Digital Commons Network^™

Investigating Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions Of The Virginia Computer Science Standards Of Learning: A Qualitative Multiple Case Study, Valerie Sledd Taylor

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Computer science education is being recognized globally as necessary to better prepare students in all grade levels, K-12, for future success. As a result of this focus on computer science education in the United States and around the world, there is an increased demand for highly qualified teachers with content and pedagogical knowledge to successfully support student learning. As a result, there is a call to include and improve the computer science training offered to pre-service teachers in their educator preparation programs from methods courses to practicum and student teaching experiences. Thus, it is important to understand how pre-service teachers …

Meditation And Cognitive Function Research Study, Darrin Landry

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

Although research has shown that long-term guided meditation and mindfulness practices improve attention, memory, and processing speed, the research on the effects of short-term self-guided meditation on improving cognitive processing and memory is limited. This study examined whether a brief self-guided meditation practice improved cognitive processing speed and memory capacity. The participants engaged in a five-day program which consisted of taking an online mental speed test and memory recall test, then meditated for 15 minutes a day, for five days. After completing the five-day meditation program, the participants took the two cognitive processing tests again. The results on the test …

Circulation, Volume 26, No.2, Center For Coastal Physical Oceanography, Old Dominion University

CCPO Circulation

Spring 2021 issue of CCPO Circulation featuring the article, "Reconciling Models and Everyday Life," by Pierre St-Laurent.

Alaska Trip Geared To Support K-16 Climate Change Education Initiative, Joe Garvey

News Items

No abstract provided.

Gradient-Based Tradeoff Design For Engineering Applications, Lena Alexis Royster

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This research presents a formal method for gradient based tradeoff design including methods that extend to cases with singularities and cases with more performance characteristics then design variables. The goal is to find revised design variables that can achieve the targeted performance characteristics and remove any violations to the constraint functions. The tradeoff design problem is formulation in the framework of the Sequential Quadratic Programming and is solved using the gradient based method. The optimal solution is the search direction, s, which represents the most effective way to reduce the current objective and correct the current violation. In this research …

Cybersecurity Legislation And Ransomware Attacks In The United States, 2015-2019, Joseph Skertic

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Ransomware has rapidly emerged as a cyber threat which costs the global economy billions of dollars a year. Since 2015, ransomware criminals have increasingly targeted state and local government institutions. These institutions provide critical infrastructure – e.g., emergency services, water, and tax collection – yet they often operate using outdated technology due to limited budgets. This vulnerability makes state and local institutions prime targets for ransomware attacks. Many states have begun to realize the growing threat from ransomware and other cyber threats and have responded through legislative action. When and how is this legislation effective in preventing ransomware attacks? This …

Institutional Stretching: How Moroccan Ngos Illuminate The Nexus Of Climate, Migration, Gender And Development, Shelby Mertens

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The global migration crisis the world has experienced thus far is only the tip of the iceberg. As the earth’s temperature continues to warm and extreme weather conditions worsen, millions of people across the globe will be displaced, and women in particular will face more difficult challenges. What the climate migration literature fails to study is these longer-term impacts beyond sudden onset disasters. Governments and institutions will be forced to respond and adapt to the new reality resulting from the climate crisis. This research provides a case study of Morocco and, by using institutional ethnography, investigates how NGOs working in …

Biophysical Characterization Of The Par-4 Tumor Suppressor: Evidence Of Structure Outside The Coiled Coil Domain And Interactions With Platinum Chemotherapeutics, Andrea Megan Clark

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Prostate apoptosis response-4 (Par-4) is an apoptosis-inducing tumor suppressor protein. Full-length Par-4 has previously been shown to be a predominantly intrinsically disordered protein (IDP) under neutral conditions, with significant regular secondary structure evident only within the C-terminal coiled coil domain. However, IDPs can gain ordered structure through the process of induced folding, which often occurs under non-neutral conditions. Previous work has shown that the Par-4 leucine zipper, which is a subset of the C-terminal coiled coil domain, is disordered under neutral conditions, but forms a dimeric coiled coil at acidic pH. Increase in ionic strength was also shown to increase …

Predictions Of Knee Joint Contact Forces Using Only Kinematic Inputs With A Recurrent Neural Network, Kaileigh Elisabeth Estler

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

BACKGROUND: Knee joint contact (bone on bone) forces are commonly estimated using surrogate measures such as external knee adduction moments (with limited success) or musculoskeletal modeling (more successful). Despite its capabilities, modeling is not optimal for clinicians or persons with limited experience and knowledge. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to design a novel prediction method for knee joint contact forces that is equal or more accurate than modeling, yet simplistic in terms of required inputs. METHODS: This study included all six subjects’ (71.3±6.5kg, 1.7±0.1m) data from the opensource “Grand Challenge” datasets (simtk.org) and two subjects from the "CAMS" …

A New Method For Estimating The Physical Characteristics Of Martian Dust Devils, Shelly Cahoon Mann

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Critical to the future exploration of Mars is having a detailed understanding of the atmospheric environment and its potential dangers. The dust devil is one of these potential dangers. The transport of dust through saltation is believed to be the driving mechanism responsible for Martian weather patterns. The two primary mechanisms for dust transport are dust storms and dust devils. Dust devils on Mars are a frequent occurrence with one in five so called giant dust devils being large enough to leave scars on the surface that are visible from space. Due to the thin atmosphere, winds of 60 mph …

Evaluating The Role Of The Stringent Response Mechanism In Clostridioides Difficile Survival And Pathogenesis, Astha Pokhrel

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

The human pathogen Clostridioides difficile is increasingly tolerant of multiple antibiotics and causes infections with a high rate of recurrence, creating an urgent need for new preventive and therapeutic strategies. The stringent response, a universal bacterial response to extracellular stresses, governs antibiotic survival and pathogenesis in diverse organisms but has not previously been characterized in C. difficile. This dissertation explores the ability of C. difficile to mount the stringent response. The bacteria encode a full-length, canonical bifunctional Rel/Spo Homolog or RSH enzyme. C. difficile RSH is incapable of utilizing GTP as a substrate but readily synthesizes putative 5’-pGpp-3’ alarmones. …

Electrostatic Design And Characterization Of A 200 Kev Photogun And Wien Spin Rotator, Gabriel G. Palacios Serrano

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

High-energy nuclear physics experiments at the Jefferson Lab Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) require high spin-polarization electron beams produced from strained super-lattice GaAs photocathodes activated to negative electron affinity in a high voltage photogun operating at 130 kV dc. A pair of Wien filter spin rotators in the injector provides precise control of the electron beam polarization at the end station target. An upgrade of the CEBAF injector to better support the upcoming Moller experiment requires increasing the electron beam energy to 200 keV, resulting in better transmission through injector apertures and improved photocathode lifetime. In addition, the energy …

A Multi-Case Examination Of Training Of Self-Explanation When Combined With Worked Examples, Laura Leveridge Stapleton

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

As more students enter higher education unprepared for college level mathematics, amelioration of deficiencies may be a key barrier which, once faced, will increase overall college graduation rates (Attewell, Lavin, Domina, & Levey, 2006). Corequisite courses offer the opportunity for the underprepared learner to take the gateway mathematics course with support (Complete College America, 2012). Upon passing, mathematics and STEM courses will “unlock,” thus allowing the learner to successfully complete their degree requirements. Faculty are challenged to retain the rigor of college-level coursework while supporting learners who possess a wide range of mathematics levels (Daugherty, Gomez, Carew, Mendoza-Graf, & Miller, …

Spectator Proton Detection And Reconstruction In Deep Inelastic D(E,EpS) Scattering, David Payette

Physics Theses & Dissertations

A Radial Time Projection Chamber (RTPC) was designed and installed in Jefferson Lab's Hall B as part of the BONuS12 (Barely Off-shell Nucleon Structure) experiment. The goal of BONuS12 is to accurately measure the structure function of the neutron by scattering 11 GeV electrons and detecting them with the CLAS12 spectrometer. Deuterium gas was used as an effective neutron target, and the new RTPC was used to detect low- momentum spectator protons. Protons follow a curved path in the 5 Tesla solenoid that is part of CLAS12, ionizing the He-CO2 gas in an annular drift region surrounding the target. These …

Understanding The Effect Of Internal Climate Variability On 20th Century Indian Ocean Sea Level: Results From Newly Reconstructed Sea Level Data, Praveen Kumar

OES Theses and Dissertations

Densely populated low-lying coastal zones of countries that border the Indian Ocean are at risk due to sea level rise. However, sea level change in the Indian Ocean is poorly understood primarily due to short and sparse tide gauge observations. Although satellite altimetry provides accurate basin-wide sea level measurements, trends computed from its relatively short (~27-year) data record are heavily influenced by interannual to multi-decadal variability. To accurately project future Indian Ocean sea level trends using altimeter data it is imperative that trends associated with fluctuating internal variability (interannual-decadal) be identified and extracted, which in turn requires long (~100-year) data. …

School Finance Equity: An Intradistrict Equity Audit, Nicole Kathryn Duplain

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

This overview provides a synthesis of a comprehensive study of an intradistrict equity audit of one mid-Atlantic school district. The purpose of this study was to measure the intradistrict distribution of educational resources across elementary, middle, and high schools of one school district through an equity audit to determine whether or not the allocation and distribution of fiscal resources were equitable and adequate. This study utilized publicly available school-level expenditure data to determine the allocation and distribution of resources to expose any existing disparities. The researcher investigated any disparities in per-pupil expenditures, teacher quality, and academic achievement by examining Skrla, …

The Pursuit Of Equitable Virtual Learning: District Leaders’ Understanding Of The Influences On Designing 100% Virtual Learning Experiences During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kathleen Wolfe Maxlow

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam required all schools to close their doors from March 13, 2020, through the remainder of the school year, causing districts in the Commonwealth to create distance learning plans for PreK-12 education within a matter of weeks. The continued fluctuation of COVID-19 positive case numbers throughout the spring and summer led to several school districts choosing to open the 2020-2021 school year using a 100% virtual model for all students. This qualitative, grounded theory study sought to determine how superintendents understood the influences on the design of their district’s 100% virtual learning plans. …

Reconstructing Surface Water Carbonate Ion Concentration Changes In The Eastern Equatorial Pacific Across Glacial Transitions, Lenzie Gail Ward

OES Theses and Dissertations

Today, the eastern equatorial Pacific (EEP) plays a critical role in the global CO₂ budget as a major source of CO₂ to the atmosphere, but recent studies suggest the region may shift to a sink for atmospheric CO₂ under different climate states. Here, I focus on two transitional periods, the last deglaciation (25 kyr to present) and last glaciation (the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5a-4 transition, 96 to 60 kyr), to investigate how the carbon system in the EEP responds to major climate changes. I measured B/Ca ratios in the planktic foraminifera Globigerina bulloides from core MV1014-17JC …

Commissioning & Characterization Of Magnetized Gridded Thermionic Electron Source, Mark Stefani

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Collaborative efforts to design and fabricate a magnetized gridded thermionic electron source have been conducted between Xelera and Jefferson Lab. Commissioning and characterization of an electron gun fabricated by Xelera was performed to benchmark the viability of future electron source designs and capabilities. The work involved simulation, installation, trouble-shooting, modifications of the design, commissioning, characterization, and magnetization of the electron beam produced. A specially designed cavity as well as novel diagnostic tools and methods were developed, implemented, and experimentally tested. Finally, the gun was used to demonstrate a previously unachieved current of magnetized electron beam from a gridded thermionic source …

Feature Extraction And Design In Deep Learning Models, Daniel Perez

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The selection and computation of meaningful features is critical for developing good deep learning methods. This dissertation demonstrates how focusing on this process can significantly improve the results of learning-based approaches. Specifically, this dissertation presents a series of different studies in which feature extraction and design was a significant factor for obtaining effective results. The first two studies are a content-based image retrieval system (CBIR) and a seagrass quantification study in which deep learning models were used to extract meaningful high-level features that significantly increased the performance of the approaches. Secondly, a method for change detection is proposed where the …

Initial Development Of The Escala De Fortaleza En Jóvenes Para Padres, David Moran

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

National statistics indicate substantial mental health and academic challenges experienced by a sizable proportion of Hispanic children and adolescents in American school settings. School counselors can provide culturally responsive supports to this population and would benefit from contextually grounded, ecologically valid assessments that focus on the positive development of Hispanic children and adolescents. To address this instrumentation gap, this study sought to develop initial items for the Escala de Fortaleza en Jóvenes para Padres in both English and Spanish. A qualitative approach was implemented to explore the perceptions of Hispanic parents/caregivers of their child or adolescent’s resiliency. Eight Hispanic parents …

Encryption And Decryption With A Raspberry Pi Device, Taylor Powell

Undergraduate Research Symposium

The functioning of our modern digital world relies heavily on the security of modern encryption algorithms and their resistance to systematic attempts to access secure information. For the 2020 Department of Computer Science’s Raspberry Pi Programming Competition, I decided to explore encryption and decryption techniques available to any user with some programming knowledge and a desire to secure information from unwanted access.

I developed a program which allows a user to select between three types of encryption algorithms: a Caesar Cipher, a Vigenère Cipher, and a Stream Cipher. I also gave the user the option to further secure their encrypted …

Undetermined Coefficients: A Fully Generalized Approach, Taylor Powell

Undergraduate Research Symposium

In this presentation, I outline the development of a fully-generalized solution of linear, non-homogeneous differential equations with constant coefficients and whose non-homogeneous function is any product of sinusoidal, exponential, and polynomial functions. This particular method does not require the reader to work with annihilator operators or additional related ODEs, and only requires an understanding of summation notation, matrix multiplication, and calculus. Additionally, this method provides a straightforward way to develop a program to implement the technique, and potentially reduces the time-complexity for solutions with comparisons to other methods.

2021 Undergraduate Research Symposium: Full Program, Honors College, Old Dominion University

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Full program with schedule and abstracts for the 2021 Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Agenda- Hampton Roads Sea Level Rise/Flooding Adaptation Forum, Ben Mcfarlane, Wie Yusuf

March 19, 2021: Updates from Hampton Roads: Moving the Needle on Resilience

Agenda for the Hampton Roads Sea Level Rise/Flooding Adaptation Forum on March 19, 2021 via Virtual Forum.

• Opening Remarks and Introductions: Ben McFarlane, Hampton Roads Planning District Commission Dr. Wie Yusuf, Old Dominion University and Virginia Sea Grant
• Dr. Jessica Whitehead, ODU Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience (ICAR): Update on ODU ICAR
• Terry O’Neill, City of Hampton: Hampton’s Experience with Environmental Impact Bonds
• Dr. Joshua Behr, Virginia Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation Center, ODU: Recover Hampton Roads
• Dr. Daniel Richards, ODU and Ashley Gordon, Hampton Roads Planning District: Commission Flood Insurance Outreach: Calculating and Communicating Risk 11:20 AM Ben McFarlane, …

Extracting The Number Of Short Range Correlated Nucleon Pairs From Inclusive Electron Scattering Data, R. Weiss, A. W. Denniston, J. R. Pybus, O. Hen, E. Piasetzky, A. Schmidt, L. B. Weinstein, N. Barnea

Physics Faculty Publications

The extraction of the relative abundances of short-range correlated (SRC) nucleon pairs from inclusive electron scattering is studied using the generalized contact formalism (GCF) with several nuclear interaction models. GCF calculations can reproduce the observed scaling of the cross-section ratios for nuclei relative to deuterium at high x_B and large Q², a₂ = (σ_A/A)/(σ_d/2). In the nonrelativistic instant-form formulation, the calculation is very sensitive to the model parameters and only reproduces the data using parameters that are inconsistent with ab initio many-body calculations. Using a light-cone GCF formulation significantly decreases this sensitivity …

Predictive Modeling And Estimation Of The Doubling Time Of Confirmed Cases Of Covid-19 In Niger, Ibrahim Sidi Zakari, Hadiza Galadima

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Modeling is increasingly used to assess scenarios and make projections on the future course of new coronavirus disease. This allows for better planning of care as well as a relaxation or tightening of the restrictive measures decreed by the government and the health authorities. The data analyzed in this study covers the period from March 19 to June 05, 2020 and allowed predictions of new cases of COVID-19 based on a growth model with a growth rate that changes linearly over time. In addition, we calculated and predicted the doubling time of the number of positive cases in each region …

Wg2An: Synthetic Wound Image Generation Using Generative Adversarial Network, Salih Sarp, Murat Kuzlu, Emmanuel Wilson, Ozgur Guler

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

In part due to its ability to mimic any data distribution, Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) algorithms have been successfully applied to many applications, such as data augmentation, text-to-image translation, image-to-image translation, and image inpainting. Learning from data without crafting loss functions for each application provides broader applicability of the GAN algorithm. Medical image synthesis is also another field that the GAN algorithm has great potential to assist clinician training. This paper proposes a synthetic wound image generation model based on GAN architecture to increase the quality of clinical training. The proposed model is trained on chronic wound datasets with various …

Jessica Whitehead Named Joan P. Brock Endowed Executive Director For Old Dominion University’S Institute For Coastal Adaptation And Resilience (Icar), Sarah Huddle

News Items

No abstract provided.

Estimated 2020 Co2 Emission Reductions In Virginia’S Transportation Sector From Covid-19, Eden E. Rakes, Pamela R. Grothe, Jeremy S. Hoffman

Virginia Journal of Science

The initial lockdown phase of the COVID-19 pandemic presented an unfortunate opportunity to observe how abrupt, large-scale changes in traffic volume can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This study explores how carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from Virginia’s transportation sector may have been affected by the changes in activity stemming from COVID-19 to inform more carbon-neutral policies as the state recovers from the economic downfall. Emission savings were calculated by multiplying the percent change from 2019 to 2020 in traffic volume from the Virginia Department of Transportation with the business-as-usual 2020 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimate of CO₂ emissions …