Digital Commons Network^™

Essays On Monetary Policy And Financial Frictions, David Agyeman-Duodu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the implications of monetary policy in two interconnected frameworks. The first chapter investigates the impact of paying interest on reserves on the effectiveness of open market operations via the portfolio balance channel. Using a structural vector autoregression (SVAR) model, I find that responses of output and price levels are muted and uncertain in the post-interest-on-reserves regime, suggesting that open market operations have become less effective in transmitting monetary policy. A corollary to this is that the portfolio balance channel may have been sufficiently weakened after the introduction of interest on reserves policy. The second chapter revisits Alchian …

Topics In Quantitative Symplectic Topology And Rigidity In Circle Dynamics, Joseph Paul Lopez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation has two parts.

Spatial Variation Of Microbial Communities In Aquatic Ecosystems In The Southeastern United States, Jordan Heiman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Spatial variation in bacterial communities, or bacterial biogeography, is important for understanding the role of microorganisms in biogeochemical cycles. In the Southeastern United States, aquatic ecosystems are highly biodiverse and imperiled, yet few studies have investigated bacterial biodiversity and biogeography in this region. In this dissertation, I aimed to understand the bacterial biogeography in aquatic ecosystems in the Southeastern United States and how this spatial variation relates to abiotic factors in these ecosystems. To do this, I analyzed biogeographic patterns in bacterial communities from three distinct types of aquatic ecosystems (rivers, a lake, and beaches) and conducted a microcosm experiment …

Open-Source Frameworks For Groundwater Analytics: Advancing Machine Learning Workflow Development And Deployment, Sarva Pulla

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation introduces three innovative tools to advance groundwater analytics: the GRACE Downscaler, Synthetic Timeseries Generator, and a lightweight web-based service for deploying machine learning and physical models. These tools address critical challenges in groundwater management by enhancing the local applicability of GRACE satellite data, overcoming data scarcity through synthetic generation, and simplifying the deployment of complex hydrological models. The GRACE Downscaler provides a reproducible workflow for regional groundwater analysis, while the Synthetic Timeseries Generator creates opportunities for model development in data-poor regions. The web-based service demonstrates how advanced models like MODFLOW can be made accessible for rapid simulations and …

Demarginalizing Bede's Margins: A Digital Codicological Reassessment Of The Relationship Between Marginalia And Body Matter In Cambridge, Corpus Christi College Ms 41, James Nicholas Sumrall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The scribal activity in the margins of the eleventh-century Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 41 has long been acknowledged and studied, but rarely have scholars examined the relationship between the manuscript’s marginalia and its body text, an Old English translation of Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica. As such, this thesis attempts to address this critical scholarly gap by evaluating key marginal texts of MS 41 in their original physical contexts. In the introduction and first chapter, a brief overview of the manuscript history of MS 41 and its five extant analogues is given. The second chapter focuses on the textual transmission, content, …

Student Informed Instruction: Vertical Non Permanent Surfaces, Cononiah L. Watson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I, an 8th grade mathematics teacher, have used vertical dry erase boards in my classroom for years to promote student engagement and perseverance after participating in a book study on Building Thinking Classrooms by Peter Liljedahl. Year after year, the implementation of this strategy was constantly refined based on research, other teachers’ experiences, and my perceived notions of students’ experiences while at the dry erase boards. I never, however, asked students to thoughtfully share their experiences. In this study, I introduce the method of student informed instruction to refine how I use vertical dry erase boards in my classroom. After …

Persuasion Knowledge In A Post-Truth Era, Emma Welch

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Commenting on a world replete with conspiracy theories, fake news, and virality on social media, some have dubbed the era we are currently living in as the “post-truth” era, defined as “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief”. The post-truth era is said to affect how individuals make decisions, form opinions, and communicate with one another. Although many frameworks have emerged along the way that describe how consumers deal with persuasive communication, truthful or otherwise, emerging technology has added a new layer to the …

Regional Differences In The Adoption Of Automated License Plate Readers Among Police Departments, Dalton Lee Massingill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the 2000s, the adoption of License Plate Readers (LPRs) in the United States has steadily increased. Prior research has shown that agency characteristics (mainly size) strongly impact the likelihood of LPR usage. However, researchers have primarily examined larger police departments and used smaller samples in examining the adoption of LPRs. This study uses recent data from a nationally represented sample of law enforcement agencies to examine the relationship between agency geographical location and LPR usage. The current study extends past literature by examining the impact an agency’s geographical location has on LPR usage. Research has not studied if LPR …

Pi3k Signaling And Its Role In Cardiac Morphogenesis, Rabina Shrestha

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The formation of the heart tube in vertebrates involves the coordinated movement of bilateral myocardial precursors to the midline, where they merge in a process known as cardiac fusion to form the primitive heart tube. While external influences from the anterior endoderm and the endocardium are known to be essential for cardiac fusion, intrinsic myocardial mechanisms are less understood. Here, we identify an intrinsic PI3K-dependent mechanism directing myocardial cells toward the midline during cardiac fusion. We found that inhibiting the PI3K pathway throughout the embryo using chemical inhibitors and injection of dnPI3K mRNA results in cardiac fusion defects. PI3K-inhibited embryos …

Isolation Of Novel Myxobacteria And Progress Towards Heterologous Expression Of Uncharacterized Secondary Metabolites, Andrew Ahearne

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Myxobacteria, first observed by Roland Thaxter in the late 19th century, are known for their unique swarming behavior, complex fruiting body formation and biosynthetic potential. Myxobacteria are noted for their large genomes and the presence of numerous biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) that hint at their potential to produce novel metabolites with therapeutic properties. Isolation of myxobacteria utilizing E. coli and filter paper baiting yielded 20 myxobacteria isolated from rhizospheric soil samples in North America. Among these isolates, nine were identified as novel species, representing the genera Archangium, Myxococcus, Nannocystis, Polyangium, Pyxidicoccus, Sorangium, and Stigmatella. Comprehensive growth profiles, biochemical assays, and …

Imaginative Play In The Inculcation Of Creativity As An Intellectual Virtue, Annie Elisabet Gustafsson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Creativity, defined as the ability to generate original and innovative ideas and products, is widely valued yet not explicitly taught. This largely stems from the understanding that creativity cannot be cultivated through traditional methods like imitation or direct instruction, as such approaches contradict the essence of creativity itself. However, we must not write it off as unteachable. To help us better understand what can be done to teach creativity effectively, we must consider its character.

This paper offers a theory of creativity as an intellectual virtue, drawing on Linda Zagzebki’s components of virtue and aligning creativity with Aristotle’s phronesis and …

Infrasound From Tornadoes: Theory And Experiment, Bin Liang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous field experiments support the claim that a tornado can radiate discernible infrasound between 0.5−10 Hz. The physical mechanisms of tornado sound generation are still not fully understood although several potential mechanisms have been proposed. In this dissertation, a new mechanism based on vortex sound theory is examined analytically and numerically. Basically, rotation of the non-axisymmetric vorticity field in tornadoes can produce dominant low-frequency infrasound less than 2.0 Hz. This finding is based on a detailed analysis of calculating infrasound emitted from two numerical models of tornadoes using large eddy simulation (LES), called the baseline model and the eddy injection …

The Perceived Effects On The Motivation, Anxiety, And Online Language Learning Of Saudi Efl Learners During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Ali Hasan Alamry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although many restrictions initiated by the COVID-19 pandemic are no longer imposed, massive changes across the globe have impacted online language learning afterward. Technology infrastructure, students' and teachers' digital literacy, and proper distance learning pedagogies were among the challenges of online learning during the pandemic. Nevertheless, valuable lessons can be learned from the pandemic to better handle online language learning classes in the future. Globally, increasing attention in the literature has been directed toward the effects of the pandemic on L2 learners' different affective factors. Locally, this study focuses on the perceived impacts on Saudi EFL learners' motivation, anxiety, and …

Exploring The Perspectives Of Black Male Students At An Hbcu In Rural Mississippi And The Role Non-Cognitive Factors Within A First-Year Experience Program Play In Their Continued Enrollment, Billy J. Benson, Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Retention and graduation rates are declining nationwide but are exceptionally low for Black men. Extant research substantiates that various influences contribute to a student’s ability to persist to graduation. Apart from the positive impact of HBCUs on educational outcomes for Black students, empirical research highlights that enrollment, campus engagement, retention, success, and graduation are problematic (Palmer et al., 2013). Many factors—academic and non-cognitive—affect a student’s ability to persist to graduation (Bosco, 2021).

This problem of practice (PoP) explores the perspectives of Black male students at an HBCU in rural Mississippi and the role non-cognitive factors within a first-year experience program …

Error And F -Divergence Analysis Of Generative Adversarial Network, Mahmud Hasan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, the focus is to investigate the convergence rates of error and estimation bounds of various f-divergence metrics in the context of generative adversarial networks (GANs). The error convergence rate is developed and explained by a class of functions with the discriminator and generator neural networks. The new class of functions is uniformly bounded, VC type, with bounded envelope function and Vapnik–Chervonenkis (VC) dimension dimension which makes it possible to apply Talagrand inequality. A tight convergence rate is derived for the error of GAN after applying the Talagrand inequality and Borel-Cantelli lemma. The error bound is generalized for …

An Applied Research Study On Improving Special Education Identification And Support For Grades 3-6: Assessing The Impact Of The Tier 3 Process, Nickie Malone

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Addressing the urgent need for effective literacy instruction, especially for students with diverse learning needs, is paramount in today's educational landscape. This dissertation investigates the implementation and impact of the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework, particularly the Tier 3 process, at AUES in grades 3-6. The study aims to shed light on the systemic gaps in special education identification and support, evolving pedagogical approaches, and the role of educators and institutions in shaping literacy outcomes.

Grounded in the principles of equity and inclusion, the MTSS framework emerges as a promising avenue for providing personalized support and instruction tailored to …

Listening To Black Holes Ring: High-Precision Ringdown Modelling, Lorena Magaña Zertuche

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

After decades of promise, gravitational waves from a binary black hole system were detected on September 14, 2015 by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). Since then, close to 100 new gravitational-wave detections, including those from neutron star and neutron star-black hole binaries, have been made jointly by the LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA (LVK) collaboration. LIGO's fourth observing run (O4) has begun, and signals on the order of one per week are expected. This rate will only increase as third-generation ground-based detectors will be getting hundreds of thousands of gravitational-wave signals when they go online in the next decade. Moreover, …

Optimizing The Performance Of Polyimide And Polyetherimide Nanocomposites Against Atomic Oxygen Attack And/Or Hypervelocity Impact, Grace Rushing

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As humanity continues to push the boundaries of exploration beyond Earth, the need to develop materials that can withstand this harsh environment increases. Two types of materials were exposed to the low earth orbit (LEO) space environment on the International Space Station (ISS) for one year: (1) polyimide composites enhanced with polyhedral oligomeric silsequioxane (POSS) and (2) polyetherimide-graphene nanoplatelet (PEI-GNP) composites. Both exposed and non-exposed samples were characterized and compared, and the mass loss was calculated. The effects of the LEO environment, particularly atomic oxygen (AO), were investigated. X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and digital microscopy …

Exploring A Link Between Expected Family Contribution And Continued Enrollment At Holmes Community College, Matthew Ryan Surrell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The challenges facing higher education institutions across this country continue to increase, becoming more and more complex with each passing semester. Higher education administrators and those who aspire to be such must constantly stay abreast of all potential adverse issues, but especially those that affect the educational success of our students. The importance of student success is invaluable to students and society, alike, as their educational achievements enable the growth of both social efficiency and social mobility. Therefore, higher education institutions and their administrations must constantly assess and attempt to mitigate the many challenges and barriers to these important accomplishments. …

Heterologous Expression, Isolation, And Metabolomic Profiling Of Myxobacteria To Explore Their Potential In Natural Product Biosynthesis, Nawal Mohamed Hamed Elsayed Shehata

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Myxobacteria are distinguished by their ability to produce a spectrum of natural products,positioning them as an active resource for therapeutic discovery. These products include metabolites with significant antibacterial, antifungal, cytotoxic, antiviral, and immunosuppressive properties. Current synthetic biology tools for the exploration of myxobacteria are not as advanced as those for the well-studied Streptomyces. This thesis presents an evolution of synthetic biology techniques specifically designed for the exploitation of myxobacteria in the realm of natural product discovery. Chapter One investigates the potential of myxobacteria to act as heterologous hosts due to their large genomes and their capacity for diverse biosynthetic processes. …

An Argument Against Positivist Separability, Nichalus Zoltan Vali

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

One of the most influential views associated with legal positivism is that of the separability thesis. Primarily associated with H.L.A Hart, this thesis is widely understood to be the view that there is no necessary connection between law and morality. However, John Gardner takes this to be a naïve interpretation of separability that fails to adequately characterize legal positivism and which Hart himself did not endorse. Instead, Hart and other legal positivists were committed to the view that whether a norm is legally valid depends on its sources (i.e., social facts such as official engagement with the norm) and not …

Single Versus Dual Response Demands In An Event-Based Prospective Memory Task With Context, Anne Elizabeth Vogel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prospective memory (PM) refers to memory for future-based intentions. Previous research has explored how contextual information can support PM performance by lowering the cost to the ongoing task. For example, a study by Smith et al. (2017) demonstrated that knowing the contextual information of proximity to PM targets can affect attentional resource allocation. This was seen empirically as faster reaction times (RTs) when participants knew they were far from the target location, but longer RTs as participants knew they were approaching a target location. However, Vogel and Smith (in prep) found discrepancies in this pattern. This current study investigated these …

Atomistic Simulation Of Pfas And Graphene: Interactions For Water Applications, Bashar Moufeed Awawdeh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The contamination of drinking water by per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) is a global issue. PFAS have been widely utilized in a variety of applications, including water and stain-resistant coatings, fire suppression foams, cosmetics, paints, and adhesives. They have been detected in soils and rivers globally due to their widespread use and resistance to degradation. The strong C–F bonds of PFAS make them exceedingly stable and hard to remove. In order to remediate PFAS contamination in the environment, it is essential to develop selective adsorbent materials that can effectively capture a wide range of PFAS structures. On April 10, …

Explainable Ai For Neural Text Classification Models: Robustness And Knowledge Locality, Christopher Burger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Powerful but complex models have seen extensive adoption within recent years due to their performance across a wide range of tasks. However, this effectiveness has come at the cost of a limited understanding of how exactly these models make their decisions. This lack of understanding has justifiably slowed integration of these models within domains where serious consequences can result due to error like medicine or finance. In response, the discipline of explainable AI (XAI) has arisen to provide justification for why these models work the way they do. One of the most prominent tools in XAI has been the local …

Performance Of A Selective Amplify-And-Forward Scheme For Two-Users With Two-Relays In Rayleigh Fading And Log-Normal Shadowing Channels, Mahdia Tahsin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Relays serve as virtual antennas in wireless networks, fostering spatial diversity between the source and destination to enhance coverage, signal quality, and network reliability. Among the various relay-assisted communication approaches, amplify-and-forward (AF) is widely favored for its reduced computational complexity. The selection of an optimal relay is crucial for maximizing network performance, constituting a significant challenge in wireless communication. Hence, optimal relay selection has emerged as a pivotal area of research. In this thesis, we investigate the potential benefits of implementing relay selection schemes in AF relay networks featuring two source-destination pairs and two relays. Our analysis focuses on two …

Perceived Linguistic And Non-Linguistic Barriers Facing Saudi Female Partners Learning English, Samah Mohamad Dulli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The partners of the Saudi students who come to the United States on scholarships to earn a degree (Bachelor's, Master's, or Ph.D.) are eligible for full scholarships as well. However, most of them fail to proceed in earning a degree or fulfill the language proficiency requirement needed to join an academic degree program. This study surveys between 10 to 20 adult female partners of Saudi university students to elicit their opinions on how much English they think they will learn during their partner scholarship time in academic and non-academic settings. This study investigates the female partners of the Saudi degree …

Punishing Poverty: An Examination Of Financial Disadvantage And Out-Of-School Suspension, Joshua Rosenbaum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School suspension is often a response by officials to address deviant behavior within the school setting. While studies have examined various causes and consequences of school suspension, there is a dearth of literature focusing on the effects of financial disadvantage on school discipline (i.e., school suspension). Given that out-of-school suspension is a reliable predictor of juvenile justice involvement later in life, it serves as an important outcome variable in preventative criminology. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), the purpose of the current study is to analyze the relationship between financial disadvantage and …

An Evaluation Of Comprehensive Professional Development Program To Improve Teacher Quality And Student Engagement, Elois R. Nicholson-Booker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this applied research study, using program evaluation, was to improve professional development for teachers to build their capacity in student engagement. This applied research study used three elements: professional development, professional learning communities, and observation-feedback, to improve teacher quality and to increase student engagement. The goal of the professional development element was to increase teacher capacity in student engagement by equipping teachers with research-based strategies to implement in individual classrooms. The goals of the professional learning communities (PLCs) was to support teachers in implementing research-based strategies to increase student engagement and to increase the level of collaboration …

Bacterial Metallophores As Potential Agents In Heavy Metal Bioremediation, Mohammed Ahmed

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Heavy metal pollution is a significant threat to human health and the environment. Bacteria have evolved diverse mechanisms to adapt to these pollutants, including the secretion of small molecules called metallophores. Bacterial metallophores are metabolites excreted in response to toxic metal stress to protect the bacterial cell. These small molecules have shown versatility in potential applications for the remediation of heavy metals. This research focuses on constructing a library of bacterial metallophores, which will facilitate the assessment of their metal-binding properties when exposed to different metals. The study has two main areas of investigation: Firstly, it involves isolating and characterizing …

Examining The Relationship Between Toddlers’ Sleep Patterns, Negative Parenting, And Executive Function, Morgan Elizabeth Harris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Negative parenting can often be described as having three domains (i.e., laxness, verbosity, and over-reactivity, Arnold et al., 1993; Rhoades & O’Leary, 2007), which may have relations to toddlers’ behaviors, like executive function (EF) and sleep. However, this field is understudied, especially in early childhood development. One possible explanation for the lack of research in this field is that it can be difficult to study executive function in toddlers due to variability in the stability of regulatory behaviors and emerging regulatory abilities at this age range. Although positive sleep patterns (e.g., quality and quantity) have been linked to executive function, …