Digital Commons Network^™

Elementary Teacher Experiences With English Language Learners With Special Education Needs In New York, Colleen Ann Cahill

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study aimed to understand teacher experiences working with English language learners (ELL) with or suspected of having a learning disability. This study also addressed the current problem of ELL students concurrently being under and over classified as needing special education services. This study explored the experiences of elementary school teachers in the state of New York. The participants were from different school districts within New York State. The participants all had experience teaching students who were designated ELL who were currently in the process of response to intervention (RTI) or had already been referred and classified as having …

Energy Planning Model Design For Forecasting The Final Energy Consumption Using Artificial Neural Networks, Haidy Eissa

Theses and Dissertations

“Energy Trilemma” has recently received an increasing concern among policy makers. The trilemma conceptual framework is based on three main dimensions: environmental sustainability, energy equity, and energy security. Energy security reflects a nation’s capability to meet current and future energy demand. Rational energy planning is thus a fundamental aspect to articulate energy policies. The energy system is huge and complex, accordingly in order to guarantee the availability of energy supply, it is necessary to implement strategies on the consumption side. Energy modeling is a tool that helps policy makers and researchers understand the fluctuations in the energy system. Over the …

Sustainable Wastewater Treatment Technology For Rural Communities, Yousra Ahmed

Theses and Dissertations

Egypt is considered the country with the largest population in the Middle East Region. It is also expected to have the most significant population increase. The main objective of the present research was to develop a sustainable and effective wastewater treatment technology based on locally available materials such as sand and fabric in the treatment process. From the results obtained from the different experimental runs, it can be concluded that the use of fabric-aided sand filters achieves significant removal efficiency, especially in terms of COD and TSS. The results indicated the technical feasibility of utilizing different fabric materials with nylon …

Optimization Of In-Vitro Tissue Culture And Transformation System For Sweet Sorghum Cultivars Using Immature Inflorescence, Logayn Abushal

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Sweet sorghum is a multi-purpose crop that can be used for human food, animal feed, and bio-fuel production. This crop is drought-tolerant and can therefore be grown in arid and semi-arid regions especially in marginal areas in Egypt. Nevertheless, production of Sweet sorghum cannot coup with the increasing demand in consumption as a food, and fuel due to a lag in scientific research regarding its genetic improvement. Therefore, genetic improvement of Sweet sorghum is innately required so that new traits of economic importance could be introduced; however, this can only be achieved through the establishment of a robust in-vitro …

The Issue Of Women In Science: Exploring The Gender Gap In Egypt's Scientific Research Productivity., Yomna Saleh

Theses and Dissertations

Research productivity and impact are highly valued in the scientific field. It is regarded as a significant determinant of career advancement, financial support, academic recognition, and prominent personal position. Unfortunately, this is an area that has demonstrated a long history of gender disparity. This quantitative study aims to validate and identify gender gaps concerning women’s research productivity to help assess effectiveness of interventions and policies aiming to improve female participation and representation in scientific research. Although, gender gap in scientific publications is a global phenomenon, but this should not mask potential variations at both the national and regional levels. Hence …

Boundary As Borderland: Mexico City’S Central Plaza And The Politics Of Presence, Re'al Christian

Theses and Dissertations

In the postcolonial era, the land surrounding national borders—the borderland—has inherited a specific identity and relationship with those who navigate it. While national borderlands are oft discussed amid conversations on globalization, land disputes, and war, the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries saw the new establishment of borderlands from within in the form of segregative boundaries that purported to separate Indigenous and European peoples. This thesis concerns the manifestation of the borderland as not only an external entity, but an internal one as well. Using Mexico City, the center of the Spanish colonial empire, as …

Evaluating The Use Of The L1 In A French Language Classroom, Joyce Esther Hiaumiti Guidi

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have explored how different balances of first language (L1) and target language (TL) use in a foreign language classroom impact students' fluency and proficiency in TL acquisition. Research has shown that the use of the L1 in a foreign language classroom is done in order to determine the most effective way to raise the proficiency of second language learners to the level that is expected within their classrooms (Lee & Muncie, 2006). The use of the L1 is not something that is uncommon, even in the highest levels of foreign language instruction, although some believe it could inhibit learner …

The “Muddle” Of Landscape And Machinery In E.M. Forster’S Howard’S End And A Passage To India: An Ecocritical Reading, Ryan Ignatius Vera

Theses and Dissertations

This is an ecocritical reading of E.M. Forster's A Passage to India and Howard's End. I argue that Forster is concerned with imperial power structures that damaged the environment, as well as the looming aftereffects of the Industrial Revolution on both landscape and the people that reside in it.

The Act Of Seeing And Being Seen: Visual Explorations Of Queerness And Memory In Alison Bechdel’S Fun Home, Vanessa Lopez

Theses and Dissertations

In the autobiographical illustrated novel Fun Home, Alison Bechdel uses various art styles and comic techniques to examine her father’s life as a closeted gay man and his tragic suicide, as well as her own childhood and experience with homosexuality. This thesis explores how Bechdel uses the medium of the graphic novel to showcase different visual perspectives and ways of bearing witness to the past, memory, trauma, and interpersonal relationships, showing how they converge to create the story of how one generation’s model of queer identity can impact and shape the next. Bechdel presents multiple points-of-view in her exploration …

Machine Learning Based Critical Resource Allocation In Mixed-Traffic Cellular Networks, Mohamed Nomeir

Theses and Dissertations

The proliferation of cellular networks over the past two decades has encouraged the expansion of their use in many modern applications. These applications involve the use of data traffic of different quality of service (QoS) requirements. Some of these requirements are quite stringent such as in the case of critical Internet of Things (IoT) health care, military and homeland security applications. This situation resulted in imposing a variety of resource allocation requirements on the cellular network operation in a simultaneous manner.

In this thesis, we consider the challenging problem of mixed-traffic resource allocation, or scheduling, in cellular networks. We focus …

The Social Effect Of The Imf Policies Post Arab-Spring In The Middle East, Noha Nafie

Theses and Dissertations

This study discusses how International Financial Institutions (IFIs), primarily the International Monetary Fund (IMF), have incorporated the social dimension when designing their reform programs in the Middle East. This research explores three case studies of IMF programs in Tunisia, Jordan and Egypt, and examines how the process of designing and implementing social protection programs has changed after the Arab Spring. The Egyptian case study provides an in- depth analysis of the design of Takaful and Karama in particular and its implementation. Moreover, it provides a future outlook on the protection programs in Egypt with implications for the wider MENA region. …

Framework For Enhanced Applicability Of The Egyptian Public Procurement Law To International Administrative Construction Contracts, Amr Abu Helw

Theses and Dissertations

Local governments and public authorities conclude contracts for the purpose of acquisition of goods, delivery of services and construction of public facilities like bridges, infrastructures and public buildings. A public contract is an agreement to perform particular tasks financed by government funds to the benefit of the whole community. Private entities and corporations are subject to stricter standards in their dealings with the government than in private transactions. Conversely, the government must deal fairly and equitably with those who it contracted with to achieve successful implementation of the projects. On October 3, 2018, a new Egyptian public procurement law, namely, …

Imf's Loan Conditionality: Negative Consequences In The Borrower Country And The Burden Of Responsibility, Sara Mohamed Osama Abdalla Atta

Theses and Dissertations

People often think that IFIs, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are prominent players in the global economy by providing funds to countries in need of development and sustainment of welfare, unfortunately these institutions can cause devastating effects in the borrower country. The harsh conditionality of the IMF plays a huge role in the negative economic consequences incumbent upon the borrower country. Meanwhile, the lack of legal remedies for private individuals suffering from the conditionality aggravates the consequences for these people. On the one hand, conditionality may strain the economy of the borrower country which leads …

A Comparison Of The Effects Of Heat Therapy And Exercise Training On Vascular Function During Passive And Active Exercise, Taysom Erica Wallace

Theses and Dissertations

Recent evidence suggests that heat, a major byproduct of exercise, may be the mediator for many vascular adaptations that come from exercise. Thus, heat therapy that increases muscle temperature in a comparable way to exercise may be an advantageous alternative for enhancing cardiovascular health in individuals where treatment with exercise is either not possible or undesired. PURPOSE: Compare the effects of exercise and heat training on resistance artery function at rest and during exercise. METHODS: Thirty-five (18 female) healthy, untrained subjects completed a 6-week training program utilizing either high intensity knee extension (KE) exercise (40 min), localized heat therapy (pulsed …

Investigation Of Lithium-Ion Battery Electrode Fabrication Through A Predictive Particle-Scale Model Validated By Experiments, Mojdeh Nikpour

Theses and Dissertations

Next-generation batteries with improved microstructure and performance are on their way to meet the market demands for high-energy and power storage systems. Among different types of batteries, Li-ion batteries remain the best choice for their high energy density and long lifetime. There is a constant but slow improvement in Li-ion batteries by developing new materials and fabrication techniques. However, further improvements are still needed to meet government and industry goals for cost, cycling performance, and cell lifetime. A fundamental understanding of particle-level interactions can shed light on designing new porous electrodes for high-performance batteries. This is a complex problem because …

Plastic, Pollution, Art, And The Caribbean, Celine Collazo

Theses and Dissertations

The impact of a growing ocean pollution problem can be seen on the trash-filled shores of Caribbean beaches. Through a contextualization of the work of three artists, Tony Capellán, Radamés ‘Juni’ Figueroa, and Alejandro Durán, this paper discusses the cause and effects of such detritus, and possibilities for change.

A Visually Realistic Simulator For Autonomous Evtol Aircraft, Seth M. Nielsen

Theses and Dissertations

Electrically powered vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft could provide a new mode of air transportation of people and cargo that is low-cost, on-demand, and able to reach more areas than is possible with current technology. They have the unique ability to takeoff and land in congested spaces yet efficiently travel long distances which makes them a promising technology for applications such as rapid medical assistance, automated package delivery, or human transportation. This type of aircraft has only recently become a possibility, owing to advancements in battery technology, computing power, and sensor technologies, and thus support for eVTOLs is lacking …

Design And Analysis Of Flexible Insulated Pavement For Cold Region Applications, Zhuang Zhuo

Theses and Dissertations

Pavements in cold regions suffer from additional deterioration due to the influences of extreme climate on frost-susceptible subgrade layers. To address this problem, one efficient strategy is to add a thermal insulating layer above the frost-susceptible layer. This study aims to evaluate the insulating effects of four materials: XPS boards, tire chips, foamed glass aggregates, and foamed concrete. Large-scale insulated pavement boxes (1.2m×1.2m×0.8m) were constructed to compare the thermal performance of different materials. The thermal performance of each box was evaluated and graded based on indicators related to the short-term temperature decrease and long-term temperature variation.

Experimental results show that …

Temperature Relaxation And Magnetically Suppressed Expansion In Strongly Coupled Ultracold Neutral Plasmas, Robert Tucker Sprenkle

Theses and Dissertations

Ultracold neutral plasmas provide a platform for studying transport properties in an idealized environment. In this dissertation, transport properties in a Ca$^+$/Yb$^+$ dual species ultracold neutral plasma and a Ca$^+$ magnetized ultracold neutral plasma are studied. In dual species plasmas, we study ion-ion temperature relaxation. We compare measured relaxation rates with atomistic simulations and a range of popular theories. Our work validates the assumptions and capabilities of molecular dynamic simulations and invalidates theoretical models in this regime. This work illustrates an approach for precision determinations of detailed material properties in Coulomb mixtures across a wide range of conditions. We also …

‘Stuck’ In The Waiting Room: African And Haitian Migrants Between Liminality And Mobility In A Mexican Border Town, Julia Hause

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the border town of Tijuana, Mexico as a site of fragmentation and rupture along the migration journeys of African and Haitian migrants transiting the South American-Central American corridor towards North American destinations. Extra-continental migration of migrants from Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean to Latin America has been an emerging migration trend as global migration governance becomes increasingly restrictive and externalized. U.S. immigration and asylum policies implemented at the southern border have made migrating and making claims to international protection difficult for those migrants who arrive at the border. These policies, coupled with the indefinite U.S. land border …

Behavioral Patterns Of Goldfish (Carassius Auratus) Exploring A “Fish Tower”, Sasha Prasad-Shreckengast

Theses and Dissertations

Fish are held in captivity at some of the highest numbers of any taxa, but their curiosity is rarely studied. With this study, we set the groundwork to investigate the presence and nature of curiosity in goldfish (Carassius auratus) via novel free-choice exploration opportunities by creating a “fish tower."

Identifying Micrornas Panel Associated With Hepatocellular Carcinoma In Serum Of Chronic Hepatitis C Patients, Areeg Dabbish

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) will reduce morbidity and mortality rates of this poorly diagnosed widely-spread disease. Dysregulation in microRNA (miRNAs) expression is associated with HCC progression. Objective: Is to identify a panel of differentially expressed miRNAs (DE-miRNAs) to enhance HCC early prediction in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients. Methodology: Candidate miRNAs were selected using bioinformatic analysis of microarray and RNA-sequencing datasets, resulting in nine DE- miRNAs (miR-142, miR-150, miR-183, miR-199a, miR-215, miR-217, miR-224, miR-424 and miR-3607). Their expressions were validated in the serum of 44 healthy individuals, 62 non-cirrhotic HCV patients, 67 cirrhotic-HCV and 72 HCV-associated …

Bayesian, Frequentist, And Information Geometry Approaches To Parametric Uncertainty Quantification Of Classical Empirical Interatomic Potentials, Yonatan Kurniawan

Theses and Dissertations

Uncertainty quantification (UQ) is an increasingly important part of materials modeling. In this paper, we consider the problem of quantifying parametric uncertainty in classical empirical interatomic potentials (IPs). Previous work based on local sensitivity analysis using the Fisher Information has shown that IPs are sloppy, i.e., are insensitive to coordinated changes of many parameter combinations. We confirm these results and further explore the non-local statistics in the context of sloppy model analysis using both Bayesian (MCMC) and Frequentist (profile likelihood) methods. We interface these tools with the Knowledgebase of Interatomic Models (OpenKIM) and study three models based on the Lennard-Jones, …

Development And Characterization Of An Underwater Acoustics Laboratory Via In Situ Impedance Boundary Measurements, Cameron Taylor Vongsawad

Theses and Dissertations

Modeling underwater acoustic propagation comes with a variety of challenges due to the need for proper characterization of the environmental conditions. These conditions include ever changing and complex water properties as well as boundary conditions. The BYU underwater acoustics open-air tank test-bed and measurement chain were developed to study underwater acoustic propagation within a controlled environment. It was also developed to provide ways to test and validate ocean models without the high cost associated with obtaining open ocean measurements. However, tank measurements require additional characterization of boundary conditions associated with the walls of the tank which would not be present …

Laser Forming Of Compliant Mechanisms And Flat-Foldable Furniture, Daniel Calvin Ames

Theses and Dissertations

Compliant mechanisms are useful for improving existing machines and creating new ones that were not previously possible. They also help us to think of new methods and technologies needed to both improve existing systems as well as manufacture systems that have not been done before. The purpose of this thesis is to show novel implementations of compliant mechanisms into folding systems, and to show new methods for fabricating such mechanisms with nontraditional materials and on difficult scales. Folding systems are shown in furniture applications with chairs, stools, and childcare furniture applications as results of research into how such structures could …

Finding Neverland? Artificial Intelligence And The Jurisprudence Of Legal Certainty, Omar Zaky

Theses and Dissertations

The development of artificial intelligence (AI) models that are capable of predicting the decisions of prominent courts – most notably the European Court of Human Rights and United States Supreme Court – provides us with an opportunity to revisit important jurisprudential debates regarding the quest for legal certainty. Through providing clear distinctions within formalistic jurisprudence, and its, subsequent, realist critique; this thesis seeks to analyze legal decision-making and its relationship with artificial intelligence. I argue that, AI’s deterministic nature and its support for the law being an “entirely self-contained process” does lend some credence to certain jurisprudential arguments. However, this …

Pentagonal Extensions Of The Rationals Ramified At A Single Prime, Pablo Miguel Rodriguez

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, we define a certain group of order 160, which we call a hyperpentagonal group, and we prove that every totally real D5-extension of the rationals ramified at only one prime is contained in a hyperpentagonal extension of the rationals. This generalizes a result of Doud and Childers (originally conjectured by Wong) that every totally real S3 extension of the rationals ramified at only one prime is contained in an S4 extension.

Prediction Equations To Determine Induced Force On Reinforcing Elements Due To Laterally Loaded Piles Behind Mse Wall And Lateral Load Test On Dense Sand, Pedro David Garcia Montesinos

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers performed 35 full-scale lateral load tests on piles driven within the reinforcement zone of a mechanically stabilized earth wall (MSE wall). Data defining the induced tensile force on the reinforcements during lateral pile loading was used to develop multi-linear regression equations to predict the induced tensile force. Equations were developed by previous researchers that did not consider the diameter of the pile, the fixed head condition, relative compaction, or cyclic loading. The purpose of this research was to include this tensile force data and develop prediction equations that considered these variables. Additionally, a full-scale lateral load test was performed …

An Analysis Of Two Photometric Redshift Methods And Their Uses For Finding Void Galaxies, Rochelle J. Steele

Theses and Dissertations

An extensive survey of extragalactic objects with accurate distances is difficult to perform. Distance at that scale is commonly found with redshift and most easily identified with spectroscopic observations, which are time intensive. This is especially a concern when surveying for the elusive, possibly non-existent dwarf galaxies in the centers of voids, whose light would be so faint that a spectroscopic survey to find them would be unreasonably time consuming. Photometric methods to calculate redshift could provide a much quicker way to find distance, but the photometric methods used thus far are characterized by large errors that make them unusable …

Pushing It To The Limit: Determining Asian Elephant (Elephas Maximus) Olfactory Sensitivity And Discrimination Through A Behavioral Choice Task, Matthew S. Rudolph

Theses and Dissertations

Elephants have shown remarkable olfactory capabilities. Their sense of smell impacts their foraging choices, behavior, and ultimately, survival. Being able to detect a target odor can allow elephants to locate specific resources, identify threats, and find receptive conspecifics. Previous studies have shown that elephants can consistently detect target odors, but have not identified the limits of this detection. Thus, to investigate the extent of elephants’ odor detection capabilities, we tested Asian elephants in a two-step odor discrimination task. First, we investigated whether elephants could detect odors at varying levels of dilution after a training procedure, and then whether they could …