Digital Commons Network^™

Health-Care Seeking Behaviors Of Puerto Ricans With Diabetes Mellitus Who Live In South Florida: An Exploratory Study, Laura N. Gonzalez

Dissertations

Latinos are the fastest growing minority population in the United States (U.S.) and have the worst access to health care of any ethnic group. The chronic disease of diabetes is twice as common in adult Latinos as in non-Latino whites, and the risk of death related to diabetes is twofold. Reasons for this disparity have yet to be clearly identified. This study had two purposes: 1) to explore cultural beliefs regarding health-care seeking behaviors in Puerto Ricans with diabetes who live in South Florida; and 2) to examine Puerto Ricans' perceptions about their health-care providers. The cultural phenomena of interest …

The Relationship Between Equity Funding Levels And Success Of African American Students At California Community Colleges, Yulian Ligioso

Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine what relationship exists between equity fund spending and the student success measures of graduation rates, associate degrees and certificates awarded, and transfers completed by African American students in single college community college districts in California.

Methodology. This study employed a quantitative research design using archival data. Correlation and regression analysis was performed to determine the relationship between funding and student success outcomes. The study population was the California community college (CCC) system, and the sample was 49 single college districts.

Findings: As expected, funding was positively correlated with total number …

Ethical Issues And Decision Making Related To Resuscitation Of Severely Injured Patients: Perceptions Of Emergency Department Nurses, Mindy B. Zeitzer

Dissertations

Nurses working in emergency departments (EDs) of trauma centers are integral members of the trauma team during the initial resuscitation of severely injured patients. Decisions regarding these resuscitations are made in high stress environments and are inevitably rife with ethical issues due to the high frequency and severity of injury and its exorbitant costs to society. These decisions are made with little background knowledge about the patients during a complex process of rapid assessment of physiological status overlaid by ethical principles, societal norms and expectations, and legal mandates. The purpose of this study was to assess the specific ethical issues …

La Vraie Bouillabaisse: An Investigation Into The History And Current Practice Of The Provencal Dish Bouillabaisse, And Its Significance As A Traditional Dish, Mathieu Belledent

Dissertations

This thesis examines the history and the current practices (popularity, service styles, and recipes) of the Provencal dish bouillabaisse. It aims to establish the evolution and the traditional characteristics of the dish. It also explores the historical and contemporary popularity as well as the everyday role that bouillabaisse plays in the regional identity of Provencal cooking. Finally, the research questions if bouillabaisse would benefit from a European Union quality schemes protection or official recognition by UNESCO. This research uses an exploratory sequential mixed methods model combining qualitative and quantitative data collection which are analysed in a sequence of phases. …

Community College Faculty Perceptions And Use Of Pedagogical Translanguaging In The Academic Esl Classroom, Jennifer Talley

Dissertations

Low retention rates and poor progression have plagued academic ESL students for decades. While these students aspire to eventual matriculation into an academic or vocational program, the vast majority will fall victim to attrition. The time has come for administrators and faculty leaders to reject the status quo and advocate for programmatic changes that have proven, substantive positive impact on student outcomes. One strategy that has proven effective in other contexts is the adoption of a translanguaging approach to English instruction, yet this pedagogy is not yet widely accepted in postsecondary institutions. This study relies on frameworks developed by linguists …

First Responder Coping And Its Impact On Resilience, Ptsd Symptomology, And Hypervigilance, Bianca Bullock

Dissertations

The present study investigated coping strategies utilized by first responders and how those strategies relate to resilience, PTSD symptomology, and hypervigilance. The purpose of this study is to help provide more detailed information as to how first responders’ coping impacts their overall functioning. First responders (N = 181), including law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians, completed online surveys measuring whether engaged or disengaged coping strategies were used to manage stressful situations. Self-perceived resilience, PTSD symptoms, and hypervigilance were also measured. A one-way between-groups multivariate analysis of variance was performed to test the relationships between engaged versus disengaged …

The Impact Of Formal Teacher-Led Instructional Coaching, Mohammed Farraj

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of teacher leadership through instructional coaching. This study was designed to find the appropriate structures that promote teacher leadership with a specific focus on using a distributed leadership model of school leadership that develops and promotes teacher-led instructional coaching. This will enable school leaders to create a shared vision and outline steps to formally add teacher leadership roles in their school organizations. In addition, it will allow for a more streamlined organizational process, leading to a more effective and efficient leadership.

Two school districts outside of Chicago were used to …

Trauma And Effects Of Being Raised By A Parent With Bipolar I Disorder: A Theoretical Approach Utilizing Internal Family Systems, Daniella Vasquez

Dissertations

Bipolar I disorder (BD) is a somewhat rare mental health disorder that impacts not only the person diagnosed but also their family (Chang et al., 2001; Cook et al., 2005; Wearden et al., 2008). Children of parents with BD may experience complex trauma as inconsistencies in parenting, conflict within the household, and possible neglect or abuse may be present (Chang et al., 2001; Rusner et al., 2009; Wearden et al., 2008). Multiple developmental areas can be impacted for individuals who have endured complex trauma to include attachment, somatic distress, affect regulation, biology, behaviors, cognition, and identity (Cook et al., 2005; …

How Principal Characteristics Including Experience, Leadership Style, Philosophy, And Education Influence Science Achievement, Patricia Lirio

Dissertations

The purpose of this evaluation was to analyze the leadership characteristics of principals and determine how the characteristics influenced science achievement. The context of this inquiry was a school system in the southern United States where 55% of elementary students scored below grade level on the end-of-grade science assessment compared to the state average of 36%. I conducted a mixed-method study using extant science achievement data, science teacher survey data, principal survey data, and principal interview data. The survey and interview data demonstrated a disconnect between teachers’ perceptions and principals’ perceptions of science leadership provided by principals. I recommended a …

An Investigation Of The Unintended Consequences Of Florida’S Stand Your Ground Law And Leadership’S Role In Both Implementing The Law And Revising It, Anthony Keel

Dissertations

The State of Florida has become a negative representation of the Stand Your Ground Law due to the three unintended consequences which developed since that law was passed in 2005. They are the disparity of African American incarceration rates when the law is applied, the increase in justifiable homicides, and the exponential increase in concealed carry permits. The intent of this qualitative research study was to inspire the leadership of the state of Florida to actively support and participate in reexamining, reassessing, and revising the Stand Your Ground Law. The literature review suggested that the law is ambiguous because it …

American Education And The Black Girl, Hyacinth Dyer

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

American educators often view the Black girl as aggressive, defiant, and too challenging to educate, leading to disparities in disciplinary responses between the Black girl and her peers. This study aimed to examine the experiences of the Black girl in the K-12 system and to determine effective strategies teachers can use to establish productive educational relationships with the Black girl. The context of this inquiry was various states throughout the United States. In this study, I used a mixed method research design. Qualitative and quantitative data was collected through surveys. One group of participants were Black girls who are …

The Relationship Between Community Policing, Police Profiling And Brutality, And How It Relates To Minority Communities’ Perceptions Of Police, Tamela Ali

Dissertations

Ethnic communities in the United States are at a greater risk of police-related mortality and experiencing racial profiling by the police and are more likely to report negative perceptions of the police than White Americans. Community policing has been proposed as a viable solution to this problem. Residents’ perceptions of the police seem to be predicted by race, where they live, and other factors. Studies also show that the intensity of racial profiling and brutality by the police differs in urban and suburban areas. Therefore, it is difficult to generalize the perceptions of the police across all communities. This study …

How Teachers Build Relationships With Students In A Bimodal Environment, Andrew Salazar

Dissertations

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers nationwide were encouraged or required to teach on a bimodal platform, forcing them to create lessons, deliver lessons, and build student relationships in a way they had not experienced before. The purpose of my study was to investigate the strategies teachers were using to build relationships with students in a bimodal environment and compile a comprehensive list of effective strategies that leaders could utilize in professional development for other teachers. The context of this inquiry was a sixth through eighth grade middle school in an urban school district. I used a mixed methodology using …

A Student-Designed Learning Management System: A Mixed-Methods Analysis Of Undergraduate Student Ideas For Improving The Lms, Erin P. Manott Morris

Dissertations

Learning management systems (LMS) are digital tools used to comprehensively deliver education in various settings, including higher education. Using LMSs has been shown to support learner-centered instructional practices and, when used well, to support positive learning outcomes in students. While previous research has examined student use and satisfaction with an LMS, little research has explored student perceptions regarding LMS design. The study evaluated undergraduate students’ perceptions and opinions of an LMS’s design. The study also sought to compare students’ attitudes regarding their LMS during pre-COVID and following the pandemic’s onset. Forty-five students participated in a survey, and three participated in …

Combined Impacts Of Co2 Enrichment And Water Stress On Growth And Physiology Of Plants Inoculated With An Acc Deaminase Producing Rhizobacterium, Shaijal Babu Ppoyil

Dissertations

This study assessed the water stress mitigating effects of elevated CO₂ on Chloris gayana Kunth cv. Katambora (Rhodes grass) and Medicago sativa L. cv. SuperFast (alfalfa) plants, and how the seed inoculation with one of the ACC deaminase producing plant growth promoting rhizobacterium (PGPR) supplemented the stand-alone plant drought stress mitigating effects of elevated CO₂, under different growing conditions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Multiple growth and physiology related variables were measured from the plants in response to different treatment combinations made of CO₂, watering treatments (WT), and PGPR, based on the research design …

Characterization Of The Long Non-Coding Rna Proins In Human Pancreatic Β-Cell, Shareena Saeed Lootah

Dissertations

It is well established that the genome is pervasively transcribed. Only 2% of those transcripts are translated into proteins, and the remaining 98% are non-translated, generating the non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) species. A close observation of these transcripts directed the scientific community to their increasing potential functional roles in the cells. Indeed, the literature exponentially unveils this notion, with many ncRNAs showing substantial and variable biological functions. The field is in its infancy; however, efforts are accelerating to discover and define this ocean of new species.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are sub-species of ncRNAs with an arbitrary size of more than …

The Molecular Basis Of Diabetic Cardiomyopath, Ahmed Salaheldin Mustafa Ali Sultan

Dissertations

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a major and worsening global health problem. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) accounts for more than 90% of DM and the global epidemic of obesity largely explains the dramatic increase in the incidence and prevalence of T2DM over the past 20 years. Cardiovascular complications are the major cause of morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients. The electrocardiogram (ECG) of diabetic and obese patients is frequently disturbed. The aim of this project was to characterize and clarify the molecular basis of electro-mechanical dysfunction in the hearts of type 2 diabetic and type 2 diabetic/obese rats. Experiments were …

The Impacts Of Problematic Social Media Use On Youths: Evaluation And Treatment Recommendations, Carianne Archer

Dissertations

Youths’ frequency and time spent on social media continues to increase over the years parallel to the growing concern of the status of the mental health of youth. This critical literature review project focuses on the impacts that social media use has on youth (ages 8 to 18 years) and what methods of evaluation and treatment are being used clinically, with recommendations provided to clinicians based on the available literature. The questions that guided this review included: What are the impacts of social media on the self-concept and interpersonal functioning of youths?; What clinical presentations are associated with youths who …

A Study Of The Implementation Of Multi-Tiered System Of Supports In One School, Ranya Elhady

Dissertations

Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) is designed to help schools identify struggling students. This study aimed to determine the perception of MTSS through the lens of kindergarten through fifth-grade teachers and teacher leaders who participate in the school-wide MTSS process. The context of this inquiry was one elementary school in a large urban district where teachers had implemented MTSS for several years. I used a mixed methods research design. A survey of classroom teachers with Likert scale items and open-ended questions and data from a focus group interview of teacher leaders provided quantitative and qualitative data. I found a disconnect …

Impact Of Immigration Parent-Child Separation Policies On Children’S Attachment Experiences, Daisy Casasnovas

Dissertations

This critical literature review (CRP) project explores the consequences of child-parent separation by deportation laws. Considering the number of Latinx immigrant families immigrating to the United States, this review focused on how the unexpected separation by deportation impacted immigrant families and how these separations affect their children’s development, attachment style, and overall well-being. The review explored the short- and long-term consequences for immigrant children and their families, including children who are U.S.-born and remain in the country without their parents. Results from the review indicate an extensive and significant impact on attachment style and overall developmental impairments. The unexpected separation …

Analyzing Fluctuation Of Topics And Public Sentiment Through Social Media Data, Haoyue Liu

Dissertations

Over the past decade years, Internet users were expending rapidly in the world. They form various online social networks through such Internet platforms as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. These platforms provide a fast way that helps their users receive and disseminate information and express personal opinions in virtual space. When dealing with massive and chaotic social media data, how to accurately determine what events or concepts users are discussing is an interesting and important problem.

This dissertation work mainly consists of two parts. First, this research pays attention to mining the hidden topics and user interest trend by analyzing real-world …

Computation Of Risk Measures In Finance And Parallel Real-Time Scheduling, Yajuan Li

Dissertations

Many application areas employ various risk measures, such as a quantile, to assess risks. For example, in finance, risk managers employ a quantile to help determine appropriate levels of capital needed to be able to absorb (with high probability) large unexpected losses in credit portfolios comprising loans, bonds, and other financial instruments subject to default. This dissertation discusses the computation of risk measures in finance and parallel real-time scheduling.

Firstly, two estimation approaches are compared for one risk measure, a quantile, via randomized quasi-Monte Carlo (RQMC) in an asymptotic setting where the number of randomizations for RQMC grows large, but …

Brainless But Smart: Investigating Cognitive-Like Behaviors In The Acellular Slime Mold Physarum Polycephalum, Subash Kusum Ray

Dissertations

Evolutionary pressures to improve fitness, have enabled living systems to make adaptive decisions when faced with heterogeneous and changing environmental and physiological conditions. This dissertation investigated the mechanisms of how environmental and physiological factors affect the behaviors of non-neuronal organisms. The acellular slime mold Physarum polycephalum was used as the model organism, which is a macroscopic, unicellular organism, that self-organizes into a network of intersecting tubules. Without using neurons, P. polycephalum can solve labyrinth mazes, build efficient tubule networks, and make adaptive decisions when faced with complicated trade-offs, such as between food quality and risk, speed and accuracy, and exploration …

Stochastic Modeling Of Flows In Membrane Pore Networks, Binan Gu

Dissertations

Membrane filters provide immediate solutions to many urgent problems such as water purification, and effective remedies to pressing environmental concerns such as waste and air treatment. The ubiquity of applications gives rise to a significant amount of research in membrane material selection and structural design to optimize filter efficiency. As physical experiments tend to be costly, numerical simulation and analysis of fluid flow, foulant transport and geometric evolution due to foulant deposition in complex geometries become particularly relevant. In this dissertation, several mathematical modeling and analytical aspects of the industrial membrane filtration process are investigated. A first-principles mathematical model for …

Optimizing Incentives For Systems With Heterogeneous Agents, Chen Chen

Dissertations

This dissertation explores new models and applications based on the game theory of incentives. This exploration starts with controlling an invasive insect problem to address one of the most significant challenges facing our forests, the invasion of the Emerald ash borer (EAB), a non-native, wood-boring insect that threatens to kill most ash trees in North America, through designing two new cost-sharing programs between the landowners and local governments. Ash trees are one of North America’s most widely distributed tree genera and a vital part of the green infrastructure of cities, where they provide residents with numerous social, economic, and ecological …

Performance Analysis Of The Dominant Mode Rejection Beamformer, Enlong Hu

Dissertations

In array signal processing over challenging environments, due to the non-stationarity nature of data, it is difficult to obtain enough number of data snapshots to construct an adaptive beamformer (ABF) for detecting weak signal embedded in strong interferences. One type of adaptive method targeting for such applications is the dominant mode rejection (DMR) method, which uses a reshaped eigen-decomposition of sample covariance matrix (SCM) to define a subspace containing the dominant interferers to be rejected, thereby allowing it to detect weak signal in the presence of strong interferences. The DMR weight vector takes a form similar to the adaptive minimum …

Low-Reynolds-Number Locomotion Via Reinforcement Learning, Yuexin Liu

Dissertations

This dissertation summarizes computational results from applying reinforcement learning and deep neural network to the designs of artificial microswimmers in the inertialess regime, where the viscous dissipation in the surrounding fluid environment dominates and the swimmer’s inertia is completely negligible. In particular, works in this dissertation consist of four interrelated studies of the design of microswimmers for different tasks: (1) a one-dimensional microswimmer in free-space that moves towards the target via translation, (2) a one-dimensional microswimmer in a periodic domain that rotates to reach the target, (3) a two-dimensional microswimmer that switches gaits to navigate to the designated targets in …

Artificial Neural Networks And Their Applications To Intelligent Fault Diagnosis Of Power Transmission Lines, Fatemeh Mohammadi Shakiba

Dissertations

Over the past thirty years, the idea of computing based on models inspired by human brains and biological neural networks emerged. Artificial neural networks play an important role in the field of machine learning and hold the key to the success of performing many intelligent tasks by machines. They are used in various applications such as pattern recognition, data classification, stock market prediction, aerospace, weather forecasting, control systems, intelligent automation, robotics, and healthcare. Their architectures generally consist of an input layer, multiple hidden layers, and one output layer. They can be implemented on software or hardware. Nowadays, various structures with …

Behavior Of Novel Cementitious Composites For Use In Sustainable Construction And Rehabilitation, Noah A. Thibodeaux

Dissertations

Cementitious composites are a class of cement-based materials that incorporate a cement paste and other constituents to form a composite material. Cementitious composites may include coarse and/or fine aggregate, admixtures, supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), or fibers in order to achieve a desired workability, strength, or durability property.

Recently, material scientists and engineers have developed a variety of novel cementitious composites for the purpose of new construction, rehabilitation, and reconstruction applications. Such materials can be used to improve the sustainability of civil infrastructure through the use of recycled, repurposed, or low-embodied carbon materials. Since many of the qualification standards and tests …

Diagnostics Of Energy Release In Solar Flares With Radio Dynamic Imaging Spectroscopy, Yingjie Luo

Dissertations

Studies of the magnetic energy release and conversion process lie at the core of solar flare physics. Radio observations serve as a unique diagnostic method. In this dissertation, taking advantage of broadband radio dynamic imaging spectroscopy observations made by the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), studies are carried out on the flare energy release processes using different types of radio emissions.

The VLA is a general-purpose radio observatory located in New Mexico, which provides high-quality radio dynamic imaging spectroscopic observations with an ultra-fast time cadence. In the first study, stochastic decimetric radio spike bursts are observed by the …