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Evaluation And Remediation Of Rater Scoring Of Constructed Response Items, Frank Padellaro Jr
Evaluation And Remediation Of Rater Scoring Of Constructed Response Items, Frank Padellaro Jr
Doctoral Dissertations
The primary focus of this study is the impact of variation in rater scoring of constructed response items for credentialing exams used for licensure or accreditation in a professional endeavor. In this type of exam, a candidate may be asked to write in detail about a legal opinion, an auditing report, or a patient diagnosis (just to name a few examples), and a rater (often a professional from the field) is responsible for evaluating the response (Raymond, 2002). Unfortunately, it is impossible for a rater, even one who is well trained, to make such judgments without some amount of error. …
Micronutrient Status And Telomere Length In Adult Men And Women., Christy S. Maxwell
Micronutrient Status And Telomere Length In Adult Men And Women., Christy S. Maxwell
Doctoral Dissertations
Background: Telomeres are the noncoding nucleotide sequences at the end of eukaryotic chromosomes, serving to protect DNA during mitotic division. Given their guanine-rich structure, telomeres are highly susceptible to oxidative damage often mediated by inflammation. Recently, telomere attrition and dysfunction have been associated with age-related diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and certain cancers. Several modifiable risk factors have also been associated with shortened telomere length, including physical inactivity, obesity, stress, smoking, and poor diet. Objective: We examined the relations between vitamin B12 status, folate status, and iron status, relative to telomere length in …
Three Essays On Health, Risk And Behavior, Irene Mussio
Three Essays On Health, Risk And Behavior, Irene Mussio
Doctoral Dissertations
Health-related decisions could be explained by a variety of factors, ranging from the perception of the risk the activity involves to the knowledge of the long-term effects of the decision. An individual deciding to eat unhealthy or not to exercise could face health problems in the long-run. Individuals with health issues have been found to be more risk averse when it comes to financial decisions, such as portfolio allocation. Financial incentives to engage in healthier behaviors have been successful but short-lived. Prior research leaves many questions such as: What are the factors that explain why an individual decides to engage …
The Politics Of Feeling And The Work Of Belonging In Us Immigrant Fiction 1990 - 2015, Lauren Silber
The Politics Of Feeling And The Work Of Belonging In Us Immigrant Fiction 1990 - 2015, Lauren Silber
Doctoral Dissertations
“The Politics of Feeling and the Work of Belonging in US Immigrant Fiction 1990 – 2015” presents readers with a distinct optic: if we are to fully grasp contemporary US racial politics, we must recognize the narrative work emotion performs in popular US diasporic fiction. Comparing the work of authors who have become mainstays in the multi-ethnic US literary canon such as Jhumpa Lahiri, Julia Alvarez, Junot Díaz, Lan Cao, Achy Obejas, Cristina Garcia, Kiran Desai, and Nora Okja Keller, I explicate how these popular authors exhume the complex entanglements of racialization, US empire, and global capitalism by narrating the …
Silicon-Germanium Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors For Large-Scale Low-Power Cryogenic Sensing Systems, Shirin Montazeri
Silicon-Germanium Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors For Large-Scale Low-Power Cryogenic Sensing Systems, Shirin Montazeri
Doctoral Dissertations
Cryogenic low noise amplifiers (LNAs) are one of the key components in many emerging applications such as radio astronomy or quantum computing in which a weak incoming signal needs to be read out. There have been extensive studies on the feasibility of leveraging silicon-germanium (SiGe) heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) to implement cryogenic LNAs in the past. The deployment of such LNAs in the future large-scale systems in radio astronomy or quantum computing is contingent upon the possibility of developing LNAs with reduced DC power dissipation to enable the cooling of a large number of array elements inside a cryogenic cooler. …
A Tangled Web: Quakers And The Atlantic Slave System 1625 – 1770., Kate Freedman
A Tangled Web: Quakers And The Atlantic Slave System 1625 – 1770., Kate Freedman
Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation re-contextualizes the Quakers’ history as anti-slavery pioneers by exploring the crucial economic role that the slave-based economies of the British West Indies played in establishing the Quakers as a powerful sect in the seventeenth and eighteenth century Atlantic world. Quakers were driven by their faith to foster a spirit of equality inside and outside of their meetings. They were among the first European religious sects to allow women to preach, to oppose violence and war, and, beginning in the middle of the eighteenth-century, to ban the practice of enslaving other human beings within their membership. Yet the Quakers …
Rights, Recognition, And Changing Borders: Latin American Activism In Post-Brexit Britain, Stephanie Aragao Medden
Rights, Recognition, And Changing Borders: Latin American Activism In Post-Brexit Britain, Stephanie Aragao Medden
Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation explores the advocacy work and political activism of Latin American social movement organizations based in the United Kingdom. I examine how activists working in Britain as it prepares to exit the European Union, make sense of their collective agendas, strategize to achieve their goals, and evaluate the outcomes of their advocacy efforts. In doing so, this project provides insights into the ways that identity movements are negotiated and performed during periods of increased political and public hostility toward their constituents and agendas. I illuminate the relationship between identity movements, immigration discourses, politics, and policy implementation and explore how …
Film Stabilizaiton And Photophysics Of Unconventional Conjugated Polymers, Kara Martin
Film Stabilizaiton And Photophysics Of Unconventional Conjugated Polymers, Kara Martin
Doctoral Dissertations
Conjugated polymers offer a unique opportunity to develop high performing, flexible, lightweight, and large area electronic devices. With advances in conjugated polymer understanding and synthesis, the use of polymers as active layer materials in electronic applications, rather than just substrate materials, has become more promising. However, defects in morphological stability, as well as imperfect electronic understanding, are still present, limiting the use of these materials in commercializable electronics. Fundamental understanding of structure-property relationships can allow for facile synthetic solutions to major drawbacks of conjugated polymer integration in standard device architectures. Chapter 1 presents background research on the history of conjugated …
Studies Of Dynein Anchoring Protein In Budding Yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Safia Omer
Studies Of Dynein Anchoring Protein In Budding Yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Safia Omer
Doctoral Dissertations
Inheritance of equal genomic content is vital for cellular growth and survival. During cell division, the mitotic spindle is built to ensure equal chromosome segregation between dividing cells. Fidelity of segregation is achieved by the precise positioning of the mitotic spindle by force generators located at the cell cortex where they exert pulling on microtubule (MT). Cortical dynein, a minus end directed motor, generates pulling forces via microtubule end-on capture-shrinkage and lateral MT sliding mechanisms. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the dynein attachment molecule Num1 interacts with plasma membrane (PM), endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and mitochondria to facilitate spindle positioning across the …
Engineering High Performance Epoxy Thermosets Using Next-Generation Impact Modification, Madhura Pawar
Engineering High Performance Epoxy Thermosets Using Next-Generation Impact Modification, Madhura Pawar
Doctoral Dissertations
Optimization of fracture toughness of high Tg thermosets was done through systematic investigation of different formulations of reactive functional modifiers using soft particle impact modification. Important parameters like particle size, interparticle distance (IPD) were varied by altering cure kinetics and modifying the molecular architecture of the additives. The best performing systems showed an increase in fracture toughness of 70-80% with an optimum Rp of 1.3 μm and IPD of 0.4 μm at 15 vol% impact modifier. In addition, a new platform of using block copolymer blends was studied for its feasibility to achieve non-spherical morphology for effective impact …
Biophysical Features Of The Extracellular Matrix Direct Breast Cancer Metastasis, Alyssa Schwartz
Biophysical Features Of The Extracellular Matrix Direct Breast Cancer Metastasis, Alyssa Schwartz
Doctoral Dissertations
Breast cancer is plagued by two key clinical challenges; drug resistance and metastasis. Most work to date probes these events on an extremely rigid plastic surface, which recapitulates few aspects of these processes in humans. A malignant cell first resides in breast tissue, then likely travels to the bone, brain, liver, or lung, each of which has a distinct mechanical and biochemical profile. Cells transmit mechanical forces into intracellular tension and biochemical signaling events, and here we hypothesize that this mechanotransduction influences drug response, growth, and migration. To probe the impact of extracellular matrix on drug resistance, we defined a …
Quantile Regression For Survival Data With Delayed Entry, Boqin Sun
Quantile Regression For Survival Data With Delayed Entry, Boqin Sun
Doctoral Dissertations
Delayed entry arises frequently in follow-up studies for survival outcomes, where additional study subjects enter during the study period. We propose a quantile regression model to analyze survival data subject to delayed entry and right-censoring. Such a model offers flexibility in assessing covariate effects on survival outcome and the regression coefficients are interpretable as direct effects on the event time. Under the conditional independent censoring assumption, we proposed a weighted martingale-based estimating equation, and formulated the solution finding as a $\ell_1$-type convex optimization problem, which was solved through a linear programming algorithm. We established uniform consistency and weak convergence of …
The Texture Of Reading / Reading Textures: Poetic, Visual, Material, And Inter-Medial Dimensions Of Textuality In Arabic Poetry, French Picturebooks, And North American Bookarts, Lara Matta
Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation offers a comparative study of the poetic, verbal, visual and material dimensions of textuality. It asks the following questions: what does texture look like in our literary context? What does an attention to layers and fragility convey about or add to our reading experience? And how can they relate to the experience of loss? I argue that an engagement with textures may help account for a layered multidimensionality and that structural imageries—whether in relation to organic matter or textile or overlay—allow for the intersection of materiality and conceptuality in intricate patterns. I offer a poetic reading of intermedial …
Cardiovascular Disease Risk And Menopause: Effects Of Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Exercise, And Follicle Stimulating Hormone, Corinna Serviente
Cardiovascular Disease Risk And Menopause: Effects Of Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Exercise, And Follicle Stimulating Hormone, Corinna Serviente
Doctoral Dissertations
Menopause is associated with adverse changes in cardiovascular disease risk factors. A reduction in estrogens is most commonly associated with changing cardiovascular disease risk; however, recent observations suggest that the increase in follicle stimulating hormone that accompanies menopause may also influence risk, potentially through its influence on lipid levels. The changes in cardiovascular disease risk factors may adversely affect endothelial cell function, a pre-clinical marker for cardiovascular disease. Whether cardiorespiratory fitness is protective of endothelial health in this population, thereby mitigating the changes in risk that accompany menopause, is unclear. This dissertation evaluated differences in endothelial health and endothelial responses …
Silver Nanoparticles In Environmental And Biological Systems: Source, Transformation, And Detection, Huiyuan Guo
Silver Nanoparticles In Environmental And Biological Systems: Source, Transformation, And Detection, Huiyuan Guo
Doctoral Dissertations
Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are the most commonly used nanoparticles in consumer products. Concerns over human exposure to and risk from these particles have resulted in increased interest in novel strategies to detect manufactured AgNPs. This dissertation investigated the feasibility of SERS as a technique for the detection and quantification of manufactured AgNPs in different matrices. By using ferbam as an indicator molecule that binds strongly onto the nanoparticles, AgNPs detection and discrimination were achieved based on the signature SERS response of AgNPs-ferbam complex. AgNPs coated with citrate and polyvinylpirrolidone (PVP) showed strong interactions with ferbam and induced high SERS signals. …
Charting The Terrain Of Latina/O/X Theater In Chicago, Priscilla M. Page
Charting The Terrain Of Latina/O/X Theater In Chicago, Priscilla M. Page
Doctoral Dissertations
There is a rich tapestry of Latina/o/x theater in Chicago. Through in-depth interviews, I use first-voice narratives to construct four decades of Latina/o/x theater history with the artists who were founding directors and/or members of these companies: Latino Chicago, Latino Experimental Theater Company, Teatro Vista, Teatro Luna, and Urban Theater Company. My aim with this project is to listen carefully to Latina/o/x artists in Chicago so that I can play a role in amplifying their voices as they articulate their experiences in this Midwestern city they call home. I organized my findings into three chapters and have kept the artists’ …
The Promise(S) Of Resilience: Governance And Resistance In Complex Times, Alix Olson
The Promise(S) Of Resilience: Governance And Resistance In Complex Times, Alix Olson
Doctoral Dissertations
My dissertation is a contribution to Contemporary Political Theory that considers the ways in which the rise of the concept of “resilience” across contemporary social and political life is fundamentally re-ordering how we understand ourselves, one another, the world, and possibilities for action. My research examines the production and deployment of knowledge about resilience in domains of the popular wellness industry, domestic and global policy-making institutions, philanthropic foundations, insurance companies, scientific and social scientific academic research, socio-ecological justice movements, feminist science fiction and critical theory. In this exercise, I do not denounce resilience (further narrowing possibility) but orient my reader …
Forms Of Naturalism In Seminal Neoclassical Texts: An Analysis And Comparison Of Léon Walras, John Bates Clark, And William Stanley Jevons, Mark Silverman
Forms Of Naturalism In Seminal Neoclassical Texts: An Analysis And Comparison Of Léon Walras, John Bates Clark, And William Stanley Jevons, Mark Silverman
Doctoral Dissertations
At issue here is the role of “naturalism” in certain seminal neoclassical texts. I outline both a positive and normative dimension to the term “naturalism.” Along its positive dimension, I use the term to mean that the social sciences ought to follow the method of the natural sciences. Along its normative dimension, I use it to mean that the natural order of things can provide for justice. I examine the role these concepts play in the works of Léon Walras, John Bates Clark, and William Stanley Jevons. The question I raise, through this examination, is whether the positive conception of …
Fearing, Tracking, And Loving Sharks: Ocean Conservation And The Material Rhetoric Of Human-Shark Entanglements, Camille Martinez
Fearing, Tracking, And Loving Sharks: Ocean Conservation And The Material Rhetoric Of Human-Shark Entanglements, Camille Martinez
Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation focuses on the following questions: 1) How do multispecies engagements rhetorically reconfigure the human, the shark and, to some degree, the ocean? and 2) How do such multispecies engagements refigure value relevant to conservation? These questions are explored within a framework of shark conservation as a field of biopolitics exploring the tensions inherent in the project of transforming sharks from killable enemies to valuable, living selves and the constraints and potentials that come into view when new relational possibilities emerge. Conservation practices, especially biodiversity conservation practices, are not merely management choices; they are political choices that shape future …
Epigenetic Regulation Of Genomic Imprinting During Early Mammalian Embryonic Development, Chelsea Marcho
Epigenetic Regulation Of Genomic Imprinting During Early Mammalian Embryonic Development, Chelsea Marcho
Doctoral Dissertations
Mammalian development involves remarkable changes, starting from a single-cell, totipotent zygote and ending with a developed organism comprised of diverse cells types with distinct morphologies, structures, and functions. Within three days of murine development, the two parental genomes merge into a single nucleus, begin zygotic gene expression, undergo epigenetic remodeling, and make the first lineage decisions. Diversity in cell-types is possible even though cells share the same genome. This diversity is achieved by the tight regulation of differential transcriptional programs. There are many ways these transcriptional programs can be initiated. Epigenetic alterations to the genome can drive transcriptional changes. Epigenetic …
Biotransformation Of Resveratrol And Its Implications In Biological Activities In The Colon, Fang Li
Biotransformation Of Resveratrol And Its Implications In Biological Activities In The Colon, Fang Li
Doctoral Dissertations
Resveratrol (RES) is a natural polyphenol compound with a wide range of health-promoting activities, including protective effects against colon cancer and renal disease. However, the premise of these benefits has been dampened since RES shows a poor oral bioavailability due to its rapid and extensive biotransformation after oral consumption. The paradox (low bioavailability but high bioactivity) warrants further investigations to determine the contribution of RES metabolites to the health benefits associated with RES. We identified 11 metabolites of RES in mice with high-resolution HPLC-MS/MS, then quantified two major metabolites - dihydro-resveratrol (DHR) and lunularin (LUN). To further understand the chemopreventative …
Cmos Compatible Memristor Networks For Brain-Inspired Computing, Can Li
Cmos Compatible Memristor Networks For Brain-Inspired Computing, Can Li
Doctoral Dissertations
In the past decades, the computing capability has shown an exponential growth trend, which is observed as Moore’s law. However, this growth speed is slowing down in recent years mostly because the down-scaled size of transistors is approaching their physical limit. On the other hand, recent advances in software, especially in big data analysis and artificial intelligence, call for a break-through in computing hardware. The memristor, or the resistive switching device, is believed to be a potential building block of the future generation of integrated circuits. The underlying mechanism of this device is different from that of complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) …
Three Essays On Network Dynamics And Liminality, Diego F. Leal
Three Essays On Network Dynamics And Liminality, Diego F. Leal
Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation focuses on the emergence and evolution of social networks by paying particular attention to the spanning of cultural boundaries that segregate actors in the context of specific societies. In particular, I use systems science methods to study the bridging of cultural holes in small and relatively dense artificial societies, as well as in an American high school. I also study the significance of local triadic configurations in giving rise to the highly hierarchical system of aggregate-level migration flows in place in the Americas during the late 20th century. I use the concept of liminality as a way to …
Identifying Functional Components Of The Endoplasmic Reticulum Quality Control And Degradation Factor Edem1, Lydia Lamriben
Identifying Functional Components Of The Endoplasmic Reticulum Quality Control And Degradation Factor Edem1, Lydia Lamriben
Doctoral Dissertations
The ER Degradation-Enhancing Mannosidase-Like protein 1 (EDEM1) is a critical endoplasmic reticulum (ER) quality control factor involved in identifying and directing non-native proteins to the ER-associated protein degradation (ERAD) pathway. However, its recognition and binding properties have remained enigmatic since its discovery. Here we provide evidence for an additional redox-sensitive interaction between EDEM1 and Z/NHK that requires the presence of the single Cys on the α-1 antitrypsin ERAD clients. Moreover, this Cys-dependent interaction is necessary when the proteins are isolated under stringent detergent conditions, ones in which only strong covalent interactions can be sustained. This interaction is inherent to the …
Turbulent Mixers For Protein Folding Experiments, Venkatesh Inguva
Turbulent Mixers For Protein Folding Experiments, Venkatesh Inguva
Doctoral Dissertations
Protein folding studies require the development of micro-mixers that require less sample, mix at faster rates, and still provide a high signal to noise ratio. Chaotic to marginally turbulent micro-mixers are promising candidates for this application. In this study, various turbulence and unsteadiness generation concepts are explored that avoid cavitation. The mixing enhancements include flow turning regions, flow splitters, and vortex shedding. The relative effectiveness of these different approaches for rapid micro-mixing is discussed. Simulations found that flow turning regions provided the best mixing profile. Various turbulence models are simulated to determine appropriate model of the design requirements. Experimental validation …
Social Structure Of Accumulation In Turkey (1963 – 2015), Osman C. Icoz
Social Structure Of Accumulation In Turkey (1963 – 2015), Osman C. Icoz
Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation analyzes capitalism in Turkey during post-1963 period from social structure of accumulation (SSA) theory perspective. The SSA theory is a theory of interaction of institutions and capital accumulation over long run. This dissertation will be the first book length study on Turkey using SSA Theory approach. It will enrich the SSA literature by adding a case of Turkey, which is a developing country; and hence it will be another example that SSA framework can be extended outside of US. I observe two different SSAs during the period of interest. The first one is Import Substitution Industrialization (ISI) SSA …
Social Determinants Of Cardiometabolic Disease Control: An Ecosocial Approach, Cristina Huebner Torres
Social Determinants Of Cardiometabolic Disease Control: An Ecosocial Approach, Cristina Huebner Torres
Doctoral Dissertations
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States. Diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and dyslipidemia are three primary risk factors for CVD. Each is disproportionately distributed in the population by race/ethnicity. Social determinants of health (SDoH) research indicate that social and environmental factors upstream of individual behaviors can impede an individual’s chronic disease control. Guided by Michael Marmot’s SDoH theoretical framework and by an ecosocial approach, this study used data from a cross-sectional mixed methods study conducted in Western Massachusetts at a federally qualified health center from 2014 to 2018 (RxHL) to examine the association between SDoH—food …
Fabrication Of High Refractive Index, Periodic, Composite Nanostructures For Photonic And Sensing Applications, Irene Howell
Fabrication Of High Refractive Index, Periodic, Composite Nanostructures For Photonic And Sensing Applications, Irene Howell
Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation examines methods of fabricating high refractive index, periodic structures and their applications. Structures with a refractive index periodicity in one-dimensionally are fabricated by stacking layers of (high-refractive index) nanoparticle-filled and unfilled layers. More complex two- and three-dimensional structures are fabricated by direct printing of nanoparticles via solvent-assisted soft nanoimprint lithography. Polymer-nanoparticle composites are an active area of research and development especially for photonic applications. We show use of two composite formulations, first for fabrication of one-dimensional photonic crystals, and second for scalable UV-nanoimprinting. One dimensional photonic crystals, which possess a periodicity in refractive index, result in a constructive …
The Experience Of Living With Breast Cancer: Puerto Rican Women Tell Their Stories, Madeline Hernández-Ramirez
The Experience Of Living With Breast Cancer: Puerto Rican Women Tell Their Stories, Madeline Hernández-Ramirez
Doctoral Dissertations
Abstract Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women of all ethnic groups. Women living with breast cancer encounter not only physical problems but also psychological stress. The breast cancer diagnosis causes crisis for both patients and their families. Research of the lived experience of Puerto Rican women with breast cancer is scarce, and the little research found often classifies Puerto Rican women together with other groups such as Latin or Hispanic. While similarities of breast cancer experiences exist within Latin subgroups, aspects experienced by Puerto Rican women might be unique to them. Unique elements of a …
Cultural Practices And Social Formations In A Reforming Society: The Transnational Fandom Of European Football In China, Yuan Gong
Doctoral Dissertations
This dissertation explores the Chinese fandom of European male football and its relation to the formation of the Chinese urban middle class. I use online and offline ethnography, critical discourse analysis and textual analysis to examine the socio-cultural roots, technological conditions, and political implications of Chinese fans’ transmedia practices. My findings are twofold. First, I argue for the articulation between the European football fan identity and the subject of urban middle class emerging from the post-Maoist social restructuring. This articulation is reflected from these fans’ active reading of the European football text and their access to European football as conditioned …