Digital Commons Network^™

The Relationship Between Transformational Leadership And Affective Commitment And Intent To Leave The Organization: The Mediating Role Of Psychological Empowerment, Neiry Lara

Master's Theses

The leadership style of organizational leaders has important implications for organizations and their employees. Transformational leadership has been studied extensively due to the numerous positive outcomes. Unfortunately, not much research has focused on the mediating mechanism between transformational leadership and outcomes. Therefore, the present study explored the mediating role of psychological empowerment on the relationship between transformational leadership and the outcomes of affective organizational commitment and turnover intentions. It was hypothesized that psychological empowerment would act as a mediator between transformational leadership and affective organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Results of an online survey from 111 employed individuals showed that …

An Initial Study Of Properties Of Monolithic Silicon Dioxide Parts Produced By The Ceramic On-Demand Extrusion Process, Sam Sujit Choppala

Master's Theses

The ceramic on-demand extrusion (CODE) process is an additive manufacturing process for technical ceramics, which features an oil bath and partial drying to print stronger green bodies due to better preservation of the printed specimen structure and reduction of uneven part evaporation. A 3D printer capable of performing the CODE process is built with subsystems including motion, extrusion, and heating, and is controlled through LinuxCNC. The CODE printer and process is tested with silicon dioxide as the technical ceramic. High strength silicon dioxide parts are essential in various present-day industries such as dental, medical, and semiconductor. A 55vol% solids loading …

Attitudes Toward Social Activism By Professional Athletes, Aaron M. Flores

Master's Theses

Many professional athletes have raised awareness about and publicly protested social injustices. Athlete activism research has generally supported that such activism results in harsh backlash against the athletes, stemming from beliefs that politics and social justice protests do not belong in sports; patriotic/nationalistic values leading individuals to view such protests as un-American; and racial beliefs and attitudes, especially towards African American athletes. While robust, much of this research is theoretical or qualitative in nature and mainly examined reactions towards Black football players, with less focus on White athletes or those in different sports. To address these gaps, the current research …

Characterizing Metabolic Changes In Cancer Cells After Treatment With An Extract Created From Walnuts, Codey Y. Huang

Master's Theses

Cancer cells undergo metabolic reprogramming to meet the energy and metabolite demands of constant proliferation. Originally observed as the Warburg Effect, where cancer cells are more glycolytically active, recent research has shown that cancer cells can also utilize oxidative phosphorylation to meet these demands, better known as metabolic flux. Previous work from our lab showed that treatment with a Walnut Extract (WE) induced cell death in MDA-MB-231 and HeLa cells by destabilizing the mitochondrial outer membrane potential, suggesting that the extract may be able to impact oxidative phosphorylation. The aim of the current research was to further characterize the impact …

Amplifying Testimonios Of Latino Male Student Success, Jilian Gómez

Master's Theses

The purpose of this qualitative counternarrative ethnographic study was to explore the success stories and lived experiences of six Latino male students, utilizing an asset-based approach and consideration of intersectional identity, cultural wealth, and contextual settings. This asset-based theoretical framework, the Latino Male Student Success Paradigm, was developed and used to contextualize the Latino male students' testimonios of their experiences and how they advanced their academic success. A semi-structured interview protocol was used to invite testimonios from the research participants, which included discussions about their academic success. The testimonios provided insight into what facilitated their resiliency when facing adversity within …

Black, Green, And Young: A Case Study Assessing Implementation And Outcomes Of An Environmental Science, Technology, Engineering And Math Curriculum For Youth In West Oakland, California, Ashari A. Taylor-Watson

Master's Theses

Environmental racism plagues low-income communities of color through exposure to environmental hazards, and the youth are most vulnerable. Environmental science, technology, engineering, and math (E-STEM) curriculums promoted as tools for corrective justice. Using a West Oakland, California Boys and Girls Club as a case study, I first describe the environmental awareness, attitudes, and actions of a group of six- to 13-year-old, predominantly African - American, children from this low-income community. I then examine the possible impacts of an E-STEM curriculum on participants, and I identify staff- and researcher-identified challenges to its implementation. During the study, the cohort experienced a heightened …

Balancing Berkeley: A Case Study Exploration Of Black Student Experiences At Elite Universities, Sha Quasha Y. Morgan

Master's Theses

A qualitative study examining the individual and personal definitions of college success from the perspective of Black students at predominantly White and elite institutions. Using students from the University of California, Berkeley as a snapshot of the larger institutional context, this thesis centers the experiences of Black undergraduate students to discuss equity and student success. The university’s written texts, reports and survey results were examined regarding diversity and interpreted to reveal patterns in subtext and narrative about commitments to success and compared to that of the students’ experiences. Emergent themes included: isolation and sense of belonging, race relations including intra …

Acoustic Cloak Design Using Generative Modeling And Reinforcement Learning, Linwei Zhuo

Master's Theses

Metamaterials are engineered composites that can exhibit acoustic, electromagnetic, elasto-dynamic and mechanical properties that are not found in natural materials Due to the complexity of the target objective functions, it is difficult to find the globally optimized solutions in the inverse design of metameterials. This thesis proposes and outlines two model, a gradient-based optimization method combined with generative networks (2D-GLOnets) and a reinforcement learning (RL) model, that can find the optimized metamaterial structures across a wide range of parameters. By perturbing the positions of each cylindrical scatterer in a planar configuration, 2D-GLOnets and the RL model with Deep Deterministic Policy …

Motivational And Participatory Experiences Of Female Service Members In Crossfit, Nicole M. Levine

Master's Theses

CrossFit is a high-intensity exercise program that has expanded globally over the last several years. Its minimalistic approach targeted at multiple aerobic and muscular strength domains make it accessible and applicable to populations with limited space and equipment, such as overseas military installations. Despite several studies examining the motivational factors of individuals engaging in CrossFit, research is scant on the motivational factors of military professionals participating in CrossFit outside of their formalized operational training. Additionally, there is no specific literature on female military participation in CrossFit. This study qualitatively explored the participatory motivations of 15 female U.S. military service members …

Acoustic Lens Design Using Machine Learning, Wei-Ching Wang

Master's Theses

This thesis aims to contribute to the development of a novel approach and efficient method for the inverse design of acoustic metamaterial lenses using machine learning, specifically, deep learning, generative modeling, and reinforcement learning. Acoustic lenses can focus incident plane waves at the focal point, enabling them to detect structures non-intrusively. These lenses can be utilized in biomedical engineering, medical devices, structural engineering, ultrasound imaging, health monitoring, etc. Finding the global optimum through a traditional iterative optimization process for designing the acoustic lens is challenging. It may become infeasible due to high dimensional parameter space and the compute resources needed. …

Medical Records Management To Support Evidence-Based Medical Practice At Kisii Teaching And Referral Hospital, Kenya, Robert Nyakundi Gisemba Mr, Emily Ngeno Dr, Emily Bosire Dr

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This paper presents findings of a Master of Philosophy Degree in Information Sciences undertaken to assess medical records management (MRM) in support of evidence-based medical practices at Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital (KTRH) with a view of proposing strategies to improve MRM in the hospital. Data was collected through interviews conducted with health records management officers, a system administrator, admission clerks, doctors, clinical officers, and nurses drawn from four departments that create; use; and manage medical records (MR). Findings indicated that KTRH faced several challenges in MRM that impact the provision of health care based on reliable evidence. These challenges …

“When Will The Time Finally Come When There Will Only Be Humans”: An Unknown Letter From Beethoven To Heinrich Von Struve, Julia Ronge

The Beethoven Journal

Transcription, translation, and discussion of a recently discovered letter from Ludwig van Beethoven to Heinrich von Struve from 1795. In the letter, Beethoven expresses a yearning for a time when there are only humans, without distinctions of rank and class. This sentiment accords with Schiller’s ode An die Freude, which Beethoven set to music more than once.

The Lasting Impact Of Deinstitutionalization: Policing And The Mental Health Crisis, Ruqayyah Sorathia

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

Society is combating the detrimental effects of the deinstitutionalization policy, which transferred the treatment of mentally ill patients from state-run psychiatric hospitals to community-run psychiatric facilities. These patients frequently fall into relapses and are more likely to experience risky encounters with law enforcement officials who have no formal training in dealing with them. The paper analyzes the criminalization of mentally ill people, many with substance abuse and alcohol addictions, receiving treatment in jails and state prisons. Incarcerating people with mental illness, though reducing the homeless population from the street and disturbances faced by the public, still does not address the …

Comparison Of An Oxford Nanopore Technologies Sequencing Platform To Existing Sequencing Methods For Differential Expression Studies, Nikola Klier

Master's Projects

As the genomics revolution continues, there is constant pressure to make sequencing technology more accessible and practical for a growing series of applications. Existing sequencing technologies are often prohibitively expensive, limiting their use for novel diagnostic and research applications. Additionally, existing technologies are often limited by short read lengths, which may present problems to certain quantitative sequencing applications. One such application is Differential Expression Analysis, in which RNA-Seq is performed in paired samples under different experimental conditions to identify differences in gene expression. In this study, an Oxford Nanopore Technologies sequencing platform was used to conduct a differential expression study …

Improving User Experiences For Wiki Systems, Parth Patel

Master's Projects

Wiki systems are web applications that allow users to collaboratively manage the content. Such systems enable users to read and write information in the form of web pages and share media items like videos, audios, books etc. Yioop is an open-source web portal with features of a search engine, a wiki system and discussion groups. In this project I have enhanced Yioop’s features for improving the user experiences. The preliminary work introduced new features like emoji picker tool for direct messaging system, unit testing framework for automating the UI testing of Yioop and redeeming advertisement credits back into real money. …

Communal Storywork: Deaf Education And The Latine Community, Noralee Jasso

Dissertations

In order to challenge the dominant and deficit perspectives in deaf education, this study utilized a Critical Race Theory framework to examine Latine families with Deaf children as they are portrayed in literature across areas of policy, research, and practice. Through qualitative semi-structured interviews, this research project invited nine adult Latine family members with Deaf children to share their lived experiences with having a Deaf child as part of the family and within a California school. To center the experiences of Latine families with Deaf children as visible, legitimate and necessary constituents of their children’s educational journeys, this research required …

“I Think I’Ve Always Thought I Have To Prove Myself”: Interpretations, Perceptions, And Teacher Sensemaking At A Distance, Rafael Zavala

Dissertations

This grounded theory, constant comparative method study provides a Critical Race Institutional Logics Perspective account of Latina teacher sensemaking of distance learning. Distance learning—while not a particularly new school initiative, school reform effort, or organizational change—brought forth an organizational change that unmasked racist systems and deficit policy models perpetuating persistent, pervasive, disproportionate, low academic achievement for Latinx students. This study looked at how Latina teachers made sense of and enacted distance learning from their own personal values, beliefs, perceptions, and or impressions. Particularly, this study analyzed the role of race and its effects in shaping Latina teacher practice through these …

Reed Magazine, Issue 155, Khem K. Arya, John T. Battaglia, Soramimi Hanarejima, Cora Lewis, Aeriel Merillat, Mohamed Shalabi, Ocean Vuong, Yiru Zhang, Marjan Kamali, Rashad Hosein, Suzanne Rico, Kirsten Reneau, Jerilynn Aquino, Katie Culligan, Susan Dambroff, Max Dorfman, Sean Enfield, Leah Kuenzi, Kazim Ali, John Blair, Tom Bennett, Partridge Boswell, Dante Di Stefano, Jonathan Greenhause, Lynn Hoggard, Leslie Anne Mcilroy, David J.S. Pickering, Noelani Piters, Kait Quinn, Henry 7 Reneau Jr, Danielle Roberts, Leona Sevick, Terry Tierney, Brendan Todt, Pamela Wax, Erin Wilson, Maggie Wolff, Xiadi Zhai, Matty Heimgartner, Antara Gangwal, Lance Fung, Caroline Dejeneffe, Koko Alexander, Dottie Lo Bue, Timothy Edward Cech, Jerome Chia-Horng Lin, Doug Edwards, Brittany Fanning, Irina Greciuhina, Roy Huerta, Le Joe, Hana Lock, Loren Marie, Nelson Muff, Shubham Sharma, Heather Perrine Shreve, Rachel Silva, Soap Soap, Kelly A. Harrison, Persis Karim

Reed Magazine

No abstract provided.

Can Californian Households Save Money On Transportation Costs By Living In Transit-Oriented Developments (Tods)?, Hongwei Dong

Mineta Transportation Institute

Many residents in large Californian metropolitan areas are heavily burdened by housing costs. Advocates, researchers, and elected officials in California are debating whether transit-oriented development (TOD) could be an effective tool to mitigate the housing affordability problem by increasing housing supply and reducing transportation costs in transit-rich neighborhoods. This study contributes to this debate by estimating how much Californian families can save on transportation costs by living in transit-oriented developments (TODs). By utilizing the confidential version of the 2010–2012 California Household Travel Survey, this study evaluates the impact of TOD on household transportation expenditures by comparing TOD households with two …

Commuter Mobility Patterns In Social Media: Correlating Twitter And Lodes Data, Andreas Petutschnig, Jochen Albrecht, Bernd Resch, Laxmi Ramasubramanian, Aleisha Wright

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

The Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES) are an important city planning resource in the USA. However, curating these statistics is resource-intensive, and their accuracy deteriorates when changes in population and urban structures lead to shifts in commuter patterns. Our study area is the San Francisco Bay area, and it has seen rapid population growth over the past years, which makes frequent updates to LODES or the availability of an appropriate substitute desirable. In this paper, we derive mobility flows from a set of over 40 million georeferenced tweets of the study area and compare them with LODES data. …

Towards Advanced Data Skills For Information Systems Graduates, Ashraf Shirani

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This study aims to explore advanced data skills -in particular technical skills expected of a data engineering (DE) professional. Descriptions and requirements for the DE jobs, one each from 50 US companies, were collected from three job sites. An automated text analysis was performed on the job descriptions to extract a list of technical skills and competencies required for the DE job in the industry. The extracted information was then manually synthesized and categorized by the author. Findings of the study are intended to be of use by information systems graduates looking to pursue advanced data education and for curricula …

Nav1.1 Is Essential For Proprioceptive Signaling And Motor Behaviors, Cyrrus M. Espino, Cheyanne M. Lewis, Serena Ortiz, Miloni S. Dalal, Snigdha Garlapalli, Kaylee M. Wells, Darik A. O'Neil, Katherine A. Wilkinson, Theanne N. Griffith

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

The voltage-gated sodium channel (NaV), NaV1.1, is well-studied in the central nervous system; conversely, its contribution to peripheral sensory neuron function is more enigmatic. Here, we identify a new role for NaV1.1 in mammalian proprioception. RNAscope analysis and in vitro patch-clamp recordings in genetically identified mouse proprioceptors show ubiquitous channel expression and significant contributions to intrinsic excitability. Notably, genetic deletion of NaV1.1 in sensory neurons caused profound and visible motor coordination deficits in conditional knockout mice of both sexes, similar to conditional Piezo2-knockout animals, suggesting that this channel is a major contributor to sensory proprioceptive transmission. Ex vivo muscle afferent …

Library Revitalization: Best Practice In Village Libraries, Dyah Puspitasari Srirahayu, Esti Putri Anugrah, Trisa Berlianasari, Thomi Reza Irfanda, Thantrie Jawi Insani, Ferdisa Rahma Retanti

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Village libraries do have a major contribution in improving the quality of village communities, both through the collections provided and through the empowerment programs held. However, many village libraries that are in suspended animation are not managed properly by the village government. This resulted in the village community being unable to utilize the services of the village library. The purpose of this study is to identify the village library revitalization process so that the village library can carry out library operational activities. The research method used is a qualitative approach. The revitalization process was carried out at the Moyoketen Village …

Use Of Internet Of Things (Iot) Technologies In Indian Institutes Of Management (I.I.M.) Libraries: A Study, Manoj Kumar Pant Mr., Udita Negi, Surabhi Seth Ms

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Libraries as social institutions have always kept pace with the technological advancements in society to stay relevant. In recent years, the Internet of Things (IoT) is one such area that has opened enormous opportunities in almost all areas which have the intrusion of computers and the internet. IoT has not only helped Libraries to add value to traditional services but has also helped in collecting valuable data to supplement decision-making. This study examined the extent of use of the Indian Institute of Management (I.I.M.) Libraries are one of the premium brands of professional education in India. The study observed that …

School Library Resources For Inclusive Online English Language Learning: Teachers’ Perspectives About Differentiating Instruction In The Context Of English As Second Language, Angela Eze, Charity N. Onyishi

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Abstract

In an inclusive education setting, learners with and without disabilities are guided to study in the same classrooms with adaptable facilities and equipments. With this arrangement in place, assistive technology becomes an absolute requirement, and the school library is a medium for providing and using inclusive resources. In the current education system where online learning is speedily overtaking face-to-face learning modalities, school Library resources are indispensable for the effective inclusion of all learners through differentiated instruction. Such is critically essential for English language learning, especially in Nigeria, where English is learned as a Second Language. However, little is known …

Blended Or Differentiated Instruction For Inclusive Education During Post-Covid-19 Era: The Need For Upgrading School Libraries In Nigeria, Charity Onyishi

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Abstract

With the socio-educational challenges posed by COVID-19, teaching-learning is gradually moving from face-to-face to digital and online distance learning across the world. This makes it generally challenging to meet the needs of all learners in the context of inclusive education. Increasing evidence tends to show that for effective inclusive learning, the hybrid blended approaches to learning should be differentiated. Further still is the fact that school libraries need to be upgraded with resources that meet the needs of diverse learners, and speak to the present hybridization in pedagogy and learning. A major impairing problem is the documented lack of …

Awareness And Patronage Of Library Reference Services Among Undergraduate Students In Adeyemi College Of Education, Ondo State, Nigeria, Oresiri Jamogha, Ejiro Jamogha

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Reference services are personal assistance given to library users in their search for information and these services are most likely patronized by those who are aware of them, hence, this study investigated the awareness and patronage of library reference services among undergraduate students in Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo State, Nigeria. The study adopted survey design and a multistage sampling technique was used to select 370 undergraduate for the study. Questionnaire was used for data collection and was administered to 370 respondents out of which, 317 copies were found useful for the study. The research questions were answered using simple …

Relationship Between Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy And Entrepreneurial Intention In Medical Library And Information Science Students: An Iranian Perspective, Ronak Hamzehei, Mohammad Karim Saberi, Zahra Moradi, Zhaleh Moradveysi, Mahdi Shaghaghi

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intention of students in the field of medical library and information science.

Methods: This study quantitatively examined seven hypotheses through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) techniques. Using the census method, 79 students of medical library and information science of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, were studied. Data was collected using the Entrepreneurial Self-efficacy Questionnaire proposed by De Noble et al. (1999) and the Entrepreneurial Intention Questionnaire presented by the Linan and Chen (2011). Descriptive and inferential data analysis was performed using SPSS and …

Parent Involvement Towards Children’S Reading Habit: A Focus Group Survey From Nashik, India, Suvarna P. Desale, Rajendra M. Kumbhar Ph.D.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Abstract

Purpose - This study was carried out to ascertain parents’ attitude about reading related activities of children, to discover parents’ efforts for instilling the reading habit in their children, to understand the challenges faced by parents in inculcating reading habit in their children, and to suggest possible solutions to the parents’ difficulties related to their children’s reading habits.

Design/ Methodology - The research was conducted using the Survey method, with Focus Group Discussion used as the data collection tool. The research sample was 24 parents of pupils who were studying in the primary and secondary Marathi medium schools in …

Evaluating Preschool Librarians’ Information And Communication Technology Competency Level For Online Teaching, Christian S. Ugwuanyi Ph.D, Chinedu I.O. Okeke Prof

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

For adequate teaching and learning, twenty-first-century classrooms, combined with the needs of the new normal in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, have mandated the effective use of online education platforms. This begs the question of how well-versed in information and communication technologies Nigerian Preschool Librarians are (ICT). Because there is a scarcity of studies on the subject, this is the case. As a result, the researchers were in a good position to determine or measure the level of ICT expertise of Preschool Librarians in order to embrace online education during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. The descriptive survey research …