Digital Commons Network^™

Study Of Organic Reactions In Pyridinium-Based Ionic Liquids, Ying Xiao

Dissertations

Recently, ionic liquids have attracted a lot of attention as novel materials for organic transformations. This is due to their unique properties, which make them suitable substitutes for organic solvents. Most of the available literature is focused on the application of imidazolium-based ionic liquids for organic reactions, while very limited information is available on the application of pyridinium-based ionic liquids.

In this study, two different ionic liquids, 1 -ethyl-pyridinium tetrafluoroborate ([EtPy]⁺[BF₄]^-) and 1 -ethyl-pyridinium trifluoroacetate ([EtPy]⁺[CF₃COO]^-) have been investigated. Compared to previous reports, the synthetic technique for preparation …

Phase Transitions Of Poly (L-Lactic Acid) In Bulk And In Solution, Jing Zhang

Dissertations

Poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) has been subject to intensive research in recent years because of its biodegradability. Applications of PLLA, such as porous tissue engineering scaffolds and excipients for controlled release, have been developed in the biomedical and pharmaceutical fields. The crystal structures and morphologies of this semicrystalline polyester are the underlying factors that determine the mechanical and degradation properties of PLLA.

A fundamental understanding of the development of crystal structures and morphologies during the phase transitions of PLLA in bulk and in solution is pursued in this dissertation. Synchrotron wide- and small-angle x-ray scattering (WAXS and SAXS) are adopted as …

Development Of Environmentally Benign Microencapsulation With Polymer Microspheres And Liposomes, Baohua Yue

Dissertations

Microencapsulation means applying a shell-like coating to encapsulate the contents of interest in a particle form with a size range of few micrometers or below. In this work, aqueous liposome systems and polymer based encapsulation of fine particles in supercritical CO₂ were studied. Compared to many other microencapsulation methods, these two methodologies feature reduction/prevention of using organic solvents, making them particularly attractive as green technology.

For polymer microencapsulation, a novel in situ polymerization based process to encapsulate various types of fine particles, include drugs, fire retardant, inorganic nanoparticles, and carbon nanotubes, was developed. In the process, host particles, monomers …

Bioinformatics Framework For Genotyping Microarray Data Analysis, Kai Zhang

Dissertations

Functional genomics is a flourishing science enabled by recent technological breakthroughs in high-throughput instrumentation and microarray data analysis. Genotyping microarrays establish the genotypes of DNA sequences containing single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and can help biologists probe the functions of different genes and/or construct complex gene interaction networks. The enormous amount of data from these experiments makes it infeasible to perform manual processing to obtain accurate and reliable results in daily routines. Advanced algorithms as well as an integrated software toolkit are needed to help perform reliable and fast data analysis.

The author developed a Matlab_TM based software package, called …

Environmental Justice Education And Atmospheric Particulate Analysis In Urban Environmental Health Policy Development : Indoor Airborne Particulate Concentrations In Preschools Of Asthmatic Children In Newark, Rita L. Thornton

Dissertations

Analysis suggests that several residential areas in Newark, New Jersey (USA) have Black/African-American and Hispanic populations, which may be "at high risk" with respect to the adverse health effects of particulate air pollution. This study analyzes the community locations and evaluates literature and other available air pollution data for the target communities in the city of Newark. The study focuses on asthma or reactive airway diseases as a target health risk. It also performs data collection on particulate pollutants and levels of trace metals in particulate matter in target communities and schools of preschool children in two of the five …

Access To Care: The Experience Of Community-Dwelling Older Adults Receiving Medicare And Medicaid, Mary Ann Simanello Phd, Msn, Rn

Dissertations

Access to care represents a leading health indicator for meeting the complex healthcare and social needs of an exploding population of older adults living in the United States. This qualitative study was undertaken to discover the essence of access to care by community-dwelling older adults with Medicare and Medicaid. Participants were recruited from a metropolitan area in Southern California. Thirteen women and men aged 65 to 91 described their experiences with accessing care during a face-to-face, audio-recorded interview. The study aimed to: describe experiences of access to care, identify facilitators and barriers to care, and describe the effects of facilitators …

Motivational Factors That Influence African American Women To Serve As Michigan State Legislators, Rogenia Goza

Dissertations

Problem. The purpose of this study was to discover factors that influence the political career choice of African American women legislators to serve in the State of Michigan Congress. Therefore, this study focused on motivations that affected three African American women legislators' political experiences.

Method. This study used a case-study approach, and the end result is a multi-faceted case study of the political experiences of three State of Michigan African American women legislators. The techniques used in the ethnographic research---interviews, observations, note-taking, and reviews of public and personal documents---were intended to increase understanding of the observed phenomena. Data …

A Comparative Investigation Of The Concept Of Nature In The Writings Of Henry M. Morris And Bernard L. Ramm, Andrew M. Mutero

Dissertations

The study examines two major contrasting theological accounts of nature within the contemporary North American Evangelical community as articulated by Henry Morris and Bernard Ramm. In doing so, the dissertation analyzes nature considered diachronically in three epochs namely: (1) Natura Originalis (the origin of nature); (2) Natura Continua (the contemporary status of nature); and (3) Natura Nova (the future of nature).

The purpose of this research is to discover, describe, analyze, and compare the shape of the two contrasting concepts of nature articulated respectively by Morris, a strict concordist and a special creationist and Ramm, a broad concordist and a …

Socioeconomic Characteristics As Factors Of Academic Success On The Exame Nacional De Cursos Among Undergraduate Students Of Selected Study Programs In Brazil, Josmar Sionti Arrais De Matos

Dissertations

This study investigated the possible relationships among socioeconomic characteristics as factors influencing the success levels of Brazilian students. Data were provided by the 2002 Exame Nacional de Cursos [National Examination of Study Programs], or ENC , in five cursos . For this study, the following programs, representing three levels of prestige, were selected: low (Modern Letters and History), middle (Law), and high (Medicine and Dentistry). The purpose was to gain a deeper understanding of the issues associated with relationships among various socioeconomic characteristics, as well as to gain a more global understanding of the implications of the socioeconomic process as …

Moral Implications Of Darwinian Evolution For Human Reference Based In Christian Ethics: A Critical Analysis And Response To The "Moral Individualism" Of James Rachels, Stephen Bauer

Dissertations

The topic. This dissertation explores and analyzes James Rachels's efforts to prove that Darwin's theory of evolution has catastrophic implications for traditional Christian ethics.

The purpose. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore and evaluate the question of whether or not protology affects ethics. In particular, I propose to distill the implications of evolutionary views of origins for ethics, mainly in reference to the issue of human preference over nature in ethics. I propose to disclose Rachels's understanding of the implications of evolution on human preference (greater protections for human beings over non-humans) in ethics (such as biblical-Christian ethics), …

Ranging Patterns And Habitat Utilization Of Northern River Otters, Lontra Canadensis, In Missouri: Implications For The Conservation Of A Reintroduced Species, Deborah Dorothy Boege-Tobin

Dissertations

I studied the spacing patterns and habitat utilization by reintroduced northern river otters, Lontra canadensis, at two sites in Missouri because previous studies of otters indicate, plasticity of a species social structure will likely be due to the tactics employed in acquiring resources in any given area. Seven hypotheses were tested by employing radio-tracking, habitat assessment and geographic information system approaches: (1) home range (HR) and core area (CA) size differ by sex; (2) HR and CA size differ in breeding vs. non-breeding seasons; (3) percent range overlap differs by sex; (4) habitat utilization, as indicated by latrine use, …

The Effect Of Socioeconomic Status On Year-To-Year Persistence Of First-Generation And Continuing Generation Students At Two-Year And Four-Year Institutions: Developing A Conceptual Model, Jim S. Settle

Dissertations

Estimating the persistence of first-time students from the first year to the second year of college is a growing social and financial concern for postsecondary education. Studying how socioeconomic status affects year-to-year persistence may help to identify and assist those students who had socioeconomic profiles most likely to indicate challenges to year-to-year persistence.

This study used data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:96/98). BPS is a nationally representative survey designed to provide additional information about the patterns of educational attainment and persistence for a subset of the more than 51,000 students included in the NPSAS:96 survey. This study …

Photoexcitation And Photoionization Of The Argon Atom And The Hydrogen Bromide Molecule, Ximao Feng

Dissertations

Interaction between synchrotron radiation with inner-shell electrons is a fundamental method to study the structure and dynamics of atoms and molecules. This thesis, under the guidance of Dr. Nora Berrah, concentrates on the study of the interaction between soft x-ray photons with Ar atoms and HBr moleculeswith time-of-flight (TOF) electron spectrometers and two-dimensional photoelectron spectroscopy (2DPES). Both of the experiments were performed on theAtomic, Molecular and Optical Physics undulator beamline at the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

The argon study focused on photoelectron recapture when the 2p electrons are ionized just above the thresholds of the two …

A Study Of How Precursor Key Concepts For Organic Chemistry Success Are Understood By General Chemistry Students, Patrick Gerard Meyer

Dissertations

This study examines college student understanding of key concepts that will support future organic chemistry success as determined by university instructors. During four one-hour individual interviews the sixteen subjects attempted to solve general chemistry problems. A think-aloud protocol was used along with a whiteboard where the students could draw and illustrate their ideas. The protocols for the interviews were adapted from the Covalent Structure and Bonding two-tiered multiple choice diagnostic instrument (Peterson, Treagust, & Garnett, 1989) and augmented by the Geometry and Polarity of Moleculessingle-tiered multiple choice instrument (Furió & Calatayud, 1996). The interviews were videotaped, transcribed, and coded …

Development Of Micro-Scale And Automated Membrane Extraction Systems For Water Analysis, Xiaoyan Wang

Dissertations

Monitoring of trace level contaminants in water involves the extraction and enrichment of analytes. Over the years several techniques have been developed for this purpose. Currently there is an urgent need for the development of micro-scale extraction techniques that can lead to simple, fast trace analysis. Automated instruments that can be used for continuous, on-line analysis are also important. Membrane extraction can address both these needs, because it can be carried out in a continuous fashion and can also be miniaturized. This research addresses these two aspects of membrane extraction for the next generation of sample preparation.

Micro-Scale Membrane Extraction: …

Effect Of Heavy Metals On Salt March Biota, Kallaya Suntornvongsagul

Dissertations

Environmental restoration of disturbed, degraded and potentially contaminated wetland sites aims for the persistent and sustainable re-establishment of biological communities and important wetland functions. An ecologically informed restoration strategy presupposes some understanding of these system processes, but also of potential impacts on contaminants in the environment for risk assessment, long-term management, and potential cost-effective mitigative measures. In this study, potential effects of moderate heavy metal contamination in sediments of the urban salt marsh Harrier Meadow, NJ, were evaluated on growth performance of the common salt marsh plant S. patens and associated arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) colonizing its roots. Growth performance …

Functionalization, Growth And Applications Of Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes, Yubing Wang

Dissertations

Because of their remarkable structural, mechanical and electrical properties, carbon nanotubes, and especially single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), represent one of the most widely investigated materials today in the emerging field of nanotechnology. The development of oriented growth of SWNTs critical for applications, novel approaches for the creation of functional SWNTs, and applications of both as-prepared and chemically functionalized SWNTs for electrochemically-induced hydrogen storage, in-situ formation of new polymer and ceramic nanocomposites with SWNTs, and the fabrication and study for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, of a SWNT-based biofuel cell and self-powered biosensor, are the thrusts …

Supporting Individual Time Management Through The Capture And Display Of Temporal Structures, Dezhi Wu

Dissertations

This thesis work examines the time management strategies of individuals in an academic institution and gathers information on the complex temporal structures they experience and manage. Its focus is on understanding the relationship between the quality of individual time management and an individual's understanding and use of temporal structures. This work consists of an exploratory field study to gather data on how people use temporal structures with electronic tools. It is followed by a survey that is given to a larger group of respondents in the same subject population examined with the field study. The survey examines the hypotheses developed …

Rna Structure Analysis : Algorithms And Applications, Jianghui Liu

Dissertations

In this doctoral thesis, efficient algorithms for aligning RNA secondary structures and mining unknown RNA motifs are presented. As the major contribution, a structure alignment algorithm, which combines both primary and secondary structure information, can find the optimal alignment between two given structures where one of them could be either a pattern structure of a known motif or a real query structure and the other be a subject structure.

Motivated by widely used algorithms for RNA folding, the proposed algorithm decomposes an RNA secondary structure into a set of atomic structural components that can be further organized in a tree …

Electronic Capture And Analysis Of Fraudulent Behavioral Patterns : An Application To Identity Fraud, Benjamin Ngugi

Dissertations

The objective of this research was to find a transparent and secure solution for mitigating identity fraud and to find the critical factors that determine the solution's acceptance. Identity fraud is identified as a key problem with total losses exceeding fifty two billion dollars (Javelin Strategy and Research 2005). A common denominator in most identity-fraud-prone transactions is the use of a keypad; hence this research focuses on keypad data entry and proposes a biometric solution. Three studies develop, evaluate and investigate the feasibility of this solution.

The first study was done in three stages. Stage one investigated the technical feasibility …

Navigating Cultures And Epistemologies In Science And Technology Education, Kathleen Theresa Kurzk

Dissertations

This investigation focuses on the nexus of science and culture in the lives of marginalized youth in the United States and South Africa. The epistemologies and contextual realities of cross-cultural learner cohorts and their understandings of scientific phenomena are examined. The researcher was a participant observer within the context of the Science, Technology & Culture: Empowering Learners (STC) program, an after-school and school-based collaboration focused upon integrating science, technology and culture. Electronic communication provided a vehicle for dialogue between youth in St. Louis, Missouri, USA and a South African Township. Study findings include documentation of the marginalizing effects of poverty …

How High School Science-Related Experiences Influenced Career Persistence, Andrew Dwight Shaw

Dissertations

The events of 9/11 brought into focus two ongoing trends that were present before this tragedy and have continued since: 1) The United States needs more scientists if it is to ensure its freedoms and maintain its economy. 2) The number of scientists in the ¿pipeline¿ is declining because of the diminished presence of foreign scientists (they are wanted in their own countries), the under-representation of minorities and women, and the reduced numbers of students able and willing to take on the scholastic rigors necessary for a science or engineering degree. Though much has been written about improving science education, …

Career Experiences And Career Development Among Chinese American Professional Women: A Qualitative Study, Yi-Ling Linda Kuo-Rice

Dissertations

Only a few research studies have addressed the cultural transitions and career-related issues experienced by Chinese American women. These individuals represent a silent group whose career values, career choices, and vocational needs remain largely unexplored (Yang, 1991).

This qualitative study, using grounded theory methods, explored the career experiences, career development, and career decision-making of nine foreign-bornChinese American professional women from various career fields. The findings from the study are divided into two parts. The first part presents summaries of each study participant's career development, providing a context-rich description of each case. The second part of the findings offers the results …

Managing Susceptibility To Hereditary Breast And Ovarian Cancer, Cynthia E. Perry Phd, Msn, Rn

Dissertations

The recent identification of Breast Cancer 1 (BRCA1) and BRCA2 genes offers an opportunity for high-risk individuals to learn whether they may be genetically predisposed to develop breast and/or ovarian cancer. The purpose of this study was to examine how unaffected women, identified as BRCA positive and variant of uncertain significance (VUS) mutation carriers, managed their susceptibility to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC). Thirty North American women ranging in age from 22 to 60 years responded to open-ended interviews. These interviews were analyzed using constant comparative method to generate a grounded theory. Managing Susceptibility was identified as the basic …

Unintended Pregnancy Prevention And Active Duty Women, Min S. Chung-Park Phd, Msn, Whnp

Dissertations

Studies have shown that a structured education program for women decreases risky sexual behavior identified as vulnerable for AIDS. However, the outcomes from a structured, repeated, educational intervention in reducing the rates of unintended pregnancies have not been studied in military females who are considered as a high risk. The purpose of this quasi-experimental longitudinal study was to implement and evaluate the effects of a reproductive health educational program regarding knowledge, attitudes, decisional balance, self-efficacy, stages of change, and contraceptive use, and to identify independent variables most likely to predict behavior change in the use of contraceptives among single, active …

The Persistence Of Adult Undergraduates On A Traditionally Oriented University Campus, Wendy Samuels

Dissertations

This phenomenological study describes the social and academic experiences of successful non-traditional students on the main campus of a traditionally oriented residential university and how these experiences promote or impede their persistence to graduation. The study determined what role family support, faculty support, institutional policy and services, and the classroom environment have in persistence of adult undergraduates. The methodology employed open ended individual interviews based on an interview outline. Participants in the study were all students within two traditional semesters of graduation, andthe sampling procedures were purposeful, yielding a fairly diverse pool of 15 participants. Trustworthiness of the data was …

A Behavioral Model For The Assessment And Management Of Dehydration In Older Adults, Leilani Feliciano

Dissertations

Dehydration is a serious health concern in the elderly, constituting 1 of the 10 most common causes for hospitalization in this population (Sanservo, 1997). Previous research on dehydration has typically been conducted within nursing home settings (Chidester & Spangler, 1997; Holbren, Hassell, Williams, & Helle, 1999; Spangler, Risley, & Bilyew, 1984) without specific attention to the variables maintaining dehydration for any given individual. A functional behavioral approach to assessment and prevention or intervention for dehydration would involve identifying maintaining variables in the environment that can be altered to produce effective, non-intrusive interventions to increase healthy fluid consumption. The current project …

Optimization Of Sequential Purification Of Beta-Glucosidase From Tricoderma Reesei In Aqueous Two-Phase System, Shalini Gautam

Dissertations

A novel sequential technique was developed for the purification of a valuable enzyme, beta-glucosidase, from microorganism Tricoderma reesei. The fungus T. reesei produces cellulose degrading enzymes, called cellulases: beta-glucosidase, endo-glucanase and exo-glucanase and low molecular weight proteins. For specific applications, the enzyme must be separated from other contaminants. The sequential technique, that included affinity precipitation with chitosan followed by separation with an aqueous two-phase system (ATPS), was implemented for the purification of beta-glucosidase from the culture filtrate of T. reesei.

The cultivation medium (nutrient) was optimized for the production of betaglucosidase from T. reesei cell culture. Treatment of the …

Nanostructured Composite Materials Based On Carbon Nanotubes And 3-D Photonic Crystals, Jing Chen

Dissertations

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) and in particular, single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) have been extensively studied, in large part, due to their unique one-dimensional crystalline structures and related electronic and optical properties. Various polymeric composite materials, which were based on carbon nanotubes, have been also developed in an attempt to combine the properties of polymer and CNT in a single film. Such composites were mainly formed by mixing carbon nanotubes within the polymer without special emphasis on the structure and thereby, the nanoscopic properties of the resultant material.

Photonic crystals belong to a class of man-made structures aimed at manipulating the propagation …

Development Of Adsorption Filtration Process For Virus Removal For Drinking Water Treatment, Vishal Vijay Gawarikar

Dissertations

Recent monitoring studies have indicated that many ground water (GW) sources would benefit from the development of effective technologies for removing viruses. Although reverse osmosis can achieve high log removal it is not economical. The main objective of this study is to test and validate a novel adsorption filtration (AF) technology for removing viruses from GW sources for drinking water production in New Jersey.

The convective diffusion of viruses to adsorbent particle surfaces in flow packed beds (FPB) enhances their removal efficiency if the adsorbent particle size can be decreased to about 100 microns. The development of effective virus removal …