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Metal Ions Impact On Shewanella Oneidensis Mr-1 Adhesion To Ito Electrode And The Enhancement Of Current Output, Aisha Awad Alshahrani

Dissertations

The goal of this study is to enhance the efficiency of bacterial extracellular electron transfer (EET) in Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 by enhancing adhesion to the electrode's surface. Our results clearly show a major difference in the attachment and behavior of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 for Ca2+, Pb2+, Cd2+, and Mg2+, compared to the control. the final microbial coverage, as measured by confocal microscopy and cathodic peak charge in cyclic voltammetry (Qpc), increases with increasing metal ion concentrations. We found the cells attached to the electrode increased more with the addition of metal ion concentrations in the following order of metals: Ca2+ …

Health Promotion And Cancer Screening Of Arab Americans, Lamyaa Alyaba

Dissertations

Introduction: Although Arab Americans represent one of the fastest-growing populations in the U.S., there is very little health data about their preventive health habits and health-promoting lifestyle, including cancer screening. Purpose: the purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between personal factors, health-promoting behaviors, and cancer-screening behaviors of Arab Americans while controlling for acculturation. Design: Pender's Health Promotion Model was the conceptual framework for the study. a cross-sectional correlational design explored the relationship between the study variables utilizing an online-based survey to collect data from Arab Americans. Multimodal recruitment was used to recruit a convenience sample of 287 …

Women And Strategies Of Violence: Gender Roles, Foreign Support And Maintaining The Rebellion, Caglayan Baser

Dissertations

How do women affect conflict dynamics in different ways than men? I examine how expectations based on gender identities impact rebel group strategies, as well as attitudes of foreign publics and political elites toward rebel groups. First, women can substantially contribute to rebel groups' ability to resist governments and maintain their rebellion through unique gendered ways. These include enabling greater tactical diversity, increased appeal to international audiences, and spearheading coup-proofing strategies against intra-organizational factions. Women's contributions to rebel groups are most salient during times of crises and in settings where gender stereotypes are stronger. Second, rebel groups with women participants …

Identity Positivity In Decolonial Worlds: Making Room For Gender And Sexual Possibility, Erica Chu

Dissertations

Identity Positivity in Decolonial Worlds: Making Room for Gender and Sexual Possibility defines identity positivity as theory that makes room for a full range of gender and sexual diversity, including LGBTQIA+ identities that are already well understood (such as gay and transgender) as well as forms of gender and sexual variation that are less known (such as asexual or mati) and identities still forming. Identity Positivity emphasizes the role of European and US colonial violence in enforcing western forms of gender, homophobia, and transphobia over the last 400 years, but it also criticizes Eurocentric queer theory for decades of advocating …

"Lifting As We Climb": Black Feminist Action Research With Women Of Color Student Affairs Administrators, Paige J. Gardner

Dissertations

Black feminist action research is a methodology designed by Dr. Gardner to cultivate agency and solidarity among Women of Color student affairs administrators. by engaging participants as co-investigators, Women of Color student affairs administrators' co-constructed knowledge to examine the challenges and barriers experienced in career navigation as well as the strategies used to disrupt oppressive working environments at historically White institutions. in this study the principle investigator and co-investigators explored the following research questions: (1) How do Women of Color student affairs administrators define systems of support? (2) How and why do Women of Color student affairs administrators establish systems …

Elucidating The Impact And Mechanism Of Hepatitis C Virus Cell-To-Cell Spread, Karina Durso-Cain

Dissertations

Virus cell-to-cell spread has been implicated in the establishment of persistent infection and has been shown to be involved in the transmission of antiviral resistant mutants. However, relatively little is known about how virus cell-to-cell spread impacts infection or the specific mechanisms by which cell-to-cell spread occurs. as such, this dissertation focused on investigating HCV cell-to-cell spread not only to learn more about this medically important virus, but also to determine the broader impact cell-to-cell spread has on viral infection dynamics, identify the cellular factors involved, and perhaps ultimately provide insight into antiviral strategies that might enhance the barrier to …

Optimization Of Microbial Fuel Cells, Norberto M. Gonzalez

Dissertations

Optimization of microbial fuel cells is investigated by utilizing Shewanella oneidensis as a model microorganism. the microbe's ability to grow and use glucose as a carbon source is explored under varying oxygen environments through an offline PMP derivatization method and HPLC analysis. Shewanella growth and glucose utilization is enhanced under aerobic environments; however, under microaerobic environments the addition of ferric iron results in a faster exponential growth initialization. a flavin mononucleotide modified indium tin oxide electrode is prepared and characterized for its usefulness in microbial fuel cells by controlled potential electrolysis, cyclic voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy studies. the electrode …

Economy Of Condescension: John Henry Newman's Trinitarian Theology, Matthew Kemp

Dissertations

John Henry Newman (1801-90) did not write any systematic treatise on the doctrine of the Trinity, yet it consistently pervades his theological writings. Not only does he frequently treat the doctrine directly, but it also influences how he writes about other areas of theology, so that there is arguably a Trinitarian €œframe€ around all of Newman's thought. Yet there has been surprisingly little scholarship on Newman's theology of the Trinity. This is problematic because it leaves unexplored a major component of his thinking, one that seems essential to a fuller understanding of his theology. in this dissertation I provide a …

Development Of Methods For The Removal Of Selected Pollutants From Several Matrices And Identification Of Unknown Pollutants Adsorbed Onto Plastics Collected From Freshwater, Kathryn Marie Renyer

Dissertations

Plastic pollution represents one of greatest anthropogenic threats to the environment. Five to ten billion tons of plastic are manufactured every year. Currently, Earth's ecosystem is contaminated with billions of tons of plastic debris, much of which cannot be recycled. Over time, this plastic debris decomposes into small particles. Small plastic particles are known to adsorb toxic compounds in marine environments. My research is concerned with creating novel methods for the detection and quantification of selected persistent organic pollutants from several media. Specifically, I developed methods for the detection and quantification of endosulfan sulfate (ESS) from Lumbricus terrestris tissue and …

Movement On The Margins: Exploring The Leadership And Agency Of Women Of Color Student Activists In Predominantly White Higher Education Institutions, Cobretti Williams

Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to learn more about the experience of student activism through the eyes, ears, and narratives of women of color in predominantly White higher education institutions. Using an adapted theoretical framework of critical feminist agency, I conducted interviews and focus groups with women of color whom represent the past, present, and future of student activist experiences on campus. Their stories and knowledge affirmed the historical significance of student activism in higher education, and more notably, provided additional critical perspectives towards the development and re-imagination of leadership, agency, and institutional structures in colleges and universities. …

Bridging The In Between: A Portrait Of Asian American Student Affairs Professionals In Asian American Cultural Centers, Joliana Yee

Dissertations

Although the first Asian American Cultural Center (AACC) on a U.S. college campus came about as a result of student activism in the late 1960s and 33 other AACCs have since been established at higher education institutions across the country, very little has been documented in higher education scholarship about the Asian American Student Affairs Professionals (SAPros) who work within these unique institutional resources. While concerted efforts have been made to diversify the student body demographic at predominantly white institutions (PWIs), the negative impact of campus racial dynamics on students of color have nevertheless persisted and extant literature on the …

Electron Transfer Of Shewanella Oneidensis Mr-1 At Clay-Modified Ito Electrode, Reem Faez Alshehri

Dissertations

Various strategies have been established to enhance the extracellular electron transfer and energy output capability of microbial fuel cells, with the majority being aimed at anode modification. The anode has a significant impact on the electricity generation performance of MFCs because it is in direct contact with the microorganisms. The materials of the anode should be favorable for the bacterial cell and capable to facilitate the electron transfer. Developing of an electrode using low-cost and effective materials assists to enhance the bacterial cell attachment and extracellular electron transfer. This provides a significant improvement in MFC performance. In this study, clay …

Cellular And Molecular Mechanism Underlying Alcohol Inhibition Of Bone Fracture Healing, Jonathan Michael Eby

Dissertations

Alcohol consumption is associated with increased risk taking and injuries leading to bone fracture. During bone fracture repair mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) located at the site of injury differentiate into chondrocytes and osteoblasts to form a fracture callus. While most fractures heal without complication, studies show that alcohol abuse can lead to delayed fracture healing and fracture callus formation in both people and animals. Despite what is known about alcohol consumption in pre-injury pathologies like osteopenia and osteoporosis, the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which alcohol consumption inhibits fracture callus formation following orthopaedic injury remain to be elucidated. Here, we …

Reducing Inequality And Poverty In Latin America: Conditional Cash Transfer Programs In Chile, Colombia, And Mexico, Jorge Humberto Guzman Gonzalez

Dissertations

Latin America is the most unequal region across the globe. Inequality has increased the election of populist leaders and has resulted in massive social movements and protests in the region. Nevertheless, at the beginning of the 2000s, a process of inequality reduction started in the majority of the countries. Since the end of the 1990s, a large number of Latin American countries were the world pioneers developing Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs), to put money in the hands of the poor with the conditions of school attendance and nutritional check-ups for their children. Most of the studies have analyzed the effectiveness …

Victims Of Child Sex Trafficking: Are U.S. Pediatricians Ready To Identify, Assess, Treat And Protect Them?, Bidisha Sinha

Dissertations

The trafficking of children for commercial sexual exploitation is a gross violation of human rights and a global, public health issue that is rapidly growing and prevalent. Due to the clandestine nature of this crime and the general lack of public knowledge about it, identifying and protecting victims of child sex trafficking (CST) is fraught with challenges. Therefore, it is imperative that healthcare professionals - often the only professionals with whom CST victims come in contact while in captivity - are properly educated and trained on this topic. A literature review reveals there is little knowledge about pediatricians' education and …

Content-Based Filtering Recommendation Approach To Label Irish Legal Judgements, Sandesh Gangadhar

Dissertations

Machine learning approaches are applied across several domains to either simplify or automate tasks which directly result in saved time or cost. Text document labelling is one such task that requires immense human knowledge about the domain and efforts to review, understand and label the documents. The company Stare Decisis summarises legal judgements and labels them as they are made available on Irish public legal source www.courts.ie. This research presents a recommendation-based approach to reduce the time for solicitors at Stare Decisis by reducing many numbers of available labels to pick from to a concentrated few that potentially contains the …

Improving Transfer Learning For Use In Multi-Spectral Data, Yuvraj Sharma

Dissertations

Recently Nasa as well as the European Space Agency have made observational satellites images public. The main reason behind opening it to public is to foster research among university students and corporations alike. Sentinel is a program by the European Space Agency which has plans to release a series of seven satellites in lower earth orbit for observing land and sea patterns. Recently huge datasets have been made public by the Sentinel program. Many advancements have been made in the field of computer vision in the last decade. Krizhevsky, Sutskever & Hinton, 2012, revolutionized the field of image analysis by …

Pulmonary And Systemic Pathophysiological Impact Of Silver Nanoparticles: Effects Of Coating, Time, And Dose, Zannatul Ferdous

Dissertations

Nanotechnology is rapidly developing, and engineered materials (ENMs) are utilized in a wide array of end-user products owing to their unique physicochemical properties. Of the various forms of ENMs, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have gained much attention for potential uses in commercial applications. Due to their unique features, particularly antimicrobial properties, there had been a surge in the production of AgNPs-based products, hence increasing the potential of both occupational and consumer exposure. Among the various routes of human exposure, pulmonary exposure to AgNPs has received increased interest due to their potential to cause pulmonary injury, cross the alveolar-capillary barrier, and distribute …

Enhanced Label Free Normal And Cancer Cells Classification Using Combined Parametric Modeling And Optical Techniques, Ayshathul Fouzia Abdul Gani

Dissertations

The development of label-free methods for cell classifications has been driven by the importance of early detection and identification of cancer disease. The future point-of-care (POC) treatment methods require rapid and real-time cancer screening techniques. As the labelled methods of cell classification are time-consuming processes and require a large amount of sample preparation along with skilled persons, they do not appear to be suitable for POC treatment methods. This necessitates the importance of such development. The label-free methods incorporate the biophysical properties of cells instead of biomarkers. The optical properties of cells have been frequently utilized for cell classification. This …

Laissez Fairy Tales: Consensus, Cohesion, And Corporate Culture During The Collapse Of Lehman Brothers, William Howard Burr

Dissertations

Understanding the ways in which organizations fail is foundational to the organization studies discipline. Organizational sociologists have outlined the various ways organizations and organizational cultures can fail separately or simultaneously, temporarily or totally. Yet, little effort has been directed toward proving that organizational culture is capable of surviving the complete and total collapse of the organization from which it emerged. This work uncovers a new way that organizations can fail that leaves their organizational culture intact. the author considers employee interactions during the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy by reassembling the cultural artifacts contained in a company email archive to demonstrate that …

Vigilance Of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, Timothy Finn

Dissertations

Vigilance of certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) is an integral component of the care they provide patients under general anesthetic. the practice of CRNas is important as the official seal of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA). on the seal, Morpheus, the god of dreams, is shown holding the Lamp of Learning, by the light of which he keeps vigil (Hirter & Van Nest, 1995). as the patients remain unconscious under general anesthesia, CRNas remain the patients' eyes and ears remains responsive to their needs. the CRNa must remain attentive to the patient's needs by continuously monitoring the patient …

Early Detection Of Fake News On Social Media, Yang Liu

Dissertations

The ever-increasing popularity and convenience of social media enable the rapid widespread of fake news, which can cause a series of negative impacts both on individuals and society. Early detection of fake news is essential to minimize its social harm. Existing machine learning approaches are incapable of detecting a fake news story soon after it starts to spread, because they require certain amounts of data to reach decent effectiveness which take time to accumulate. To solve this problem, this research first analyzes and finds that, on social media, the user characteristics of fake news spreaders distribute significantly differently from those …

Mitochondria Imaging And Targeted Cancer Treatment, Tinghan Zhao

Dissertations

Mitochondria are essential organelles as the site of respiration in eukaryotic cells and are involved in many crucial functions in cell life. Dysfunction of mitochondrial metabolism and irregular morphology have been frequently found in human cancers. The capability of imaging mitochondria as well as regulating their microenvironment is important both scientifically and clinically. Mitochondria penetrating peptides (MPPs), certain peptides that are composed of cationic and hydrophobic amino acids, are good candidates for mitochondria targeting. Herein, a novel MPP, D-argine-phenylalanine-D-argine-phenylalanine-D-argine-phenylalanine-NH₂ (rFrFrF), is conjugated with a rhodamine-based fluorescent chromophore (TAMRA). The TAMRA-rFrFrF probe exhibits advantageous properties for long-term mitochondria tracking of …

Identifying The Leadership Skills Needed To Develop The Competencies To Lead In A Postcrisis Organization: A Delphi Study, Paul Turgeon

Dissertations

Purpose: Organizational leaders play a pivotal role in postcrisis activities. There is abundant research in the actions of leaders in a crisis; however, there is limited research regarding the leadership competencies required postcrisis, and a gap remains in knowing which leadership skills are needed postcrisis. The purpose of this Delphi study was to identify the leadership skills needed to promote organizational resilience, to act with integrity, and to possess a learning orientation of organizational leaders in the postcrisis phase.

Methodology: This study used a 3-round Delphi technique to identify the leadership skills that support the possession of the competencies needed …

Strategies Exemplary Female Superintendents Use To Work With The Political Styles Of School Board Members, Leisa Winston

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this explanatory mixed-methods study was to identify the political styles of female superintendents and their school board members as perceived by superintendents. In addition, it was the purpose of this study to identify and explain the political strategies female superintendents use to work with the different political styles of board members.

Methodology: This study employed a sequential, explanatory mixed-methods design. The quantitative data were collected through surveys to identify the political styles of superintendents and their board members. The qualitative interview data explored the political strategies used by each superintendent with the different political styles of …

Impact Of Positive Behavioral Interventions And Supports In California High Schools Year Three And Beyond: A Semi-Replicated Mixed-Methods Study, Jolene Mcgarrah

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to determine what differences

existed between pre- and post-PBIS implementation on suspension rates in California high schools. A further purpose of the study was to determine how experienced high school administrators described the impact of PBIS on their school sites. Methodology: This mixed methods study identified 15 California public schools for data collection and five principals for interviews about their perceptions of the impact of PBIS on their campus. The schools and principals were chosen due to proximity to the researcher. The researcher collected quantitative data from the schools and qualitative data …

The Effects Of Health Beliefs, Acculturation, And A Culturally Appropriate Teaching Intervention On Parents' Knowledge Of And Compliance With Tuberculosis Treatment In A Mexican-American Population: A Preliminary Analysis, Renee P. Mcleod

Dissertations

The primary purpose of this research study, using a correlational and comparative descriptive design, was to examine the effects of health beliefs, acculturation, and a culturally appropriate Spanish-language audiotaped novena on knowledge of Tuberculosis (TB), and compliance with treatment and medications in Mexican-American parents' of a child with TB infection. Due to the limited number of subjects obtained (N = 31), the research data and analyses are presented as preliminary findings since meaningful hypothesis testing would be premature at this time.

Exemplary Chief Nurse Executives Leading Through Storytelling, Tricia Kassab

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand and describe how exemplary human resources administrators use storytelling to lead organizations using Denning’s (2011) model. In addition, it was the purpose to understand how they use storytelling to create transformational change. Denning’s The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling highlights eight storytelling narrative patterns: to ignite action, to communicate who you are, to build your brand, to transmit values, to foster collaboration, to share knowledge, to tame the grapevine, and to share vision.

Methodology: This phenomenological qualitative study described the lived experiences of exemplary elementary chief nurse executives in California. The …

Leadership Storytelling: How Elementary School Principals Use Storytelling To Lead And Make Transformational Change, Nicholas Damico

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand and describe

how exemplary elementary school principals use storytelling to lead organizations

using Denning’s (2011) model. In addition, it was the purpose to understand how

exemplary elementary school principals use storytelling to create transformational

change in organizations. Denning’s The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling highlights eight storytelling narrative patterns:

• Storytelling to ignite action and implement new ideas
• Storytelling to build trust
• Storytelling to build brand
• Storytelling to transmit organizational values
• Storytelling to foster collaboration
• Storytelling to share knowledge
• Storytelling to neutralize rumor
• Storytelling to share your vision

Methodology: This …

Caregivers' Psychological Factors Underlying Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake Among Non-Hispanic Black Preschoolers, Julia A. Franson Tipton

Dissertations

Non-Hispanic black children consume greater amounts of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and are at disproportionately high risk for obesity and other SSB-related health problems. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships between caregivers' beliefs, attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, past behavior, and intention to serve SSBs to non- Hispanic black preschoolers. The researcher conducted a cross-sectional, correlational study using multiple regression with path analysis using the Expanded Theory of Planned Behavior as the theoretical framework.