Digital Commons Network^™

Our Vision Of Health For Future Generations: An Exploration Of Proximal And Intermediary Motivations With Women Of The Choctaw Nation Of Oklahoma, Danica Love Brown

Dissertations and Theses

Health disparities and substance misuse are increasingly prevalent, costly, and deadly in Indian Country. Although women historically held positions of influence in pre-colonial Tribal societies and shared in optimum health, their current health is relegated to some of the worst outcomes across all racial groups in the United States. Women of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (CNO) have some of the highest prevalence estimates in physical inactivity and excessive drinking in the United States. Building on the Indigenous Stress Coping model of indigenous health, "Our Vision of Health for Future Generations" explores the intersection of a historical event, the Trail …

Grappling With The African E-Waste Pandemic: Contributing Factors And Future Deterrence, Brittany Nicole Wideman

Dissertations and Theses

Electronic waste is the fastest growing waste stream worldwide. Illegal methods of transport, indifference in legislative response, and public ignorance of what to do in response, all influence e-waste proliferation. This dirty industry of e-waste is hazardous to human health and well-being as well as the environment. Since this dirty industry has ballooned over the last few decades, two major questions arise: What are the primary and secondary factors that influence the proliferation of e-waste dumping in developing countries; and what structures are emerging to combat the e-waste problem in developing countries in Africa? The following pages will investigate the …

Scientists, Uncertainty And Nature, An Analysis Of The Development, Implementation And Unintended Consequences Of The Northwest Forest Plan, Gilbert David Miller

Dissertations and Theses

The conflict in the Pacific Northwest between competing visions of how federal forests should be managed resulted in a political stalemate in the early 1990s. The Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) was initiated to resolve the demands for maintaining ecosystem processes and biological diversity with the social and economic needs for timber harvest. The foundation for the plan rested with the development of ecosystem management. The intent of this research is to explore the events which led up to the adoption of the NWFP, how it was implemented by the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management and the subsequent …

Relational Thriving In Context: Examining The Roles Of Gratitude, Affectionate Touch, And Positive Affective Variability In Health And Well-Being, Alicia Rochelle Starkey

Dissertations and Theses

Social connection is important to one's health and longevity. However, not only do people need others to survive, we need others to thrive. Researchers call for deeper examination of the functions and processes through which our social partners help us to prosper and thrive, such as through increased physical health and well-being. Over three studies, I examined phenomena theorized to contribute to long-term thriving including positive emotions (i.e., gratitude and positive affect fluctuation), responsive support, affectionate touch, and physical health (i.e., sleep) within the context of nursing work (Study 1) and military relationships (Study 2 & 3). Study 1 provides …

The Effect Of Dynamic Kinetic Selection On An Evolving Ribozyme Population, Patrick David Poletti

Dissertations and Theses

Dynamic Kinetic Selection (DKS) suggests that kinetic, rather than thermodynamic, stability will dictate the composition of a replicating population of biomolecules. Here, the results obtained from a series of five related reactions involving gradually increasing percentages of randomly-mutated substrate fragments to generate variants of full-length Azoarcus group I intron through an autocatalytic self-assembly reaction involving a series of recombination events, showed DKS as a driving factor in dictating the population composition of full-length product assembled from substrates that had fewer positions available to randomization.

In trying to elucidate a plausible scheme for the origins of complex biomolecules on the prebiotic …

The Role Of Teacher Autonomy Support Across The Transition To Middle School: Its Components, Reach, And Developmental Effects, Julia Sara Dancis

Dissertations and Theses

Building upon self-determination theory, this study sought to ascertain the reach of teacher autonomy support beyond its well-documented impact on student autonomy and engagement to include student competence and relatedness, as well as to parse apart specific teacher behaviors that comprise autonomy support (i.e., respect, choice, relevance, coercion) and their unique influences on the multiple motivational outcomes, surrounding the transition to middle school. These questions were examined using information from 224 fifth graders, 339 sixth graders, and 345 seventh graders attending elementary and middle schools in a predominantly Caucasian working and middle class school district.

Regression analyses, predicting change in …

"Beneath This Sod": Intersections Of Colonialism, Urbanization, And Memory In The Cemeteries Of Salem And Portland, Oregon, Kirsten Makenna Straus

Dissertations and Theses

Despite the large amount of research about the colonization of the American West Coast, historians have overlooked the subtle yet significant role that cemeteries have played in this narrative. Using evidence from archives, newspapers, and historical maps, this study identifies the forces which influenced the development and use of cemeteries in Portland and Salem, Oregon during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In Salem, the reinterpretation of the story of Methodist Mission leader Jason Lee culminated in an elaborate reinterment ceremony nearly sixty years after his death at the cemetery he had helped found. By contrast, the remains of Indigenous children …

Spectral Clustering For Electrical Phase Identification Using Advanced Metering Infrastructure Voltage Time Series, Logan Blakely

Dissertations and Theses

The increasing demand for and prevalence of distributed energy resources (DER) such as solar power, electric vehicles, and energy storage, present a unique set of challenges for integration into a legacy power grid, and accurate models of the low-voltage distribution systems are critical for accurate simulations of DER. Accurate labeling of the phase connections for each customer in a utility model is one area of grid topology that is known to have errors and has implications for the safety, efficiency, and hosting capacity of a distribution system. This research presents a methodology for the phase identification of customers solely using …

Stigmatization And Mental Illness: The Communication Of Social Identity Prototypes Through Diagnosis Labels, Justin Samuel Leverett

Dissertations and Theses

This study tested whether participants exposed to a vignette describing an individual experiencing symptoms of depression, which included only the specific diagnosis label of "depression," would report significantly less stigmatized responses than participants exposed to an otherwise identical vignette which included only the non-specific diagnosis label "mental illness." The study is grounded in past research on stigmatization of mental illness and is informed by three theoretical frameworks, the social identity perspective, attribution theory, and labeling theory. Participants were randomly assigned to read one of the two alternate vignettes, then respond to a series of measures testing desire for social distance, …

Knowing Without Knowing: Real-Time Usage Identification Of Computer Systems, Leila Mohammed Hawana

Dissertations and Theses

Contemporary computers attempt to understand a user's actions and preferences in order to make decisions that better serve the user. In pursuit of this goal, computers can make observations that range from simple pattern recognition to listening in on conversations without the device being intentionally active. While these developments are incredibly useful for customization, the inherent security risks involving personal data are not always worth it. This thesis attempts to tackle one issue in this domain, computer usage identification, and presents a solution that identifies high-level usage of a system at any given moment without looking into any personal data. …

Application Of Improved Feature Selection Algorithm In Svm Based Market Trend Prediction Model, Qi Li

Dissertations and Theses

In this study, a Prediction Accuracy Based Hill Climbing Feature Selection Algorithm (AHCFS) is created and compared with an Error Rate Based Sequential Feature Selection Algorithm (ERFS) which is an existing Matlab algorithm. The goal of the study is to create a new piece of an algorithm that has potential to outperform the existing Matlab sequential feature selection algorithm in predicting the movement of S&P 500 (^GSPC) prices under certain circumstances. The two algorithms are tested based on historical data of ^GSPC, and Support Vector Machine (SVM) is employed by both as the classifier. A prediction without feature selection algorithm …

From Drought To Food-Energy-Water-Security Nexus: An Assessment Of Food Insecurity In The Middle East, Maysoun Ayad Hameed

Dissertations and Theses

Drought is an extreme climate phenomenon that happens slowly and periodically threatens the environmental and socio-economic sectors. Developing countries have experienced crucial conditions in meeting the needs for food, energy, and water security. Natural disasters contribute as risky sources of food insecurity and vulnerability in the Middle East. This dissertation presents a country-level review and quantitative assessment of the current issues associated with the Food-Energy-Water-Security (FEWS) Nexus in the Middle East. In this study, sixteen countries in the Middle East are chosen, namely, Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, and Turkey. The most recent datasets are used to …

Dc-Rts Noise: Observation And Analysis, Benjamin William Hendrickson

Dissertations and Theses

Dark current random telegraph signal (DC-RTS) is a physical phenomenon that effects the performance of solid state image sensors. Identified by meta-stable stochastic switching between two or more dark current levels, DC-RTS is an emerging concern for device scientists and manufacturers as a limiting noise source. Observed and studied in both charge coupled devices (CCDs) and complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors, the metastable defects inside the device structure that give rise to this switching phenomenon are known to be derived from radiation damage. An examination of the relationship between high energy photon damage and these RTS defects is presented and …

Recognizing And Addressing Risk Ambiguity In Sea Level Rise Adaptation Planning: A Case Study Of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Mary Ann Rozance

Dissertations and Theses

As coastal cities around the world identify and implement adaptations to sea level rise, they are faced with competing interests around what should be done and how to prioritize actions. Often, environmental problems--like confronting the challenge of sea level rise--are posed as requiring expert driven, technical solutions to identify and mitigate risks across the landscape. This framing, however, ignores the way in which diverse knowledge can help inform long-term planning horizons that address complex ways that sea level rise affects communities. The failure to integrate diverse knowledge into sea level rise adaptation can result in barriers to implementation and outcomes …

Evaluating The Impact And Distribution Of Stormwater Green Infrastructure On Watershed Outflow, Benjamin Fahy

Dissertations and Theses

Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) has become a popular method for flood mitigation as it can prevent runoff from entering streams during heavy precipitation. In this study, a recently developed neighborhood in Gresham, Oregon hosts a comparison of various GSI projects on runoff dynamics. The study site includes dispersed GSI (rain gardens, retention chambers, green streets) and centralized GSI (bioswales, detention ponds, detention pipes). For the 2017-2018 water year, hourly rainfall and observed discharge data is used to calibrate the EPA's Stormwater Management Model to simulate rainfall-runoff dynamics, achieving a Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency of 0.75 and Probability Bias statistic of 3.3%. A …

Electrical Conductivity And Resistivity Study Of Heterogeneous Sediment In Inwood Hill Park, Manhattan, Ny, Rea A. Khaleda

Dissertations and Theses

The area near the inlet of Spuyten Duyvil Creek in Inwood Hill Park in New York City exhibits complex hydrological processes. The inlet is a tidal flat, which contains brackish water; a mixture of saltwater and freshwater. The area was modified by man, built on a shell bed and contains heterogeneous sediment. One field adjacent to the inlet contains several small sinkholes. Electrical resistivity and ground conductivity techniques were used in order to get an understanding of the hydrological processes of this field. It was hypothesized that the formation of the sinkholes is due to the tidal forcing of the …

Mold, Allergic Diseases And Asthma: Assessing The Validity And Usefulness Of Indoor Air Sampling As A Tool In Providing Health Protective Advice To Occupants, William M. Sothern

Dissertations and Theses

Background: Asthma is a major health problem throughout the world, disproportionately affecting occupants of low-income housing, and exposure to damp and moldy living conditions is recognized as a significant risk factor for asthma and other respiratory diseases. However, there are no authoritative health guidance values (HGV's) for airborne mold, and current scientific thought holds that the establishment of such guidelines is not practicable. Nonetheless, environmental practitioners take air samples for mold as a routine component of their indoor environmental investigations and use the laboratory results as a tool together with other findings to guide recommendations for health protective actions. The …

Modification Of Lipid Microenvironments On Solid Support Structures For Use In Transmembrane Protein Assays, William J. Houlihan

Dissertations and Theses

Gamma-Secretase (γ-secretase) is a transmembrane protease of increasing interest, which has been shown to have significant connections to both cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. γ-secretase cleaves both Notch-1, a transmembrane signaling protein, and Amyloid precursor protein (APP), a transmembrane protein whose cleavage may result in the formation of β-amyloid plaques in the brain. Notch-1 and APP are widely studied proteins that have substantial impacts on the development and proliferation of cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, respectively. Notch-1 partakes in the signaling of apoptosis in damaged and mutated cells, thus its cleavage by γ-secretase within the plasma membrane has ramifications on cell growth …

"Excellent Propaganda" Zbigniew Brzezinski's Narrative For The Soviet Invasion Of Afghanistan, Matt Mulhern

Dissertations and Theses

My focus is Cold War, and my thesis is about Zbigniew Brzezinski's larger geopolitical vision and objectivesforthePersian Gulf region, including how he used the Afghan war to pursue those objectives, and how important his willful misunderstanding of Soviet intentions in Afghanistan was to the legacy of America’s involvement in that nation’s affairs.

Optimizing Crispr/Cas9 Gene Targeting To Investigate Cone Photoreceptor Development In The Chick Retina, Diana Y. Kim

Dissertations and Theses

Many human eye conditions result in the loss of vision, due to the degeneration of cone photoreceptors in the retina. Thus, the development of methods to regenerate these cone photoreceptors is an active area of study. In order to find ways to regenerate cones, the molecular pathways and gene regulatory networks that a retinal progenitor cell takes to develop into a postmitotic cone photoreceptor needs to be well understood. In an attempt to answer this question, this paper studies the effect of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutagenesis of two key transcription factors, Otx2 and Nr2e3, on retinal progenitor cells and cone photoreceptors throughout …

Wrinkling Of Membrane And Thin Film Under Torsion, Tingting Chen

Dissertations and Theses

Membranes and thin film structures are widely used in modern technologies. Applications include solar sails and sunshields in space missions, biological membranes and flexible circuit boards. Wrinkling of membrane or a stiff film on a soft substrate may occur in either desired or unwanted patterns. This work tries to obtain some understanding on the wrinkling phenomenon and provide guidance in avoiding wrinkling or effectively controlling the wrinkle patterns.

Many works have been published about wrinkling in the thin sheets since the 20^th century. However, there is no simple analytical way to systematically characterize the wrinkling in these studies. In …

Elucidation Of The Catalytic Partial Oxidation Of Methane Utilizing The One-Of-A-Kind Catalytic Shock Tube Technique, Robyn E. Smith

Dissertations and Theses

The mechanism for the catalytic partial oxidation of methane has been debated in scientific literature for over 20 years. This is a seemingly simple reaction producing CO, CO₂, H₂ and H₂O through either partial oxidation followed by complete oxidation or complete oxidation followed by reforming steps. What is happening when the reaction is allowed to occur in an environment absent of transport limitations, absent of temperature gradients and temperature changes, absent of boundary layers must be understood and, until now, has yet to be achieved in one experimental technique.

A novel method using a one …

Void Fraction Measurements In Large (0.3 M) Diameter Bubble Column Using Wire Mesh Sensor And Pressure Transducers- Effect Of Sparger, Afolabi Gabriel Ojo

Dissertations and Theses

The importance of the accurate temporal and spatial measurements of the two-phase flow parameters in bubble columns is very well known. The aim of this research work is to report the spatial measurements of the void fraction distribution in a 30 cm diameter cylindrical bubble column using Wire Mesh Sensor (WMS) tomography and Pressure Transducers. Pair of WMS sensors, with a 64×64 wire configuration of each sensor, were installed which are separated by a distance along the axis of the bubble column. Wire Mesh Sensors and PTs Data were collected for time-averaged and transient with a sampling frequency of 1000 …

"The Hazards Of Being Free": Thinking About Not Thinking In Infinite Jest, Josh Cunningham

Dissertations and Theses

This paper is about self-consciousness and how it figures in David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest. Because Infinite Jest is such a large novel (1079 pages, including the indispensable footnotes), it serves, like other large novels before it, as a kind of encyclopedia of contemporary culture. The novel, in large part, treats self-consciousness—a distinctly human phenomenon, one which certainly accounts for our dominance as a species—as a problem (on both an individual and collective level) that needs to be overcome. This is because, as it turns out, self consciousness, when it becomes epidemic, is as much a boon as it …

Mental Illness And Psychiatry In The Victorian Era: An Analysis Of The Prevailing Power Dynamics Between Women And Male Authority Figures Through Gilman And Freud., Rumaisa Nasim Jumana

Dissertations and Theses

In this research paper, I intend to focus on Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper (1892) and Sigmund Freud’s Dora: An Analysis of a Case of Hysteria (written in 1900 and published in 1905), with an aim to represent the prevailing attitudes of men, especially male physicians, towards women in the Victorian era. I intend to demonstrate how the Victorian social system placed women in a subordinate position through patriarchal ideals of femininity and unapologetically labeled them “insane” if their behavior and personality dared deviate from the prevailing social norms and conventions. In addition, I hope to shed light …

Freedom In Existence: A Comparative Study Of The Poetics Of Emily Dickinson And Sohrab Sepehri, Neda Zahraie

Dissertations and Theses

Poetry, like thought, belongs to all people and is representative of existence itself. In one sense, poetry is the musical formation of words, whose effects must be experienced in sound, tone and melody, but in another sense, poetry is also an artistic discourse where the “fundamental character is that of an incidentally moving and imaginative form of communication” (Edman 46). Emily Dickinson and Sohrab Sepehri are two poets who sought to identify and define the Self in their modernist poetic discourse, and they each appropriated language as a means and a stepping-stone towards a methodological and unrestricted method of inquiry …

A Consideration Of Kafka's Platonic Influences In The Trial, Shana N. Creaney Ms.

Dissertations and Theses

An analysis of Kafka's The Trial using the lens of Plato's Republic to re-analyze the character arc of Joseph K. What exactly does Kafka mean when he has K. die "like a dog"? Is it possible to see the ending as hopeful or optimistic rather than bleak?

"Beyond Consolation": Or Strangeness, Estrangement, And Strange-Ing In The Elegy For The Black Body, 1955-Present, Naomie Jean-Pierre

Dissertations and Theses

The Elegy for the Black Body examines the mid-twentieth to early-twenty-first-century poetic justice crafted by African American poets to eulogize individual African Americans whose deaths were the result of racial and political violence. In the age of lynching, mass shooting, and police brutality, I argue that an African American poetic tradition persists that, while not entirely beholden to the ancient elegy, is its distant relative, along with the English and American Elegy. I argue further that while the contemporary American elegy has undergone for the last six decades intensive study, from the notable studies done by Peter Sack’s in The …

Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker, And Toni Cade Bambara; The Literary Representation Of Foucault’S Genealogy Between Black Women Authors And Their Black Women Protagonists, Cindelle Harris

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Philosophic Movement: Enlightened Theory And Practice In Colonial New York, 1743-1753, Nabila Akthar

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.