Digital Commons Network^™

Shaping Futures: The Influence Of Mentoring On The Future Expectations Of Youths Affected By Family Member Incarceration, Renita D. Moore

Psychology Theses

This study explored the influence of mentoring on the future expectations of youth, comparing those with and without an incarcerated family member. Using data from the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta program, it investigated initial differences in educational and future expectations and how these evolve through mentoring. It hypothesized that mentoring would significantly benefit youth with incarcerated family members. A longitudinal design assessed the impact of mentor-mentee relationship quality, youth engagement, and perceived competence/autonomy. Results showed that high engagement in mentoring improved educational expectations after six months, while mentors' perceptions of youth competence/autonomy enhanced future expectations over 12 …

Politics From The Pulpit: A Content Analysis Of High-Profile Religious Elite In American Politics, Clara Monique Deal Barlow

Political Science Dissertations

The relationship between evangelical Christianity and politics surged in the 1980s and intensified with each election cycle. In June 2016, Donald Trump met with a delegation of 1,000 evangelical leaders. Shortly thereafter, Trump released a list of his “born again” advisory panel, reflecting the broad reach of evangelical Christianity in America.

Invoking the ‘Word of God” is a powerful rhetorical device accessible to the religious elite and not often utilized by other political actors. The literature on framing by high-profile religious elites in politics is scarce. A reflexive thematic analysis of tweets from Trump’s advisory panel (as well as a …

Violent Political Rhetoric In Congressional E-Newsletters, Miles Massey

Political Science Theses

Recently, violent rhetoric and its use by political leaders in the United States has become a primary focus of elites, media, and researchers alike. This research unveils whether members of Congress use violent political rhetoric strategically in online communications, and if the rates at which they use it is consistent with intuitive and theoretical understanding. Using a dataset of Congressional e-newsletters from 2011 to 2020, I use a random forest classifier to predict the rates at which violent political rhetoric is used and analyze them over time and along party lines. I find that violent political rhetoric is prevalent among …

Relaxed Beliefs After Psychedelics: From Sensory Processing To Mystical States, Chloe Lily West Jacobs

Neuroscience Institute Dissertations

This dissertation explores the lasting impact of psychedelic use on brain networks, ranging from basic sensory processing to abstract mystical experiences. Recent research has highlighted the potential of these substances for treating psychiatric disorders, with therapeutic effects persisting weeks after a single dose. We focus on serotonergic psychedelics such as psilocybin and LSD, which are 5-HT2A receptor agonists, and the 5-HT1A-selective psychedelic 5-MeO-DMT. Through human electroencephalography and mouse electrophysiology, we explore how psychedelic use alters sensory processing and behavior. Using visual oddball and saccadic prediction paradigms, our findings demonstrate that recent 5-HT2A psychedelic use weakens top- down modulation and increases …

A Friendlier White Genocide Myth: How Framing Influences Support For Bigoted Immigration Policy, Allison Betus

Communication Dissertations

The White Genocide Myth (WGM) is one of the most popular conspiracy theories among White supremacists and other antisemites, yet narratives derived from it are regularly featured in mainstream immigration discourse in the United States. To safely attract followers and advance political agendas, White supremacists often reframe their beliefs into more neutral and media-friendly language. I designed a 3X2X2 conjoint experiment to explore whether changing the target (Mexico, Iraq, or England), the tone (ambiguous or explicitly negative), and the source (White nationalist or patriot) of an anti-immigrant argument derived from WGM would significantly influence agreement and perceptions of factual accuracy. …

Assessing Stimulus And Cognitive Control In Adults, Preschool Children, Capuchin Monkeys (Sapajus Apella), And Rhesus Macaques (Macaca Mulatta) In A Conditional Discrimination Task, Brielle T. James

Psychology Dissertations

Cognitive control has been defined as the use of various executive functions (such as inhibition, attention control, and task shifting) to execute goal-directed behavior. For this reason, cognitive control is considered essential for complex cognition and flexible behavior, especially in the face of response competition or novel circumstances. However, complex behavior has also been explained by behaviorists using associative stimulus-response theories. The current study examined the role of cognitive and stimulus control in problem-solving behavior. Adult humans, preschool children, adult rhesus macaques, and adult capuchin monkeys completed a computerized conditional discrimination task. Participants completed various psychomotor tasks using a specialized …

The Relaxation And Re-Implementation Of Vietnam's Two-Child Policy, Tien Hoang

AYSPS Dissertations

This dissertation examines the changes following the original Two-Child Policy (TCP) implemented in Vietnam in 1988, including the policy's relaxation in 2003, its partial reinstatement for government workers in 2007, and its full restoration of the two-child policy for the ethnic majority in 2009. These policy interventions serve as natural experiments for this investigation, allowing me to explore the evolution of the TCP and its impact on fertility outcomes. By analyzing both the intended and unintended consequences of these policy changes, this research offers valuable insights for policymakers and researchers interested in the social implications of population control measures. Utilizing …

The Human And Mortal Agent Intellect Of Aristotle’S De Anima, Dessire Lopez Jimenez

Philosophy Theses

In De Anima III.5, Aristotle draws a distinction between a passive intellect and an agent intellect, distinction which has led post-Aristotelian scholars to propose two different interpretations on the nature of latter. The first interpretation claims that the agent intellect is Aristotle’s god, while the other one claims that the agent intellect is the immortal aspect of one single human intellect composed of the agent and passive intellects.

The project of the thesis is to show the limitations of these two views to then propose an interpretation of DA III.4-5 based on Aristotle’s hylomorphic scheme of explanation. The key aim …

Social Domination And The Class Structure: Extending Left-Republicanism, Michael A. Hettinger Ii

Philosophy Theses

There is a debate in republican political philosophy concerning whether, and under what circumstances, workers are dominated. Philosophers such as Pettit, Anderson, Gourevitch, and Vrousalis argue that employers dominate workers, either in extreme circumstances or as a necessity under capitalism. Some, such as Vrousalis, argue the domination of workers is a structural feature of capitalism. Others, such as Pettit, argue workplace domination is an extreme to protect against. I argue that capitalism requires the vulnerability of workers as a class to domination. Republicans who view workplace domination as an extreme fail to account for the structural cause of that domination. …

Civic Capture: How Criminal Organizations Exploit Commercial Ecosystems To Subvert Democracy, Clark Demasi

Political Science Dissertations

This dissertation explores the phenomenon of "civic capture," wherein organized criminal groups infiltrate and monopolize municipal governments through non-coercive means. Unlike the widely studied techniques that involve threats and violence or collusive bargains, civic capture is achieved through criminal clans developing monopolistic control over territories and leveraging grey market synergy within a contained commercial environment. Grey market synergy leads to acquiescence, dependency, and in some instances outright legitimacy for the criminal organization that manifests itself in local governance. This study introduces the concept of civic capture to describe the subtle yet pervasive influence these groups exert on municipal governments.

Employing …

Computational Downstream Analysis Of High-Throughput Rna-Sequencing Data, Bikram Sahoo

Computer Science Dissertations

The advent of RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) technology has significantly advanced transcriptome-related research. The availability of RNA-seq data has spurred computational biologists to develop algorithms that process this data in a statistically rigorous manner, yielding biologically meaningful results. Recent advancements in bioinformatics algorithms enable the extraction of gene expression, fusion, and pathway information as the most immediate results from RNA-seq data. The ongoing progress in computational biology further promises to expand the utility of RNA-seq data in transcriptome-based biological research.

In this dissertation, we introduce a method to detect retained introns in RNA-seq data, with the aim of developing a vaccine …

Mitigating Class Imbalance In Time Series Classification Via Generative Modeling, Yang Chen

Computer Science Dissertations

Most classification techniques assume a uniform distribution of training data classes. However, well-balanced data is rare, with infrequent events often being the most valuable. This well known class imbalance issue severely hinders the performance of supervised algorithms, limiting their ability to accurately predict minority classes and resulting in analyses that lack practical operational value. Generative models in machine learning are designed to learn the underlying patterns or distribution of existing data, enabling them to generate new data that resembles the original dataset. Inspired by the success of Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) in synthetic image generation, we employed Conditional GAN (CGAN) …

Methods Of Discrete Optimization And Machine Learning For The Analysis Of Heterogeneous Genomic Populations, Kiril Kuzmin

Computer Science Dissertations

Many human diseases, including viral infections and cancers, are driven by the evolutionary dynamics of heterogeneous populations of genomic variants. A major type of evolutionary behavior is migration, encompassing viral transmissions and cancer metastasis. This study explores the connections between phylogenetic trees and migration trees through graph homomorphism and examines the relationship between maximum likelihood trees and maximum parsimony trees. It is also demonstrated that machine learning can accurately identify coronaviruses using small portions of their sequence information.

The first part of this study investigates how structural constraints on migration patterns and tree topologies influence the relationship between phylogenies and …

Hypergraph Learning: From Algorithms To Applications, Khaled Mohammed Saifuddin

Computer Science Dissertations

Graphs are a general language for describing and modeling interconnected systems. To learn graph data, Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) have been introduced. However, traditional graph data structures often fall short of describing the higher-order complex relationships within these systems. Hypergraphs, with their natural ability to capture such higher-order relations, offer a promising alternative. Despite their potential, GNNs are inherently designed for simple graphs and do not extend naturally to hypergraphs, leaving a gap in effectively leveraging hypergraph structures.

To address this gap, Hypergraph Neural Networks (HyperGNNs) have been proposed. HyperGNNs offer enhanced capabilities to learn higher-order complex relationships beyond the …

Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence In The Nlp Domain: Designing Efficient Adversarial Attacks And Generating Robust Text Representations, Javad Rafiei Asl

Computer Science Dissertations

State-of-the-art machine learning techniques, particularly pre-trained language models, have demonstrated exceptional performance across a range of computer science domains. These models, often fine-tuned for specific tasks, have shown exceptional proficiency in natural language understanding, text generation, and various language-related tasks like sentiment analysis, machine translation, and question-answering. Their success can be attributed to extensive training on vast amounts of text data, enabling them to capture intricate linguistic patterns and contextual information. Furthermore, the accessibility of these pre-trained models has democratized research and development, fostering innovation and advancements in fields such as information retrieval, chatbots, and automated content generation. However, it …

Imaging Genetic Prediction Of Cognition And Symptoms In Both Small And Big Cohorts, Pranav Nadigapu Suresh

Computer Science Dissertations

With recent technological advances in acquiring multimodal brain imaging data and high-throughput genomics data, brain imaging genomics is emerging as a rapidly growing research field. This field performs integrative studies that analyze genetic variations such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and brain imaging quantitative traits (QTs), coupled with other biomarkers, clinical, and environmental data. The goal is to gain new insights into the phenotypic characteristics and the genetic mechanisms of the brain, as well as their impact on normal and disordered brain function and behavior. Our research proposes a series of algorithms to analyze imaging genomics. Initially, we investigated the …

A Longitudinal Study Of Epigenetic Associations With Adolescent Brain And Cognitive Development, Dawn Jensen

Neuroscience Institute Dissertations

Typical adolescent neurodevelopment is marked by decreases in grey matter (GM) volume, increases in fractional anisotropy (FA), a measure of white matter integrity, and improvement in cognitive performance. To understanding how epigenetic changes, methylation (DNAm) in particular, may be involved in this phase of development, we used data from a longitudinal cohort of normally developing adolescents, aged nine to fourteen. This data, from three time points roughly one year apart, was used to first explore the relationships between seven cytosine–phosphate–guanine (CpG) sites in genes highly expressed in brain tissues (GRIN2D, GABRB3, KCNC1, SLC12A9, CHD5, STXBP5, and NFASC), seven networks of …

Towards Collective Healing: Intervening Intergenerational Trauma With Koreans/Koreans, Hyunji Hannah Lee

Counseling and Psychological Services Dissertations

The experiences of historical and cultural traumas such as chronic poverty, instability, and violence have insidious and long-lasting effects up to three generations from survivors through genetic or learned transmission (Bezo & Maggi, 2015; Bradfield, 2013; Connolly 2011;Forrest-Perkins 2017). Although there has been a movement towards recognizing such traumas and their effects in psychological literature, there still remains a dearth in examination for Asian/Asian Americans and specific ethnic groups such as Korean/Korean Americans (Cai & Lee, 2022; Kim-Martin, 2021). Thus, a critical interpretive synthesis (CIS) was utilized to synthesize the current literature on AAA historical/cultural traumas and examine their effects …

An Exploration Of Eating Disorders Among Black Women Using Intersectionality Theory, Rebecca Gwira

Counseling and Psychological Services Dissertations

Eating disorders (ED) research conducted in the United States (U.S.) has historically underrepresented the unique experiences of racial/ethnic minority women compared to White women (Egbert et al., 2022; Gilbert, 2003). There has been a call to action (e.g., Burke et al., 2020; Simone et al., 2022) for the ED field to focus on how the oppression associated with intersections of identity, not just the identities themselves, contributes to the illness. As such, Chapter 1 of this dissertation assessed the state of current eating disorders (ED) research on mutually exclusive racial/ethnic minority groups of women, as well as the responsible use …

The Textualization Of The Imazighen: A Comparison Of Pliny The Elder And Ibn Khaldun, John X. Barrow

History Theses

This work compares the works of Pliny the Elder and Ibn Khaldun and how they perceived the Imazighen (also known as Berbers) of North Africa in their own contexts. Pliny the Elder’s Roman stoic values placed great importance on agriculture and urbanized life. While he described urbanized and Romanized Imazighen favorably, his portrayal of nomadic Imazighen in North Africa in his Natural History was often critical. Ibn Khaldun also knew of the destructive potential of nomads in many instances, but he also realized that they had the ability to renew and create new dynasties. Kitab al-‘Ibar praises the health and …

Rapid Identification Of Antibiotic Resistance In Staphylococcus Using Ftir And Machine Learning, Wilbur Hudson

Mathematics Theses

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a significant threat to global health, with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) contributing substantially to morbidity. Rapid identification of MRSA versus Methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MRSA) is critical for timely and appropriate antibiotic use. This study explores the use of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) on Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy data to quickly distinguish MRSA from MSSA. By analyzing the growth patterns and spectral data of SA6538 (MSSA) and SA43300 (MRSA) under antibiotic stress, we demonstrate the feasibility of separation, highlighting spectral differences and their likely biological causes. LDA, when applied to …

Hydrologic Disturbances And Land Cover: A Study On Stream Metabolism Dynamics, Deandre Presswood

Geosciences Theses

This study examines the effects of hydrologic disturbances and land cover on stream metabolism within various watersheds in the Piedmont region. I utilized continuous dissolved oxygen measurements and stream metabolism data from 14 sites, collected over a period of up to 11 years. This research builds on existing datasets to assess changes in flow and land cover impacts on gross primary productivity (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER). Results indicate that GPP resistance significantly decreases with flow event size, while ER resistance remains stable. GPP recovery times were longer for larger storms, showing significant differences between the highest and lower flow …

Examining Disrespect In Maternity Healthcare Settings: Lifting Black Women's Voices To Improve Maternal Health Outcomes, Sherry Maxy

Public Health Dissertations

Background: Black women in the United States experience disproportionately high rates of both maternal mortality and morbidity, compared to women of other racial and ethnic groups, and experience profound inequities regardless of health or social status. Black women are nearly three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than White women and have a two to three-fold increased risk of experiencing maternal complications/severe maternal morbidity (SMM) or/maternal near miss (MNM). A complex interplay of factors such as preexisting chronic conditions, social determinants of health, racism, bias, and disrespectful care contribute to poor outcomes. Research suggests that disrespectful care …

Panpsychism And Cognitive Closure: An Epistemic Approach To The Mind-Body Problem, Jiacheng Lu

Philosophy Theses

As a promising solution to the mind-body problem, panpsychism is the thesis that consciousness is fundamental and universal in the world. It has several theoretical advantages over other competing theories such as physicalism and dualism. Nevertheless, there is also worry that the solution to the mind-body problem is beyond our intellectual access due to our cognitive constraints, and there is no reliable reason for us to favour panpsychism over other theories despite its elegance and simplicity. In this paper, I give a substantial argument for panpsychism from an epistemic approach. I argue that if the solution to the mind-body problem …

Digital Divides And Dialogues: A Multidimensional Analysis Of Populist Rhetoric, Social Media Interaction, And Polarization In Latin America, Juan Gomez Cruces

Political Science Dissertations

The first part of this study investigates the engaging nature of populist rhetoric on social media, particularly from populist leaders in power. It suggests populists employ divisive and plebiscitary rhetorical elements to manipulate public opinion, advance their agendas, and potentially dismantle democratic institutions. A comparative analysis of 136,141 tweets from 24 Latin American presidents reveals that populist leaders use significantly more divisive and plebiscitary content than their non-populist counterparts, correlating with increased online engagement. The second part examines millions of replies to these presidents' tweets, employing AI techniques such as Generative Pre-trained Transformers for data augmentation and Bidirectional Encoder Representations …

Massive Stars In Rapidly Evolving Systems, Katherine Shepard

Physics and Astronomy Dissertations

As massive binary companions age they will swell to dimensions comparable to the distance between stars. The larger star will likely begin transferring mass to its companion, which will accrete mass and angular momentum and may spin up to near critical velocity. Additional mass transfer may lead to large scale mass loss. Here, we present an observational study of three systems that are experiencing or are products of mass transfer. VFTS~102 and VFTS~285 are the fastest rotating stars currently known. We present an analysis of their far-ultraviolet and visible band spectral features and determine their physical properties and angular momentum …

A Benchtop Complex Wavefront Manipulator For Evaluating Psf Engineering, Megan Birch

Physics and Astronomy Theses

This research focuses on constructing a wavefront manipulation benchtop system. The primary goal is to replicate a hologram reconstruction method using a two-phase or two-pass modulation system with a spatial light modulator (SLM). The ability to precisely manipulate phase and amplitude is beneficial for simulating complex optical scenarios and enhancing astronomical observations. The chosen system allows independent control over spatial amplitude and phase distributions, improving wavefront manipulation capabilities. This precise control can be applicable across scientific, industrial, and defense sectors, enabling improved image quality and detailed analysis of low-intensity objects, a common challenge in astronomical observations and space surveillance. By …

Trans* In The Neoliberal University: Students’ Relationship With Georgia State University And Its Lgbtq+ Support Structures, Elizabeth Townsend

Anthropology Theses

This ethnography shows how trans* Georgia State University (GSU) undergraduate students navigate the university, interact with university-created LGBTQ+ support structures, and how university-created LGBTQ+ support structures engaged with them. Trans* students find it difficult to navigate GSU because so much of the university’s bureaucratic structures involve classifying people into gender categories. Through interviews, autoethnography, and participant observation, trans* students’ negotiation of that pressure is illuminated and interrogated in this work. Ultimately, queer students find GSU-created and sponsored organizations lacking in genuine support but take the pieces they need and build the rest on their own.

Synthesis And Evaluation Of Cereblon-Recruiting Haloprotacs, Britton Ody

Chemistry Dissertations

The development of proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) is a useful approach to develop new therapeutics. PROTACs work by tagging proteins for degradation by the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) in the cell. Especially, in this work, we use Halotag, a genetically modified bacterial dehalogenase that forms covalent bonds with ligands functionalized with terminal chlorohexyl moieties. Reported here the development of bifunctional HaloPROTAC ligands that recruit the cereblon (CRBN) E3 ubiquitin ligase to degrade target proteins fused with a HaloTag in the cell. The dissertation will start with a review of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) system, PROTACs, and induced protein degradation. Next, I will …

Towards High-Fidelity Digital Twins In Internet Of Things, Chenyu Wang

Computer Science Dissertations

With the proliferation of devices in every aspect of social activities and production, Internet of Things (IoT) has developed rapidly, interconnecting physical devices embedded with sensors, software, and other technologies. It enables devices to collect and exchange data over the Internet and facilitates automation and intelligent decision-making. With the recent wave of digital transformation, more and more IoT entities can be characterized by their digital copies. In this context, Digital Twin (DT) technology has emerged as a promising bridge between physical and virtual realms that enables the synergy of various things. Despite ongoing exploration of DT in extensive domains, current …