Digital Commons Network^™

Integrating Nanotechnology Into The Undergraduate Chemistry Curriculum: The Impact On Students’ Affective Domain, Jacinta M. Mutambuki

Dissertations

High attrition rates in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) continue to be documented in the undergraduate education in the United States (U.S.). There is a growing concern that the U.S. will fall short of 3 million graduates by 2018. Furthermore, the literature indicates that about 36% of 4-year college graduates lack adequate critical thinking skills, complex reasoning, and communication skills relevant to the current job market. Reasons for these observations relate to the overemphasis on content knowledge; lack of content relevance; lack of interest in STEM courses; and dominance of expository teaching methods in classrooms. Given its relevance in …

Wielding Eden: Early Modern Voices And The Appropriation Of Paradise, Adrienne Redding

Dissertations

This research considers images of gardens and the unavoidable connections such images have to the Garden of Eden. It investigates images of gardens in early modern England, as seen in three different categories of textual artifact: popular prose publications, dramatic texts, and the resurrected poetic epic. It investigates the construction of gender, observing how Edenic iconography functions both to support and to undermine the dominant ideology’s work to naturalize and universalize gender attributes and societal roles. This iconography, dependent upon a variety of interpretations of the first three books of Genesis, has been referenced (and continues to be referenced) by …

Conceptual Framework Alignment Between Primary Literature And Education In Animal Behaviour, Andrea Marie-Kryger Bierema

Dissertations

In 1963, Tinbergen revolutionized the study of animal behaviour in his paper On aims and methods of ethology (Zeitschrift Tierpsycholgie, 20, 410-433) by revamping the conceptual framework of the discipline. His framework suggests an integration of four questions: causation, ontogeny, survival value, and evolution. The National Research Council Committee (U.S.) on Undergraduate Biology Education to Prepare Research Scientists for the 21^st Century published BIO2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists (Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2003), which suggests alignment between current research and undergraduate education. Unfortunately, alignment has been rarely studied in college biology, especially for fundamental …

Biophysical Characterization Of The First Four Metal-Binding Domains Of Human Wilson Disease Protein, Alia V.H. Hinz

Dissertations

Wilson disease protein (WLNP) is a P_1b-type ATPase crucial for maintaining copper homeostasis in humans. Mutations in this protein result in the autosomal recessive disorder Wilson disease, a condition characterized by copper accumulation in the liver and brain. WLNP provides copper for incorporation into cuproproteins and exports excess copper into the bile for excretion. There are six metal-binding domains (MBDs) in WLNP, found within the first 650 amino acids of this 1,465 amino acid protein. Though each MBD has a different amino acid sequence, all MBDs possess a similar ferredoxin fold with a conserved hydrophobic core and a …

Correlational Studies Of Organophosphate Levels And Endocrine Disruption, Immunomodulation, And Altered Glucose Homeostasis In A Human Population Study, Carrie Mckean

Dissertations

Organophosphate (OP) pesticides have become the most widely used insecticides since the removal of organochlorine pesticides (“Ch4 Organophosphate Insecticides.pdf,” n.d.) and are generally the most toxic of all pesticides to vertebrates (Soltaninejad & Abdollahi, 2009). As a result, ongoing research has been aimed at further understanding potential health effects from exposure.

The aim of this dissertation research project is to investigate and characterize correlations of OP body burden with human health effects. This research involves an investigation into three pertinent areas concerning OP exposure: thyroid disruption, altered hematology biomarkers, and alterations of glucose homeostasis. Data under investigation come exclusively from …

Relative Roles Of Host Exposure And Parasite Establishment In Producing Patterns Of Infection Using Eptesicus Fuscus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) And Its Helminths As A Model System, Elizabeth Warburton

Dissertations

Parasite abundance and community structure could vary depending on conditions that are both extrinsic and intrinsic to the host. Variation in parasite burden, resulting from heterogeneous exposure to parasites or heterogeneous establishment of parasites in the host, often drives transmission dynamics. Changes in parasite community structure influence parasite species diversity and thus, diversity of infection within a single host or entire host population. I sought to quantify relative roles of exposure and establishment in producing patterns of infection using bats, Eptesicus fuscus, and their helminths. I utilized subsets of data from bats captured in 16 colonies from three states …

Pbs Quantum Dot-Based Hetrojunction Solar Cells, Sawsan Khader Dagher

Dissertations

This study investigates the influence of nanoparticles (NPs) size on their optical properties, and the effect of combination of lead sulfide (PbS) quantum dots (QDs), with n-type and p-type NPs, on the photogenerated charge carriers transport across the heterojunction solar cell structure. PbS QDs, of a range of sizes, were synthesized using a co-precipitation process. In this study, p-type NPs, which are poly [3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene] –poly [styrenesulfonate] (PEDOT: PSS), copper oxide (CuO) and graphene oxide (GO); and n-type NPs which are zinc oxide (ZnO), titanium dioxide (TiO2), cadmium sulfide (CdS) and bismuth sulfide (Bi2S3), were synthesized and characterized by SEM and …

Breast Cancer Presentation Delay Among Women In The United Arab Emirates, Yusra E. Elobaid

Dissertations

Breast cancer is the commonest type of malignancy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with more than 65% of women diagnosed at an advanced stage. Routine clinical screening has aided in the early detection of breast cancer. However, more than 71% of breast tumors are self-detected. Therefore, exploring factors influencing delayed presentation to treatment after self-detection of breast tumors by Emirati and Arab women in the UAE is essential for improving the survival and the development of effective and targeted health intervention programs. This project explores the reasons behind delayed presentation to treatment by symptomatic women. It uses several approaches, …

Electro-Deformation Of A Moving Boundary: A Drop Interface And A Lipid Bilayer Membrane, Herve Nganguia

Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the deformation of a viscous drop and a vesicle immersed in a (leaky) dielectric fluid under an electric field. A number of mathematical tools, both analytical and numerical, are developed for these investigations. The dissertation is divided into three parts. First, a large-deformation model is developed to capture the equilibrium deformation of a viscous spheroidal drop covered with non-diffusing insoluble surfactant under a uniform direct current (DC) electric field. The large- deformation model predicts the dependence of equilibrium spheroidal drop shape on the permittivity ratio, conductivity ratio, surfactant coverage, and the elasticity number. Results from the …

Kinetic Analysis Of Thiol Oxidation To Study The Effects Of Fluorinated Groups On Metal Phthalocyanine Catalysts, Nellone Eze Reid

Dissertations

The oxidation of thiol (RSH) to disulfide (RSSR) is important biologically and industrially. Corrosive and malodorous thiols exist as contaminants in wastewater discharge from mining facilities, pulp and paper mills, tanneries, and oil refineries. The elimination of thiols from petroleum products is necessary for even cleaner fuels. Thiols in gas products can also inhibit catalyst activity for some downstream processes.

Experiments and mechanistic kinetic studies were conducted for the aerobic oxidation of 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME) and 4-fluorobenzenethiol (4-FBT) catalyzed by cobalt phthalocyanines: H₁₆PcCo, F₁₆PcCo, and F₆₄PcCo, each exhibiting a metal center subject to increasing Lewis …

Computational Methods For The Analysis Of Next Generation Sequencing Data, Wei Wang

Dissertations

Recently, next generation sequencing (NGS) technology has emerged as a powerful approach and dramatically transformed biomedical research in an unprecedented scale. NGS is expected to replace the traditional hybridization-based microarray technology because of its affordable cost and high digital resolution. Although NGS has significantly extended the ability to study the human genome and to better understand the biology of genomes, the new technology has required profound changes to the data analysis. There is a substantial need for computational methods that allow a convenient analysis of these overwhelmingly high-throughput data sets and address an increasing number of compelling biological questions which …

Characterizing Motor Control Signals In The Spinal Cord, Yi Guo

Dissertations

The main goal of this project is to develop a rodent model to study the central command signals generated in the brain and spinal cord for the control of motor function in the forearms. The nature of the central command signal has been debated for many decades with only limited progress. This thesis presents a project that investigated this problem using novel techniques. Rats are instrumented to record the control signals in their spinal cord while they are performing lever press task they are trained in. A haptic interface and wireless neural data amplifier system simultaneously collects dynamic and neural …

Nanocarbon Immobilized Membrane For Separation And Analysis, Madhuleena Bhadra

Dissertations

Membrane processes classically cover a wide range of applications associated with various aspects of separation and purification. Over the last few years, membrane based processes have received much interest due to their compact and modular architecture, low energy consumption and cost effective separation. With the development of diverse nanomaterials which can serve as nanosorbents, or provide specific morphology for selective solute transport, recent years have witnessed the emergence of nanocarbon based membranes that can address some of the limitations of conventional membrane processes and make feasible the next generation of breakthroughs.

The objective of this research is the exploration of …

Redemption Or Condemnation? A Long-Term Follow-Up Of The Desistance Patterns Of Sex Offenders, Kimberly Raye Kras

Dissertations

Desistance is one of most important topics in criminology. Why some offenders stop offending and why others continue has been long been a question with far-reaching theoretical and empirical implications. Despite the extensive literature on desistance, most of the research examines offenders as a single group, an approach which might overlook differences between individuals by offense type. One offender group that has not been investigated in depth is sex offenders. Sex offenders are an important group to study because they present concerns to public safety and are the subject of much legislation and criminal justice policy. A substantial amount of …

Basis Function Approaches For Two Dimensional Cochlear Models, Lihua Li

Dissertations

The human cochlea possesses the amazing ability of analyzing audio signals. The structures and mechanisms behind its characteristic response to sound stimuli has been an active area of research for decades. It has been demonstrated that mathematical cochlear modeling poses a promising alternative to discover the elusive activities in an in vivo cochlea. However, despite the successful application of numerical methods such as the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) method, finite difference method (FDM) and finite element method (FEM), the critical effects of the choice of basis functions have not been studied exclusively for the numerical solutions of cochlea models. This work presents …

Researching The Real: Transforming The Science Fair Through Relevant And Authentic Research, Rosemary Mcbryan Davidson

Dissertations

This teacher research study documents the processes used to help students in an all-female, religious-based high school create science fair projects that are personally meaningful, scientifically sophisticated and up-to date in terms of science content. One-hundred sixteen young women in an honors chemistry class were introduced by their teacher to the methods used by science journalists when researching and crafting articles. The students then integrated these strategies into their science fair research through collaborative classroom activities designed by their teacher. Data collected during the process included audio and video tapes of classroom activities, student interviews, process work, finished projects, email …

School Climate And Building Highly Effective Schools: How Student Perception Of School Structure And Supportive Learning Environments Affect Their Enjoyment Of School, Amber D'Nay Simpson

Dissertations

Education reformers have long sought to apply scientific framework analysis to engineer the ideal system in which both students and teachers are highly successful. Grounded in the evidence based theoretical framework of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), many academicians and practitioners are now focusing on determinants of school structure and supportive learning environments to bolster students’ enjoyment of school, which supports increased positive outcomes. The Abbreviated School Climate Survey (Student Version) (Ding, Liu and Berkowitz, 2011) instrument was designed to explore student perspective of school climate as an indicator of student outcomes based on seven variables. The purpose of this …

The Role Of Exchange Ideology In Coworker Social Support And Work Engagement, Sharon Sawyer Cureton

Dissertations

Despite spending over $720 million annually on engagement improvement efforts, companies continue to lose over $600 billion to a stressed and disengaged workforce (Coffman & Gonzalez-Molina, 2002; ComPsych, 2010; Hollon, 2012). Research confirms the role of coworker social support as a job resource capable of impacting engagement (May, Gilson, & Harter, 2004; Richardsen, Burke, & Martinussen, 2006; Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004). Previous engagement studies have emphasized the supervisory and employee relationship with limited consideration of relationships between peer employees and the subsequent effects of that relationship on engagement. While exchange ideology has been offered as a possible reason individuals choose …

Running The Boys' Club: An Examination Of The Experiences Of Female Law Enforcement Leaders, Jennifer Lynn Taylor

Dissertations

After struggling for decades for an equal status, it appears that female law enforcement officers in general have overcome the obstacles that initially kept them away from the job. Now, it is not uncommon to see a woman working as a patrol officer or criminal investigator. It took a shift in attitude over time and government intervention for this evolution to occur. Male officers were resistant, because the presence of women was considered a threat to their boys’ club that they so cherished. But, eventually, they have come to accept the role of women in policing.

Unfortunately, another dilemma surfaced …

College Organizational Structure And Its Impact On Accessible Distance Learning For Students With Disabilities, Mana Kariman

Dissertations

This research focuses on the impact of organizational structure in colleges on accessibility in distance learning for individuals with disabilities. Research remains limited on the effect of the organizational structure that supports online/web-based courses regarding accessibility. Policies that outline the laws guide faculty to ensure the published online courses are accessible to everyone, including students with disabilities. Further, types of accommodations available to students with disabilities are discussed. Accessibility needs to be addressed by trainings for all faculty who provide accommodations. In conclusion, the accessibility laws affect the organizational structure in institutions and the impact of policy implementation.

An Analysis Of Acculturative Stress, Sociocultural Adaptation, And Satisfaction Among International Students At A Non-Metropolitan University, Hajara Mahmood

Dissertations

This quantitative descriptive study was designed to analyze levels of acculturative stress and sociocultural adaptation among international students at a non-metropolitan university in the U.S. in relation to college satisfaction and certain demographic characteristics. Surveys were used to measure international students’ levels of acculturative stress, sociocultural adaptation, including five subscales of sociocultural adaptation, and college satisfaction (N = 413). Demographic questions included gender, age, country of origin, length of stay in the U.S., degree level, and English language comfort. Results indicated a negative correlation between students’ levels of sociocultural adaptation and acculturative stress. In particular, increased competency among the five …

Population Genetics And Microbial Communities Of The Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus Polyphemus), Daniel Lyle Gaillard

Dissertations

The gopher tortoise, Gopherus polyphemus, is an endangered species living in the southeastern United States. The recent and drastic decline in tortoise numbers has resulted in a multi-faceted approach to conserve this species. I used a population genetic approach to determine the population structure, genetic diversity and barriers to gene flow at a broad, regional and local scale. Tortoises are divided into five distinct genetic populations at the broad scale, the central populations have the highest levels of genetic diversity and the Tombigbee, Mobile, Apalachicola, Suwannee and St. John’s Rivers appear to be barriers to gene flow. At the regional …

The Effects Of Universal Design For Learning On The Academic Engagement Of Middle School Students, Kimberly M. Johnson-Harris

Dissertations

A multiple baseline across participants design was used to examine the impact of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), implemented as a total framework, on the academic engagement of middle school students with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD), and students who are at-risk for academic failure due to behavior problems, who are included in general education classes. Five teachers from two middle schools participated in professional development on UDL and UDL lesson plan design and then implemented UDL lessons in their classes. Data were collected on the fidelity of UDL implementation, student academic engagement during lesson plan implementation, and teacher acceptability …

Effect Of Structure In Problem Based Learning On Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs And Science Content Knowledge Of Elementary Preservice Teachers, Selena K. Sasser

Dissertations

This study examined the effects of differing amounts of structure within the problem based learning instructional model on elementary preservice teachers' science teaching efficacy beliefs, including personal science teaching efficacy and science teaching outcome expectancy, and content knowledge acquisition. This study involved sixty (60) undergraduate elementary preservice teachers enrolled in three sections of elementary science methods classes at a large Midwestern research university. This study used a quasi-experimental nonequivalent design to collect and analyze both quantitative and qualitative data. Participants completed instruments designed to assess science teaching efficacy beliefs, science background, and demographic data. Quantitative data from pre and posttests …

A Tale Of Two Methylation Modifications In Archaeal Rnas, Kunal Chatterjee

Dissertations

In all the three domains of life, most RNAs undergo post transcriptional modifications both on the bases as well as the ribose sugars of the individual ribonucleotides. 2'-O-methylation of ribose sugars and isomerization of Uridines to Pseudouridines are two most predominant modifications in rRNAs and tRNAs across all domains of life. Besides 2'-O-methylation of ribose sugars, methylation of pseudouridine (Ø) at position 54 of tRNA, producing m1Ø, is a hallmark of many archaeal species but the specific methylase involved in the formation of this modification had yet to be characterized. A comparative genomics analysis had previously identified COG1901 (DUF358), part …

Evaluation Of Non-Functionalized Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes Composites For Bone Tissue Engineering, Ashim Gupta

Dissertations

Introduction: Bone defects and non-unions caused by trauma, tumor resection, pathological degeneration, or congenital deformity pose a great challenge in the field of orthopedics. Traditionally, these defects have been repaired by using autografts and allografts. Autografts have set the gold standard for clinical bone repair because of their osteoconductivity, osteoinductivity and osteogenicity. Nevertheless, the application of autografts is limited because of donor availability and donor site morbidity. Allografts have the advantage that the tissues are readily available and can be easily applied, especially when large segments of bone are to be reconstructed. However, their use is also limited by the …

Atomistic Modeling Of Phonon Bandstructure And Transport For Optimal Thermal Management In Nanoscale Devices, Sasi Sekaran Sundaresan

Dissertations

Monte Carlo based statistical approach to solve Boltzmann Transport Equation (BTE) has become a norm to investigate heat transport in semiconductors at sub-micron regime, owing mainly to its ability to characterize realistically sized device geometries qualitatively. One of the primary issues with this technique is that the approach predominantly uses empirically fitted phonon dispersion relations as input to determine the properties of phonons so as to predict the thermal conductivity of specified material geometry. The empirically fitted dispersion relations assume harmonic approximation thereby failing to account for thermal expansion, interaction of lattice waves, effect of strain on spring stiffness, and …

Open Quantum System Dynamics For Describing State Transfer, Nayeli Zuniga-Hansen

Dissertations

In principle a quantum system could be used to simulate another quantum system. The purpose of such a simulation would be to obtain information about problems which are difficult to simulate on a classical computer due to the exponential increase of the Hilbert space with the size of the system, and which cannot be readily measured or controlled in an experiment. A quantum simulator is, however, an open quantum system that will interact with the surrounding environment, which in this case are other particles in the system, and will be implemented using imperfect controls, making it subject to noise. It …

The Role Of Glutamate Signalling In Diabetic Neuropathy, Nadia Hussain

Dissertations

The majority of diabetics develop neuropathy, which can be debilitating, but the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms are poorly understood. Diabetic neuropathy progresses in a distal to proximal manner. Previous studies have shown that glutamate, the most common excitatory neurotransmitter, plays a role in the pathogenesis of neuropathy. The reason why the role of glutamate in nociception becomes a problem in diabetes and the mechanisms that are involved are unknown. Based on the preliminary data, the hypothesis was that glutamate pathways are likely to be involved in diabetic neuropathy particularly neuropathic pain. Pathways were investigated to look for changes that might reflect …

Role Of Myd88 Protein In The Maintenance Of Immunological Self-Tolerance: Induction Of Autoimmunity By Salmonella Infection Consequent To Myd88 Deficiency, Jincy Merin Issac

Dissertations

Activation of the innate immune system is a prerequisite for the induction of adaptive immune responses to both infectious and non-infectious agents. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a family of proteins important for recognizing pathogen associated molecular patterns. MyD88 is an adaptor molecule whose function is critical in TLR signaling. MyD88-deficient (MyD88-/-) mice exhibit heightened susceptibility to infections, even by attenuated strains of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. Paradoxically, despite their hypersusceptibility, infected MyD88-/- mice produce elevated serum levels of anti-Salmonella antibodies regardless of the route of infection. This hypergammaglobulinemia was observed with both Th1-driven (IgG2c and IgG3) and Th2-driven (IgG1) antibody …