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Corticosteroid Use, Emotional Health And Work/Regular Daily Activities : Ethnic Differences In Women With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Dorcey Lanier Applyrs Jan 2014

Corticosteroid Use, Emotional Health And Work/Regular Daily Activities : Ethnic Differences In Women With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Dorcey Lanier Applyrs

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus has profound effects on women, families and society causing a loss of self-esteem, a loss in earning potential and higher health care costs. SLE affects women during their most productive years of life, causing women to further experience particularly poor health-related quality of life (HRQoL) as well as financial hardship. The purpose of this study is to investigate the associations among corticosteroid use, emotional and physical health, and work and regular daily activities in a racially-and ethnically-diverse sample of women with SLE and controls using data from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Lupus Database. This …


A National Study Comparing Charter And Traditional Public Schools Using Propensity Score Analysis, Jason M. Bryer Jan 2014

A National Study Comparing Charter And Traditional Public Schools Using Propensity Score Analysis, Jason M. Bryer

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Unlike their private school counterparts, charter schools receive public funding but are relieved of some of the bureaucratic and regulatory constraints of public schools in exchange for being held accountable for student performance. Studies provide mixed results with regard to charter school performance. Charter schools are, by definition, schools of choice, and this means that observational data methods are required for comparing such schools with others. In observational data contexts, simple comparisons of two groups such as traditional public and charter schools typically ignore the inherent and systematic differences between the two groups. However, given well-designed observational studies and appropriate …


The Predictive Value Of Reading Frequencies In Digital And Print Formats On Eighth Grade English Language Arts Outcomes, Victoria Carol Coyle Jan 2014

The Predictive Value Of Reading Frequencies In Digital And Print Formats On Eighth Grade English Language Arts Outcomes, Victoria Carol Coyle

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The increased availability of technology in Western culture has resulted in an increased use of technology among adolescents in both academic and personal settings. In the U.S., adolescents use technology to communicate, access information, create and distribute products on a daily basis. More importantly, this increase in technology has resulted in many more reasons and opportunities to read. It is unclear, however if increased reading in these new digital modes are related to increased scores on traditional academic assessments. This study used an archival data set to investigate relationships that existed among self-reported reading frequencies in different modes and contexts …


The Role Of Immigrant Assimilation And Segregation In Explaining The Effect Of Immigration Size On Neighborhood Crime, Ilir Disha Jan 2014

The Role Of Immigrant Assimilation And Segregation In Explaining The Effect Of Immigration Size On Neighborhood Crime, Ilir Disha

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The Role of Immigrant Assimilation and Segregation in Explaining the Effect of Immigration Size on Neighborhood Crime


Measurement Of The Ttbar Interaction Cross Section In The Tau+Jets Decay Channel Via Multivariable Template Fitting Of 4.6 Fb-1 Of Data Collected At √S = 7 Tev By The Atlas Detector, William Edson Jan 2014

Measurement Of The Ttbar Interaction Cross Section In The Tau+Jets Decay Channel Via Multivariable Template Fitting Of 4.6 Fb-1 Of Data Collected At √S = 7 Tev By The Atlas Detector, William Edson

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This analysis measured the entire ttbar cross section through the specific decay channel to a tau, tau neutrino and four quark jets utilizing the full 2011 ATLAS collected data sample of 4.6fb-1. Measurement was achieved by creating templates based on Monte Carlo samples for the various well-modeled background and signal in conjunction with a data-driven derived template for QCD multijet samples. Signal separation was achieved by utilizing Boosted Decision Tree multi-variables designed to identify true from fake taus. The final result was determined to be 165.8 ±9.9 (𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡.)− 30.0+ 29.7(𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡.)±3.0(𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑖.) pb which is in agreement with previous measurements of this …


Attack Of The Drones : Unmanned Aerial Vehicles And Moral Problems, Tyler B. Kirk Jan 2014

Attack Of The Drones : Unmanned Aerial Vehicles And Moral Problems, Tyler B. Kirk

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The frequency of use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for combat by the United States has increased dramatically in recent years. Since this technology has comprised a significant portion of American counter-terror operations abroad and there are virtually no signs of this practice slowing or ceasing in the foreseeable future, it is necessary to closely examine the ethical implications of remote-control warfare. At first glance, arguments supporting the use of "drones" seem robust and sensible: in theory, they save American military lives. But upon further investigation, the use of drones in practice actually creates morally murky, problematic situations that could lead …


A Feedback View Of Theories Of Contentious Politics, Alexander Yury Lubyansky Jan 2014

A Feedback View Of Theories Of Contentious Politics, Alexander Yury Lubyansky

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In political science, several theories of contentious politics hold that political action results from complex dynamic interactions between political groups and other stakeholders, such as their governments. This dissertation creates an integrated feedback view of three such theories of contentious politics (Relative Deprivation, Resource Mobilization, and Political Opportunity Structures) as well as three recent attempts to integrate these theories (Collier & Hoeffler, 2000; Regan & Norton, 2005; Wimmer, Cederman, & Min, 2009). This integrated feedback view provides a better understanding of the link between these theories' causal structure and behavior.


"For Divers Good Causes And Considerations" : Manumission Practices Of Albany, Ny Slaveholders, 1799-1824, William Angelo Meredith Jan 2014

"For Divers Good Causes And Considerations" : Manumission Practices Of Albany, Ny Slaveholders, 1799-1824, William Angelo Meredith

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

On March 29, 1799, the New York State Legislature received notice that the state's Council of Revision had approved, "an Act for the gradual abolition of Slavery." The bill changed slavery in such a way that children born to slaves after July 4, 1799, became free upon reaching the age of twenty-five for females and twenty-eight for males. Given the monumental change produced by this legislation, historians have linked passage of the gradual abolition bill to an increase in slave manumissions. While the gradual abolition bill may have prompted slaveholders to consider manumission, it was not the overall motivating force …


The Dieting Paradox : Using I³ Theory To Explain Counter-Regulatory Eating, Lindsay C. Morton Jan 2014

The Dieting Paradox : Using I³ Theory To Explain Counter-Regulatory Eating, Lindsay C. Morton

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Counter-regulatory eating occurs when dieters engage in disinhibited overconsumption after a transgression of their diet. It may be one reason why efforts to control one's weight through dietary restriction so often fail. Unfortunately, the causal mechanisms behind this behavior are a source of contention. To resolve the disagreement over what exactly triggers counter-regulatory eating, this dissertation applied I3 theory, which posits that three factors interact to determine disinhibited behavior: instigation, impellance, and inhibition. Three-hundred twenty-two female undergraduate participants were recruited for participation in this study. Instigation was examined using the traditional milkshake pre-load, in which participants' perceptions of caloric content …


A "Silk-Shot" Voice : Constructing Social History In The Future-Bound Novels Of H.G. Wells, Sophie Moss Jan 2014

A "Silk-Shot" Voice : Constructing Social History In The Future-Bound Novels Of H.G. Wells, Sophie Moss

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

ABSTRACT: This thesis argues that H.G. Wells' attempts to craft a successful narrative of the predicted future, as viewed through three primary texts (Anticipations, A Modern Utopia and The Shape of Things to Come) are not only trials at the most effective textual platform for his social ideology but also explicit attempts to create a new hybrid literature. The author first embarks on a close reading of Anticipations to analyze Wells' social ideology and his early theory of the role of fiction. Next, the author examines the two later novels, A Modern Utopia and The Shape of Things to Come, …


Dialogic Festivity : Tourism, Diaspora, And The Hybridization Of Being And Becoming, Heidi J. Nicholls Jan 2014

Dialogic Festivity : Tourism, Diaspora, And The Hybridization Of Being And Becoming, Heidi J. Nicholls

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This research is centered on touristic performances, diaspora studies, and hyphenated identities in general and the Indian diaspora in particular. This project looks to the co-construction of identity within the Indian diaspora as is experienced by the Indian international student attending cultural events and festivities or Third Spaces, produced by the Indian diaspora at large, through a theoretical lens of tourism. In other words, this project is an investigation through ethnographic research and narrative analysis, of the interface between cultural festivals, diasporic tourism, and hybridized identities. In turn this research addresses the duality of identity negotiation in the diaspora in …


An Analysis Of School-Based Suicide Postvention Protocols, Emily Catherine Owens Jan 2014

An Analysis Of School-Based Suicide Postvention Protocols, Emily Catherine Owens

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The purpose of this study was to generate a base of literature pertaining to school based suicide postvention plans. In order to do this, New York State crisis plans were examined to determine the proportion of plans that address suicide postvention as well as the extent to which postvention protocols are aligned with recommended practices. A coding scheme was developed in order to evaluate the comprehensiveness of the crisis plans and all New York State public schools serving at least two high school grades were invited to share their crisis plan as well as any other documents pertaining to response …


Diffraction-Based Techniques For High Contrast X-Ray Imaging, Lubna Naseem Peerzada Jan 2014

Diffraction-Based Techniques For High Contrast X-Ray Imaging, Lubna Naseem Peerzada

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Two X-ray diffraction based techniques for high contrast were explored to improve contrast in radiology: diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) and coherent scatter imaging.


We Can Work It Out : The Hidden Role Of The Workplace In Shaping Urban Crime Control, Chris E. Rees Jan 2014

We Can Work It Out : The Hidden Role Of The Workplace In Shaping Urban Crime Control, Chris E. Rees

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Ethnoracial minorities have rapidly integrated into American workplaces over the last half-century, yet little research has examined the effects of this integration on wider social processes. Drawing from minority threat theory and the contact hypothesis, this thesis examines the impact of workplace segregation on metropolitan levels of police force size during the year 2010. Findings indicate that, net of controls, workplace segregation is associated with higher levels of police forces size. Moreover these effects are a stronger predictor of police forces than residential segregation. The thesis concludes with a relevant discussion on the research and policy implications of these findings.


Atrazine In Maternal Drinking Water Supply Below The Federal Maximum Contaminant Level And Risk Of Preterm Birth, Small For Gestational Age, Cryptorchidism And Hypospadias, Daniel Rice Jan 2014

Atrazine In Maternal Drinking Water Supply Below The Federal Maximum Contaminant Level And Risk Of Preterm Birth, Small For Gestational Age, Cryptorchidism And Hypospadias, Daniel Rice

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The prevalence of preterm birth, small for gestational age (SGA), and hypospadias has been increasing for several decades in the U.S resulting in significant morbidity and mortality and direct costs to society. Drinking water provides a mechanism for prolonged chronic exposure to environmental contaminants but is one of the least assessed environmental exposures in pregnancy and birth outcomes. To test the hypothesis that maternal exposure to atrazine through drinking water during pregnancy, or one or more trimesters of gestation, is associated with an increased risk of preterm birth, small for gestational age, cryptorchidism and hypospadias a retrospective cohort study was …


The Impact Of A Cognitive Defusion Intervention On Behavioral And Psychological Flexibility, Timothy Ritzert Jan 2014

The Impact Of A Cognitive Defusion Intervention On Behavioral And Psychological Flexibility, Timothy Ritzert

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) emphasizes the relationship people have with unwanted thoughts, emotions, and other private events. ACT utilizes cognitive defusion strategies to reduce the believability of unwanted, distressing thoughts so as to foster greater psychological flexibility. Though defusion is linked to several positive behavioral outcomes (e.g., improved pain tolerance), it remains unclear whether such effects are associated with the behavioral process of defusion itself, namely, behavior that is more sensitive to direct contingencies compared with behavior influenced by unhelpful verbal functions. To address this issue, the present study assessed the impact of a defusion intervention on behavior, as …


Investigating Quantum Oscillations In The Thermal Coefficient Of Resistivity Of Ultra-Thin Ag Capping Layers On Cu For Ic Interconnect Applications, Elroy Tatem Jan 2014

Investigating Quantum Oscillations In The Thermal Coefficient Of Resistivity Of Ultra-Thin Ag Capping Layers On Cu For Ic Interconnect Applications, Elroy Tatem

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

As the semiconductor industry continues to scale feature sizes, scattering from phonons, surfaces, and grain boundaries result in an increase of metal interconnect resistivity in state-of-the-art integrated circuits (ICs). The interconnect chapter of the 2011 International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) stated that there are currently no manufacturable solutions in the near term for suitable Cu replacements. Previous studies of thin Ag films deposited on Cu demonstrated oscillations in the electron-phonon interactions within the bilayer system. This thesis investigates oscillations in the resistive properties of the Ag/Cu bilayer system and discusses the applicability of these oscillations to the resistivity challenges …


Power Law Models Of Stock Indices, Mankit Tse Jan 2014

Power Law Models Of Stock Indices, Mankit Tse

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Viewing the stock market as a self-organized system, Sornette and Johansen introduced physics-based models to study the dynamics of stock market crashes from the perspective of complex systems. This involved modeling stock market Indices using a mathematical power law exhibiting log-periodicity as the system approaches a market crash, which acts like a critical point in a thermodynamic system. In this dissertation, I aim to investigate stock indices to determine whether or not they exhibit log-periodic oscillations, according to the models proposed by Sornette, as they approach a crash. In addition to analyzing stock market crashes in the frequency domain using …


A Brownian Dynamics Approach To Esr Line Shape Calculations, Matthew Wright Jan 2014

A Brownian Dynamics Approach To Esr Line Shape Calculations, Matthew Wright

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The work presented in this thesis uses a Monte Carlo technique to simulate spectra for 14N spin-labels and 15N spin labels. The algorithm presented here also has the capability to produce simulated spectra for any admixture of 14N and 15N. The algorithm makes use of `iterative loops' to model Brownian rotational diffusion and for the repeated evaluation of the spectral correlation function (relaxation function).


Education And Women Mathematicians In The Middle East, Syeda Tooba Zahra Jan 2014

Education And Women Mathematicians In The Middle East, Syeda Tooba Zahra

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Middle Eastern women have made important contributions in the field of Mathematics. The purpose of this thesis is to understand the educational background for women in the Middle East and look at the life and contribution of a sample of women mathematicians in representative Middle Eastern countries such as Turkey, Lebanon, Iran, and Pakistan.


The Role Of Distress Tolerance And Expectancies In Women's Alcohol Consumption, Cathryn Glanton Holzhauer Jan 2014

The Role Of Distress Tolerance And Expectancies In Women's Alcohol Consumption, Cathryn Glanton Holzhauer

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The current study explored risk factors for alcohol misuse in women. Past research suggests that negative emotions and stress responsivity may be causally related to alcohol use in women. Based on negative reinforcement models of alcohol use, it was hypothesized that low levels of behavioral distress tolerance (behavioral DT; defined as the ability to persist in goal-directed behavior in the face of psychological distress) may put women at greater risk of alcohol misuse particularly in the context of positive expectancies about the tension-reducing qualities of alcohol. Additionally, the study explored physiological underpinnings of behavioral distress tolerance, and particularly how skin …


The Mediating Effect Of Self-Awareness In The Relations Of Self-Compassion And Training Variables To Therapist Self-Efficacy, I-Ching Grace Hung Jan 2014

The Mediating Effect Of Self-Awareness In The Relations Of Self-Compassion And Training Variables To Therapist Self-Efficacy, I-Ching Grace Hung

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Therapist self-awareness is widely regarded by educators and clinicians as an essential factor that allows psychotherapists to treat clients effectively (Ridley, Mollen, & Kelly, 2011b). Accordingly, a central goal of therapist training is to increase self-awareness, which is believed to lead to important training outcomes, such as stronger trainee self-efficacy in clinical abilities (e.g., Barnes, 2004; Daniel, Roysircar, Abeles, & Boyd, 2004). Despite this common belief, there is a scarcity of theory and research on the role of self-awareness in affecting therapist training outcomes (Pieterse, Lee, Ritmeester, & Collins, 2013). Using a Social Cognitive Model of Counselor Training (SCMCT; Larson, …


Northeast Cool-Season Cyclones Associated With Significant Upper-Level Easterly Wind Anomalies, Adrian Mitchell Jan 2014

Northeast Cool-Season Cyclones Associated With Significant Upper-Level Easterly Wind Anomalies, Adrian Mitchell

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

A subset of Northeast U.S. cool-season cyclones is associated with upper-level easterly flow and, occasionally, well-defined easterly jet streaks. These events occur approximately once per year and may be associated with retrograding surface cyclones and precipitation caused by northerly warm-air advection, leading to forecast challenges. The deepest extratropical cyclone that affected the Northeast U.S. during the 2009-2010 cool-season was associated with an upper-level easterly jet streak, and produced a record snowfall total of 85 cm in Burlington, Vermont. Orographic precipitation enhancement in this case resulted from an interaction of the low-level flow with the complex topography of northern Vermont. This …


Effective Entity Resolution Methodology For Improving Data Quality And Reliability Of Service-Oriented Applications, Ewa Musial Jan 2014

Effective Entity Resolution Methodology For Improving Data Quality And Reliability Of Service-Oriented Applications, Ewa Musial

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation proposes new paradigms for improving the testing, reliability of service-oriented applications as well as the quality of data. Since it is difficult to track information flowing through the multiple tiers of an application, testing service-oriented systems can be very challenging. We present a methodology for testing service-oriented applications that takes into account all the components, including services, external services, and data components. The results of our experiments demonstrate that this approach greatly improves the effectiveness of testing service-oriented applications.


Mechanisms Of Dna Synthesis And Fidelity By Y-Family Translesion And C-Family Replicative Polymerases, Purba Mukherjee Jan 2014

Mechanisms Of Dna Synthesis And Fidelity By Y-Family Translesion And C-Family Replicative Polymerases, Purba Mukherjee

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Since the discovery of the DNA polymerase by Arthur Kornberg nearly 60 years ago, there have been great advances in understanding the involvement of polymerases in replication and repair. Years of genetic, biochemical and structural studies have lead to the classification of DNA-dependent DNA polymerases into six families: A, B, C, D, X and Y. In this work, I have focussed on two different families, C and Y. Hence this work is divided into two parts. Part one discusses the studies on Y-family polymerases. All Y-family polymerases are involved in replicating past DNA lesions. The ability to tolerate unnatural nucleotides …


Refugee Protection And Assistance : Locating Gender In Refugee Policies, Programs, And Experiences, Mwaka Nachilongo Jan 2014

Refugee Protection And Assistance : Locating Gender In Refugee Policies, Programs, And Experiences, Mwaka Nachilongo

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

REFUGEE PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE: LOCATING GENDER IN


Momentum And Spin In Entropic Quantum Dynamics, Shahid Nawaz Jan 2014

Momentum And Spin In Entropic Quantum Dynamics, Shahid Nawaz

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

We study quantum theory as an example of entropic inference. Our goal is to remove conceptual difficulties that arise in quantum mechanics. Since probability is a common feature of quantum theory and of any inference problem, we briefly introduce probability theory and the entropic methods to update probabilities when new information becomes available. Nelson's stochastic mechanics and Caticha's derivation of quantum theory are discussed in the subsequent chapters. Our first goal is to understand momentum and angular momentum within an entropic dynamics framework and to derive the corresponding uncertainty relations. In this framework momentum is an epistemic concept -- it …


Condom Use Among Married Women In India, Claire Arielle Nicolas Jan 2014

Condom Use Among Married Women In India, Claire Arielle Nicolas

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Recent research on HIV/AIDS in India has not focused on married women, although married women have shown increasing rates of infection. This study examines how condom use among married women varies by regional and residential location, and further examines how the variation may be explained by a set of potential mediators. My theories used in this study are Urbanization, Information-Motivation-Behavioral Model, and Gender Theory to capture how society and location may not only provide women with the necessary education about HIV/AIDS prevention, but also motivate them to put that knowledge to use. Using the Demographic and Health Survey for India …


Adult Learners Of English Interacting With Native Speaker Teachers And Non-Native Speaker Teachers : Exploring Differences In Students' Language Use, Melody Hallenbeck Nadeau Jan 2014

Adult Learners Of English Interacting With Native Speaker Teachers And Non-Native Speaker Teachers : Exploring Differences In Students' Language Use, Melody Hallenbeck Nadeau

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This mixed-methods study examined the lived experience of adult English Language Learners (ELLs) in classrooms led by native speaking teachers, compared with their experience in classrooms led by non-native teachers. The socio-cognitive approach to language and emergent common ground framed the development of the English classroom as a Community of Practice, in which students produced varying levels of complex, formulaic, metaphorically dense speech.


Analysis Of Mass Fragmentation Patterns Using Dart-Ms And Gcms For Drugs Of Abuse, Teresa Anne O'Neill Jan 2014

Analysis Of Mass Fragmentation Patterns Using Dart-Ms And Gcms For Drugs Of Abuse, Teresa Anne O'Neill

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Drugs of abuse have been a major problem for law enforcement departments. The structures of the drugs, as well as the ever changing trends in abuse, make it difficult and time consuming to analyze using modern techniques such as GC-MS. DART-MS is a rapid technique that requires no pre-treatment or re-concentration to analyze a sample. Samples of amphetamines, cathinones and cannabinoids were analyzed using DART-MS and GC-MS in order to provide fragment patterns that would make it easier to identify an unknown drug. Using DART-MS, isomers can be differentiated as well as identified rapidly, which is an advantage over GC-MS. …