Digital Commons Network^™

Thermosetting Polymers Via Azide Alkyne Cycloaddition, Richard H. Cooke Iii

Dissertations

This dissertation exploits properties inherent to azide-alkyne cycloaddition and applies practical solutions to difficult problems. Chapter II addresses structure-property relationships in glassy azido-alkyne matrices by varying the identity of the central linkage within tetrapropargyl bis-aniline-type crosslinkers, and by the addition or omission of Cu(I) catalyst. This systematic study showed that an ether or methylene linkage yielded lower melting tetrapropargyl crosslinkers that were soluble in, and produced homogeneous, networks when cured with, a standard azido resin, di(3-azido-2-hydroxypropyl) ether of bisphenol-A; in contrast, a sulfone linkage yielded a relatively insoluble crosslinker and poorly dispersed, heterogeneous networks when reacted with the same …

An Examination Of A Social And Emotional Learning Program And Implications For Diversity Development, Chimille E. Dillard

Dissertations

This paper evaluated the Second Step program used by the Galaxy school district and many of the surrounding school districts in the area as the sole social and emotional learning program for elementary and middle/junior high school students. Research was conducted to discover whether or not the Second Step program addressed the social and emotional skills students need when encountering racial and gender-diverse issues in their everyday lives. Both quantitative and qualitative methods (such as surveys; interviews with teachers, social workers, and administrators; and classroom observations) were used when collecting data throughout the research. It was concluded that the Second …

Embedding Racial And Gender Diversity In State Mandated Common Assessments: A Policy Advocacy Document, Chimille E. Dillard

Dissertations

The purpose of this policy advocacy document was to promote the need to modify the Illinois School Code 5/27-20.4 to include language about a state developed, common assessment that focuses on past and current racial and gender diversity issues in the United States. It highlights the need for embedding past and current racial and gender diversity issues in the United States in the everyday curriculum. Additionally, this document discusses the positive impact this policy will have on students’ social and emotional learning skills.

Induction Programs, Teacher Efficacy, And Inquiry Practices In Novice Teachers, Anisha Munshi

Dissertations

Induction Programs, Teacher Efficacy, and Inquiry Practices in Novice Teachers

This purpose of this study was to identify the influence of Induction Programs on first-year

teachers. Research shows that a large percentage of novice teachers leave the profession within the first five years. Novice teachers often begin the first year of teaching with a limited understanding of challenges that are faced daily by teachers in classrooms. While teacher training programs provide ideas of how teachers can plan effective lessons and manage classroom time effectively, it is often through daily experiences that novice teachers can truly understand the gamut of challenges …

Principals' Instructional Leadership In Title I Schools: A Closer Look, George Kleidon

Dissertations

The students in Title I schools remain the most vulnerable in our education system. Principals in these schools must be exceptional and well prepared. However, principals have been trained in a universal approach that is not sufficient for those who lead schools with high poverty rates as well as culturally and linguistically diverse learners. The purpose of this mixed-methods descriptive study was to gain insight from principals about instructional leadership in Title I schools. Thirty-two principals described their perceptions about the preparation, supports, and challenges necessary to develop instructional leadership, including cultural proficiency for Title I schools. The findings in …

Bridges And Barriers: The Educational Experience Of Homeless Students And Families In Santa Cruz County, Jennifer Ann

Dissertations

This study explores in depth interviews of parents, teachers, and educators within the confined geographical boundary of Santa Cruz County, California in order to offer to the broader community a more concise look at the challenges families and schools face in addressing the issue of family homelessness. The current state of family homelessness is detailed by viewing the data obtained via various measurement methods. In addition, specific barriers and challenges that homeless students and families face outside of and on the school site are explored. The legal policies that support homeless youth and families are described, as well as the …

Impacting Nursing Stress: The Implementation Of A Standardized Referral Process In The Outpatient Pediatric Care Setting, Cindy Herrera

Dissertations

This DNP project was aimed at reducing process time and stress levels perceived by nurses working in three outpatient pediatric offices.

Why Giving Up The Keys Can Be Terrifying: Examining Driving Retirement Through A Terror Management Theory Paradigm, Perri Navarro

Dissertations

Driving retirement, or giving up the keys, is a current topic of interest in the gerontological literature. Most adults will outlive their ability to drive safely, yet do not plan for driving retirement, although planning for driving retirement appears to result in better outcomes. The current study examined the possibility that older adults avoid driving retirement because it is a mortality prime (reminder of death), as well as the possible role of implicit self-esteem in buffering against mortality concerns specifically in an older adult population. Participants in the current study (n=90) were randomly assigned into one of three …

Predictors Of First Semester Baccalaureate Nursing Student Academic Success, Julie Twidwell

Dissertations

Accreditation standards, such as those of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education’s program indicators, require pre-licensure programs of nursing to report outcome metrics which includes program completion rates. In response to regulatory requirements and accreditation standards, pre-licensure programs of nursing have an interest in selecting applicants most likely to meet outcomes standards. Attrition is a serious issue with implications for students, pre-licensure programs of nursing, the nursing workforce, and populations requiring nursing care. Academic failure due to insufficient cognitive aptitude often contributes to the attrition rate. Pre-licensure programs of nursing may consider interviews, essays, …

Pursuing The Professoriate: The Academic Career Development Of Black Female Doctoral Students At Predominantly White Institutions, Jennifer Culver

Dissertations

This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of Black female doctoral students enrolled in education doctoral program at Predominantly White Institutions (PWI). Using semi-structured interviews, the study investigated the academic career development of Black female doctoral students guided by four research questions: (a) What perceptions do Black female doctoral students have of an academic career? (b)What factors shape Black female doctoral students’ academic career perceptions during the doctoral process? (c) What are the academic career intentions of Black female doctoral students? and (d) What factors influence the development of Black female doctoral students’ academic career intentions during the doctoral process? …

Clinician Bias In The Diagnosis Of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: How Clinician Characteristics And Training May Relate To Diagnosis, Renee Boeck

Dissertations

As our understanding of PTSD has advanced, changing demographics in the United States over the past few decades have led to a growing awareness of the mental health needs of an increasingly diverse and multicultural population. Research on ethnoracial differences in PTSD has had mixed results and additional research exploring possible contributing factors is needed to better explain observed differences. This study explored the presence of and contributing factors to clinician bias in the diagnoses of PTSD based on race and context. It examined whether clinicians were more likely to diagnose PTSD in a Black or White man due to …

Examining The Relationship Between Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms And Posttraumatic Growth: Pathways To Thriving In The Face Of Adversity, David Strasshofer

Dissertations

Research has largely focused on the negative physical and psychological consequences of trauma exposure. In contrast, posttraumatic growth is a relatively recent addition to our understanding of people’s response to life’s struggles. Posttraumatic growth (PTG) is conceptualized as positive changes in a person’s life following a cognitive struggle in the aftermath of trauma. However, PTG research is a relatively nascent line of empirical inquiry and there are several major unanswered questions about the construct and its utility. Part of this is due to conflicting findings related to the relationship between PTG and psychological distress and adaptive significance. The current study …

Barriers To And Facilitators Of Initiation And Retention In Behavioral Health Services In Cape May County, New Jersey, Cheneen Austin

Dissertations

Mental illness is shown to increase healthcare costs and decrease quality and length of life. Barriers to access care must be removed in order to help increase access to vital behavioral health services. This project is a mixed methodology study including a retrospective chart review and qualitative analysis of barriers to access to care. The researcher worked with Dr. Carl Vaccaro, DO at the AtlantiCare Primary Care Plus practice in North Cape May, NJ to identify barriers to access to behavioral health care for patients aged 18 and over referred from the primary care setting. The patients participating in the …

A Mixed Methods Comparative Analysis Of The Implementation Of The Multi-Tiered Systems Of Support In Missouri Elementary Public Schools, Laura Smith

Dissertations

This study consisted of a mixed-methods comparative analysis of the implementation of the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) in public school districts in the state of Missouri. The researcher surveyed nine public school districts similar in demographics of socio-economic representation, free and reduced lunch percentage, and average daily fund expended to educate students. One district administrator responsible for the implementation of MTSS represented each school district. In the qualitative component of the study, the researcher utilized an original electronic survey to gather insights into the unique implementation path each district employed. Coding and analysis resulted in identification of themes, similarities, …

Effects Of Multi-Day Music Enrichment On Salivary Cortisol And Cage Behavior In Shelter Dogs, Stacy D. Engerbretson

Dissertations

Rehoming shelters provide their animals with environmental enrichment with the expectation that modifying the physical space will improve kennel-related stress and subsequently abate undesirable behaviors. Although enrichment has shown moderate success at improving in-kennel behavior, increased use of physiological measurements of stress, such as cortisol, has garnered doubt as to which canine behaviors are truly elicited by a biological state of distress. Consequently, it is unknown if past examples of successful kennel enrichment decreased biological stress in addition to affecting behavior. This study explored music’s effect on salivary cortisol and music’s potential as a long-term, kennel enrichment strategy. Shelter dogs …

Mexican American Parents Of Elementary Students And Literacy Engagement: A Case Study Of A Bilingual (Spanish/English) Parent Book Club Using Children's Literature, Pablo Ochoa

Dissertations

This qualitative case study explored what occurred when seven Latinx parents and a bilingual coordinator engaged in a book club using the same historical fiction text as the school's fifth grade classroom. Research questions focused on Book Club participation, connections to the focal text(s), and new learning. Data included audiotapes of the sessions, parent written/artistic artifacts, participant interviews, retrospective field notes, and reflective journal entries.

Study findings suggest that positive partnerships between schools and parents can occur within familial text engagement opportunities built on existing relationships with school personnel; use of relevant literature, literacy activities that allow for parent choice …

Deconstructing Negative Stereotypes, Myths And Microaggressions About Black Women: Reconstructing Black Women’S Narrative, Identity And The Empowering Nature Of Ethnic Identity, Patricia Luckoo

Dissertations

This research study retraces the lives of Black women in America through a microscope that emphasize the historical formulation of Black women's identity and how the distorted figures of stereotypes have emerged and manifested into contemporary microaggressions. The work explores two central inquiries: The first, quantitative study, examines slavery as the malignant marker that has shaped Black women's identity, socioeconomic status, educational progress and political frameworks. The study theorizes that microaggressions towards Black women pose serious harm to their overall psychological sense of self-efficacy and empowerment. However, ethnic identity has within it the resource to combat microaggressive attitudes. The second, …

Instructor Sense Of Community And Instructional Practices As Predictors Of Student Sense Of Community: A Hierarchical Linear Modeling Analysis, Laurie K. Burgess

Dissertations

A positive sense of community (SoC) in the college classroom supports student learning and increases student engagement and motivation. While previous research has examined SoC, studies have typically investigated students’ perceptions. This quantitative cross-sectional study investigates both instructor and students’ perceptions of SoC in traditional undergraduate classrooms. Study participants include full-time instructors, and students from 36 undergraduate classes in three institutions located in a Midwestern state. Students completed Rovai’s (2002a) Classroom Community Scale; instructors completed a remodified Classroom Community Scale and the Postsecondary Instructional Practices Survey (Walter, Henderson, Beach, & Williams, 2016).

This study uses hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to …

Hybrid Model - Statistical Features And Deep Neural Network For Brain Tumor Classification In Mri Images, Mustafa Rashid Ismael

Dissertations

A brain tumor is the most common disease that affects the central nervous system (CNS), the brain, and spinal cord. It can be diagnosed using the safest and most reliable imaging modality, the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), by radiologists who may use the assistance of computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) tools. Automated diagnosis is sought because it is essential to overcome the drawbacks of the manual diagnosis, such as time and the stress of viewing MRI images for long hours, and the human error potential. Image analysis and machine learning algorithms are tools that can be used to build an intelligent CAD …

Exploring The Role Of Semi-Supervised Deep Reinforcement Learning And Ensemble Methods In Support Of The Internet Of Things, Mehdi Mohammadi

Dissertations

Smart services are an important element of the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem where insights are drawn from raw data through the use of machine learning techniques. However, the pathway to develop IoT smart services is complicated as IoT data presents several challenges for machine learning, including handling big data, shortage of labeled data, and the need to benefit from the spatio-temporal relations hidden in the training data.

In this dissertation, after reviewing the state-of-the-art deep learning (DL) and deep reinforcement learning (DRL) techniques and their use in support of IoT applications, this study proposes to extend DRL to semi-supervised …

The Catholic Church And Its Impact On Public Policy In Contemporary Democracies, Dawid Tatarczyk

Dissertations

The overarching aim of this dissertation was to examine the extent to which the Catholic Church is still a significant public policy actor in 35 economically developed democracies. The research design used in this project draws on three distinct approaches, each addressing a different puzzle but when integrated together they provide an answer to the main question. Taken together these three approaches show that the Catholic Church continues to be an important political institution with considerable influence even in economically developed democracies.

The rational choice institutionalism paradigm is used to explain the political behavior of the Catholic Church. The paradigm …

The Effects Of Peer Observation On Teacher Intervention Integrity, Garrett D. Warrilow

Dissertations

The observer effect is a term used to describe a process during which an observer's behavior changes as they measure the behavior of another individual. The observer effect has been widely studied in organizational behavior management but has limited research with teachers in schools. The current study sought to use the observer effect as part of a teacher training package by evaluating the effects of peer observations on an observing teacher's implementation integrity of components of a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) system. Participants were four middle school teachers of students in general education classrooms. The primary dependent variables …

The Effect Of Maternal Employment On Family Well-Being, Bezawit Teshome Agiro

Dissertations

This dissertation is composed of three essays on the effect of maternal employment on family well-being using data from Early Childhood Longitudinal Study: Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 (ECLS-K: 2011). In general, the findings from this study suggest that the effect of maternal employment on children’s weight status and cognitive development is not significant, but it is significant on mothers’ overall health and psychological well-being.

The first essay re-examines the effect of maternal employment on child obesity by taking a sample of grade 2 children who had at least one younger sibling from the spring 2013 cohort. The study makes use …

An Integrated Decision Support Framework For Life-Cycle Building Asset Management, Maha Reda Alkasisbeh

Dissertations

Building assets are essential to the economic, cultural, and historical growth of any nation. Examples of buildings include shelters, entertainment facilities, living spaces, teaching facilities, civil offices, parking structures, police buildings, libraries, and service areas used to accommodate human activity. Deterioration of building assets, inadequate renewal budgets, climbing deficits, and increasing demand levels are difficulties that face owners when managing building assets. The role of asset management has recently become significant in municipal governments for strategic, operational, and financial reasons. The main functions of an asset management system include assessment of the current condition, prediction of future deterioration, asset prioritization, …

"Understanding Lgbtq+ Intimate Partner Violence & Challenges In, Dr. Juanita Yates

Dissertations

This research project is a focus on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) within LGBTQ+

community and the challenges associated with seeking family support. IPV is defined as a violent

or aggressive behavior within the home, typically involving the violent abuse of an intimate spouse

or partner. However, IPV can happen on the street, in one’s home or even in a public place. Those

exposed to IPV can be children, men and women. IPV is a prevalent issue in our society (Bright

2008). According to Ristock (2005), violence in LGBTQ+ relationships may be referred to as

partner violence, relationship violence, or LGBTQ+ …

Prediction Of Forelimb Muscle Activities And Movement Phases Using Corticospinal Signals In The Rat, Sinan Gok

Dissertations

The targeted population for this project is primarily patients with high level spinal cord injury (SCI) and individuals with motor neuron diseases (MND). In both SCI and MND cases motor control is interrupted due to lack of communication between the brain and the musculature, although both sides are otherwise functional. The approach in this project is to use neural engineering techniques to restore the motor function that was lost because of an injury or disease.

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) attempt to extract the volitional signals from the cortex when the brain's normal outputs to the musculoskeletal system are impaired. However, BCIs …

Secure Entity Authentication, Zuochao Dou

Dissertations

According to Wikipedia, authentication is the act of confirming the truth of an attribute of a single piece of a datum claimed true by an entity. Specifically, entity authentication is the process by which an agent in a distributed system gains confidence in the identity of a communicating partner (Bellare et al.). Legacy password authentication is still the most popular one, however, it suffers from many limitations, such as hacking through social engineering techniques, dictionary attack or database leak. To address the security concerns in legacy password-based authentication, many new authentication factors are introduced, such as PINs (Personal Identification Numbers) …

Survival Analysis Using Archimedean Copulas, Xieyang Jia

Dissertations

This dissertation has three independent parts. The first part studies a variation of the competing risks problem, known as the semi-competing risks problem, in which a terminal event censors a non-terminal event, but not vice versa, in the presence of a censoring event which is independent of these two events. The joint distribution of the two dependent events is formulated under Archimedean copula. An estimator for the association parameter of the copula is proposed, which is shown to be consistent. Simulation shows that the method works well with most common Archimedean copula models.

The second part studies the properties of …

Submandibular Mechanical Stimulation Of Upper Airway Muscles To Treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Ferhat Erdogan

Dissertations

The extrinsic tongue muscles are activated in coordination with pharyngeal muscles to keep a patent airway during respiration in wakefulness and sleep. The activity of genioglossus, the primary tongue-protruding muscle playing an important role in this coordination, is known to be modulated by several reflex pathways mediated through the mechanoreceptors of the upper airways. The main objective is to investigate the effectiveness of activating these reflex pathways with mechanical stimulations, for the long-term goal of improving the upper airway patency during disordered breathing in sleep. The genioglossus response is examined during mandibular and sub-mandibular mechanical stimulations in healthy subjects during …

Kinetic Study Of Free Radical-Radical Reactions Of Combustion Importance At Elevated Pressures, Chao Yan

Dissertations

Combustion mechanisms consist of hundreds elementary reactions of free radicals and stable molecules. Radical-radical elementary reactions play important roles due to the high concentration in which free radicals are accumulated in combustion systems. Radical-radical reactions are typically multi-channel. Some of the channels might be of chain propagation or even chain branching nature, while other channels might be of chain termination nature. The relative importance of different channels is pressure dependent. Compared to radical-molecule reactions, radical-radical reactions are much less studied. This is due to the difficulties of well characterized quantitative production of radical species as well as due to the …