Digital Commons Network^™

Mitigation Of Environmental Hazards Of Sulfide Mineral Flotation With An Insight Into Froth Stability And Flotation Performance, Muhammad Badar Hayat

Doctoral Dissertations

"Today's major challenges facing the flotation of sulfide minerals involve constant variability in the ore composition; environmental concerns; water scarcity and inefficient plant performance. The present work addresses these challenges faced by the flotation process of complex sulfide ore of Mississippi Valley type with an insight into the froth stability and the flotation performance. The first project in this study was aimed at finding the optimum conditions for the bulk flotation of galena (PbS) and chalcopyrite (CuFeS₂) through Response Surface Methodology (RSM). In the second project, an attempt was made to replace toxic sodium cyanide (NaCN) with the biodegradable chitosan …

Security Risk Assessment In Cloud Computing Domains, Amartya Sen

Doctoral Dissertations

"Cyber security is one of the primary concerns persistent across any computing platform. While addressing the apprehensions about security risks, an infinite amount of resources cannot be invested in mitigation measures since organizations operate under budgetary constraints. Therefore the task of performing security risk assessment is imperative to designing optimal mitigation measures, as it provides insight about the strengths and weaknesses of different assets affiliated to a computing platform.

The objective of the research presented in this dissertation is to improve upon existing risk assessment frameworks and guidelines associated to different key assets of Cloud computing domains - infrastructure, applications, …

An Examination Of Household Food Security’S Measurement, Report And Experience By Gender, Jaime Foster

Doctoral Dissertations

Food insecurity, defined as the inability to access sufficient food for an active, healthy life, affects 14.3 percent of United States. Food Security (FS) has been measured annually using the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Household Food Security Module (HFSM) since the 1990s; however, responses to this self-report measure may vary by household member. Thus, this study aims to 1) determine how gender is related to differences in interpretation and report of FS using the HFSM; 2) determine if gender is related to interpretation of terms relevant to FS measurement, and; 3) pilot test a qualitative technique novel to the …

A Qualitative Examination Of The Listening Effort Experience Of Adults With Hearing Loss, Alison Marinelli

Doctoral Dissertations

Increased effort and fatigue are common complaints of individuals with hearing loss, however the listening effort (LE) experience from the patient perspective is not well understood. Current models note the importance of cognitive factors in LE. Research, that is largely quantitative in nature, has shown equivocal findings regarding auditory signals that may cause increased LE, technologies that may ameliorate the LE experience, and the effects of LE on sensory systems. Very limited work has explored the personal aspects of LE. As a whole, however, investigations of LE fail to define the experience from the patient’s view or offer suggestions for …

Alternative Biographies: (Re)Telling Feminine (Hi)Stories In Selected 20th-Century Texts By Québécois Women Writers, Jessica Mcbride

Doctoral Dissertations

The objective of this dissertation is to examine the tendency on the part of several québécois women authors from the 20^th century to create alternative feminine biographies for forgotten, undervalued, or misrepresented women from the past. Given the complex relationship the Québécois have with their provincial history, and the central role chauvinistic representations of women and the “Québec national text” play in safeguarding the québécois cultural identity, contemporary women writers from Québec are singularly poised to resurrect, recreate, revive, and rewrite the feminine historical experience into the traditional discourse of History. From Québec’s most famous woman writer, Anne Hébert, …

Teaching English To Indian Vernacular Medium Students Through Technology: A Qualitative Study Of Kolkata Jesuit Juniorate Program, Maria Joseph Savariappan

Doctoral Dissertations

The educational system in India is inadequate to meet the modern needs of the Indian students (Lall & House, 2005). Primarily two kinds of education coexist: Vernacular medium and English medium. These styles have pushed many students to a disadvantageous position. The vernacular medium students, due to lack of English proficiency, are not able to do their university studies for the medium of instruction in Indian Universities is English only (Dravid, 2013). It is, therefore, an injustice done to the Indian vernacular medium students.

The last two centuries have seen technology rapidly advancing in all spheres of life (Jerald, 2009). …

Variables Influencing Frequency Of Preschool Teachers’ Communication With Families About Children’S Learning And Development: Teacher Preparation, Structural Supports, And Self-Efficacy, Michelle Levy

Doctoral Dissertations

Both families and teachers play an important role in preschool children’s learning and development and research has shown that both high quality preschool and family engagement in children’s learning at home improve children’s social and academic outcomes. However, it is not clear that teachers are adequately prepared or supported to communicate with families about children’s learning and development. This survey research involving 143 preschool teachers working in state or federally funded preschool programs examined the relationship between teacher preparation specific to family engagement, structural supports that provide teachers with opportunities to communicate with families, teacher’s feelings of self-efficacy related to …

The Morphosyntax Of Self-Ascription: A Cross-Linguistic Study, Troy Messick

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation investigates cross-linguistic variation in the domain of de se speech and attitude reports and argues for a number of novel generalizations. Chapter 2 introduces data from Telugu and Nuer to establish a new way to express de se attitudes. In both these languages, an embedded third person pronoun controls first person verbal agreement morphology. I propose a model where embedded pronouns can be simultaneously first and third person as advanced by Schlenker (2003) along with the view of syntax-morphology mapping where the morphology can express only a subset of the features present in the syntax. I generalize this …

Conventionalization And Reduction In Natural Language Emergence: An Experimental And Computational Model Investigation, Russell Richie

Doctoral Dissertations

In the emergence of natural languages, two processes typically co-occur: new form-meaning mappings are being conventionalized, and these forms reduce, i.e., shorten, in various ways. Despite this oft-noted co-occurrence, and the existence of theories of conventionalization and reduction separately, there are no explicit, mechanistic, and empirically-motivated theories of the connection between the two processes. To fill this gap, the present dissertation aims to better understand this relationship both empirically and theoretically, with experimental semiotics and agent-based modeling.

In the experiment, eight groups of four hearing, non-signing English-speaking participants were brought into the lab. Quads split into rotating dyads which …

Variability In Pragmatic Abilities In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Iris Chin

Doctoral Dissertations

Communication involves information beyond what is coded in the linguistic stimuli produced by a speaker. How individuals are able to extract additional, pragmatic meaning from a speaker’s utterance (i.e., what kind of skills/knowledge might be involved) is relatively understudied. To address this question, the current study examined 7- to 10-year-old typically developing (TD) children and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)’s ability to interpret four different pragmatic devices: conventional implicatures, scalar implicatures, relevance implicatures, and metaphors. We were interested in determining whether variability in children with ASD’s ability to process such devices would be found and if so, whether their …

A Case Study Examining How Experienced Teachers Adopt Culturally Responsive Instruction Through Participating In A Collaborative Inquiry Team, Lara White

Doctoral Dissertations

This participatory action research case study examines how experienced teachers build their understanding and practice of culturally responsive instruction through participating in a collaborative inquiry team (CIT). The nation’s public schools enroll an increasing diverse student population. Culturally responsive instruction (CRI) has shown promise as a mean to raise student achievement, especially student populations from marginalized groups and cultures. This study examines whether and how participating in a CIT can support in-service teachers in developing their understanding and practice of CRI. Research questions were designed to identify the tools, resources, and processes of a collaborative community of educators that can …

Influences On Nonword Repetition In Young Children, Dana Arthur

Doctoral Dissertations

Nonword repetition (NWR) tasks have become popular in recent years as measures of phonological short term memory (PSTM) in research settings, and as potential markers of language impairment in clinical settings. This has increased interest in the subskills that potentially NWR performance. The current study investigated the influence of PSTM, vocabulary skills, articulatory output skills, literacy, and speech perception on NWR in children ages 4;0-6;5. Partial correlations and regression analysis were used to establish an in-depth picture of the skills that constrain NWR, and to differentiate the skills that underlie this measure when the language skills of test takers and …

From A To N And Back: Functional And Bare Projections In The Domain Of N And A, Aida Talić

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation investigates structural complexity of the adjectival and the nominal domain, arguing these domains are parallel in their complexity within a language, but their complexity can vary cross-linguistically. The point of departure is Bošković’s (2008, 2012) two-way typology regarding the nominal domain, where languages with articles are argued to project a functional layer (DP) above NP, while languages without articles lack the DP layer and allow bare NPs. By investigating the extended domain of both N and A, I show that a subset of languages with articles, namely those with affixal articles, cross-cut this two-way typology and argue they …

Behavioral And Neuroanatomical Assessment Of Transgenic Mouse Models Of Language-Related Developmental Disorders, Amanda R. Rendall

Doctoral Dissertations

Language encompasses an ability to acquire and integrate complex cognitive systems in order to communicate with others, and inherited factors are thought to play a key role in modulating these emergent skills. In recent years, the role of genetics in language has gained focus and attention, based on accumulating empirical knowledge about the genes, proteins, and cellular machinery involved. In particular, disruption to various mechanisms has been shown to relate to impairments in language -- as seen in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, dyslexia and SLI. Mouse models can serve as a useful tool in studying the genetic modulators of …

With A Little Help From My Friends: The Contributions Of A Peer Language Network On The Conventionalization Of Space In An Emerging Language, Deanna L. Gagne

Doctoral Dissertations

Individual children regularize inconsistent language input; many consider this the driving force for language change and emergence. Prior work on Nicaraguan Sign Language found that child learners, created morphological structures that had not existed previously. First-Cohort signers produced spatial modulations inconsistently, both within and across individuals. However, younger Second-Cohort signers who received this inconsistent input produced spatial modulations consistently, innovating morphological structure that had not previously existed in the grammar. Second-Cohort signers benefited from both older-to-younger language learning and peer-to-peer interactions, obscuring the contributions of each. This dissertation disentangles these factors by exploring a sociolinguistic context in which children receive …

Escape From Silent Syntax, Yuta Sakamoto

Doctoral Dissertations

This thesis is a cross-linguistic investigation into the nature of null arguments in radical pro-drop languages where null arguments are claimed to be derivable via the process called argument ellipsis, which directly elides arguments. I examine whether null arguments in such languages involve internal structure by testing extraction possibilities out of them on the basis of the hypothesis that the possibility of extraction indicates the presence of internal structure in anaphora sites. Based on novel data from Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, and Turkish, I show that elliptic arguments exhibit a hitherto unnoticed pattern of extraction out of ellipsis sites, …

Analysis Of Syntactic Complexity And Its Relationship To Writing Quality In Argumentative Essays, Thilagha Jagaiah

Doctoral Dissertations

Syntactic complexity has been recognized as an important construct in writing by numerous previous studies. However, there was no consensus on the precise and salient syntactic complexity measures (SCMs) to examine syntactic complexity. This is because most previous studies examined SCMs manually using a small sample size with few SCMs. In the current study, the author seeks to address these gaps using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to test a hypothesized model of 28 SCMs and four latent variables (Sentence Pattern, Sentence Length, Sentence Connector, Sentence Sophistication). The data was analyzed using 1,029 eighth-grade, argumentative essays that were scored using an …

Semantics, Meaning, Truth And Content: Disentangling Linguistic And Philosophical Approaches To The Study Of Meaning, Toby Napoletano

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to clarify the relationship between two research programs engaged in the investigation of linguistic meaning: the philosophy of language, broadly conceived, and semantics as it is pursued within generative linguistics.

It is often assumed that philosophers of language and semanticists in linguistics are working broadly within the same research program, addressing the same questions about language, its meaning, and its use. At least, it is assumed that the two research programs are continuous with one another, so that each places important constraints on the other. Philosophical theories of meaning, the thought goes, must square …

The Relationship Between School Mobility And Gifted Identification In Connecticut Public Schools, Christina M. Amspaugh

Doctoral Dissertations

Educators and policy makers are interested in understanding the impact of school mobility, which is often associated with negative outcomes including declines in academic achievement and increases in behavioral and discipline problems. Changing schools also puts students at risk of not having their academic needs recognized and met. For high ability, academically gifted students, this means that moves involving school changes may be associated with barriers that limit access to gifted identification. Lack of identification for students with gifted education needs limits the ability to advocate for or gain access to gifted education services within or beyond the school, ultimately …

Cycling Through Grammar: On Compounds, Noun Phrases And Domains, Gisli R. Hardarson

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, I address the question of domains within grammar: i.e. how domains are defined, whether different components of grammar make references to the same boundaries (or at least boundary definers), and whether these boundaries are uniform with respect to different processes.

I address these questions in two case studies. First, I explore compound nouns in Icelandic and restrictions on their composition, where inflected non-head elements are structurally peripheral to uninflected ones. I argue that these effects are due to a matching condition which requires elements within compounds to match their attachment site in terms of size/type.

Following that …

A Marriage And Its Music: The Work Of Elsa Olivieri Sangiacomo Respighi In Fascist Italy, Penny R. S. Brandt

Doctoral Dissertations

Elsa Olivieri Sangiacomo (1894–1996) was an Italian pianist, singer, and composer. She composed several works for voice and piano early in life that were published by Casa Ricordi in Milan, but she ultimately put her creative aspirations aside for the opportunity to become the housewife and assistant of her composition teacher, the celebrated composer Ottorino Respighi (1879–1936). The marriage provided Olivieri with connections and performance opportunities that continued to benefit her during the sixty years she lived as a widow. After Respighi’s death, she returned briefly to composition as a means of catharsis, composing both small and large-scale works—including two …

Formal Modeling And Mining Of Big Data, Aljoharah A. Algwaiz

Doctoral Dissertations

As data collection technologies are advancing and memory storage costs are declining, volumes of data collected have soared. Scientists and investigators are collecting all possible data in fear of missing out on important information. With the merge of the data collection trend, researchers were studying data mining and analysis to find the most efficient way to data mine. There are various valuable data mining techniques that can be found in literature such as Support Vector Machine (SVM), Neural Networks (ANN), and Formal Methods (Grammars). Grammars are a very valuable in analyzing structured data and describing them in a condense matter. …

Joint Attention, Supported Joint Engagement And Follow-In Comments In The Language Acquisition Process Of Typically Developing Children And Children With Autism: A Longitudinal Analysis, Ahmed M. Abdelaziz

Doctoral Dissertations

This study compared between the roles of the socio-pragmatic and data-driven aspects of caregiver input in the vocabulary development of both Typically Developing (TD) Children and children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The role of Joint Attention (JA) and Supported Joint Engagement (SJE) episode types, as well as Follow-In (FI) Comments, in the vocabulary development of TD Children and children with ASD, was investigated. The children with ASD consisted of two groups: High-Verbal (HV) and Low-Verbal (LV) children with ASD, in order to assess the effects of the different aspects of caregiver input on different initial language levels. Overall, Initiating …

Legal Permanent Migration, Strategic Il/Legalization, And Intergenerational Social Mobility In A Transnational Migrant Farmworker Community, Jennifer A. Cook

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation traces the circular migration of a unique population of rural Mexican farmworkers between Guanajuato, Mexico and central Connecticut over a six-year period. Capitalizing on the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, many of these men were able to obtain U.S. legal permanent resident status, and thus became able to legalize not only their own immigration status, but also that of family members. This allows a unique opportunity to examine the impact of legal status on the migration patterns of Mexican farmworkers.

Three themes emerge in this study. First, a robust transnational network has developed which facilitates continued labor …

A Mixed Methods Study Of Beliefs, Behaviors, And Experiences Of Advanced Practice Nurses With Lesbian And Gay Patients, Marianne Snyder

Doctoral Dissertations

APRNs are increasingly providing more of the primary care services to diverse populations in the United States. The population includes persons of non-heterosexual identities who often encounter barriers when seeking health care. Given the minuscule focus in nursing education about these patient populations, a clearer understanding of APRNs’ beliefs, behaviors, and experiences caring for lesbian and gay patients was essential.

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore and identify the beliefs, behaviors, and experiences of APRNs with lesbian and gay and patients. Social constructionism was the theoretical perspective that guided this study, and the philosophical perspective of …

“What Right Do You Have To Teach This To Us?”: White Teachers Negotiate Dilemmas Of Multicultural Young Adult Literature In Urban Classrooms, Ricki Ginsberg

Doctoral Dissertations

Researchers have documented a range of dilemmas associated with multicultural and young adult literature. This study used an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis approach to explore the lived experiences of nine White, middle-class teacher participants as they negotiated their perceived dilemmas in planning for and teaching multicultural young adult literature to students in culturally diverse, urban school contexts. Critical Whiteness Studies and Dilemma Management were used as conceptual framework for the study, and data sources included three interviews of each teacher participant occurring before, during, and after the instruction of the unit that included the multicultural young adult text; participant artifacts; and …

Investigating The Functional Roles Of Lc8, Citfa, And Rpb7 In The Multifunctional Rna Polymerase System Of Trypanosoma Brucei, Justin Kirkham

Doctoral Dissertations

Trypanosoma brucei, a member of the early diverged phylogenetic order Kinetoplastida, is a vector-borne parasite that causes lethal disease in both humans and livestock. Unfortunately, progress has been slow on developing new treatments, and there is a need for new therapeutics, as current therapies have issues of resistance, toxicity, and difficult administration. In order to design new therapeutics, molecules and interactions unique to the parasite must be detailed, in hopes that some will afford suitable drug targets.

One unique process in T. brucei that might be targeted is RNA polymerase I-mediated transcription. T. brucei is unique in that RNA …

The Development And Validation Of An Automatic-Item Generation Measure Of Cognitive Ability, Scott Hines

Doctoral Dissertations

Cognitive ability is perhaps the most studied individual difference available to researchers, being measured quickly and effectively while demonstrating a predictable influence on many life outcomes. Historically, the evolution of the psychometric study of cognitive abilities has pivoted on the development of new and better methodologies allowing for a more complete and efficient capture of intellect. For instance, recent advances in computer and Internet technology have largely replaced traditional pencil-and-paper methods, allowing for innovative item development and presentation. However, concerns regarding the potential adverse impact and test security of online measures of cognitive ability, particularly in unproctored situations, are well …

Second-Order Modal Logic, Andrew Parisi

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation develops an inferentialist theory of meaning. It takes as a starting point that the sense of a sentence is determined by the rules governing its use. In particular, there are two features of the use of a sentence that jointly determine its sense, the conditions under which it is coherent to assert that sentence and the conditions under which it is coherent to deny that sentence. From this starting point the dissertation develops a theory of quantification as marking coherent ways a language can be expanded and modality as the means by which we can reflect on the …

Factors For Academic Success Among African-American Men: A Phenomenological Study, Samuel R. Williams

Doctoral Dissertations

Academic success among African men has increased but many African-American men continue to fall behind the academic achievements of their Caucasian male counterparts. African-American men who achieve academic success have been marginalized in research that primarily focuses on reporting deficit or negative factors that hinder and not promote academic growth. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify environmental, social, and socioeconomic factors that were perceived to contribute to the academic success of African-American men in secondary and post-secondary institutions. The researcher used the Ecological Model of Human Development (EMHD) to identify factors and which systems had the greatest …