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States' Public Health Funding And Population Health Outcomes: An Examination Through A Socio-Ecological Lens, Maureen K. Akubu-Odero

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The US public health system has been underfunded for decades, despite its significant mandate of improving overall population health outcomes. This ecological study evaluates the association between state public health funding and population health outcomes and the role of state public health funding in reducing state-level health disparities. The findings show that the relationships between public health investments and improvements in health outcomes and health disparity in states are moderated by socioeconomic contextual factors. The findings suggest a need for continued and increased public health investments, tailored to community needs and context

The Role Of Motivation In Community Partner Perceptions Of Service-Learning, Jayda P. Felder

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The current study sought to determine how community partners’ varying motivations for participating in collegiate service-learning programs relates to their perceptions of service-learning. Prior research has demonstrated a plethora of positive outcomes for students who partake in courses with service-learning requirements, but research investigating the outcomes for the organizations that host these students is less common, and research investigating the link between their motives and perceptions is nonexistent. Based on this gap in the literature, the quantitative, evidence-based Perceptions of Service-Learning Scale was developed for the current study to assess how community partners perceive their experiences with service-learning across four …

Characterization Of Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes And Polystyrene/Cnt Composites Prepared With Microwave-Induced Polymerization, Allen Hulette

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The use of carbon nanotubes in polymer composites can increase the mechanical properties of the resulting product. Carbon nanotubes are known to have chemical interactions that make them attracted to one another and fall out of solution. To reduce this agglomeration and disperse the mechanical properties throughout the composite, functional groups are covalently added to the carbon nanotubes. Another known property of carbon nanotubes is their ability to absorb microwaves and convert it into other forms of energy. This research investigates the effects of carbon nanotube absorption of microwaves and initiation of styrene monomer polymerization. Grignard reactions are used to …

Murder She Wrote: Victorian Women And Deviant Desires, Sarah E. Knowles

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Sensation fiction allows Victorian women the space to develop apart from the desired angel in the house archetype that is prominent within the realist genre. Pamala Gilbert and Janice Alan are among scholars that outline the social construction of sensation fiction through the middle- and upper-class perceptions as the reader’s reactions elicit the desired sensational effect. However, what is causing these reactions? In order to analyze sensation fiction’s social influence on women more closely, it should be studied alongside its muse, realism to further understand the potential reactions of Victorian audiences. There are clues found within Victorian marriages that uncover …

Highway Stormwater Runoff On-Site Treatment Using Bioslope With New Media Of Biochar Amended Topsoils, Ahmed I. Yunus

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) has constructed various treatment facilities on its right-of-way (ROW) to collect and treat highway stormwater runoff, emphasizing total suspended solids (TSS) removal. The permit performance goal set by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) is 80% TSS removal. Current stormwater best management practice (BMP) treatment facilities include complex and permanent infrastructures such as bioslope, bioretention basins, sand filters, infiltration trenches, and grass channels. Among these BMPs, bioslope has been becoming more popular due to its applicability for roadway embankments and areas with limited ROW constraints. It removes pollutants effectively by physical filtration and chemical adsorption …

Development Of Novel Pyridazine Derivatives And Drug Delivery Systems Against Dengue, Janae A. Culmer

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The lack of approved vaccines, medications and treatment regimens has significantly contributed to the rapid spread of mosquito-borne viruses such as Dengue and Zika virus. The complex immunopathology of these viruses presents limitations for the development and implementation of a definitive, safe and effective approach to combat infections.Previous research has demonstrated that vector control strategies such as the elimination of larval habitats, larviciding with insecticides, the use of biological agents and the application of adulticides have been unsuccessful in the reduction of viral transmission leading to the need for the continued development of antivirals. This research proposes an approach for …

Effects Of Unpaved Roads On Relative Abundance And Epigenetics Of Early Successional Lizards, David Tevs

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Unpaved roads may provide uniform microhabitat characteristics and impart edge effects in the adjacent landscape that mediate environmental pressures acting on small vertebrates. These features may allow species that are associated with recent disturbance to persist in aging forest patches. Further, epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation may provide these species the phenotypic plasticity necessary to occupy multiple habitats with different environmental conditions. To understand how small vertebrates use unpaved roads, the relative abundance and occurrence of Florida scrub lizards (Sceloporus woodi) and six-lined racerunners (Aspidoscelis sexlineata) were quantified using visual encounter surveys along unpaved roads …

Analysis Of Spatial Discrepancies Between 76-Foot Close Range Photogrammetric And Terrestrial-Lidar Models, Abdoul K. Ouangre

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This study presents an analysis of the accuracy of a 3D model generated by two different methods. In the first method, the 3D model is generated via Laser Scanning. In the second method, the 3D model is generated via Close-range Photogrammetry from a drone flying at 76 feet above the ground. Photogrammetry is a photo-based technique that uses images to generate 3D models of objects where distances could be extracted from. Close-range photogrammetry is the approach of generating a 3D model from a camera placed anywhere between 1 foot and 1000 feet relative to the object. Terrestrial LiDAR is the …

Portrait Of A School Shooter: A Threat Assessment Perspective, Wanda C. Shelton

Southeast Conference on School Climate

Part one of this presentation will lead the learner through a school shooting event, but will include not just the events that led up to the shooting, but the events that led to better understanding the shooting. Data will be presented from interviews with the shooter himself over a two year period, his teachers, and his friends. Rarely has an educator been allowed access to a convicted school shooter to learn about how the school could improve its safety measures for the future. Part two will look at school violence in communities across American and attendees will see how supports …

The Effect Of Resource Scarcity On Consumer Ethical Behavior, Todd C. Haderlie Jr, Jaehoon Lee

AMTP Proceedings 2022

We identify a novel relationship between scarcity and ethical behavior. When resource scarcity is made salient, consumers engage in less ethical behavior. Furthermore, the effect of resource scarcity on ethical behavior is stronger for consumers with high (vs. low) levels of the inclusion of others in the self (IOS).

Behavior And Chemical Signals As Markers Of Colony Identification In Argentine Ants (Linepithema Humile), Stephanie A. Rohrbach

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Argentine ants, Linepithema humile, are a highly successful invasive species around the globe and are especially prominent in states such as California and the southeastern United States. L.humile have a unique form of unicoloniality, called “supercolonies”. L. humile can detect colonymates through scent markers in their outer cuticle. With these chemical markers, ants will exhibit high aggression if they smell different from one another. In our study, we performed aggression assays among ten different nest sites and analyzed their CHCs through gas chromatography mass spectrometry, or GC-MS, analysis. For our behavior results, while within-nest interactions displayed low aggression as …

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Reinforcement Learning: Low Discrepancy Action Selection For Continuous States And Actions, Jedidiah Lindborg

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

In reinforcement learning the process of selecting an action during the exploration or exploitation stage is difficult to optimize. The purpose of this thesis is to create an action selection process for an agent by employing a low discrepancy action selection (LDAS) method. This should allow the agent to quickly determine the utility of its actions by prioritizing actions that are dissimilar to ones that it has already picked. In this way the learning process should be faster for the agent and result in more optimal policies.

The Tragedy Of Caspian: C. S. Lewis And His Trauma, Chandler Hanton

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This thesis reconsiders C.S.Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia as a type of scriptotherapy that enabled Lewis to process and come to terms with a life full of serious and significant traumatic events. Trauma theory offers a vehicle for us to consider the alignments and connections between Lewis himself and his fictional creation, Caspian. In the specifics of both characterization and incident, Lewis mirrors the events and relationships that instilled and healed the trauma in his own life. In situating Caspian as his alter-ego, Lewis allowed his writing to function as a gender-specific therapeutic process for addressing the effects of his …

Florida Sand Skink And Blue-Tailed Mole Skink: Expanding Geographic Coverage Of Genetic Analysis For Conservation, Emma Simpson

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The Lake Wales Ridge is important scrub habitat that has been increasingly altered since the post-Columbian settlement in Florida. This loss of habitat has caused extreme anthropogenic fragmentation within the Lake Wales Ridge resulting in isolation among extant scrub patches. To expand the geographic scope of previous studies and answer questions concerning population connectivity, we characterized genetic diversity and differentiation using cytochrome-b and microsatellite genetic markers for two endemic skink species: the Florida Sand Skink (Plestiodon reynoldsi) and Blue-tailed Mole Skink (Plestiodon egregius lividus). Both species display historical isolation between central and southern Lake Wales Ridge …

Analysis Of Bio-Alcohols With Mie-Scattering And Ltc For Lowered Emissions In Pcci, Cesar E. Carapia

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

An investigation was conducted on the optimal engine parameters for facilitating lower NOX and soot emissions of PCCI combustion with either ethanol or n-butanol. The PFI fuels selected were tested at loads of 3, 4, and 5 Bar IMEP for a total of 28 total combustion tests with variations made to the EGR% and boost pressure for each test in order to find the optimal emissions strategy. A Mie-scattering spray fuel analysis was also conducted on the three fuels to gain insight on their influence on combustion/emissions characteristics. It was found that ethanol had a greater average Sauter Mean Diameter …

The Funeral's The Thing: Unification Through The Burial Rite In Hamlet, Ferrell J. Mowell

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The funeral service is an ancient custom that is deeply cultural, and Shakespeare uses it prominently in Hamlet. The play's ending with Fortinbras commanding a military-like tribute for Hamlet is somewhat surprising because Hamlet was never a soldier, and he has breached the etiquette of funeral rites in the cases of Polonius, by withholding the remains immediately after the death, and Ophelia by making a spectacle with Laertes in her grave. Additionally, he has arranged for the execution before the observance of confessional rites in the case of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Hamlet's dead march is an example of how …

Stop, Then Go! Rapid Acceleration Offsets The Costs Of Intermittent Locomotion When Turning In Florida Scrub Lizards, Cheyenne Walker

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Intermittent locomotion is a commonly used escape strategy with a wide array of potential benefits. Pausing may aid in locating a predator, crypsis, lowering energy costs, and avoiding obstacles. Turning may also benefit from intermittent locomotion by allowing an animal time to assess its surroundings; therefore, decreasing the chances of making a mistake and/or stumbling. Florida scrub lizards live in environments with a variety of obstacles such as turns. The goal of this study is to quantify the locomotor behavior and performance by lizards while navigating a 45° or 90° turn. Lizards were run along both a 45° and 90° …

Does Race Have An Influence On The Athletic Trainer-Coach Relationship, Cayce M. Sloan

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Introduction: Interpersonal relationships are the most frequent types of relationships individuals maintain on a daily basis. Rapport provides the foundation necessary to build positive interpersonal relationships, specifically, collegial relationships such as the relationship between the athletic trainer and coach. However, facilitators and barriers exist that may hinder relationships. Specifically, race appears to influence relationships, but to date, it appears race has not been examined in the athletic trainer-coach relationship. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the facilitators and barriers to building rapport in race-discordant athletic trainer-coach relationships and to examine the role race plays within the athletic …

Culture For Sale, Jessica L. Cartwright

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

In a post-colonial world, one would expect much of the servitude of the past to have ended, but this is not the case. In places such as the Bahamas new forms of or neo- colonialism has come to exist specifically under the guise of tourism. Writing amidst the end of colonialism in the twentieth century, Franz Fanon argues that sblack person exists in a liminal state. They must assimilate to the white society in order to be accepted, but not so much so thatbecause that it threatens whiteness. It is through Fanon’s writing on race that I have developed a …

Using Ai-Enabled Gaze Tracking System To Understand Comprehension Patterns Of Computer Science Students, Bradley Boswell

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Academic institutions and instructors lack the ability to accurately assess the moment-to-moment attentiveness of students in classrooms where students’ faces are obscured by computer monitors. This can cause the lectures of Computer Science, Information Technology, or other lab-based courses to be incorrectly-paced, which can lead to students having an overall poorer grasp of the subject material. We propose a system for real-time accurate detection of classroom attentiveness using monitor-mounted webcams and eye trackers, along with a Convolutional Neural Network machine learning model (NiCATS). Through the use of a neural network, we produce an initial attentiveness score based on student webcam …

Proof-Of-Concept: Safety Hazard Identification And Impact Minimization Using 3d Bim And Vr Devices Through The Case-Studies, Sudeep Pangeni

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Construction hazard is a global issue. Despite numerous research studies, safety guidelines and procedures, fatalities and severe injuries still occur on construction job sites. This research has been performed to identify the research gaps and potentially improve worker behavior along the most hazardous tasks during construction execution using 3D Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Virtual Reality (VR) devices. A safety hazards-related questionnaire for civil engineering and construction students, superintendents, safety, and project managers across six different states including the state of Georgia was deployed. The questionnaire was distributed via an online platform to identify and approach the hazards which occur …

Rural Feminism And Perspectives Of Women Farmers In The Agriculture Industry: "I Don't Think I'D Want To Be A Man In This Industry", Cassie M. Duncan

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Women currently make up 36% of the workforce in the agriculture industry and are actively growing in number (National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2017). Historically, women’s roles in the agriculture industry were silent or ignored, which has had consequences for women, such as poorer quality of life (Meares, 1997). Today, women are becoming more and more involved in the agriculture industry, but still face inequality in the workplace due to their gender. This research aims to understand the day-to-day experiences and impact of gender for women who work in the production agriculture industry; and by doing so, expand Feminist Theory to …

Population Genomics Of Redbreast Sunfish (Lepomis Auritus): Exploring Gene Flow And Local Adaptation In A Widely Distributed Freshwater Fish, Garret J. Strickland

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Little information is available concerning the distribution of genetic diversity in non-salmonid, non-imperiled, freshwater fish. In order to fill in this knowledge gap, I conducted a population genomics survey in Redbreast Sunfish (Lepomis auritus; RBS), a widespread, generalist species distributed along the Atlantic slope rivers of eastern North America. I sampled four basins (ACF, Savannah, Roanoke, and James) at eight sites each with a factorial experimental design. Sites were distributed among coastal plain, Piedmont, or mountain ecoregions in order to capture the greatest range of environmental states experienced by RBS, with the intention of finding evidence for local adaptation to …

Nitrate Removal During The Shoulder Months In The Occoquan Reservoir: A Comprehensive Study, Km Risaduzzaman

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The artificial nitrate addition by the Upper Occoquan Service Authority (UOSA)’s Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) to the Occoquan Reservoir during the warmer months has been proven to be an efficient way of maintaining the water quality of the reservoir. During the warmer months, the water body became thermally stratified, resulting in hypolimnetic anoxia and the subsequent release of undesired matters from the reduced sediments. At the end of the warmer months, the temperature began to decrease, and by the beginning of winter, oxygen became ubiquitous in water because of fall turnover. This condition remained stable until the following thermal stratification; …

Male Color Badges Advertise Multiple Messages: Tradeoffs Among Color Badge Intensity, Size, And Ectoparasite Load, Katherine M. Roberts

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Condition-dependent signals can be used by conspecifics to obtain information on an individuals’ quality such as health, fighting ability, or immunocompetence. Variation in the severity of parasitic infections could mediate the differential expression of sexual signals in distinct populations of the same species. This could create diverse condition-dependent relationships between signals and quality. In this study, I examine the relationship between male signal expression and quality of Sceloporus woodi that inhabit areas with distinct ectoparasitic pressures. First, I examined if the brightness or size of male signals is indicative of body size or body condition in males without ectoparasites. Second, …

Epigenetic Buffering In Introduced House Sparrows, M. Ellesse Lauer

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Epigenetic buffering, as an environmentally induced increase in variance of epigenetic states that increases phenotypic variation to buffer populations against decreased fitness, may be a factor that resolves the genetic paradox of introduced species. DNA methylation is a molecular mechanism that could facilitate epigenetic buffering by changing in response to environmental stress. Therefore, epigenetic buffering can be detected through increased variance in DNA methylation in novel or heterogeneous environments. Introduced house sparrows (Passer domesticus) have well-documented phenotypic changes with low genetic diversity, high epigenetic diversity, and high variance in DNA methylation that provide a characteristic signature of epigenetic buffering. …

Neosublime, Reframing The Philosophical, Kathy Varadi

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Why have the sunsets and sunrises become so amazingly colorful and awe inspiring recently? Eighteenth century philosophers said such events were examples of the sublime. They defined the sublime as that which is the most absolutely great combined with an underlying element of fear usually caused by the actions of God. This infers that the sublime is something that you can’t fully understand or wrap your head around and leaves you speechless and spell bound. Contemporary art critics say that the sublime is no longer applicable to art because it has been overused. I disagree, and in my art, I …

Hemocyte-Mediated Immune Response To A Bacterial Infection In The Cat Flea (Ctenocephalides Felis), Melanie Muñoz

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Despite their continued medical and veterinary importance, the vectorial capacity of fleas (Order Siphonaptera) is often underestimated. Fleas are best described as ectoparasites of a variety of mammalian and aviary hosts. In humans, fleas are infamous for the transmission of several detrimental agents, including those that cause plague, murine typhus, and cat-scratch disease. Although their significance in flea immune responses remains unknown, phagocytic immune cells, known as hemocytes, are important players in the cell mediated immune response of insects. Among invertebrates, hemocytes provide defense against foreign microbes via phagocytosis, cellular encapsulation, and the production of humoral immune factors. As mentioned …