Digital Commons Network^™

Post-Wildfire Water Quality Dynamics: A Multiscale Examination And Predictive Modeling Of Stream Temperature And Turbidity In Western U.S. Watersheds, Junjie Chen

Dissertations and Theses

Wildfires, exacerbated by climate change and human activities, pose significant threats to water-related ecosystem services in forested watersheds. This dissertation investigates the multifaceted impacts of wildfires on stream temperature and turbidity, two critical water quality parameters essential for maintaining aquatic ecosystem health and human water uses. By integrating a comprehensive literature review, empirical data analysis, and advanced machine learning techniques, this research provides a nuanced understanding of how wildfires affect hydrological processes across various temporal and spatial scales.

The findings reveal significant regional variability and the complex interplay between climatic, geographic, and anthropogenic factors. For instance, the literature review highlights …

Control And Management Of Type-Ii Diabetes Among People Living With Hiv (Plwh) Compared To Hiv-Negative Patients And By Clinic Type In The Bronx, Nyc, Aprielle Wills

Dissertations and Theses

ABSTRACT

Control and Management of Type-II Diabetes Among People Living with HIV (PLWH) compared to HIV-Negative Patients and by Clinic Type in the Bronx, NYC

by

Aprielle Wills

Advisor: Heidi E Jones, MPH PHD

Background: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimated that approximately 1.3 million people in the United States (U.S.) were living with an HIV diagnosis by the end of 2021. With advancements of antiretroviral therapy (ART) and improved access to care, HIV has become a chronic condition in the U.S. As PLWH age, they are experiencing higher rates of other chronic conditions, specifically type-II diabetes (type-II …

Machine Learning Framework For Predicting Reliability Of Solder Joints, Robert Lee Jones

Dissertations and Theses

This paper presents the techniques and framework to produce an explainable machine learning model for predicting the reliability of solder joints exposed to thermal cycle testing. While machine learning techniques have become prevalent for many engineering and data analysis tasks, the complexity of the model occludes valuable information which can be used to refine the data, tune model parameters, and aid in scientific discovery. By exposing the relationships within the model, users can have greater confidence in the use and employment of it. The purpose of this study is to show how useful relationships can be obtained from a traditional …

Single-Stage Three-Phase Buck-Boost Dc/Ac Converter Design, Analysis, And Validation, Daisy Delgado-Zaragoza

Dissertations and Theses

Three-phase DC/AC power converters enable several applications including photovoltaic systems, electric traction inverters, uninterruptible power supplies, and utility systems. The classical three-phase voltage source inverter (VSI) topology only operates in voltage step-down or buck mode of operation. Increasing number of applications including transformer-less photovoltaic systems, battery cells, fuel cells, and traction motors require a wide range of input and output voltage range. Therefore, a DC/AC power converter topology capable of voltage buck and boost operation will enable wider operating range resulting in efficient and higher performance system designs. This thesis presents a single-stage bidirectional power flow DC/AC inverter topology capable …

An Evaluation Of Sediment Transport In The Columbia River Basin: Before And After System-Wide Flow Regulation, Patrick Alan Haluska

Dissertations and Theses

Erosion and sediment transport are ubiquitous in every riverine ecosystem. Aquatic habitat eroded and sediment removal for infrastructure require deposition of upstream material to maintain morphodynamic equilibrium. A large percentage of total sediment transport occurs during relatively brief high flow events throughout the water-year. Dams are known to modify the ability for streams to freely transport sediment. Depending on the river size and dam type, downstream movement of sediment can be inhibited or completely eliminated. On the Columbia River, 14 dams are situated between the tidal-zone to the headwaters in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The main uses of the dams …

Thermal Regimes Of Beaver Impacted Stream Reaches In The Tualatin River Basin, Miles Mayer

Dissertations and Theses

Climate change and urbanization are expected to cause major changes to hydrologic regimes over the Pacific Northwest Region. The Tualatin River Basin, an area of the Pacific Northwest just west of Portland, OR has been subjected to considerable water-quality issues, including stream temperature. As ecosystem engineers, beavers have the potential to mitigate stream degradation and, consequently, there is increasing interest in beaver-related restoration. However, different conclusions have been found on beaver dam impacts to stream thermal regimes. These differences have been attributed to geographical differences in study location and variability in methods and investigated spatiotemporal scales. We investigated summer thermal …

A Pwm Control Method For Reducing Electromagnetic Noise At The Generation Source In Power Electronic Converters, Abhijeet Prem

Dissertations and Theses

Advancements in power semiconductor devices are enabling the design of better electrical power conversion systems. Wide Bandgap (WBG) switching devices using materials like Silicon Carbide and Gallium Nitride can operate at higher temperatures, voltages, and frequencies with faster turn-on/off periods, improving converter performance over silicon devices. However, WBG technologies are still new, and the rapid switching transitions of these devices lead to issues such as voltage overshoots, ringing, and electromagnetic interference, which need to be addressed for widespread adoption. This work introduces a new control method for reshaping the switching voltages, which overcomes the disadvantages of fast transition time without …

Altered Disturbance Regimes And Novel Ecosystems: Understanding And Managing Ecosystem State Change In The Forest-Peatland Ecotone Of Western Patagonia, Kyla Sara Zaret

Dissertations and Theses

Altered fire regimes, combined with a warmer and drier climate, have been eroding the resilience of temperate rainforests and peatlands worldwide and leading to alternative post-fire vegetation communities. I used a social-ecological systems framework informed by theories of non-linear ecosystem dynamics on the one hand and political ecology and 'politics of scale' scholarship on the other to investigate, 1) the underlying causes of a shift in vegetation dominance from forests dominated by the conifer, Pilgerodendron uviferum, to peat-generating ecosystems dominated by the peat moss, Sphagnum magellanicum; and 2) what this means for the futures of local people's livelihoods …

A Native American Perspective On Navigating The Academic World With Resilience And Honoring The Wisdom Of Native Elders, Shani Renee Johnson

Dissertations and Theses

The graduation percentage among Native American students has consistently remained at a discouraging 50 %, both in the past and at present. This study employed a narrative inquiry approach to investigate the low graduation rates among Native American students, from the perspective of a Native American educator and mother. This study examined the historical trauma and colonization experienced by Native Americans and how it has affected Native American families and communities, resulting in low rates of graduation among Native students. In addition, this study examined factors contributing to resilience by acknowledging Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and Indigenous Ways of Knowing …

Participatory Democracy: The Potential For Civic Transformation Understanding Participants' Learning In The Milwaukie Citizens Jury, Amanda Grace Hudson

Dissertations and Theses

Faced with unresponsive government institutions and the limitations of representative democracy, participatory and deliberative democrats have created alternative models for robust democratic participation such as civic juries, civic assemblies and participatory budgeting. Advocates claim that these methods create better citizens and better outcomes and they claim these forums act as a school of democracy. The schools of democracy theory describes participation as a virtuous circle--that doing democracy will make people more democratic. While these processes often produce enthusiastic supporters and encouraging results, there has been very little research to date that attempts to explain how and why people learn and …

Stricken By The Worst Type Of Sickness: The Communal Reaction And Response To Impaired Individuals In The Middle Ages, Alice Holland

Dissertations and Theses

Medieval communities often approached trouble within the fold collectively. This includes concerns over the health and safety of their individual members. This thesis examines the communal perception and treatment of disabled individuals in the Middle Ages. Using four twelfth-century miracle collections, The Miracles of Saint Gibrian (1145), The Life and Miracles of William of Norwich (1150-1172), The Miracles of Our Lady of Rocamadour (1172-1173), and The Miracles of Thomas Becket (1173-1179), I examine how communities created systems of care for their impaired members. In using these sources, which tell the stories of common individuals traveling to shrines for a saint's …

Itagaki Paru's Animalized Japan, Adoria Shanelle Walker

Dissertations and Theses

In the earlier works of manga artist and author Itagaki Paru, animal characters are used to prompt a discussion of the uchi/soto ("in-group"/"out-group") dynamic present in Japanese society. Throughout her most popular work, Beastars, and its supplemental short story collection Beast Complex, Itagaki tackles binary thinking and in-group versus out-group social politics using a blatantly obvious, yet nuanced and subtle herbivore-versus-carnivore, predator-versus-prey metaphor. The world she depicts in these works is full of misunderstandings caused by hastily made assumptions, sometimes instinctually quick. With her animalized characters, she explores human stigmatization and the poor treatment of those who do not want …

Diversity, Equity And Inclusion In Simulation-Based Education: Experiences From Multiple Academic Health Centers, Jesika Samuelson Gavilanes

Dissertations and Theses

The integration of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) into healthcare professional training is critical in order to ensure positive patient outcomes and help combat healthcare disparities, leading towards health equity. There is not currently a standard specific to DEI awareness in healthcare education and training. One area of healthcare training is simulation-based education (SBE), which is training that is set up to be as close to a real environment as possible for healthcare professional training. There is little in the literature that addresses DEI within SBE, yet SBE is one area with the potential for making an impact in healthcare …

Pathways To Social Mobility: Examining Trades As A Career Path For Formerly Incarcerated Individuals, June Jenkins

Dissertations and Theses

Obtaining stable, paid employment is crucial for successful reentry into the community after incarceration, however, formerly incarcerated individuals face extensive barriers when entering the workforce. Trades may present a uniquely attainable career path for this population due to relatively low barriers to entry. To date, there is a lack of research investigating experience-based perspectives on the viability of trades training programs and trades careers in facilitating prisoner reentry. This study employs semi-structured qualitative interviews to investigate perspectives on trades as a career path for formerly incarcerated individuals as well as barriers to accessing and attending trades training programs. Interviewees include …

Taking Thermally Modified Rock Seriously: An Analysis Of Use-Wear Attributes, Dianna Marie Wilson

Dissertations and Theses

Rock is a durable and widely available resource that can store and transfer thermal energy, which is why people have used, and still use, rock in various forms of cooking techniques using different types of thermal facilities. Many of these facilities are important heritage resources associated with the long-term connection of Indigenous people to places, plants, and animals. In Oregon's Willamette Valley there is an abundance of thermally modified rock (TMR) that archaeologists minimally record and then discard, with inadequate information retained to reconstruct past TMR use or answer other important questions about past relationships between peoples' use of TMR, …

The Protective Effects Of Perceived Partner Responsiveness On Service Members' Drinking And Health Outcomes, Julia Maria Oosi Lynch

Dissertations and Theses

Stress is a known predictor of various adverse health behaviors and outcomes, such as poorer physical health, injuries, and mental well-being. Specifically, stressful events, including minor daily hassles, as well as major life changes and pressures that are perceived negatively, can lead to experiences of psychological distress. Psychological distress is commonly defined as symptoms of anxiety and depression, including worry, sadness, and hopelessness. These concerns are particularly acute for military families, who experience a unique set of stressors and loneliness due to deployments and separation, long shifts, and frequent relocations. Those experiencing psychological dFreistress are also more likely to engage …

Improving Biomimetic Passive Dynamics Of A Quadruped Robot Hind Leg Hip Joint With A 3d Printed Torsion Spring, Haonan Zheng

Dissertations and Theses

The Agile and Adaptive Robotics Lab is interested in researching the neuromuscular control network of legged animal locomotion. To validate the lab's understanding of biological neural control, synthetic neural networks are developed and applied to biologically inspired legged robots. For a synthetic neural network to operate in the same manner as a biological neural network and produce the same locomotor behavior, the robot that the synthetic neural network is controlling must also mimic its biological counterpart. Previous research produced a quadruped robot hind leg designed with biomimetic passive dynamics by installing spring and damper pairs at each joint, however, an …

Teeth, Chukwudaru Immaculata Michael

Dissertations and Theses

Teeth is an experimental novel draft that intricately weaves a non-linear narrative of the lives of two sisters, Lota and Jekein. Through their stories, the novel delves into the complex questions and experiences surrounding religious, patriarchal, and socio-political violence inflicted upon the female body and identity. Set in Nigeria, Teeth is presented by an omniscient narrator who offers critical perspectives on being, playing into the subtle nuances that define the lives of these women. The novel employs multiple points of view, echoing diverse perceptions of motherhood, nationalism, and belief in the context of authority and identity reclamation. Lota is depicted …

(Un, Made, Dumitru Michael Dobre

Dissertations and Theses

A novella length narrative experiment in form using the concept of the machine (and its operations) to constrain and arrange text visually in narrative spacetime. Through shifts in form and narrative content, the text addresses a variety of topics, including but not limited to: subjective versus objective experience; self conception and realization; deconstruction; relationality; human and non-human relationships; person and place; love; theories of societal acceleration and how the effects of this acceleration appear in 'daily life;' capitalist modes of production and commodification in late stage capitalism; hegemonic narratives and their disassembly; the question of the good life; resistance; refuges; …

Flood Vulnerability In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Hue Hong Duong

Dissertations and Theses

Flooding is the most common natural disaster globally, accounting for about 47% of all recorded events. It disproportionately affects the most vulnerable populations. The main goal of this dissertation is to conduct a comprehensive vulnerability assessment that can inform decision-making in flood risk management in the coastal megacity of Ho Chi Minh City, located in a low-lying area in south Vietnam. Despite contributing more than one fifth of the country's GDP, this city remains particularly susceptible to the adverse impacts of extreme weather conditions, making vulnerability analysis crucial.

The literature review carried out as part of this dissertation underscores the …

The Formation Of A Dialect: An Examination Of The History, Characteristics, And Evolutions Of Los Angeles Vernacular Spanish, Lianna Perry Fountain

Dissertations and Theses

Los Angeles Vernacular Spanish (L.A.V.S) or Español Vernacular de Los Àngeles is a non-standard regional dialect of Spanish rooted in the history and culture of Los Angeles Country, California. It is a sub-dialect of Chicano Spanish which has mainly existed in the Southwestern U.S for centuries. It relates to other varieties of U.S Spanish that have been influenced by macro-dialects other than Mexican Spanish. Like other forms of U.S Spanish, L.A.V.S has long been considered an imperfect manner of speaking or poorly formed Spanish instead of a dialect due to language contact with English. However, new dialects and languages are …

Acquisition Of Spatial And Temporal VTe-Kuru By Learners Of Japanese At A University In The U.S., Ayumi Naraoka

Dissertations and Theses

This study examined to what extent Japanese as Foreign Language (JFL) learners have mastered the grammatical pattern for the verb gerund + kuru ("come"), which is referred to as Vte-kuru henceforth. There are two types of Vte-kuru: (1) the spatial Vte-kuru, meaning "to do [something] and come back," and (2) the temporal Vte- kuru, meaning "begin to." It is assumed that learners did not use Vte-kuru often, even though they should have learned two uses of Vte-kuru by the end of their 200-level Japanese class. To find out to what extent …

Seguir Adelante: A Qualitative Exploration Of Latino Farmworkers' Work And Non-Work Resources, Faviola Robles Saenz

Dissertations and Theses

Precarious work sectors within the United States have relied on Black and Brown labor for many decades. More specifically, Latino immigrant workers have been an exploited community within many dangerous workforces but especially within the agricultural industry. They are a crucial population for the labor and economy of the U.S., yet Latino farmworkers report feeling expendable, being discriminated against, and being exposed to hazardous working conditions. Due to these experiences, scholars have explored the role non-work resources have in providing support for this community, their social networks being especially beneficial for them. However, research on the links between their work …

Analyzing The Legitimacy, Effectiveness, And Legacy Of The United Nations, Hunter Wade Calley

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines the legitimacy and effectiveness of the United Nations since its establishment, while also exploring the shortcomings of its predecessor, the League of Nations. The legitimacy of the United Nations and the role the organization plays in the world of international politics, the flaws of the UN Security Council, and the impact of the Cold War on the legitimacy and processes of the United Nations are especially highlighted throughout this thesis.

The successes and shortcomings of the United Nations are best understood given the historical context of the League of Nations, the organization founded to bring world powers …

Synthesis And Computational Studies Of Α- And Δ-Substituted Macrocyclic Europium And Ytterbium Complexes, Delainey Amara Winder

Dissertations and Theses

The uses of macrocyclic lanthanide complexes are vast, with many targeted MRI contrast agents at the forefront of the field. Many of these are ParaCEST agents, which require exchangeable protons accessible on the macrocycle and the slow exchange of coordinated water molecules. The substitution at both the α- and δ-carbon on the amide pendant arm of these macrocyclic lanthanide complexes can lock bulky groups on the δ-carbon to a pseudo-axial position. When the α- and δ-carbons have the same chirality, the bulky group will be pseudo-equatorial, and when the chirality is opposed, the bulky group will be pseudo-axial. By performing …

Crown Shy, Laura Francesca Kincaid

Dissertations and Theses

Crown Shy explores the ripple effects of inheritance--somatic, psychological, and material--and how such inheritance constellates into our adult relations and relating. In three parts, the text undermines nuclear family imaginings, first by pulling them out by the root, and later through radical practice, formal constraint, and syntactic ambiguity. By studying the natural world--the organizing principles of trees, insects, and flowers--Crown Shy attempts to glean strategy from evidence of what is already thriving. Reluctantly lyrical, the text quietly deplores the ramifications of commercial agriculture, including the speaker’s own family farm and ancestral homestead. With the weight of this origin point, …

Predation Of Appendicularians On Prochlorococcus, Carey Sweeney

Dissertations and Theses

Prochlorococcus is the most abundant photosynthetic cell on Earth. This picocyanobacterium is critical to primary productivity and biogeochemical cycles of the open ocean. While abiotic environmental factors that influence Prochlorococcus are relatively well-understood, biotic controls are less well known. Appendicularians are ubiquitous gelatinous zooplankton that feed on marine microorganisms including Prochlorococcus. However, the details of this feeding interaction are extremely understudied relative to its potential importance. In this study, I characterized the relationship between appendicularians and Prochlorococcus with laboratory experiments. I showed that feeding on Prochlorococcus changes with the life stage of the appendicularians and concentration of prey. I …

The Influence Of Eyewitnesses And Police Tip Line Reports: An Exploratory Case Study Of A 2005 Homicide, Abigail Rose Torres

Dissertations and Theses

Public tip lines provide the public to provide information to the police when there is an ongoing investigation. These public tip lines could increase investigations where the public is being made aware of the investigation, increasing the amount of information being brought forward. Research focuses on how tips reporting is similar to eyewitnesses in that individuals recall information. The literature illustrates how the media can influence the tips. The study is an exploratory content analysis looking at potential themes or patterns that emerged from analyzing the tips and patterns of the tip line and media files related to an Illinois …

Centering The Leader: An Investigation Of Leader-Centric Variables In The Support Provision Process, Jordyn Jan Leslie

Dissertations and Theses

Few studies to date have investigated leader-centric variables associated with the support provision process. The following dissertation includes three studies that attempt to further understand such relationships. In Study 1, the interaction between leader sleep quantity and quality on various types of leader support (e.g., general supervisor support, family supportive supervisor behaviors, and sleep leadership) is studied using both employee and leader ratings. Study 2 integrates leader-centric research with work-life supportive leadership to propose a new theoretical model that delineates leader-centric variables (e.g., health & well-being, skills, role expectations, job demands) as precursors to the provision and perception of work-life …

Large Length Scale Droplet Capillary Phenomena: Generation, Jump, And Capture, Karl Jeffrey Theodore Cardin

Dissertations and Theses

Understanding the life cycle of droplets, from generation to capture, for example, is critical to understanding environments from the air-sea interface to the indoor environment of the International Space Station. Investigations have been performed in this work to provide insight into three droplet phenomena, each ubiquitous in both terrestrial and microgravity settings, through a lens of capillary flow. Each investigation attempts to disentangle the effects of gravity from the effects of surface tension. A drop tower test campaign is performed for each of the three investigations. Models are developed and simulations are performed to rationalize the observations. Each investigation is …