Digital Commons Network^™

Digital Humanities, Access, And The Teaching Of Russian Language And Culture, Irene Krasner, Thomas Jesús Garza

Russian Language Journal

In their introduction to the January 2020 issue of the PMLA dedicated to varieties of Digital Humanities (DH), Booth and Posner (2020) describe the “interdisciplinary collaboration,” “technical experimentation,” and the promotion of “public engagement and humanistic knowledge and understanding” that DH offers scholars and practitioners (10). They go on to reflect on the past two decades of research and practice in the expansion of DH through information studies, libraries, and departments of English. In a related manner, it is our intention to provide both an overview of the history of DH in academia generally, and also its applications to the …

The Algorithmic Mashrabiya: Reimagining The Traditional Islamic Screen, Ahmed Nour

Theses and Dissertations

Traditionally, a mashrabiya was an ornate wooden structure attached to the side of an Arabian building or house, with small, intricately patterned openings to provide both ventilation and privacy for the people inside. The patterns, following the geometric rules of Islamic ornament, lent a distinctive appearance to buildings in the region. A mashrabiya converted the house into a safe, private sanctuary, providing a magical scene inside, characterized by linear sun rays, filtered points of light and shadow. Over time, as building technology changed and the number of skilled craftsmen dwindled, the traditional mashrabiya has all but vanished. The aim of …

Kaleidoscope Wellness | Destigmatizing Mental Health For Teens By Design, Rhode L. Baptiste

Theses and Dissertations

Motivation

Mental health is a global public health crisis. (Marcus et. al, 2012; WHO, 2020). Although there is a growing acceptance of the complexities surrounding mental illness, care delivery for adolescents with mental health concerns remains highly stigmatized, which contributes to delays in care (Hoisington et. al, 2019; Burns & Birrell, 2014). Half of all mental illnesses can be detected prior to the age of 14 (National Alliance for Mental Health, 2020). While research exploring how the physical health care environment impacts health and well-being for patients has evolved immensely over the past two decades, research on how facility design …

Herlands: Imperial Feminisms From Charlotte Perkins Gilman To Wonder Woman, Anna Jankovsky

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The society of women is a trope of feminist utopian fiction in which a group of women live together in harmony without the influence of men to disrupt their society. This trope functions on five criteria: 1) The society must be able to defend itself and replenish itself without the assistance of men. 2) It must be fully isolated and nearly impenetrable from the outside world 3) It must have a utopic order of society untroubled by ambition. 4) It must be infiltrated and challenged by a man during the course of the story. 5) It must grapple with the …

The Transcorporeal South: Bodies And Ecologies In Twentieth-Century Southern Literature, Tiffany Morgan Messick

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation proposes that transcorporeality offers an alternative to Cartesian dualistic modes of embodiment in Walker Percy’s, The Moviegoer, Zora Neale Hurston’s, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Richard Wright’s, Native Son, and Carson McCullers’s The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Opposing the division between mind and body as theorized by René Descartes, transcorporeality advances the body’s porosity, maintaining that the individual is enmeshed within the material world and that this entanglement consubstantiates consciousness. Examining the works of Descartes, focusing especially on the ways that Cartesian ideas have been applied in Southern culture, I contend that a Cartesian definition of subjectivity, …

The Monster As Queer Opportunity: Monstrous (Re)Construction, Embodiment, And Approbation On The Boulet Brothers' Dragula, Adam Harrison Reedy

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

While mainstream tides in the drag industry have largely come to signify the art form’s growing popularity, there exist multiple alternative artists and communities who have yet to find space for their expressions to thrive and find praise. The Boulet Brother’s Dragula is constructed out of such need, giving a space to alternative, radical, or “monster” drag artists who have experienced the pains of ridicule, alienation, and alterity in both queer and heteronormative spaces. Prior research on drag artistries has often glossed over alternative drag artistries, comparing them to popular or heteronormative representations while also focusing disproportionately on gender presentation. …

Examining The Relationship Between Acculturative Stress And Religion/Spirituality Among International Students, Ly'jerrick Ward

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between acculturative stress and religion/spirituality of international students. This study utilized Sandhu and Asrabadi’s (1994) Acculturative Stress Scale for International Students (ASSIS) as well as the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire (SCSORF) created by Plante and Boccaccini (1997). Much research exists on how international students adapt and acculturate to a host country. This research will add to the body of literature that exists regarding how international students use their religion/spirituality to deal with acculturative stress. Students in this study were asked a number of questions from the ASSIS …

An Exploration Of The Perception Of Faith Development At A Midwestern Public Institution, Zachary Sandoval

Masters Theses

Despite research indicating benefits to religious or faith involvement, there is an increase in individuals that claim to have no religious affiliation. Additionally, most research that has investigated faith development of college students has been conducted at private religious institutions. This qualitative study utilized semi-structured interviews to examine students’ perceptions of various interactions on their faith development at a public, rural Midwestern institution. Moreover, this study investigated how the institution of interest can better support spirituality on campus and the role student affairs can have on spiritual development. Thematic material was developed through Parks’s (2000) theory of faith development. Results …

Heteronormativity In Healthcare: Neoliberalism, Bio-Politics, And Necropolitics, Grace Avila

Master's Theses

This thesis will discuss heteronormativity in healthcare. It will take a social science and theoretical approach to acknowledge LGBTQ+ health disparities, apply theoretical approaches to why these disparities exist, and offer solutions to combat health disparities experienced by sexual and gender minorities. Neoliberalism, bio-politics, and necropolitics will be the theoretical approaches utilized to understand the basis of disparities experienced by the LGBTQ+ community. Neoliberalism will include themes of capitalism and public health policies which influence discrimination in healthcare. Bio-politics will outline how the intersection of the biological body and politics can exacerbate health disparities through the power of controlling bodies. …

Feasibility And Effectiveness Of Self-Administered Mood Vectoring Playlists In The Treatment Of Anxiety Symptoms, Katie A. Bautch

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This is a mixed-methods pre-experimental clinical effectiveness trial that examines the effectiveness of a self-administered one-directional mood vectoring playlist in the management of symptoms of anxiety. This study used the Spielberger State Trait Anxiety Inventory, as well as a self-report Likert-type scale where participants rated their anxiety symptom severity, to explore the impact of the playlist intervention. Qualitative interviews sought to identify themes common among participants who were daily high responders and those who were daily low responders to the intervention in order to determine for whom this intervention would be most or least effective.Management of anxiety symptoms is particularly …

Annual Report 2020-2021, Depaul University College Of Computing And Digital Media

CDM Annual Reports

LETTER FROM THE DEAN

As I write this letter during the beginning of the 2021–22 academic year, we have started to welcome the majority of our students to campus— many for the very first time, and some for the first time in a year and a half. It has been wonderful to be together, in-person, again. Four quarters of learning and working remotely was challenging, to be sure, but I have been consistently amazed by the resilience, innovation, and hard work of our students, faculty, and staff, even in the most difficult of circumstances. This annual report, covering the 2020–21 …

Sites Of Memory In Lao Pdr: The Role Of Tourism In Post-Conflict Reconciliation Processes, Angela Morgan

All ETDs from UAB

During the Second Indochina War (known to Americans as the Vietnam War), the United States conducted a “secret war” from 1964 to 1973, dropping more than 2 million tons of bombs over Laos, including 270 million cluster sub-munitions. Up to 30% of ordnance did not detonate, leaving about 80 million live sub-munitions to contaminate the land (along with other live ordnance such as large bombs and landmines). Fourteen of Laos’ 17 provinces, and around 25% of its 10,500 villages, are contaminated by this unexploded ordnance (UXO). Clearance efforts have been underway since 1994, but progress is slow, and UXO impacts …

The Effects Of Pubertal Timing On Psychosocial Outcomes In Adulthood, Marlon Goering

All ETDs from UAB

Pubertal timing has been shown to be an important predictor of adolescents’ engagement in delinquent activities, development of depressive symptoms, and academic success. Less understood is whether early or off-time pubertal timing put adolescents at risk for detrimental outcomes. Additionally, little is known about whether the effects of pubertal timing dissipate during adolescence or persist into adulthood and what underlying mechanisms may explain any persisting effects and whether these effects vary by sex. The present study aimed to answer these questions in an understudied population of predominantly African American males and females, focusing on peer deviance and school connectedness as …

The Association Between Sleep Disturbance And The Neurocognitive Function In Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease, Tiffany D. Tucker

All ETDs from UAB

Background and objective: Youth with sickle cell disease (SCD) without neurological complications continue to be at increased risk of neurocognitive difficulties. Nocturnal hypoxemia is associated with neurocognitive outcomes and has been identified as a chronic complication in youth with SCD. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between sleep disturbances and neurocognitive functioning in youth with SCD, while taking into account demographics and socioeconomic factors. Methods: Youth with SCD were identified through retrospective chart review who underwent a standardized polysomnography (PSG) and completed a neuropsychological testing battery to assess cognitive skills, including verbal comprehension, working memory, processing …

Functions Of Drosophila Hp1 Proteins In Transcriptional Regulation, John Schoelz

All ETDs from UAB

The Heterochromatin Protein 1 (HP1) family are a group of non-histone chromosomal proteins with functions in many essential DNA processes. The HP1 family is highly conserved, and many eukaryotic genomes contain multiple HP1 genes. Individual paralogs specialize in specific functions, although they do have overlapping roles in some processes. In Drosophila, there are three HP1 paralogs expressed in somatic cells: HP1a, HP1B and HP1C. All three of these proteins have previously been implicated in both the positive and negative regulation of transcription. Furthermore, the three proteins share binding sites and colocalize broadly throughout the Drosophila genome. Here, we investigate individual …

Evaluating The Regulation And Effect Of Innate Immune Gene Expression On Melanocyte Biology, Alex D. Dawson

All ETDs from UAB

Anecdotally, humans can experience loss of hair color or hair graying after infection or vaccination yet our understanding of how melanocyte biology and the innate immune system interact is incomplete. Mouse models of hair graying have been used to reveal numerous mechanisms that adversely affect the melanocyte system within the hair follicle, and one such mouse model highlights a molecular link between the transcription factor SOX10, melanogenesis and innate immune dysregulation. SOX10 is a transcription factor critical for neural crest development and melanogenesis, and when overexpressed in the Tg(Dct-Sox10)CF1-10 mouse line causes a sensitivity to viral mimic Poly(I:C) that results …

Kinetic Mechanism Investigations Of Nucleotide Addition Catalyzed By Rna Polymerase I And Ii, Zachariah M. Ingram

All ETDs from UAB

Eukaryotes contain at least three multi-subunit DNA dependent RNA polymerases (Pol I, II, and III). The three Pols are responsible for synthesizing specific RNAs. Pol I synthesizes the majority of the ribosomal RNA (rRNA), Pol II synthesizes all messenger RNA (mRNA) and most regulatory RNA, and Pol III synthesizes transfer RNA (tRNA) and the 5S rRNA. Despite the three Pols all synthesizing RNA, mechanistic differences are present between the polymerases. One example is the nuclease activity for each enzyme. Pol I and Pol III contain intrinsic nuclease activity conferred by specific subunits, whereas Pol II requires the association of the …

From Classrooms To Polluted Communities: Scientific Inquiry In Birmingham, Alabama And Beyond, Sarah Jeanne Adkins-Jablonsky

All ETDs from UAB

Nearly half of all U.S. students who declare science majors in college do not graduate with science degrees within six years. Improvements in science outcomes are linked with active-learning pedagogies such as Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs). However, despite the need for education reform particularly in Alabama, active-learning interventions are severely understudied in Alabama universities. Chapter 1 describes novel CUREs at four colleges in Birmingham, AL: The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB); Jefferson State Community College (JSCC), Samford University (SU), and Birmingham Southern College (BSC). Chapter 2 shows how an agar art CURE, The Art of Microbiology, impacts student …

Socioeconomic Status In Adolescence And Dna Methylation In Young Adulthood, Malcolm Barker-Kamps

All ETDs from UAB

Children from low socioeconomic status (SES) families are at a greater risk of negative health outcomes in adulthood, in part from chronic stress. The chronic stress of these experiences may become biologically embedded through DNA methylation in stress-related genes. However, the effects of specific SES dimensions during childhood or adolescence on later epigenetic profiles in adulthood are not well understood. The present study examined the roles of two objective SES dimensions and two subjective SES dimensions experienced in early adolescence in DNA methylation in young adulthood. The analyses focused on two genes, NR3C1 and SLC6A4, because their methylation has been …

Caregiving And Depressive Symptomatology: Multi-National Testing Of Role Strain Theory, Jessica Valles

All ETDs from UAB

While several studies have shown that caregiving duties are correlated with poor mental health outcomes, little is known about this association and how it varies by the type of care provided, as well as the other types of social roles that the caregiver occupies. Furthermore, the nature of these associations amongst caregivers who have been diagnosed with a chronic condition themselves is also unclear. Role Strain theory offers a foundation by which we can begin to understand the level of burden that results from occupying multiple social roles including that of caregiving. Using dating from the WHO Study on Global …

Effects Of Chemical Dispersant (Corexit® Ec9500a) On Gill Structure And Function, And The Associated Crustacean Hyperglycemic Hormone Mediated Stress Response In The Blue Crab (Callinectus Sapidus), Amanda Christine Weiner

All ETDs from UAB

Chemical dispersants are fast becoming the most widely used tool in the remediation of spilled oil. The sheer magnitude of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill necessitated the use of multiple forms of remediation at scales never attempted. As a result, there is a critical need to understand how the spill and ensuing cleanup efforts impacted the surrounding ecosystem and its inhabitants. The goal of this research is to better understand the impact of the chemical dispersant (Corexit®EC9500A) on a key ecological and economic species, the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus), in the Gulf of Mexico. The first part of my dissertation …

Importance Of The Zebrafish Model For Understanding Nutrition, Michael Britt Williams

All ETDs from UAB

The common zebrafish Danio rerio is a useful model for human health. Effective utilization of this model required development of husbandry and reproductive protocols as well as genomic sequencing and creation of relevant molecular techniques. However, the dietary needs of the species remain woefully under investigated. At this time no chemically-defined open source diets are available to the zebrafish research community. Consequently, those labs utilizing the zebrafish model rely on commercial diets that may not provide adequate nutrition and lack consistency needed for rigorous and reproducible research. The first focus of these studies was to examine the current state of …

Polymeric Vesicles: Design, Synthesis And Characterization, Yiming Yang

All ETDs from UAB

Synthetic nanovesicles, known as liposomes, are assembled from synthetic lipids as encapsulation devices for delivery of small molecules and are now a key component of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. Due to their similarity to a cell membrane, liposomes also find use in anticancer treatment to reduce toxic side effects of chemotherapy. However, synthetic liposomes may require a multi-step synthesis, and very often show poor physical and chemical stability. In contrast, polymeric vesicles (polymersomes) assembled from synthetic polymers can boast much better mechanical and chemical stabilities and provide stimuli responsiveness that can enhance targeted drug delivery and provide drug release on-demand. Polymersomes …

Topics In Low Dimensional Dynamical Systems: Interval Rotation Numbers And Laminations, Sourav Bhattacharya

All ETDs from UAB

The goal of this thesis is to study two broad disciplines: \emph{One Dimensional Dynamical Systems and Complex Dynamical Systems} in the spirit of \emph{``Developing efficient machinery to make conclusions about the dynamics of a given map $f$ from reduced information''}. In \emph{One Dimensional Dynamical Systems}, we accomplish the above stated goal by studying the \emph{forcing relation} among \emph{over-rotation numbers} of points on the interval. We began by discovering peculiar \emph{patterns} named \emph{very badly ordered patterns}, having no \emph{block structure} over an \emph{over-twist pattern}. It has been proved that unlike \emph{circle maps} these patterns \emph{surprisingly} don't \emph{force} a lower \emph{over-rotation number} …

Social Inclusion Among People With Mobility Limitations In The Global South, Shane Burns

All ETDs from UAB

An estimated 15% of the world’s population have a disability—roughly 80% of whom live in the Global South. People with disabilities experience profound social disparities that affect their quality of life and social inclusion. Due to the array of cultural perspectives and institutional capacities around the globe, provision of disability rights can come with its challenges. In many cultural contexts, people have moral beliefs about disability that result in shame. More medicalized beliefs toward disability are often the result of medical infrastructure that offers goods and services. Using a framework that arrays these moral and medical dimensions, I theorized that …

Examining The Pathophysiology Through Which Violence Exposure Varies With Functional Brain Connectivity And The Psychophysiological Response To Stress, Heather Elizabeth Dark

All ETDs from UAB

Violence exposure during childhood and adolescence is associated with susceptibility to internalizing disorders such as depression and anxiety. The relationship between childhood violence exposure and internalizing disorders may be explained by changes in brain function. For example, childhood maltreatment, including violence exposure, is associated with changes in brain regions that are important for emotion regulation. Reciprocal connections among these brain regions are important for healthy responses to stress. Thus, examining how childhood violence exposure varies with acute stress-induced changes in functional brain connectivity and psychophysiological stress responses may elucidate how childhood violence exposure may contribute to susceptibility to internalizing disorders. …

The Function Of Tgfβr3 (Betaglycan) In The Differentiation And Proliferation Of T Cells, Samuel Duesman

All ETDs from UAB

TGFβR3 is a membrane bound co-receptor to many members of the TGFβ superfamily of ligands and is broadly expressed in the human body. TGFβR3 is known to modulate immune system function, but its exact role is at this time poorly understood. Work by Aleman-Muench et al., (2012) suggests that TGFβR3 regulates T cell development in the thymus. In order to further investigate the role of TGFβR3 in the immune system our lab developed a mouse which lacks TGFβR3 selectively in mature T cells. The contribution of TGFβR3 on in vivo activation and differentiation of T cells was investigated by utilizing …

Stress, Inflammation, And Mood: A Role For Leptin?, Kathleen Hodgin

All ETDs from UAB

Prior research has suggested a possible role for the proinflammatory adipokine leptin in depression. Leptin has also been associated with stress, a known predictor of depression. The purpose of this project was to investigate associations between stress, leptin, and depressed mood. We used data from a larger observational study that collected daily levels of plasma leptin and self-reported stress and depressed mood from 55 women over 25 days. Women with and without chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) were included. We hypothesized the following: increased stress would be associated with both worsened mood and higher leptin, and that leptin would be positively …

Predictors Of Subjective And Objective Everyday Functioning In Middle-Aged And Older Adults With Hiv, Alexandra Elaine Jacob

All ETDs from UAB

People with HIV (PWH) are at an increased risk for everyday functionalimpairment, especially as they age. The purpose of this study was: (1) to identify factors associated with subjective and objective instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) difficulty in PWH and (2) to identify factors associated with awareness of functional capacity. This cross-sectional study included 261 PWH. Participants completed a comprehensive neurobehavioral assessment, including self-report and performance-based measures of everyday functioning. Hierarchical multiple regressions were performed to identify health, psychological, and cognitive factors that contribute to subjective and objective evaluation of everyday functioning. We also examined factors that predicted a …

Laser Spectroscopy, Amplification, And Laser Properties Of Fe:Znse Mid-Ir Gain Media Under Er:Yag Laser Excitation, Krishna Karki

All ETDs from UAB

Many organic molecules exhibit strong and narrow absorption in the middle infrared (mid-IR) 2-8 μm and long-wavelength-infrared (LWIR) 8-20 μm spectral ranges. Hence, this infrared laser radiation is of interest for spectroscopy, remote sensing of atmospheric constituents, oil prospecting, as well as the number of applications such as free-space optical communication, laser surgical and dental treatment, and many defense-related applications. Transition metal (TM) doped II-VI semiconductors exhibit highly favorable spectroscopic properties for many mid-IR laser applications. Among these materials the most significant results have been obtained with the use of Fe:ZnSe crystals because of their unique properties such as broad …