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Monitoring Damage Initiation And Growth In Composite Structures By Acoustic Emission Method, Kassahun Mekonnen Asamene

Dissertations

In this dissertation, acoustic emission technique is examined as candidate for monitoring the integrity of polymer matrix structural members. Acoustic emission technique has so far been largely limited to laboratory tests and field applications have been mostly limited to qualification tests of aerospace structures. The lack of quantitative indications of damage in composite structural members associated with the complex nature of damage in these materials has been a limiting factor. Generally, a number of failure modes operate simultaneously at a site of damage, and each of these failure modes generates a different type of acoustic emission signal. In addition, issues …

Use Of Sweet Potato To Develop A Medium For Cultivation Of Lactic Acid Bacteria, Saeed A. Hayek

Dissertations

This study investigated the use of sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) as a basic component to develop a medium for cultivation of lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Extract from baked sweet potatoes was used to form a sweet potato medium (SPM). SPM was supplemented with 4 g/L of each nitrogen source (beef extract, yeast extract, and proteose peptone #3). Lactobacilli MRS was used as a control medium. Ten LAB strains were used to determine the suitability of SPM serving the growth of LAB. Our results showed no significant (p < 0.05) differences in the optical density, maximum specific growth rates, and bacterial populations between MRS and SPM. SPM also maintained higher pH values throughout the incubation period compared to that in MRS. The cost of SPM was 47% less than the cost of MRS. Further step was taken to determine the suitability of SPM serving LAB enzymatic activity. LAB strains growing in SPM showed relatively higher β-glucosidases, acid phosphatase, and phytase activities and lower a-glucosidase compared to that in MRS. Strains of L. reuteri showed the …

A Phenomenological Study Of Indonesian Cohort Group's Transformative Learning, Markus Budiraharjo

Dissertations

This study was set to investigate how a cohort of ten Indonesian teachers experienced transformations in their teaching professionalism upon receiving an assignment of instructional leadership training to other school leaders. These ten teachers, who came from three different Indonesian Jesuit high schools and one archdiocese-based educational foundation in Jakarta, belonged to an initiative called Indonesia Secondary Education Development Program (ISEDP) intended to develop instructional leadership skills among school administrators in Indonesia. This six-year initiative (2006-2012) involved three international institutions, namely Loyola University Chicago (LUC), Indonesian Jesuit High Schools Association (IJSA), and Sanata Dharma University (SDU), Indonesia. The goal was …

Are Women Aware? : Factors Related To Women's Knowledge Of Risk And Preventive Factors In Breast Cancer, Sandra M. Walther

Dissertations

Problem. Women have a one-in-eight chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. In the past decade, there has only been a decrease of less than 1% in breast cancer morbidity and mortality rates. Breast cancer continues to be a feared disease that ravages even its survivors, and grips many with fear. Furthermore, breast cancer remains the highest cost of care among cancers. In 1990 the overall cost of care for breast cancer was $4.2 billion. In 2010, the total cost of breast cancer care rose to almost $17 billion, and by 2020 the cost trends show …

Particulates Initiate Immune Response Via Inducing Oxidative Stress-Mediated Nlrp3 Inflammasome Activation, Zhenyu Zhong

Dissertations

Liposomes are lipid particles formed by self-aggregated phospholipids. They are clinically used both as delivery vectors and immune adjuvants to treat many human infectious and cancerous diseases. However, how liposomes interact with host immune system remains poorly understood. Particularly, little is known about whether an innate immune receptor exists to sense liposomes. I hypothesize that liposomes activate NLRP3 inflammasome in macrophages, which results in the release of interleukin 1β (IL-1β), a proinflammatory cytokine that plays a key role in innate and adaptive immune responses.

To test my hypothesis, I determined the ability of inducing IL-1β secretion from macrophages by differentially …

Application Of Nano-Imprint Lithography For Next Generation Carbon Nanotube-Based Devices, Svitlana Fialkova

Dissertations

This research report addresses the development of 3D carbon nanostructures that can provide unique capabilities for manufacturing carbon nanotube (CNT) electronic components, electrochemical probes, biosensors and tissue scaffolds. The shaped CNT arrays were grown on patterned catalytic substrate by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The new fabrication process for catalyst patterning based on combination of nano-imprint lithography (NIL), magnetron sputtering and reactive etching techniques was proposed and studied. The optimal process parameters for each technique were evaluated. The catalyst was made by deposition of Fe and Co nanoparticles over alumina support layer on Si/SiO₂ substrate. The metal particles were …

Smart Sensor Webs For Environmental Monitoring Integrating Ogc Standards, William Trevor Wright

Dissertations

Sensor webs are the most recent generation of data acquisition systems. The research presented looks at the concept of sensor webs from three perspectives: node, user, and data. These perspectives are different but are nicely complementary, and all extend an enhanced, usually wireless, sensor network. From the node perspective, sensor nodes collaborate in response to environmental phenomena in intelligent ways; this is referred to as the collaborative aspect. From the user perspective, a sensor web makes its sensor nodes and resources accessible via the WWW (World Wide Web); this is referred to as the accessible aspect. From the data perspective, …

Risk Perception In Cardiovascular Disease, Michelle Ellen Block

Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains among the leading causes of death in the United States despite widespread knowledge about risk factors as well as effective primary prevention strategies. Risk perception is a complex phenomenon that plays an important role in how persons view disease and ultimately how they make health behavior choices. This study is supported by the knowledge that few studies have examined how persons perceive cardiovascular risk or the variables thought to contribute to the formation of risk perception.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine how accurately persons perceive personal risk for cardiovascular disease and identify …

Applying Data Visualisations To Open New Perspectives In Birdwatching, Frank Kendlin

Dissertations

Advances in data analytics for big data have affected many different domains and are providing new insights from these data for their respective communities. One such community is conservation science. A part of section of this community, ornithologists and bird conservationists has at its disposal millions of volunteers willing to contribute to a new ‘big’ data set. This can be achieved by means of new technology and the use of citizen science. This is already underway in North America through the excellent work of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology (CLO). This institute has harnessed the technology and the people and …

Energy Efficient Distributed Wearable Physiological Monitoring : Framework And Implementations, Mladen MilošEvić

Dissertations

Recent technological advances in sensors, wireless networking, mobile and cloud computing promise to fundamentally change the way health care services are delivered and used. The development and proliferation of the wearable physiological monitors enable a shift in healthcare services from centralized hospitals and medical centers to individuals and their homes. Continuous wearable health monitoring has the potential to engage users, improve wellness management, prevent disease by early detection, and assist rehabilitation and treatments. This dissertation presents a general framework and a practical implementation of computing infrastructure (both hardware and software aspects) to support mobile health and wellness monitoring applications as …

Visual Analysis Of E-Textbooks For Senior High School In Indonesia, Ouda Ena

Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the visual images used as illustrations in the English electronic textbooks for grades ten, eleven, and twelve in Indonesia. Qualitative visual content analysis was employed as the methodology of the research. The analysis focused on whether these e-textbooks accommodated the religious, gender, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity of the students. These four aspects of cultural diversity that influenced students learning in Indonesian contexts were crucial to examine because the students were so diverse as results of the geographical conditions and historical background of Indonesia. Eight English e-textbooks were examined. First, the result showed …

Comprehensive Investigation Of The Transcription Profiles Of Solanum Lycopersicum Treated With Two Cerato-Platanins From Botrytis Cinerea, Talitha Caudle

Dissertations

Botrytis cinerea is a severe plant pathogen that destroys more than 200 crop species worldwide. During early infection, B. cinerea secretes a large store of proteins onto the host surface, many of which cause acute necrosis, senescence, and the loss of cell wall integrity. Recently, cerato-platanin (CP) family member BCSNOD1 was found among fungal secretory products. A subsequent expression profile of B. cinerea-infected strawberry showed the early induction of BCSNOD1 and the CP homologue BCSNOD2. The function of CPs is poorly understood, although evidence suggests a role in plant-pathogen interactions. To characterize CP during B. cinerea infection, the interactions of …

Effects Of Plasma Jet Parameters, Ionization, Thermal Conduction, And Radiation On Stagnation Conditions Of An Imploding Plasma Liner, Miloš Stanić

Dissertations

The disciplines of High Energy Density Physics (HEDP) and Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) are characterized by hypervelocity implosions and strong shocks. The Plasma Liner Experiment (PLX) is focused on reaching HEDP and/or ICF relevant regimes in excess of 1 Mbar peak pressure by the merging and implosion of discrete plasma jets, as a potentially efficient path towards these extreme conditions in a laboratory. In this work we have presented the first 3D simulations of plasma liner, formation, and implosion by the merging of discrete plasma jets in which ionization, thermal conduction, and radiation are all included in the physics model. …

Chemical Investigation Of Opuntia Species And Stenocereus Thurberi, Cacti Native To North America : A Search To Identify Essential Oil Compositions And To Characterize Cyclic Siloxane Compounds, Cynthia Rena Wright

Dissertations

This study investigates the essential oil compositions of certain cacti species native to southern Arizona and the California Channel Islands. The species studied are Opuntia littoralis (Engelm.) Cockerell., Opuntia ficus-indica L. (Mill), Opunita prolifera Engelm., Opuntia acanthocarpa var. major (Engelm. & J.M. Begelow) L.D. Benson, Opuntia phaeacantha var. discata, and Stenocereus thurberi Engelm. Drosophila mojavensis, a cactus fly, utilizes the necrotic rots of O. littoralis and S. thurberi, which have been shown to be toxic to fruit flies, Drosophila melanogaster. The oil compositions of both O. littoralis and S. thurberi was characterized at differing states of necrosis and compared to …

Creating Political Leaders: Lawyer Stories About Transitioning Into Political Office In Canada, Ralph A. Chatoor

Dissertations

Problem. Sustaining healthy democracies requires citizens to successfully transition from civilian life into political leadership positions. Despite the need for this transition to take place, little is known about the transition. Globally, lawyers are the most represented professional group inpolitics, therefore, a study of their transition acts as a good starting point in understanding the process. This study used the Nicholson Transition Cycle (NTC) to explore the transition of 65 lawyers into Canadian politics.

Method. An exploratory multiple case study approach was used to gather data from face-to-face interviews, phone interviews, public archives, email, and websites. Interviews were transcribed, coded, …

Emergency Nurses' Knowledge, Attitudes And Preventive Practices Regarding Firearms And Firearm Injury Prevention For Children, Dorothy Ann Gomez

Dissertations

In 2010, there were 134 deaths attributed to unintentional firearm injuries of children under 19 year and 3,019 nonfatal injuries (CDC, 2011). Nurses are expected to identify potential dangers in the community and protect those at risk. It was found that there is limited research on the effectiveness of current firearm injury prevention practices of nurses. The study was designed to examine the knowledge, attitudes and practice characteristics of Emergency Nurses toward firearm prevention practices. A convenience sample of 189 emergency nurses completed a voluntary, anonymous survey on practices regarding childhood gun safety. Seventy-one percent of respondents agreed that firearm …

A Grounded Theory Of How Jewish Experiential Education Impacts The Identity Development Of Jewish Emerging Adults, Scott Turberg Aaron

Dissertations

The Jewish community has increasingly relied upon Experiential Education as a pedagogical approach to instilling Jewish identity and communal affiliation over the past twenty years. The Experiential Education format of travel programs has specifically been emphasized and promoted for Jewish Emerging Adults for this purpose, and outcome studies of these trip programs have demonstrated success in instilling identification and affiliation with both the Jewish community and the state of Israel among their participants. However, little is actually empirically known about the processes that impact the participant during the trip experience - the so-called "black box" - or how significant a …

The Many Functions Of Taste: Aesthetics, Ethics, And Desire In Nineteenth-Century England, Julia Bninski

Dissertations

The starting point for my analysis of nineteenth-century criticism is the recognition that the word "aesthetic" was not commonly used in English until the early 1800s. For the first two-thirds of the nineteenth century, English criticism still relied on an eighteenth-century vocabulary of "taste." For thinkers living in a world altered by social mobility, urbanization, technological change, and mass manufacturing, taste helped make sense of a bewildering array of relationships among individuals, objects, and social groups. As a category associated with consumption, taste foregrounds the charged interaction between aesthetic object and perceiving subject. It raises the question of how we …

The National Security Education Program And Its Service Requirement: An Exploratory Study Of What Areas Of Government And For What Duration National Security Education Program Recipients Have Worked, David J. Comp

Dissertations

The National Security Education Program, established under the National Security Education Act of 1991, has had a post-funding service requirement in the Federal Government for undergraduate scholarship and graduate fellowship recipients since its inception. The service requirement, along with the concern that the National Security Education Program was and remains funded by the United States Department of Defense, was very controversial in the early years of the program and remains a concern for some faculty and scholarly organizations to this day. Questions arise about whether the National Security Education Program is successfully achieving government objectives of employing National Security Education …

How Do Professional Learning Communities Foster Strong Career And Technical Education Programs Of Study In Illinois Public High Schools?, Wendy Custable

Dissertations

This research study examines how Illinois public high school Career and Technical Education educational leaders employ best practices in providing all students rigorous, relevant, and equitable learning experiences within a professional learning community structure.

This study utilized a mixed method two-tier case study methodology. Tier one consisted of a survey administered to 605 Illinois public high school Career and Technical Education leaders, outside of the Chicago Public School system, with 72 leaders who responded. This survey asked the leaders questions about what CTE programs their schools offered students and how they provided these students rigorous, relevant, and equitable learning experiences …

Toward The Development Of The Stereotypical Roles Of Black Young Men Scale, Amber Hewitt

Dissertations

There is a significant amount of literature on identity development in general, but there is a dearth of research focusing on identity development in relation to how other processes and constructs influence the identity development of African American young men. One such construct is the presence of stereotypical roles. The primary purpose of this study was to create a reliable and valid measure of the stereotypical roles of African American young men. This study explored the relationship between the endorsement of stereotypical roles, stigma consciousness, and masculinity of African American young men. African American young men (n = 164) between …

Liberian Refugee Women's Personal Narratives On The Effects Of War On Motherhood, Florence Wanjiru Kimondo

Dissertations

One major effect of displacement by war and subsequently living in a refugee

camp is the disruption of the social, cultural, economic and legal institutions of

communities; this affects parenting and a child's development. Few research studies

address the effects of war, political upheaval, and displacement on parenting, specifically

the experience of motherhood and the cultural socialization process of children. Yet, most

research points at the undeniable connection between social and cognitive competence

and the social and physical context, with changes in these contexts influencing the

competencies parents' inculcate in their children. Furthermore,

there is sparse literature focusing specifically on …

Psychosocial Distress Mediates Immune Dysregulation Through Alterations In Global Epigenetic Patterns And Chromatin Remodeling Proteins, Karen Krukowski

Dissertations

Psychosocial distress, characterized by increased perceived stress, anxiety and mood disturbance, is a common response of women to a diagnosis of breast cancer (Northouse, 1992; Pettingale et al., 1988; Stark and House, 2000; Witek-Janusek et al., 2007). This psychosocial distress leads to activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis and increased circulating glucocorticoids (GCs) (Chrousos, 2000; Chrousos and Gold, 1992; Schoneveld and Cidlowski, 2007). Increased psychosocial distress and increased HPA activation can lead to immune dysregulation consisting of reduced natural killer (NK) cell activity (NKCA) (Biondi, 2001; Kiecolt-Glaser et al., 1987; Kiecolt-Glaser et al., 2002; Witek-Janusek et al., 2008; Witek-Janusek et …

Just Like Everyone Else? Locating South Asians In 21st Century American Popular Media, Bhoomi K. Thakore

Dissertations

In the 21st century, representations of South Asians in American popular media have grown exponentially. This is a particularly interesting phenomenon when considering the status that South Asians occupy in the American racial hierarchy. In Just Like Everyone Else? Locating South Asians in 21st Century American Popular Media, I examine audience perceptions of South Asian/Indian characters and actors in American popular media. My research is guided by the following question: to what extent do audience perceptions of South Asians in U.S. popular media reflect pre-existing ideologies of race, gender, ethnicity, and immigration? Using data from 155 open-ended online questionnaires and …

Remembering The Cultural Trauma Legacies Of Slavery: African American Young Adult Perceptions On Racism, Ethnic Identity, And Racial Socialization, Kimya Pearl Barden

Dissertations

The purpose of this research investigation is to explore cultural trauma theory on African American young adult development. Cultural trauma theory asserts the adverse cross-cultural encounter, North American slavery, reproduces intergenerational psychosocial legacies for contemporary African Americans. Accordingly, cultural trauma theory is used to explore with African American young adults three "slave" legacies: ethnic identity formation, perceptions of racism, and racial socialization experiences. A qualitative case study approach is used for (N=26) participants enrolled in either college or a GED program. Each young adult participates in either an individual or focus group interview. To aid in data triangulation, older African …

Funk My Soul: The Assassination Of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And The Birth Of Funk Culture, Domenico Rocco Ferri

Dissertations

Few can deny that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s untimely death had a profound impact on American life. In this dissertation, I argue that the assassination inspired musicians, producers, artists, and consumers across the nation to reconstruct soul music and, in its place, construct the cultural idiom known as funk. Narrating the process by which black artists' embraced and popularized funk modes of expression, this dissertation traces how the genre extended directly from post-assassination trauma and attempted to provide a purposeful announcement of black solidarity and an uncensored narrative of the black American experience. In telling the story of funk, …

A Survey Study Of Prepare Workshop Participants' Application Of Knowledge, Confidence Levels, And Utilization Of School Crisis Response And Recovery Training Curriculum, Brian Richard Lazzaro

Dissertations

This survey study investigated the effects of the National Association of School Psychologists PREPaRE Workshop 2 training on workshop participants. PREPaRE is a comprehensive crisis prevention and intervention model that is specifically designed for schools. This study evaluated the impact of the PREPaRE model and the training of school psychologists in terms of (a) can school psychologists apply the knowledge gained when responding to crisis situations as a result of the PREPaRE training? (b) what are school psychologists' perceptions of their confidence in responding to an actual crisis situation? (c) and have school psychologists utilized PREPaRE response and recovery techniques …

Going Beyond Phosphorylation: Acetylphosphate-Mediated Ran Polymerase Acetylation And Caper Phosphorylation Co-Regulate Transcription Of Escherichia Coli Stress-Responsive Gene Cpxp, Bruno P. Lima

Dissertations

The ability of bacteria to sense and adapt to environmental changes has al-lowed these organisms to thrive in all parts of the globe and to establish many complex interactions with the environments they live as well as other members of these environments. Crucial to monitoring extracellular conditions is a group of signaling pathways known as two-component signal transduction system (2CST). These systems relay information from the extracellular environment to the interior of the cell via a transfer of phosphoryl groups from the sensory protein know as sensor kinase (SK) to the output protein known as response regulator (RR).

In addition …

Exploring Predicted Vs. Actual First To-Second Year Retention Rates: A Study Of Evangelical Lutheran Church In America Colleges, Brenda Porter Poggendorf

Dissertations

Retention of students is a critical area of much needed attention on nearly every college campus. It is important to students who want to succeed in college and beyond, to institutions that desire high efficiency and prestige, and increasingly to state and federal leaders. Retention of students in college affects a broad range of stakeholders, from the self-esteem and financial stability of students to the fiscal health, well-being and leadership of our country.

Using Astin's model of inputs-environment-outputs (1993) as a guide, this study seeks to understand institutional environmental factors that may impact the retention of students from their first-to-second …

Understanding The Consequences Of Interpersonal Confrontation: The Role Of Goal Pursuit In Men's Responses To Being Confronted As Sexist, Dana E. Wagner

Dissertations

Research investigating interpersonal outcomes resulting from confrontation of bias shows mixed results. Some studies show that men expect to react harshly when imagining confrontation (Saunders & Senn, 2009), whereas other research finds that men often react well when actually confronted (Mallett & Wagner, 2011). The current studies investigated this inconsistency by exploring the role of men's interaction goals on men's goal-directed compensation and interpersonal outcomes following confrontation. In Study 1, I measured accessibility of three goals (liking, respect, egalitarian) after men either imagined or experienced confrontation for sexist or uninformed behavior (gender-neutral). An egalitarian goal was the most accessible goal …