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Work Across The Generations: Communication Narratives Of Stay-At-Home Fathers In Early And Middle Adulthood, Alice L. Jones

Communication & Theatre Arts Theses

The notion of work whether it is done inside or outside the home represents a complex and shifting pattern of social relationships, gender role identities, and ideologies. For an increasing numbers of men, who represent the population of fathers labeled as "stay-at-Home Dad" [SAHD] or "stay-at-home father" [SAHF], these changes have created special challenges, controversies, and raised questions about cultural expectations concerning the transition from that of a stigmatized role to that of a "new, involved father" (Eranta & Moisander, 2011; Rochlen, 2008). Increased participation by men in roles that challenge traditional and long standing gender role norms and expectations …

Virginia Sea Grant Charter Signed, Richmond Times-Dispatch

News Items

No abstract provided.

Proceedings, Msvscc 2015, Old Dominion University, Department Of Modeling, Simulation & Visualization Engineering, Old Dominion University, Virginia Modeling, Analysis & Simulation Center

Modeling, Simulation and Visualization Student Capstone Conference

The Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC) of Old Dominion University hosted the 2015 Modeling, Simulation, & Visualization Student capstone Conference on April 16th. The Capstone Conference features students in Modeling and Simulation, undergraduates and graduate degree programs, and fields from many colleges and/or universities. Students present their research to an audience of fellow students, faculty, judges, and other distinguished guests. For the students, these presentations afford them the opportunity to impart their innovative research to members of the M&S community from academic, industry, and government backgrounds. Also participating in the conference are faculty and judges who have volunteered …

Editor And Journal Information

Virginia Journal of Science

Editor and journal information for Virginia Journal of Science, vol. 66, no. 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2015

93nd Annual Meeting Best Paper Awards

Virginia Journal of Science

List of award winning papers by section from the 93rd Annual Meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science, 2015

Table Of Contents

Virginia Journal of Science

Table of Contents for Virginia Journal of Science, vol. 66, no. 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2015

Circulation, Vol. 20, No. 2, Center For Coastal Physical Oceanography, Old Dominion University, Ben Hamlington

CCPO Circulation

Spring 2015 issue of Circulation, featuring the article "Uncovering Anthropogenic Sea Level Rise" by Dr. Ben Hamlington

Examining Disordered Eating Amongst Sorority Women, Andrea Joy Kirk

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Eating disorders have the capability of causing significant effects on a person's psychological and physical health. The average onset of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa is 19 and 20 years, respectively, making college students a vulnerable population (National Institute of Mental Health, n.d.). Female college students choosing to participate in Greek life are at an even greater risk for disordered eating (Basow, Foran, & Bookwala, 2007). Using semi-structured interviews and photography, this phenomenological study examined the overall experiences of 10 sorority members' lived experiences with various disordered eating behaviors as well as how these women perceived their sorority sisters' eating …

Effect Of Psychological Capital On Elementary Teacher Stress And Workplace Affect, Scott Stephen Casad

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Calling upon principles of positive psychology, the quantitative study used structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore the relationships between teacher psychological capital (PsyCap), role ambiguity, role conflict, role overload, workplace stress, job satisfaction, job commitment, and intention to quit. Valid and reliable instruments from the literature were incorporated into a 64-item survey and distributed to 830 third through fifth grade teachers at seven northern Virginia school districts. In total, 225 complete responses were received. SEM testing rejected the exact-fit hypotheses and revealed insufficient overall fit between the study data and hypothesized models; thereby, providing no support for the proposed causal …

A Phenomenological Case Study Concerning Science Teacher Educators' Beliefs And Teaching Practices About Culturally Relevant Pedagogy And Preparing K-12 Science Teachers To Engage African American Students In K-12 Science, Janice Bell Underwood

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

Due to the rising diversity in today's schools, science teacher educators (STEs) suggest that K-12 teachers must be uniquely prepared to engage these students in science classrooms. Yet, in light of the increasing white-black science achievement gap, it is unclear how STEs prepare preservice teachers to engage diverse students, and African Americans in particular. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to find out how STEs prepare preservice teachers to engage African American students in K-12 science. Thus, using the culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) framework, this phenomenological case study explored beliefs about culturally relevant science teaching and the influence of …

Exploring The Effect Of Climate Change On Biological Systems, Nardos Sori

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

The present and potential future effect of global warming on the ecosystem has brought climate change to the forefront of scientific inquiry and discussion. For our investigation, we selected two organisms, one from cyanobacteria and one from a cereal plant to determine how climate change may impact these biological systems. The study involved understanding the physiological and adaptive responses at both the genetic and protein function levels to counteract environmental stresses. An increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide is a key factor in global climate change and can lead to alterations in ocean chemistry. Cyanobacteria are important, ancient and ubiquitous organisms …

Command And Control In The Information Age: A Case Study Of A Representative Air Power Command And Control Node, Marvin Leo Simpson Jr.

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

As operations command structures change, it is important to be able to explore and understand their fundamental nature; researchers should unearth the gestalt nature of the operational node. The organizational structure and the infrastructure can significantly affect overall command and control (C2) performance. Thus, it is necessary to develop understanding of effectiveness of the technical network and the people using the system as a whole.

The purpose of this research is to conduct an analysis of a representative Air Power Operational C2 node, create and use a repeatable method, and present the results as a case study to elicit fundamental …

Investigation Of The Potential For Algaenan To Produce Hydrocarbon Based Fuels From Algae By Hydrous Pyrolysis, Wassim Adel Obeid

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

The use of algae as a feedstock for hydrous pyrolysis has a high potential for producing biofuels. The non-food nature of algae in addition to the various advantages associated with the hydrous pyrolysis process makes this combination for the production of biofuels of high interest. However, current results from algae processing have alluded to some challenges: byproducts arising from the thermal transformation of carbohydrates and proteins, which become incorporated in the oil fraction, result in high oxygen and nitrogen contents of the oil. Accordingly, this produces an oil of low quality for refineries. This dissertation investigates use of a pretreatment …

Development Of Analytical Sensitivity Analysis For Ahp Applications, Marie L. Ivanco

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Decision makers often face complex problems, which can seldom be addressed without the use of structured analytical models. Mathematical models have been developed over the last 50 years to streamline and facilitate decision making activities. The Analytic Hierarchy Process constitutes one of the most utilized Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Methods. While AHP has been thoroughly researched and applied, the method still shows limitations in terms of integrating profile disparities of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). This thesis develops an analytical sensitivity analysis method for AHP based on local partial derivatives to address these limitations. Four examples are presented to demonstrate and validate …

Governing Bodies: Caster Semenya And The Rhetorical Management Of Sex And Gender Ambiguity In Professional Athletics, Samuel Robert Evans

English Theses & Dissertations

Sport has long been thought of as an "opiate for the masses," where a collective can forget about social, political, racial, or economic differences and unify to compete in the same space or root for a common team (Eitzen and Sage 202). Scholarship in sports communication, sports rhetoric, and sports sociology, however, has shown that this view of sport as an apolitical cultural institution separate from impactful political debate is oversimplified. Rather, sports are key sites in which beliefs about gender, race, class, and politics are made manifest.

This dissertation uses the case of Caster Semenya, a female South African …

Exploring The Neuropeptides, Neuropeptide Receptors And Neurotransmitter Receptors In The Synganglia Of Part-Fed Females Of Ornithodoros Turicata (Argasidae) And Ixodes Scapularis (Ixodidae) With Insights Into Their Roles In Contrasting Biology, Noble I. Egekwu

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

The neurobiology of the synganglion (central nervous system) of the Lyme disease tick, Ixodes scapularis and the soft tick Ornithodoros turicata was evaluated using Illumina GAII high throughput sequencing which generated high coverage cDNA libraries (transcriptomes). These ticks exhibit different biological patterns of feeding, blood meal water, and salt elimination, cuticle plasticity versus cuticle synthesis, development and reproduction. RNA sequencing of I. scapularis, and Ornithodoros turicata yielded a total of 117,900,476 raw reads which were assembled to 30,838 contigs and a total of 63,528,102 also assembled to 132,258 contigs, respectively. Comparison of Gene Ontology (GO) mapping success for genes …

Molecular Phylogenetics And Historical Biogeography Of The Tribe Chiococceae (Rubiaceae), Sushil Kumar Paudyal

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Chiococceae are a monophyletic assemblage of morphologically very diverse groups of plants ranging in habit from subshrubs to shrubs to tall trees exhibiting an astonishing variation in shapes and sizes of corolla, and kinds of fruits and seeds. They are primarily distributed in the Neotropics but also occur in the West Pacific islands; thus exhibiting amphi-Pacific tropical disjunction. This study addresses the phylogenetic relationships and biogeography of the Chiococceae using molecular DNA sequence data, and presents novel data on the tribal and generic delimitations, intergeneric relationships, and the origin and dispersal of this group.

In the most recent tribal delimitations …

Isogeometric Analysis For Electromagnetism, Tahsin Khajah

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The combination of numerical analysis with the scanning technology has been seeing increased use in many research areas. There is an emerging need for high-fidelity geometric modeling and meshing for practical applications. The Isogeometric Analysis (IGA) is a comprehensive computational framework, which integrates geometric modeling and meshing with analysis. Different from other existing numerical methods, the IGA can generate analysis ready models without loss of geometrical accuracy. In IGA, the continuity and the quality of a solution can be conveniently controlled and refined. These features enable IGA to integrate modeling, analysis, and design in a unified framework, the root idea …

Adsorption-Style Activated-Sludge: Is It A Practical Treatment Process In North America?, Jon Dearmond

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Adsorption/Bio-Oxidation (A/B) processes occupy a small footprint and can be exceptionally energy efficient to the point of being energy positive in optimum conditions. They have the ability to handle industrially influenced municipal wastewater with high pH and BOD swings. The A/B plant configuration also appears to be a great platform for shortcut nitrogen removal processes because of the controlled carbon diversion capabilities of the adsorption stage (A-stage). In Europe, these plants have been successfully implemented at full scale since the early 1980s. However, in the U.S. there is a false conventional wisdom that plants operating at very low SRT's will …

Zero-Inflated Models To Identify Transcription Factor Binding Sites In Chip-Seq Experiments, Sameera Dhananjaya Viswakula

Mathematics & Statistics Theses & Dissertations

It is essential to determine the protein-DNA binding sites to understand many biological processes. A transcription factor is a particular type of protein that binds to DNA and controls gene regulation in living organisms. Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by highthroughput sequencing (ChIP-seq) is considered the gold standard in locating these binding sites and programs use to identify DNA-transcription factor binding sites are known as peak-callers. ChIP-seq data are known to exhibit considerable background noise and other biases. In this study, we propose a negative binomial model (NB), a zero-inflated Poisson model (ZIP) and a zero-inflated negative binomial model (ZINB) for peak-calling. …

Blue Carbon In Coastal Freshwater/Brackish Marshes On The Barrier Islands Of Virginia: Belowground Carbon Dynamics, Nathan M. Sedghi

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Some coastal ecosystems sequester substantially more carbon (blue carbon) than land locked systems due to high net primary production and deposition associated with oceanic influences. Most blue carbon research has focused on mangroves, seagrass beds, and salt marshes. Studies on blue carbon potential of coastal freshwater marshes are less common. Barrier islands frequently flood, with seawater reaching interior ecosystems. I examined brackish/freshwater marshes on Virginia barrier islands for possible roles as blue carbon systems. I studied four interior marshes on Hog Island, which varied in proximity to a direct overwash path and protection by a trail berm that divides northern …

In Vivo Near Ir Fluorescent Imaging Of Hollow Polymeric Nanocapsules, Venkata Suresh Patthipati

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Medical Imaging has been an integral component in medical diagnosis and therapeutics. It is frequently used in conjunction with other treatment modalities and has been used for developing applications that range from cancer management to clinical practice. Nanotechnology and its applications are foreseen to have a profound impact on life sciences. Nanomaterial based imaging has a significant potential in addressing medical challenges such as tumor localization, targeted delivery of drugs and real time diagnosis and management of circulation pathology. In particular, polymer based nanoparticles are increasingly being developed as they can be customized according to the diagnostic and/or therapeutic requirements. …

Multichannel Characterization Of Brain Activity In Neurological Impairments, Yalda Shahriari

Biomedical Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Hundreds of millions of people worldwide suffer from various neurological and psychiatric disorders. A better understanding of the underlying neurophysiology and mechanisms for these disorders can lead to improved diagnostic techniques and treatments. The objective of this dissertation is to create a novel characterization of multichannel EEG activity for selected neurological and psychiatric disorders based on available datasets. Specifically, this work provides spatial, spectral, and temporal characterizations of brain activity differences between patients/animal models and healthy controls, with focus on modern techniques that quantify cortical connectivity, which is widely believed to be abnormal in such disorders. Exploring the functional brain …

The Effects Of Propofol, Sodium Pentobarbital, And Ketamine Hydrochloride On In Vitro Mouse Embryonic Development, Tyler C. Balak

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

Every year more than 75,000 pregnant women are exposed to teratogenic medications or general anesthesia during non-obstetric surgery in the US,1-4 and embryonic effects of general anesthesia are of particular interest in laboratory research and veterinary medicine. The mouse system is used to screen potential toxic effects of anesthetics used in egg retrieval for in vitro fertilization (IVF), or those of pharmacologic agents which may come in contact with the egg or early embryo. Mouse preimplantation 2-cell embryos were exposed in vitro to incremental concentrations of common general anesthetics within and exceeding the normal clinical dosage range for mice (propofol …

A Survey Of Aquatic Organisms For The Cyanotoxin Beta-Methylamino-L-Alanine (Bmaa), Ian M. Sammler

OES Theses and Dissertations

Cyanobacteria blooms are increasing globally as a result of eutrophication. Many cyanobacteria are potentially harmful, not only because of the oxygen depleted zones created when they decay, but also because of the toxins they produce. β- Methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA), reportedly produced by many species of cyanobacteria, is a non-proteinogenic amino acid that has been linked to the development of neurodegenerative diseases (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer's) in humans. This study presents results from an assessment of BMAA in cyanobacteria and their grazers from the lower Chesapeake Bay and Lake Erie regions. BMAA was analyzed in samples prepared with the EZ:Faast™ …

Potential For Biocontrol Of Environmental Vibrio Spp. By Predatory Bacteria Bacteriovorax, Patrick Tennis

OES Theses and Dissertations

The scale of predator-prey interactions varies from the iconic (e.g., lions and gazelles) to the microscopic (e.g., protists and bacteria). Bdellovibrio-and-like-organisms (BALOs) are bacteria that prey upon other Gram-negative bacteria, including pathogens. In particular, the halophilic genus Vibrio, many species of which are disease agents, has been shown to be susceptible to attack by BALOs. One motivation of the present research is to assess the potential for biocontrol of Vibrio by Bacteriovorax. This investigation is the first to test the susceptibility of Vibrio strains (n = 26) originating from a variety of geographic locations to predation by …

Doppler Shifted Internal Waves In A Shallow Water Region, William D. Boll

OES Theses and Dissertations

Measurements of velocity fields from a high frequency ( 1.2 MHz) vertical acoustic doppler current profiler (V ADCP) along with density and temperature profiles were taken in coastal waters on the New Jersey shelf. Time series span six consecutive months from May through October 2003, capturing the transition of the water column from a highly stratified summer into a fully mixed winter season. Barotropic tides interact with variations in local bathymetry causing disturbances within the fluid medium which govern internal wave characteristics. During the months of June, July, and August, a high number of internal wave signals were observed. Spectra …

The Behavioral Causes Of Reproductive Skew In Cooperatively Polygynandrous Acorn Woodpeckers (Melanerpes Formicivorus), Anna C. Brownson

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Reproductive skew, the degree to which reproduction is shared among same-sex individuals in a social group, is a pattern affected by ecological conditions, sociality, cooperation, and the inter- and intrasexual behavior of individuals in complex animal societies. Transactional and compromise skew models assume that high skew is the product of dominance hierarchies among cobreeders, yet this has rarely been tested. Both model types fail to incorporate the decisions of more than two individuals, generally overlooking the effect of female behavior on male reproductive success in multi-male groups, and are ineffective at predicting skew in larger groups characterized by more than …

Blue Carbon In Freshwater / Brackish Marshes On The Barrier Islands Of Virginia Aboveground Net Primary Productivity And Carbon Pools, Emily Caitlin Adams

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

"Blue carbon" is a relatively new concept describing carbon distributed tidally and sequestered via net production within coastal ecosystems, including seagrass beds, mangrove forests, and salt-water marshes. These systems sequester carbon at least 10 times faster than terrestrial systems. Fresh to brackish wetlands that receive irregular tidal influence due to overwash and storm events have not been typically studied as blue carbon systems. My objective was to quantify carbon pools within four interdunal fresh to brackish marshes on Hog Island, Virginia to determine their blue carbon potential. Marshes 1 and 2 were farthest from the ocean, below and above a …

Plasma Activated Air Mediates Gene Transfer, Chelsea M. Edelblute

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Cold plasma is produced when strong applied electric fields accelerate free electrons, which dissociate, excite, or ionize gaseous molecules [1]. The deposition of ions from the plasma source is dependent on power generation, input gas composition, and gas flow rate. In the presence of reactive species, the membrane of eukaryotic cells is compromised allowing for otherwise impermeant molecules, such as DNA, to enter the inner-cell milieu [2].

The efficacy of a novel cold plasma reactor based on shielded sliding discharge for the delivery of plasmid DNA was assessed. The device is entirely non-contact, wherein the plasma never directly touches the …