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Inter-Relationship Of Mechanical And Bio-Chemical Processes Governing The Settlement Of Municipal Solid Waste (Msw) Using The (C +H)/L Ratio, Joseph John Lifrieri

Dissertations

This research discusses the results of experimentation that determines the rates and magnitudes of consolidation and settlement of solid waste materials dependent upon their actual state of biodegradation decomposition and time in place. The state of decomposition of waste is determined by measuring its cellulose plus hemicellulose to lignin ratio ((C + H)/L). The samples were collected from bioreactors, at consecutive time intervals, to simulate states of decomposition.

Each sample was tested in consolidation to determine the value of the primary compression index C' _c, the secondary compression index "the inorganic creep rate" coefficient, C' _α, and the …

End-Of-Life Analysis Of Nanotechnology Products, Sun Olapiriyakul

Dissertations

Previous research has shown that thermodynamic properties including melting point and specific heat capacity of nanomaterials may be higher than that of their corresponding bulk materials. The melting point elevation and specific heat capacity enhancement of nanomaterials may result in increased energy consumption and waste gases emission at the end-of-life (EOL) stage where the products containing nanomaterials are recycled by high temperature metal recovery (HTMR) process.

In this dissertation, the effect of physical characteristics of nanomaterials, referred to as physicochemical parameters, on their melting temperature and specific heat capacity was investigated. In addition, physical, chemical, and thermodynamic properties of nanomaterials …

Xperts And Novices: Differences In Their Use Of Mental Representation And Metacognition In Engineering Design, Raymond Anthony Dixon

Dissertations

Research shows that mental representation such as analogical reasoning is a fundamental cognitive tool for design problem solving (Daugherty & Mentzer, 2008; Hey, Lensey, Agogino, & Wood, 2008; Lewis, 2008). Not much is known, however, about the way students and professional engineers actively generate and change their mental representation when solving a engineering design problem. There are very few studies that show how different types of mental representations; such as metaphors, propositions, and analogies; interplay with higher order cognitive processes; such as planning, monitoring, and evaluation; as engineering designers navigate their problem and solution spaces. This empirical study investigated the …

Forced-Exercise Alleviates Neuropathic Pain In Experimental Diabetes: Effects On Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels, Sahadev A. Shankarappa

Dissertations

Exercise is now established as an integral adjunct to the management of diabetes. Diabetic polyneuropathy, a painful complication of diabetes, remains untreatable, emphasizing a critical need for improved therapeutic strategies. Recent evidence suggests that exercise may facilitate recovery of peripheral nerve function in diabetes. However, the mechanism by which exercise protects against diabetes-induced nerve dysfunction is unknown. In this dissertation we hypothesized that forced-exercise protects against experimental DPN by preventing glucose-associated alterations of voltage-gated calcium currents (VGCC) in small diameter dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. Using behavioral, nerve-electrophysiology and patch-clamp methodology we examined the functional consequences of forced-exercise (treadmill, 5.4 …

The Soul And The Body In Hegel's Anthropology, Nicholas Mowad

Dissertations

I provide a close exegetical reading of Hegel's "anthropology," his doctrine of the human body and soul, located in the first part of the Philosophy of Spirit, volume three of the Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences. In the course of this exegesis I show how Hegel demonstrates that all of the phenomena there under investigation must be understood as at once corporeal and distinctively human. Accordingly, anthropological phenomena should not be understood as essentially the same in humans as it is in animals, though many commentators allege that they should be. I provide a survey of the secondary literature on …

Agape And Personal Knowledge, Peter Eric Bergeron

Dissertations

The aim of this dissertation is to explore the connection between love and personal knowledge and what Jesus' life and teaching reveal about the relationship between these. I want to distinguish that form of love or caring that makes relationships personal from those forms, like benevolence or compassion, where the concern is impersonal. It is commonly thought in contemporary Western culture that the autonomy necessary for mature moral agency or for the realization of one's unique personal identity is diminished by the influence of other persons. In contrast, I argue that the relational image of love, or agape, in the …

Components Of Religious Beliefs, Religious Maturity, And Religious History As Predictors Of Proscribed And Non-Proscribed Explicit And Implicit Prejudices, Luke Fiedorowicz

Dissertations

Many theorists propose a link between religiosity and prejudice; however, many studies show contradictory results. Recently, there has also been a growing interest in the differences between implicit and explicit prejudices. Current literature suggests that explicit and implicit attitudes are linked and one can influence the other. However, it is possible there are different sets of predictors of each attitude type. African-Americans have historically been the most openly targeted minority in America. Recently, gay men and lesbians have also faced increased prejudice. The purpose of this project was to examine several aspects of religiosity (involvement, intrinsic/extrinsic, fundamentalism, quest, history, and …

The Tumor Suppressor Pkcδ Is Critical For Uv-Induced G2/M Checkpoint Activation And Apoptosis, Edward Lewis Lagory

Dissertations

Protein kinase C delta (PKCδ) is an essential component of the intrinsic apoptotic program. Following DNA damage, such as exposure to UV radiation, PKCδ is cleaved in a caspase-dependent manner, generating a constitutively active catalytic fragment (PKCδ-cat) which is necessary and sufficient for keratinocyte (KC) apoptosis. We found that in addition to inducing apoptosis, expression of PKCδ-cat caused a pronounced G2/M cell cycle arrest in both primary human KCs and immortalized HaCaT cells. Consistent with a G2/M arrest, PKCδ-cat induced phosphorylation of Cdk1 (Tyr15), a critical event in the G2/M checkpoint. Treatment with the ATM/ATR inhibitor caffeine was unable to …

The Role Of The Principal In The Professional Life Of Male Elementary Classroom Teachers, Brian Gendron Ricca

Dissertations

There are very few men that choose to enter the profession of teaching, especially at the elementary level (U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 2008). The men that do make this choice are faced with certain challenges and societal stereotypes that make this career path even more difficult to navigate. Given the small numbers that exist and some of the unique factors that face men at this level, the relationship between a male elementary classroom teacher and his building administrator is one to examine.

Within the context of the research that has been done on the gendered role of elementary …

The Role Of Igf-1 And Notch Signaling In Thoracic Malignancies., Sandra Eliasz

Dissertations

Thoracic malignancies are one of the deadliest of all cancers, being the leading cause of cancer death in the Western world. Thoracic malignancies arise from different tissues; however the most common are of epithelial (commonly referred to as non-small cell lung cancer, or NSCLC), neuroendocrine (small cell lung cancer, or SCLC) and mesothelial origin (malignant mesothelioma, or MM). The DNA oncogenic virus Simian Virus 40 (SV40) has been shown to cooperate with environmental oncogenic fibers in the onset of MM. Insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) signaling plays a central role in all thoracic malignancies and in the process of SV40-mediated …

New Cyclophanes As Supramolecular Scaffolds: The Synthesis Of Tribenzo-1,4,7-Triazacyclononatriene., Andria M. Panagopoulos

Dissertations

Supramolecular chemistry involves the formation of complex molecular entities that have the capacity to participate in specific molecular recognition of guest molecules. A commonly employed scaffold in supramolecular chemistry is the trimeric crown-shaped molecule cyclotriveratrylene (CTV). CTV has been studied extensively for its capability of binding a number of smaller organic and organometallic guests within its bowl-shaped cleft and has been used as a building block enabling the construction of more complex cryptophanes. The goal of this research is the synthesis and characterization of a novel cyclophane, tribenzo-1,4,7-triazacyclononene and derivatives thereof. These new cyclophanes should have greater versatility than the …

Notch Signaling Is Important In The Survival, Proliferation, And Self-Renewal Of The Putative Breast Cancer Stem Cell Population, Peter Grudzien

Dissertations

Numerous studies have identified stem-like cells, termed cancer stem cells (CSCs), in breast tumors and established cell lines. It has been hypothesized that CSCs are responsible for breast cancer formation, progression and recurrence; therefore, a deeper understanding of the signaling pathways regulating CSC survival will benefit development of novel therapeutic strategies. Notch signaling, which is dysregulated in breast cancer and has been implicated in mammary stem cell self-renewal, and can be effectively blocked by gamma-secretase inhibitors (GSIs). While GSIs are currently in clinical trials for breast cancer, it is not fully understood how these compounds will affect CSCs or if …

Immigrant Stories: Generation 1.5 Mexican American Students And English Language Learning In An Illinois Community College, Thomas Lloyd Hansen

Dissertations

The number of recent immigrants to the United States has increased dramatically in the last few years, and more of these immigrants are members of a group often designated as "Generation 1.5" students. These immigrant students were born in another country, came to the United States at the age of 13 or older, and graduated from high school in this country. This qualitative research study occurs within two Illinois community colleges that require some students to enroll in courses below regular English Composition I as indicated by one or more placement tests. These courses are English as a Second Language …

Anticancer Activity Of Phytolacca Americana Root Extracts And Their Fractions On Breast And Colon Cancer Cells., Lisa Maness Wishon

Dissertations

Phytolacca americana is an herbaceous plant native to North and South America and East Asia. Pokeweed antiviral protein (PAP) has been extracted from this plant and antiviral activity toward Chenopodium quinoa and other viruses has been cited. Conjugated to various monoclonal antibodies, PAP has been shown to inhibit HIV-1 replication and to arrest the proliferation of B-lineage Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia blasts. Since studies involving the activities of P. americana extracts on various cancer cell lines are limited, the major objectives of this study were to: 1) evaluate the antiproliferative activity of three extracts from P. americana against human breast (MCF7) …

Understanding The Relationship Between Social Resources And Levels Of Parent Involvement In Illinois Early Childhood Programs: A Program-Level Perspective, Aimee Victoria Hilado

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the number of resources and levels of parent involvement across state-funded preschool programs in Illinois. This dissertation presented a mixed methods study using survey data from the Illinois Birth to Five Evaluation FY09 (n=843) and interviews with ten preschool administrators who completed the survey. Based on the survey data for Illinois state-funded preschools, the number of social resources provided by a program was positively associated with levels of parent involvement. The correlation analysis (r = -0.22, p=.0001) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) F(2,708) = 23.19, p =.0001) findings both …

Corporations As Group Agents / Responsible Collectives In Theory And In Practice, Kathryn Real King

Dissertations

The goals of this dissertation are to examine the existing philosophical literature on group agency and collective responsibility and to demonstrate that this literature fails to sufficiently address the hierarchical organization of corporations, thereby severely limiting the applicability of this literature to real-world business situations. Where references to corporate hierarchy are made in the group agency and collective responsibility literature, they are incidental and descriptive only. This is in contrast to general business literature, business ethics literature, and organizational theory literature, which each highlight the importance of corporate hierarchy from their respective points of view. In this dissertation, the concept …

Towards A New Measure Of Playfulness: The Capacity To Fully And Freely Engage In Play, Rebecca Cornelli Sanderson

Dissertations

The current study involved the development and validation of a new measure of playfulness, the Project Joy Playfulness Scale (PJPS). The PJPS was designed specifically as a brief teacher-report measure for use in the preschool classroom. Playfulness was hypothesized to include four dimensions: Active Engagement, Internal Control, Joyfulness, and Social Connection. Blending academic knowledge with on-the-ground clinical experience, the measure was collaboratively developed and then tested in two separate phases of data collection.

In the first phase of the study, two hundred and twenty-two preschool students aged three to five were rated by two classroom teachers on the alpha version …

Aging Effects On Acute Lung Inflammation After Burn Injury, Vanessa Nomellini

Dissertations

The risk of complications and death after a moderate sized burn injury is significantly higher in persons over the age of 65, while almost non-existant in young, healthy individuals. The studies outlined below use a murine model to determine the mechanisms behind the development of pulmonary complications that frequently occur in aged individuals following burn injury. We hypothesized that, since aged mice maintain an elevated proinflammatory state prior to injury, they are at an even greater risk of pulmonary inflammation than young mice given a comparable sized wound. We found that neutrophils continue to accumulate in the lungs of aged …

Cosmological Beliefs About Origins Related To Science Achievement Among Junior High-School Students In South Bend, Indiana, J. David Van Dyke

Dissertations

Problem. American high-school students score lower in science achievement tests than their peers in other developed nations. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) ranked the scientific achievement of American high-school students as ―very low‖ in comparison to high-school students in other industrialized nations—only 29th out of 57 developed countries. Research has indicated that achievement declines as U.S. students progress to higher grades and take on more rigorous science courses. A variety of factors have been documented that may account for U.S. students‘ lower science achievement rankings. These include socioeconomic status, race, and gender. One area only marginally …

Grades In Prerequisite Courses As Predictors Of Success In A Nursing Program, Elaine Zeilke Foster

Dissertations

Problem: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics forecast that by 2016 more than one million new and replacement nurses will be needed to fill jobs in the health care field . In order to meet the medical needs of a changing society, schools of nursing must continue to educate and graduate significant numbers of nurses. This may be done by increasing the success rates of those who are admitted in nursing programs. Success rate is thought to be related to admission criteria used to admit students which, in turn, may reduce attrition rate, which is between 20 to 40% in …

A Comparison Of Computer-Based Training And Traditional Classroom Training For The Sad Corporation Job Placement Team, Janice Brown Adams

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this research study was to compare the effectiveness of computer-based training with traditional classroom training; both instructional delivery methods utilized the traditional classroom curriculum as a means of delivery for an on-the-job company-sponsored program. The JAW-SAD Human Resource Center (HRC) is a training facility for the SAD Corporation, a major international manufacturing company. The HRC is responsible for conducting continuous training and certification of SAD employees. Historically, training has been provided through conference workshops with a traditional classroom training format. The motivation and importance for this study was influenced by an administrative requirement to determine the …

Clergy Family Systems Training And How It Changes Clergy Leadership Attitudes And Practices, Michael J. Aufderhar

Dissertations

Problem. Clergy persons without an awareness of their family system patterns and reactivity often exercise their leadership in unhealthy ways that are damaging to their congregations. This study described changes in leadership attitudes and practices experienced by clergy participants in a Family Systems training program conducted by Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

Method. This qualitative case study followed a narrative design. I collected data while participating in the program and 3 years later conducted semi-structured person-to-person interviews with all participants who were willing and available. The data also include drawings by each participant depicting their experience before and after the intervention. …

Unto Perfect Manhood: An Instrumental Case Study Of Leadership Formation In An African American Boys High School, Daniel Ivan Mackinney

Dissertations

This qualitative study investigates the influence of single-sex education on leadership formation at an all boys, urban Catholic high school where a majority of the students come from disadvantaged backgrounds. The researcher has found an association between graduation from a single-sex school and leadership attainment. In order to understand what it is about a single-sex education that might nurture leadership development the author completed an instrumental case study of the school seeking to identify those elements that might nurture leadership formation.

The theoretical framework for this study is based on the research of Wolf-Wendel (1998) who relies on institutional characteristics …

Trauma, Dissociation, And Traumatic Stress At A Trauma Center Serving Low-Income Children And Adolescents, Krista Kohl

Dissertations

Exposure to trauma continues to be a pervasive and detrimental experience in the lives of children and adolescents in impoverished, urban communities. This study explored the relationships among trauma, dissociation, and posttraumatic stress in a clinic-referred sample of children and adolescents living in urban poverty. Trauma was investigated broadly, including a range of traumatic experiences, with particular attention given to different types, chronicity, multiple exposures, and severity of trauma. Dissociation was investigated as a mediator, or mechanism of the relationships among trauma and posttraumatic stress symptoms, internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Moderators included gender, age, and adverse experiences. Results confirmed that …

Gabab Regulation Of Methamphetamine-Induced Associative Learning, Robin Michelle Voigt

Dissertations

Addiction is a chronic, relapsing disorder for which strikingly few effective therapies exist, and there are no FDA-approved pharmacotherapies for methamphetamine (Meth) addition. There is an immense need to identify the neurobiological underpinnings of psychostimulant addiction and develop efficacious drug therapies to compliment the current mainstay treatment of behavioral/cognitive therapy.

Re-exposure to cues associated with psychostimulants (e.g., drug paraphernalia) increase neuronal activity and can elicit drug-craving and -seeking; an effect which is profound and long-lasting. A mechanism to disrupt those brain processes which are necessary to maintain the association may reduce the incidence of cue-elicited relapse.

Conditioned place preference (CPP) …

Polyomavirus Enhancer Activator 3 (Pea3), A Member Of The Ets Family Of Transcription Factors, Is A Transcriptional Activator Of Notch-1 And Notch-4 In Breast Cancer: An Opportunity For Novel Combinational Therapy, Anthony George Clementz

Dissertations

Women diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer have the worst overall prognosis and frequently present with metastatic tumors. To date, there are no targeted therapies available to combat this aggressive form of breast cancer due to the lack of expression of well-known targets such as ER-alpha, PR, or HER2/neu. Therefore, there is an immediate need to identify novel targets that are responsible for the proliferation, survival, and invasive phenotype. Notch-1 and Notch-4, both potent breast oncogenes, are overexpressed in triple-negative breast cancers-associated with the poorest overall survival. PEA3 (polyomavirus enhancer activator 3), a member of the Ets family of transcription factors, …

Psychosocial Development, Well-Being, And Internalizing Symptoms During Emerging Adulthood: An Examination Of Mediating And Moderating Factors, Jennifer Paley Edidin

Dissertations

The current study was the second part of a longitudinal study, which sought to explore psychosocial development in an older population of emerging adults. Specifically, it examined cross-sectional and longitudinal relations between psychosocial development and internalizing symptoms, as well as between psychosocial development and well-being. Possible mediating and moderating factors were also considered. Two hundred and twelve eligible individuals from one private Midwestern University and one small private college on the East Coast, who completed measures as college seniors, were invited to participate in the second wave of the study, approximately 1½ years after graduation. Participants were asked to complete …

In Whose Best Interest? Using An Experimental Vignette To Assess Factors Influencing Placement Decisions In Child Welfare, Jeff Sieracki

Dissertations

Building on prior research that utilizes clinical vignettes to analyze child welfare placement decisions (Briar, 1963; Britner & Mossler, 2002; Donnelly, 1980; Drury-Hudson, 1999; Gold, et al., 2001; Taylor, 2006), the present study employs an experimental format to assess the relative importance that social workers place on variables related to placement decisions, and to study any differences regarding decision making that may emerge amongst the child welfare professionals themselves. The study consists of a single hypothetical vignette that will be sent to social workers in the state of Illinois. Prior to administration of the questionnaire, multiple experts in the field …

An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Community Connectedness And Congregational Spiritual Vitality, Rhonda Louise Whitney

Dissertations

Problem. Discussion over how to achieve church growth has been prominent over the first decade of this century and the last half of the 1900s as membership growth in mainline Christian denominations faltered to flat or negative growth. Membership growth in the Oregon Conference of Seventh-day Adventists over the past 10 years has also flattened. Church leaders have responded by putting increased resources and emphasis on evangelism. At the same time, some megachurches that have developed multiple connections with their communities have seen spectacular growth.

Method. This study was conducted to determine if there is a relationship between levels …

B Lymphocyte Development In Galt, Venkata Arunachalam Yeramilli

Dissertations

In rabbits, the primary antibody repertoire is generated in the gut-associated lymphoid tissues (GALT), where bone marrow (BM)-derived B cells undergo a proliferative expansion and somatically diversify the immunoglobulin genes. Unlike in other species, B lymphopoiesis in rabbit arrests a few months after birth, and it is unclear how the peripheral B cell compartment is maintained when there is no influx of newly-made B cells from the BM.

For my dissertation, I investigated how B cells develop in the GALT of rabbits, and how they are maintained in adults after the arrest of lymphopoiesis. To identify cellular signals that promote …