Digital Commons Network^™

More Than Midnight Feasts?: A Gastrocritical Reading Of Enid Blyton’S Malory Towers, St. Clare’S And The Naughtiest Girl In The School Series, Rebecca Broomfield

Dissertations

Food is fundamental to life. It is also fundamental to culture; through our production, manipulation and consumption of foodstuffs, the way in which we eat has amassed a range of rituals and rules. This suggests that food can be used to indicate more than mere biological need. Food and foodways are a common occurrence throughout literature, not least children’s literature. This thesis applies gastrocriticism as a paradigm to investigate the use of food and foodways in Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers, St. Clare’s and The Naughtiest Girl school series. Gastrocriticism is an emerging form of literary criticism that considers the complex …

Hybridization Of Biologically Inspired Algorithms For Discrete Optimisation Problems, Elihu Essian-Thompson

Dissertations

In the field of Optimization Algorithms, despite the popularity of hybrid designs, not enough consideration has been given to hybridization strategies. This paper aims to raise awareness of the benefits that such a study can bring. It does this by conducting a systematic review of popular algorithms used for optimization, within the context of Combinatorial Optimization Problems. Then, a comparative analysis is performed between Hybrid and Base versions of the algorithms to demonstrate an increase in optimization performance when hybridization is employed.

Factors That Contribute To Life Satisfaction Of Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder In Trinidad & Tobago, Paul Gerard Richards

Dissertations

Problem

The goal of the study was to understand factors contributing to life satisfaction of parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from the perspective of positive psychology. The challenges of parenting a child with ASD have been documented extensively, with these parents experiencing higher levels of stress, depression, and lower overall mental health than parents of typically developing children. Stress and hardship can lead to mental health problems for such families. A lack of research was observed about positive outcomes for parents of children with ASD; in particular, no research was available for these parents in Trinidad and …

Examining The Relationship Between Child Maltreatment, Executive Functioning, And Trauma Appraisal, Myshira Oliver

Dissertations

Problem

A current problem is that although child maltreatment has been demonstrated to be negatively associated with both executive functioning and trauma appraisal (leading to feelings of shame, self-blame, etc.), there is not an established model within the literature that explains the relationship between child maltreatment, executive functioning, and trauma appraisal. The purpose of this study was to develop a model that displayed the relationship between child maltreatment, executive functioning, and trauma appraisal. Additionally, this study sought to discover differences in trauma appraisal and executive functioning based on the type of child maltreatment experienced.

Method

This study employed a quantitative, …

Investigating The Bactericidal Activity Of Lactobacillus Crispatus Cell-Free-Supernatant, Omar Majed Abdul-Rahim

Dissertations

Antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) microorganisms are an increasingly seriousproblem worldwide, accounting for thousands of fatalities annually. The current literature on combating AMR pathogens often centers on commensal microbes such as Lactobacillus species, which are most frequently found in asymptomatic ‘healthy’ patients and are believed to elicit protective effects. In this dissertation, I sought to investigate the protective effect of Lactobacillus crispatus, utilizing our vast collection of clinical isolates. Previous work from our lab had found that cell-free-supernatant (CFS) of L. crispatus is robustly bactericidal, and that this killing activity does not depend on hydrogen peroxide or lactic acid. We identified phenyl-lactic acid …

Evaluating The Performance Of Vision Transformer Architecture For Deepfake Image Classification, Devesan Govindasamy

Dissertations

Deepfake classification has seen some impressive results lately, with the experimentation of various deep learning methodologies, researchers were able to design some state-of-the art techniques. This study attempts to use an existing technology “Transformers” in the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP) which has been a de-facto standard in text processing for the purposes of Computer Vision. Transformers use a mechanism called “self-attention”, which is different from CNN and LSTM. This study uses a novel technique that considers images as 16x16 words (Dosovitskiy et al., 2021) to train a deep neural network with “self-attention” blocks to detect deepfakes. It creates …

Kg-Cnn: Augmenting Convolutional Neural Networks With Knowledge Graphs For Multi-Class Image Classification, Aidan O'Neill

Dissertations

Computer vision is slowly becoming more and more prevalent in daily life. Tesla has recently announced that it plans to scale up the manufacturing of their Robotaxis by 2024, with this increase in self-driving vehicles being just one example, the importance of computer vision is growing year by year. Vision can be easy to take for granted, as most humans grow up using vision as their primary way of absorbing environmental information. The way humans process and classify visual information differs significantly from how current computer vision systems process and organise visual information. The human brain can use its past …

Investigating The Effect Of An Immersive Extracurricular Stem Program On Underrepresented And Disadvantaged High School Students' Self-Efficacy, Science Anxiety, And Career Aspirations, Nikki Mertz

Dissertations

This mixed methods study was designed to assess how an immersive extracurricular STEM program affected a student’s self-efficacy, science anxiety, and career aspirations. This study utilized the SIC-STEM survey to quantify student self-efficacy in science and the STEM Semantics survey to quantify student interest in STEM. Both surveys also assessed student interest in pursuing careers in STEM. The Science Anxiety survey was used to evaluate how student anxiety in science changed throughout the study. A subject matter survey was utilized to quantify student understanding and comprehension of an advanced science topic. Focus groups were used as the qualitative piece to …

Nanomaterials In Theranostics : Therapeutics And Diagnosis Against Infectious Diseases, Unnatiben S. Patel

Dissertations

Nanomaterials-based hybrid nano therapy is gaining attraction as a promising way to treat intracellular bacterial infections. Gold-based nanomaterials have been widely used for biomedical applications such as photothermal therapy (PTT). This thesis discusses the development of a combination therapeutic approach that kills intracellular bacteria in conjunction with photothermal and antibiotic therapy using gold nanorod (GNR) based nano-assembly. This NIR laser-activated nano-assembly delivers antibiotics to the site of infection and offers PTT. The synergistic application of both therapies increases the efficacy of treatment. The protected delivery of antibiotics and their release in the proximity of the bacterial surface decreases off-target toxicity …

Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion At Faith-Based Institutions: A Quantitative Study At Two Seventh-Day Adventist Institutions Of Higher Learning In North America, Erin Doggette

Dissertations

Problem

The need to address Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at university campuses is critical. The campus climate impacts college students' overall collegial relationships and academic abilities. Since 1976, there has been an increase of 19.1% marginalized students enrolled in college. For these students, a sense of belonging is believed to aid in improved collegial relationships and better academic performance. According to the research, students who have positive perceptions of the campus climate tend to be more satisfied with their overall college experience and become more academically successful. Private, faith-based institutions must consider conducting campus climate surveys to assess potential diversity, …

An Investigation Of Mathematics Self-Efficacy, The Sources Of Mathematics Self-Efficacy, And Mathematics Achievement Among Primary School Students In Trinidad And Tobago, Ronald Sinanan

Dissertations

Purpose of the Study

This dissertation addressed two problems in the literature. Firstly, while many study findings have highlighted the critical role of self-efficacy in students' achievement, additional research was needed about the four hypothesized sources that influence the improvement of students' mathematics self-efficacy. Many studies on self-efficacy sources were conducted with measures not closely tied to social cognitive theory and have not demonstrated sufficient reliability. Using the Sources of Mathematics SelfEfficacy Scale, Usher and Pajares (2009) addressed this problem. They suggested several recommendations for future research (Usher & Pajares, 2008b, 2009), including exploring the validity of their scale in …

Childhood Obesity Interventions In The Republic Of Trinidad And Tobago: A Qualitative Study Exploring Government Policies And Their Implementation By Health Practitioners, Phyllis Woolford

Dissertations

Because of the rising prevalence of childhood obesity and overweight in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and the observation that efforts to address the problem were showing disappointing results, this study seeks to explore the experiences and views of policymakers, health practitioners, and parents of overweight and obese children, in order to inform leaders and policy makers regarding the current interventions.

Method

A qualitative research case study methodology is the research design used, which, with my research questions, I considered would best uncover knowledge and provide perspectives that would provide an increased understanding of the issues arising from the …

Impact Of Parent Presence On Stress In Infants In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Susan M. Horner

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine potential relationships between cumulative stress exposure in infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICU), as measured using a resting salivary cortisol level at NICU discharge, and the amount (hours per week) or frequency (days per week) of parent presence and skin-to-skin care (SSC). This descriptive study was conducted via a secondary analysis of a dataset representing 78 NICU families from a tertiary level NICU in the Midwest. Median length of stay was 33 days, and a resting salivary cortisol level collected at one month of age was used for infants not discharged …

An Investigation Of The Impact Of Canadian Wildfires On Us Air Quality Using Satellite, Model And Ground Measurements, Zhixin Xue

Dissertations

In recent years, frequent and widespread wildfires in Canada have become the “new normal” during summer, which degrades the U.S. air quality significantly. Smoke from wildfires in British Columbia and Alberta can be transported by northwesterly winds to the U.S. and cause health issues to vulnerable populations, which also increases the health costs to the country. During the fire season, daily PM2.5 in cities along the smoke transport path in the United States can increase 5 to 10 times compared to pre-fire values. This research examined different processes affecting smoke's vertical and horizontal transport and quantified the increase in fine …

Functionalized Nanomaterials As Tailored Theranostics, Kavini M. Rathnayake

Dissertations

Theranostic nanoparticles are a type of biodegradable and biocompatible multifunctional nanosystems in combination with diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities for more specific and personalized disease management. However, difficulties still exist in engineering biocompatible theranostic nanoparticles with highly specific to intracellular bacteria and tumor. Development of nanoassemblies which can overcome these difficulties to achieve maximum therapeutic efficacy of the drugs will be discussed in this dissertation. Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) is an opportunistic pathogen, which causes serious lung infections in immunocompromised patients. Traditional oral intake of large quantities of small-molecule antibiotics to treat bacterial infections leads to off-target toxicity and development of drug-resistant …

Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction, Autonomy Support, And Mindsets As Predictors Of Self-Regulation In University Online Learners, Ting Jin

Dissertations

Problem

In contrast to more traditional learning environments, it can be difficult to "see and hear" both the instructor and, more crucially, the students when engaging in online education. This has been one of the most common criticisms leveled against online education for a long time. The COVID-19 disruption and transformation of online learning in higher education underlines the fact that variance among online learners in terms of academic success and psychological well-being are determined by the level and quality of self-regulation. What is the degree of self-regulation among American university students who study online because of the COVID-19 pandemic's …

The Case For Alternate Media Requirement Expressions In Systems Engineering, Jason Kolligs

Dissertations

“Requirements” are often presented as a necessary, if not mandated, component or tool of the systems engineering process. Despite their place in engineering, low quality requirements are the first potential mistakes of an engineering project and their effects are potentially felt downstream in the form of increased costs and schedule overruns. Innovations to improve requirements engineering have historically omitted the requirement media. This research provides the rationale and process heuristics to include alternate media requirement expressions within systems engineering which shifts accountability to higher context requirement expressions that may require less cognitive load while decreasing effort and schedule thereby potentially …

Reuse Considerations For Successful Complex Systems Integration, Logan Grumbach

Dissertations

As systems have become increasingly complex, engineers are relying on reuse of components and subsystems as a method to curb complexity. However, integrating these reuse components and subsystems have historically often resulted in catastrophic failures. Technical principles key to integration success and the role of reuse in these principles are not currently defined. The objective of this research is to, first, derive and validate a set of technical integration principles and subsequently to explore how incorporating reuse impacts integration success. This research uses historical system integration data and a combination of qualitative analysis techniques and quantitative techniques to draw conclusions …

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

Dissertations

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

The Emotional Side Of Dynamic Assessment: L2 Writing From Vygotsky's Perezhivanie Lens, Ali Kushki

Dissertations

This qualitative multiple-case study investigated the emotional perceptions of English-as-a-foreign language learners (EFLs) and an English writing instructor as they met online via the Zoom application. Dynamic Assessment (DA) and the Vygotskyan perezhivanie notion guided the study. DA is an interactive assessment approach that combines instruction and assessment processes during student-instructor interactions with the goal of diagnosing and developing learners’ abilities. As to the perezhivanie notion, Vygotsky (1994) argued for uncovering the particular prism through which the individual refracts (i.e., shapes) the influence of the environment, and how she “becomes aware of, interprets, and emotionally relates to a certain event” …

Understanding The Process Of Health Goal Achievement Among Black Men Who Have Sex With Men (Msm) In Chicago: An Exploratory Qualitative Study, Anthony Johnson

Dissertations

Background: Over the last 30 years, Black men who have sex with men (MSM) have been disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS while accounting for only approximately 1% of the population of the United States. The majority of research with Black MSM has focused on HIV infection risk factors, but very little attention has been given to their overall health and well-being. The breadth of HIV-health related research that includes Black MSM tends to demonstrate high levels of racial, environmental, and economic disparities that need to be addressed. However, more research must be conducted to explicate the process of exercising strength and …

Differences In Health Literacy And Healthcare Utilization For Uninsured Patients With Type Ii Diabetes, Whitney Key Towey

Dissertations

Un- and under-insured individuals have lower access and less health literacy than their insured counterparts. This is a major public health problem as lower health literacy leads to unhealthy communities which have higher chronic disease rates. This quantitative dissertation uses data from a public health hospital system to understand the relationship between health literacy and healthcare utilization. The Andersen Model has been applied to determine whether, or to what extent, health literacy explains the relationship between the identified predisposing and enabling factors and the outcomes of appropriate utilization of care by controlling for variables associated with health literacy. A sample …

Defending Gender: Transprejudice As Gender System Maintenance, Linas Mitchell

Dissertations

The high levels of interpersonal and policy-based discrimination that transgender people face can be understood as a way of responding to transgender threats to gender systems. By understanding gender as a system of meaning and power, I apply System Justification Theory to interpret transprejudice as a form of gender system maintenance that may be influenced by one’s position in the gender system (gender) and general support for the status quo (conservatism). The present studies test whether transprejudice functions as a form of system affirmation/threat rejection. I found that exposure to system threat did not lead to greater transprejudice than a …

Supporting Latine Children’S Informal Engineering Learning And Spatial Thinking Through Tinkering And Storytelling, Diana Acosta

Dissertations

In the United States, the Latine community is the fastest growing minority group. Projections estimate that by the year 2060, they will represent 28% of the total population. Yet, Latines continue to be underrepresented and underserved in STEM fields and careers. Providing equitable informal STEM learning opportunities to young children may be a way to increase access and interest in STEM, to address the broader goal of increasing representation. Importantly, for these learning experiences to be truly equitable they must be meaningful and engage everyday cultural practices. Guided by a strengths-based approach, the current study examines how oral stories as …

Maternal-Fetal Attachment And Its Relationship To Quality Of Life In Pregnant Women With Diabetes, Cheryl Ann Angel

Dissertations

Background: Maternal-fetal attachment (MFA) is the bond between a mother and her unborn child during pregnancy. Pregnant women with diabetes are considered high-risk and their numbers are expected to increase as levels of obesity rise and women wait longer to have children. This researcher has observed health care providers instructing pregnant women with diabetes about diabetes self-management (DSM) activities such as “dietary management” and encouraging the women to make those changes for their baby. However, some women remained unable to successfully engage in DSM behaviors despite having exhibited signs of MFA, e.g., expressing “thoughts of the fetus” to health care …

B Cells In The Gut Associated Lymphoid Tissue (Galt), Ameera Bukhari

Dissertations

The gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) is the largest mass of lymphoid tissue in the body, and it is a unique line of defense where immune cells are in constant contact with gut commensals and pathogens. B lymphocytes constitute most of the lymphatic tissues of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and they play a critical role in protecting from infections, promoting tolerance, and shaping microbiota in the gut through the production of immunoglobulins (Ig). Previous studies on GALT B cells in human showed that large B cell clones in the body partition into two broad networks: one includes the blood, bone marrow, …

An Ethics Of Doctrinal Emergence: Reading Newman With Augustine And Contemporary Information Theory, Jeffrey John Campbell

Dissertations

Jeffrey J. CampbellLoyola University Chicago AN ETHICS OF DOCTRINAL EMERGENCE: READING NEWMAN WITH AUGUSTINE AND CONTEMPORARY INFORMATION THEORY The aim of this essay is to begin the process of a reconfiguration of the theological category of doctrinal development and to integrate an “emergent doctrinal ethics of belief” as an inextricable dimension of this category. Most scholarly writing on doctrinal development has taken place in the wake of the Enlightenment with its focus on epistemology, and doctrine is conceived of as “referencing” a quasi-metaphysical “res.” I attempt to “update” the guiding metaphors of doctrinal development with the goal of moving discussions …

Molecular Mechanisms Of Oxidative Stress-Induced Corneal Damage And The Use Of Antioxidants And Therapeutics, Anita Kirti Ghosh

Dissertations

Dry eye disease represents an urgent unmet clinical need. This dissertation explores the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of ocular surface disease in small and large animal models and provides feasibility for the development of antioxidants as novel therapeutics for dry eye disease. Dry eye disease affects 50 million Americans every year, and costs about $55 billion annually in the USA. The disease manifests as ocular irritation, burning, foreign body sensation, and blurry/cloudy vision. While it is widely accepted that oxidative stress plays a critical role in the pathophysiology of the disease, little is understood about the underlying molecular mechanisms. The purpose …

Abl2 Promotes Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease Via Ppar Gamma Regulation, Gregory Malnassy

Dissertations

Alcohol-associated liver disease (AALD) is an umbrella term for a spectrum of diseases resulting from chronic alcohol (e.g. ethanol) abuse ranging in severity from reversible conditions such as alcohol-induced steatosis to advanced and largely irreversible liver pathologies including alcoholic steatohepatitis (ASH), alcoholic hepatitis (AH), fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). AALD is one of the primary causes of chronic liver disease worldwide and accounts for 44% of liver disease deaths in the United States. Drinking rates, both in the United States and globally, have increased year over year for the past three decades, a trend which has resulted in significantly …

Las Chingonas: An Ecological Approach To Latina Student Mothers’ Journey Through College, Emely Elizabeth Medina-Rodriguez

Dissertations

Women with children are one of the growing student sub-populations in higher education. However, the support student mothers receive in colleges and universities has been historically unreliable and their experiences in college have not been studied in depth. This is especially true for student mothers from minoritized backgrounds with differing racial, ethnic, sexual, gender, and ability identities. This research aims to understand the experiences Latina graduate student mothers from an ecological and critical perspective. Guided by Critical Human Ecology and Black Feminist Thought, eight open-ended interviews were conducted and analyzed. Themes and categories came out of the patterns in the …