risk factors and mechanisms. While perfectionism and negative affect are known risk factors for ED, the mechanisms by which they develop are not well understood. The present study examined the roles of self-handicapping, thought suppression, and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, as potential mechanisms through which perfectionism and negative affect confer risk for ED. A sample of 161 female undergraduates completed measures of perfectionism, negative affect, thought suppression, self-handicapping, eating disorder tendencies, and an Implicit Association …