Digital Commons Network^™

Classification Of Electropherograms Using Machine Learning For Parkinson’S Disease, Soroush Dehghan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative movement disorder that progresses gradually over time. The onset of symptoms in people who are suffering from PD can vary from case to case, and it depends on the progression of the disease in each patient. The PD symptoms gradually develop and exacerbate the patient’s movements throughout time. An early diagnosis of PD could improve the outcomes of treatments and could potentially delay the progression of this disorder and that makes discovering a new diagnostic method valuable. In this study, I investigate the feasibility of using a machine learning (ML) approach to classify PD …

Improving Quantification Of Mitral Regurgitation Through Computational Fluid Dynamics And Ex Vivo Testing, Alexandra Flowers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mitral regurgitation (MR) is a prominent cardiac disease affecting more than two million people in the United States alone. In order for patients to receive proper therapy, regurgitant volume must first be quantified. As there are an array of methods to do so, the proximal isovelocity surface area (PISA) method continues to be the most accurate and clinically used method. However, there are some difficulties obtaining the necessary measurements need for this when performing transthoracic echocardiography. This study aims to evaluate and present techniques that may be used to more accurately quantify regurgitation through ex vivo testing and computational fluid …

An Intersectional Perspective On The Role Of Workplace Policy Among Employed Female Caregivers During The Coronavirus Pandemic, Jessica King Mclaughlin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Providing care for an older adult while working can be challenging, often leading to caregiver burden. The socioenvironmental context of the coronavirus pandemic creates additional complications for working caregivers. Women, who are the majority of informal caregivers, face unique stressors in the workplace (McKinsey & Company, 2019; Carnevale et al., 2018). Prior to and during the coronavirus pandemic, workplace policies have offered the potential of support, yet more information is needed on how working female informal caregivers of older adults of diverse identities receive, interpret, and experience these policies amidst the context of the pandemic. This study uses a phenomenological …

Monitoring Of State Transitions In Extreme Environment Application Materials Using Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors, Sabuj Khadka

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

By embedding both a single fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor and a thermocouple (TC) during the manufacturing for extreme environment applications of certain classes of materials such as metals and polymers, a novel in-situ approach was developed to precisely monitor their entire manufacturing processes. This novel monitoring technique was able to identify many characteristic points during the curing of room and high-temperature epoxies and the solidification processes of metal alloys composed of tin and bismuth which were selected in this research purely for verification purposes. Some of the characteristic points identified for the epoxies were: (i) the gel point, (ii) …

Examining The Credibility Of Story-Based Causal Methodologies, Megan E. Kauffmann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore how evaluators justify using story-based methodologies when examining causality. The two primary research questions of the study included: 1) what arguments are made by evaluators to justify the credibility of story-based causal methodologies to evaluation stakeholders; and 2) from the perspective of evaluators, how do contextual factors influence whether story-based causal methodologies are perceived as credible by evaluation stakeholders? A case study was conducted to examine the cases of four evaluators who had experience implementing a story-based methodology in an evaluation. Data collection procedures included two interviews with each participant and a …

Data-Enabled Distribution Grid Management, Zohreh Sadat Hosseini

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2020, U.S. electric utilities installed more than 94 million advanced meters, which brought the percentage of residential customers equipped with smart meters to 75%. This significant investment allows collecting extensive customer data at the distribution level, however, the data are not currently leveraged effectively to help with system operations. This dissertation aims to use the smart meters’ data to improve the grid’s reliability, stability, and controllability by solving two of the most challenging problems at the distribution level, namely distribution network phase identification and outage identification.

Distribution networks have typically been the least observable and most dynamic and locally …

Expanding The Network Evaluation Toolkit: Combining Social Network Analysis & Qualitative Comparative Analysis, Debbie Gowensmith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collective action networks are complex systems of interrelated individuals or groups that come together for a common social change purpose (Ernstson, 2011). Researchers have used social network analysis (SNA) to examine the relationship structures and characteristics of collective action networks. However, determining whether collective action networking produces outcomes has been challenging because networks are complex, affected by context, and produce interdependent data. I addressed these challenges by pairing SNA with qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), a configurational comparative method. Using QCA, researchers can tease out which conditions are necessary or sufficient to produce an outcome. I analyzed a collective action network …

Identity And Resistance: Queer Puerto Rican Subjects, Pentecostalism, And The Shadow Of U.S. Imperialism, Jared Vázquez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

James K.A. Smith argues that the first principle of Pentecostalism is that the same Holy Spirit described in the New Testament is !actively, dynamically, and miraculously present both in the ecclesial community and in creation” today. This ontological experience of the Holy Spirit transforms Pentecostalism into a hermeneutic thorough which Pentecostals interpret their social world. In his attempt to articulate a Pentecostal epistemology Smith leaves implied what this project seeks to make explicit: the emergence of subjectivity is mediated through the experiences of the body and is therefore affective and phenomenological in nature. I argue that pentecostal spiritual practices are …

Lipophilic Probes For Cellular Ethylene Detection, Morgan R. Brown

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The structure of ethylene is simple, yet its biological effects are significant. When considering its role in biology it is almost exclusively regarded as a plant hormone. Research on ethylene from plants was progressed by several advancements in analytical instrumentation, from its discovery to elucidation of its signaling pathway. There is currently limited understanding of ethylene’s role in mammals, but evidence suggests that it may be a biomarker for oxidative stress! Additional tools and technology are crucial to study this surprising and important signaling role in mammals. Our group has developed molecular ethylene probes as a strategy to detect ethylene …

On Loop Commutators, Quaternionic Automorphic Loops, And Related Topics, Mariah Kathleen Barnes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation deals with three topics inside loop and quasigroup theory. First, as a continuation of the project started by David Stanovský and Petr Vojtĕchovský, we study the commutator of congruences defined by Freese and McKenzie in order to create a more pleasing, equivalent definition of the commutator inside of loops. Moreover, we show that the commutator can be characterized by the generators of the inner mapping group of the loop. We then translate these results to characterize the commutator of two normal subloops of any loop.

Second, we study automorphic loops with the desire to find more examples of …

The Pathophysiological Mechanisms Of Alzheimer's Disease; Investigating Therapeutic Interventions For Disease Onset, Alexandra A. Sandberg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer’s Disease is a multifarious disease that progressively affects more people as both the proportion of older adults in the population and life expectancy increase in both the United States and worldwide. This devastating disease is a result of rampant neuronal loss in the memory centers of the brain that robs the independence of those who are diagnosed and places a heavy burden on those who care for them. Traditionally speaking, research has focused on the hallmark pathology of amyloid plaques, targeting them to try and prevent disease onset. However, countless failures in clinical trials aimed at this said pathology …

Tech-Savvy School Principals Leveraging Crisis Leadership To Support Teaching And Learning In Their Schools Through Covid-19 Pandemic, Mohsen Alzahrani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this exploratory case study was to learn about the effective practices that recognized tech-savvy principals enacted to support teaching and learning in their schools during the first academic year of the COVID-19 crisis. The study involved semi structured interviews with five recognized tech-savvy school principals. It also involved analyzing supporting materials and documents.

The findings of this study indicated that tech-savvy principals were not stuck in the structural rut that most principals found themselves in during the COVID-19 crisis. Four main themes emerged from the data. The first theme addressed how recognized tech-savvy principals demonstrated decisive decision …

Bicycles And Transit: Weather Or Not: A Study On The Effect Of Weather And Air Quality On Bicycle-Transit, Bicycle, Rail Transit Counts In Denver, Christiana M. Fairfield

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The movement of people and goods within metropolitan areas is critically important to the operational efficiency and functionality of cities. This study explores the influence of local weather conditions and the air quality index on bicycle-transit user in Denver, Colorado. Based on bicycle-transit having two key components, bicycle and transit, the effect of local weather conditions and the air quality index is also explored with bicycle use and rail-transit usage. Key findings include: (1) the most significant variable across all three modes is temperature, (2) for bicycle-transit and bicycle use, there is a steady increase in ridership as temperatures increase …

Working Here, There, And Everyware: The Impact Of Virtual Work On Employee Belonging, Martha Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Globalization, improvements in information and communications technologies, and the COVID-19 outbreak have increased the prevalence of virtual work arrangements. This change in the workforce presents both opportunities and challenges to employees and their organizations, transforming how organizations operate and how workers interact with each other. This shift to more virtual work has a high likelihood of impacting other fundamental human motivations, such as the need to belong, which has significant implications for an employee’s well-being and the broader organization’s health. This study asks the question: How do collaborative technologies impact virtual employee belonging? The study proposes a conceptual framework of …

A Shift In Perspective: Temptress Witch To Realistic Woman, Caroline Conroy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In mid-20th century Anglo-American translations of The Odyssey, Odysseus is painted as a courageous, clever king while the briefly-featured Circe is portrayed as a temptress witch. This dichotomy changes, however, by the time these characters are featured in early 21st-century adaptations of Homer’s work; both released in 2018, Madeline Miller’s Circe and Delia Owens’s Where the Crawdads Sing reclaim Circe’s depiction by portraying a Circe-like character as a powerful protagonist, aware of her strengths and weaknesses. By analyzing the archetype of the witch and how it is reflective of patriarchal society’s efforts to reduce and isolate women’s power, I argue …

Historical Portrait Of Ann Fabe Isaacs: Founder Of The National Association For Gifted Children, Anna Armitage

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The historical portrait of Ann Fabe Isaacs examines the life of the founder of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) and the Editor of the Gifted Child Quarterly from 1954-1974. Considering Isaacs’ personal and public work frames the founding of the NAGC, development of its mission, published essays, and advocacy work. Once the historical perspective has been considered, Isaacs’ work will be considered alongside the contemporary NAGC, its advocacy work, and its published writing. This portrait provides historical context for the founding of the NAGC and examines the influence of the founder on the contemporary organization.

Implications of the …

The Intersection Of Traumatic Brain Injury And Homelessness, Stephanie A. Chassman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The rates of TBI are significantly higher among individuals experiencing homelessness compared to the general population. Up to half of individuals experiencing homelessness may have a TBI. Accurate prevalence rates of TBI among individuals experiencing homelessness are difficult to obtain due to different methods of sampling participants and differing definitions of TBI; therefore, estimates may be underrepresented. Despite past research that has examined the relationship between TBI and homelessness, there are specific gaps in knowledge such as correlates and risk factors of TBI among individuals experiencing homelessness. This three-manuscript dissertation attempts to address these gaps in knowledge.

The first manuscript …

Morphological Variation And Community Science In Orthoptera, Amy Byerly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Patterns of morphological divergence across species’ ranges provide insight into local adaptation and speciation. Here, we compare phenotypic divergence among 4,221 crickets from 337 populations of two related species of field cricket, Gryllus firmus and G. pennsylvanicus and their hybrids. We find that these species differ across their geographic range in key morphological traits, such as body size and ovipositor length, and we directly compare phenotype with genotype for a subset of crickets demonstrating nuclear genetic introgression, phenotypic intermediacy of hybrids, and essentially unidirectional mitochondrial introgression. We discuss how these morphological traits relate to life history differences between the species. …

Us Financial Expansions And Exchange Rate Determination, Matthew Brill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to explore how US financial activity influences the exchange rates of foreign nations. Starting off by building on Currency Hierarchy and Minskyan dynamics, I look at how financial cycles generated in the US, the key economy, transmit liquidity towards economies on the periphery. Additionally, I use the increase in shadow banking asset accumulation relative to commercial banking asset accumulation as indicative of financial expansions in the US, and the driving force of financial cycles. Using vector autoregression (VAR) analysis I test the relationships between the ratio of US shadow banking assets relative to commercial …

Responses Of Arthropods To Fire And How Pollinators And Pollination Services Are Affected By Fire Severity, Blyssalyn V. Bieber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fires impact ecosystems globally and due to climate change, there are shifts in fire regimes that impact ecological communities which provide essential ecosystem services. Focusing on arthropods, fire can influence this ubiquitous animal group in various way. We performed a comprehensive meta-analysis evaluating how fires impact differing arthropod functional groups. We found that overall, fire negatively effects community level responses for most functional groups with herbivores as the only exception showing some positive effects of fire. We also studied mixed-severity fires that burned >20 years ago and compared floral visitor communities across fire severities. We implemented a pollinator exclusion experiment …

Framing, Advice-Seeking, And Medical Trust In The R/Keto Community: An Analysis Of The Medical Flair On R/Keto, Sabrina Finke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

First created in 1921, the ketogenic diet was used as a medical intervention for children suffering from severe epilepsy. However, in recent years, this highly restrictive diet has gained mainstream popularity for a number of illness management, wellness, and weight loss uses. Despite its rise in use and popularity, mainstream medical opinion still views the ketogenic diet as a last resort for severe conditions. Using a content analysis of posts tagged with the “medical” flair on the subreddit “r/Keto,” this thesis found commonalities among posts which praised the ketogenic diet and shared positive personal anecdotes were the most likely to …

Mis-Specification Of Functional Forms In Growth Mixture Modeling: A Monte Carlo Simulation, Richa Ghevarghese

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Growth mixture modeling (GMM) is a methodological tool used to represent heterogeneity in longitudinal datasets through the identification of unobserved subgroups following qualitatively and quantitatively distinct trajectories in a population. These growth trajectories or functional forms are informed by the underlying developmental theory, are distinct to each subgroup, and form the core assumptions of the model. Therefore, the accuracy of the assumed functional forms of growth strongly influences substantive research and theories of growth. While there is evidence of mis-specified functional forms of growth in GMM literature, the weight of this violation has been largely overlooked. Current solutions to circumvent …

Are You My Nurse? The Effects Of Patient-Delivered Gender Microaggressions On Women Trainees’ Clinical Work In Integrated Primary Care, Julia Ratchford Kauffmann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Gender microaggressions are a form of sexist discrimination that have detrimental effects on women’s psychological well-being. Unfortunately, these sexist occurrences are commonplace in the United States and can be experienced in a variety of ways. As such, there is a need to understand behavioral health providers’ experiences with patient-delivered gender microaggressions. In doing so, we may be able to better support women behavioral health trainees’ during their clinical development by potentially understanding the ways in which women trainees are affected by sexist patient encounters. Therefore, the present study sought to apply the Social Cognitive Model of Counselor Training and the …

Examining The Impact Of Discrimination, Shame, And Acculturation On Psychological Wellbeing Of East Asian International Students, Shao-Jung Stella Ko

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the impact of discrimination, shame, and acculturation on the psychological wellbeing of East Asian international students in the U.S. Using the Minority Stress Theory as a framework, discrimination and shame were hypothesized to have a significant negative relationship with wellbeing while acculturation was hypothesized to moderate these relationships. A sample (N = 281) of East Asian international undergraduate students completed a web-based survey with measures of perceived discrimination, interpersonal shame, acculturation, and mental health outcomes. Regression analyses containing wellbeing (outcome), acculturation (moderator), discrimination (predictor), and shame (predictor) were performed to test the hypotheses using SPSS PROCESS macro …

The Role Of Ehd2 In Endothelial Cells, Rachael Judson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The role of EHD2 in terms of Cav1 interaction had not been previously characterized and was the main goal of this research. Cav1 has been shown to lead to the ubiquitination of Rac1. Because of this, the role of EHD2 in Rac1 regulation was investigated. An increase in long-term migration in endothelial cells was observed and suggested that EHD2 impacts the RhoA pathway instead of the Rac1 pathway. This lead to the hypothesis that EHD2 controls a part of the RhoA pathway. This hypothesis is supported by the loss of filamentous actin and an increase in serrated junctions in cells …

Education Finance As A Social Determinant Of Health In The United States, Sydney Mock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the role of K-12 education finance in the determination of health outcomes in the United States. To accomplish this, first, the differing theoretical perspectives surrounding health outcomes are explored. Second, theoretical literature surrounding public finance of education and cash vs in-kind benefits are explored to establish the grounds for connecting education finance and health. Third, a framework is presented to trace the pathways of how education finance determines health outcomes. Finally, the manuscript brings together a review of the literature on similar benefits and an evaluation of a voucher program in Cleveland, …

Frequency Analysis Of Trabecular Bone Structure, Daniel Parada San Martin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Medical data is hard to obtain due to privacy laws making research difficult. Many databases of medical data have been compiled over the years and are available to the scientific community. These databases are not comprehensive and lack many clinical conditions. Certain type of medical conditions are rare, making them harder to obtain, or are not present at all in the aforementioned databases. Due to the sparsity or complete lack of data regarding certain conditions, research has stifled. Recent developments in machine learning and generative neural networks have made it possible to generate realistic data that can overcome the lack …

Inviting The Perspectives Of Refugee Mental Health Interpreters: A Critical Narrative Analysis, Emme Y. Paik

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The research literature lacks examination into several areas concerning mental health interpretation for refugee clients. This includes the management of interpreters’ vicarious trauma and retraumatization, interpreter’s perspectives on the appropriateness of hiring refugees as mental health interpreters, how interpreters define their trauma as well as their clients’ trauma, and support that interpreters seek for their traumatic responses from their work. The literature is also missing an analysis of how oppressive power differentials are repeated in workplace institutions, specifically for refugee mental health interpreters. Thus, this study aimed to invite the perspectives of refugee mental health interpreters on several issues pertaining …

Exploring Youth Relationships With Nature Using Qualitative Gis, Corey J. Martz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding youth relationships with nature—what nature is, where nature is located, and why nature is meaningful—is important for a range of contemporary issues, from promoting health and well-being to advancing a sustainable future. Relationships with nature are profoundly influenced by the lived experiences of youth, as they form social connections, have fun, learn, and go about their lives across an array of places—residences, schools, trip destinations, and places in between. One key to exploring youth relationships with nature, therefore, is engaging youth to document their experiences of nature in relation to specific places and developing methods that support them to …

Exploring The Intersections Of Stigma And Masculinity In The Illness Perceptions Of Men Living With Fibromyalgia: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Christine L. Motzny

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fibromyalgia is a musculoskeletal condition characterized by widespread pain, fatigue and cognitive problems. While it affects between 2-7% percent of the population in the United States, the biopsychosocial impacts of the disease on the lives of those affected are so substantial that it is considered to have one of the highest cost burdens comparative to other chronic pain conditions. Fibromyalgia has historically been deemed a contested illness due to the complexity of its presentation and lack of clear etiology. As a result, people with fibromyalgia often feel misunderstood and stigmatized. Like other pain conditions, fibromyalgia is more commonly diagnosed in …