Digital Commons Network^™

Studies Of Quark Momentum In The Proton By Use Of The Sidis Process, David Riser

Doctoral Dissertations

The three dimensional structure of protons and neutrons has been a subject of great interest since the early 1990s when advancements in theory produced the Generalized Parton Distribution (GPD) framework for understanding spatial disturbutions, and Transverse Momentum Dependent Parton Distribution Functions (TMD PDFs) for understanding quark momentum. In this thesis, I present two analyses of the SIDIS process which can be related to TMDs. I have used CLAS data from the E1-F run period, which recorded over 1 billion events of 5.498 GeV electrons colliding with a liquid hydrogen ($LH_2$) target. First, I discuss analysis of the SIDIS cross section …

Emotional Manipulation And Cognitive Distraction As Strategy: The Effects Of Verbal Insults On Motivation And Performance In A Competitive Setting, Karen C. P. Mcdermott

Doctoral Dissertations

This study explored the effects of verbally aggressive insults on an opponent’s performance in a competitive setting, i.e. ‘trash talk.’ Bringing together literature from a number of fields, a model was tested which hypothesized that the perception of verbal insults would increase cognitive distraction, elevate levels of emotional arousal, and affect motivation to perform, such that competitive performance would decrease. Anger and shame were posited as the primary manifestations of emotional arousal. The study was operationalized through a video game racing competition as a true experiment with control and verbal insult conditions. Both groups received an auditory treatment delivered by …

Ready, Willing, And Able? Exploring Education Researcher Engagement In Dissemination, Taylor Koriakin

Doctoral Dissertations

The research-to-practice gap (RPG) is a continued concern in education, with limited knowledge and use of evidence-based practices by school practitioners frequently cited in the educational literature. Although studies exist evaluating practitioners’ perspectives on RPG, to date, no study has examined the education researchers’ approaches to dissemination. The purpose of this study was to understand education researchers’ engagement in dissemination activities targeting non-research audiences. School psychology and special education researchers (n = 226) working at research intensive institutions completed an online survey about their dissemination practices during the 2017-18 academic year. Overall, respondents reported engaging in low rates of …

Sexual Aggression In Greek Life: Perceptions, Definitions, And Recommendations For Prevention, Lauren Moss-Racusin

Doctoral Dissertations

Sexual aggression is a major public health issue in higher education settings. The overall objective of this study was to examine whether Greek-affiliated students differ from unaffiliated students in how they view sexual aggression, and in what types of strategies they believe could reduce it. This information can enhance the effectiveness of prevention efforts by facilitating more targeted and engaging programming. A convenience sample of 450 undergraduate students at a large public university in the northeastern United States completed a survey on their views of sexual aggression, including its meaning, severity, frequency, contributing factors, reporting, and importance. They also made …

A Behavioral And Physiological Investigation Of The Effects Of Nicotine On Human Reward Responding And Fear Conditioning, Alexandra N. Palmisano

Doctoral Dissertations

Although considerable progress has been made, we do not fully understand the neuropsychological properties of nicotine that drive nicotine dependence. The present body of work provides an original investigation of the effects of nicotine on behavioral and physiological responding for rewarding and aversive stimuli in humans, which arises from considerable nonhuman investigations of nicotine’s complex interactions in conditioned learning. In order to accomplish this goal, three distinct studies were conducted. Given evidence that nicotine enhances operant responding for nonpharmacological reinforcers, Study 1 assessed the ability of nicotine to enhance food reward sensitivity using a virtual reality conditioned place preference …

Workplace Supports In The Infant Mental Health Field: A Mixed Methods Investigation, Tanika Eaves Simpson

Doctoral Dissertations

This mixed methods investigation explores work-related stress and employee well-being in infant mental health (IMH) practitioners and supervisors. The question of how reflective supervision can be integrated into infant-family serving systems to contain the emotional strains and secondary trauma of direct practice with vulnerable young children and families is gaining traction in the empirical literature (Barron & Paradis, 2010; O’Rourke, 2011; Osofsky, 2009; Shea, 2018; Watson, Gattis, & Neilssen, 2014). However, the relationship between organizational supports and self-care practices in managing work-related stress and promoting employee well-being has yet to be examined in the infant mental health literature.

Two studies …

Fundamental Understanding Of Microstructural Properties Of Electrolyte System For Nox Exhaust Gas Sensing, Khawlah Kharashi

Doctoral Dissertations

The nitrogen oxides (NOx) sensors available on the market are unable to detect minute concentrations of NOx (<10 ppm) and, as a result, they are unable to meet the new US standards, i.e. Tier 3 standards for the period of 2017-2025. As per these standards sensors should be highly sensitive and capable of determining NOx on the order of single parts per million. As compared to gasoline engines, diesel engines have greater efficiency per unit quantity of fuel consumed, but they emit more smog causing NOx.

The three-way catalyst systems in modern diesel engines are ineffective in chemically reducing nitrogen oxides in the presence of excess air. Even though a number of NOx abatement systems have been developed over the years, the after- treatment systems in vehicles require a highly sensitive NOx sensor capable of monitoring low concentrations of NOx in the exhaust gases. The solid state electrochemical sensors, having porous yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), along with dense electrodes, exhibit enhanced NOx sensitivity. Porous electrolytes support gas diffusion, while …

The Role Of Perceived Supervisory Support And Occupational Self-Efficacy In Predicting Employee Engagement, Alex Vega

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this research study is to examine the relationship between perceived supervisory support and occupational self-efficacy on employee engagement. Employee engagement is a critical priority for many organizations. Companies invest a significant amount of capital in training programs for both employees and supervisors. This study examines data associated with vocational rehabilitation counselors working for the Department of Veterans Affairs. To address key research questions within this quantitative study, the researcher analyzed three key variables: perceived supervisory support, occupational self-efficacy, and work engagement. Notably, the study results included statistical significance relationships between occupational self-efficacy and work engagement, which suggested …

Validation Of External Organizational Justice Assessment Through Replication, And Examination Of Extraversion, Core Self-Evaluations, And Self-Monitoring As Moderators Of The Relationship Between External Organizational Justice And Organizational Outcomes: A Two-Part Dissertation, Clifton E. Luther

Doctoral Dissertations

In the first portion of this two-part dissertation, I attempted to replicate the findings published in Toaddy (2012), illustrating the relationships between External Organizational Justice (EJ) and a collection of organizational outcomes. In the second portion, I examined how the variables of Extraversion, Core Self-Evaluations (CSE), and Self-Monitoring (SM) moderate the relationships that were established in Toaddy (2012). The implications of this research attempted to illustrate the role that self-assessed personality factors can play in explaining and predicting the behavior of employees due to their perceptions of moral/immoral behaviors of their employers toward external entities. Cases that illustrate the importance …

Model-Based And Population-Based Optimization Of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Surveillance And Surgery Protocols, Farid Heidarnejad

Doctoral Dissertations

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is indicated when the diameter of the abdominal aorta is larger than 30 mm. The primary risk associated with AAA is an increased risk of aortic rupture, which is fatal in 68-90% of cases. Once a patient is diagnosed with AAA, the AAA is monitored via abdominal ultrasound. The rationale for the regular surveillance is that the risk of rupture is low for AAA, less than 55 mm in size, but increases dramatically in diameter larger than 55 mm. Early surgery on patients with smaller AAA diameters (lower risk of rupture) has a higher mortality rate …

School Choice Competition And How District Leaders Respond To Resulting Fiscal Impacts, Terrie S. Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examined how superintendents of public-school districts respond to the financial impact of school choice competition. Many U. S. school districts are experiencing funding losses due to the enrollment of students in charter schools and private school voucher programs. The state per-pupil funds follow the student. District leaders must respond to this loss of funding and still maintain high quality instruction and services. The purpose of this research was to explore how leaders develop strategic plans to deal with the fiscal impact of school choice competition. Complexity Leadership Theory was used to view how school district leaders perceive competition, …

Unobtrusive Location-Based Access Control Utilizing Existing Ieee 802.11 Infrastructure, Hosam Alamleh

Doctoral Dissertations

Mobile devices can sense several types of signals over the air using different radio frequency technologies (e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular signals, etc.). Furthermore, mobile devices receive broadcast messages from transmitting entities (e.g., network access points, cellular phone towers, etc.) and can measure the received signal strength from these entities. Broadcast messages carry the information needed in case a mobile device chooses to establish communication. We believe that these signals can be utilized in the context of access control, specifically because they could provide an indication of the location of a user's device. Such a “location proof” could then be used …

Influences On The Self-Efficacy Of Non-English Language Arts High School Teachers To Integrate Literacy Into Instruction, Georgina M. Baker

Doctoral Dissertations

Some secondary teachers of non-reading and non-English language arts content areas resist the idea of integrating literacy instruction with content instruction, due to having low teacher self-efficacy for literacy instruction (TSELI). To explore this phenomenon, I conducted a qualitative case study, through which, I interviewed a group of 10 teachers of math, science, history, art, and business education, all from the same rural, public high school in Alabama. The purpose of this study was to explore within this group of teachers the breadth and depth of teacher self-efficacy for integrating literacy instruction into content instruction on a consistent basis. This …

Catalysis By Design: Predicting Materials With Fischer Tropsch Catalytic Activity, Suraj Gyawali

Doctoral Dissertations

Experimental work has been extensive in the catalysis field; however, the cost to move nano-engineered catalysts from the laboratory to industry using only experimental research is prohibitively high. Macroscopic phenomena (i.e. melting, defect formation, miscibility) can be understood in terms of the nano-scale mechanism using molecular simulations. Thus, using molecular simulations in combination with experiments lowers the costs related to design, as simulations can be used to rapidly screen candidate materials, so that experimental efforts can be limited to the catalyst candidates deemed as most promising by simulations. This work employs molecular simulation tools to predict the relative effectiveness of …

Exploring The Usage Of Multiple Learning Systems In Learning To Read, Tong Li

Doctoral Dissertations

How people learn to read is an interesting question which has been investigated by many studies with various approaches. Some recent studies have related learning to read with domain-general abilities and have found a positive relationship between statistical learning and learning to read, as well as between procedural learning and learning to read. However, evidence on these relationships is still inconsistent, which probably because reading, statistical learning and procedural learning are componential capabilities. The current study provided another approach to explore how people learn to read, especially how to learn the orthography-phonology (O-P) and orthography-semantics (O-S) correspondences, with multiple learning …

Machine Learning Assisted Screening Of Porous Crystalline Materials For Gas Adsorption And Separation, Maryam Pardakhti

Doctoral Dissertations

Archival abstract submitted

Supporting Paraeducators’ Treatment Integrity To Behavior Support Plans Through Implementation Planning, Ashley Boyle

Doctoral Dissertations

Treatment integrity is a critical component to fully understanding the relationship between implementation of evidence-based interventions and student outcomes. Research shows that school-based implementers require support beyond what is typically provided to consistently implement interventions with adequate levels of treatment integrity, and thus be more likely to achieve desired student outcomes. There are several implementation supports that have shown to be effective at increasing teachers’ levels of treatment integrity. One such support with emerging evidence is Implementation Planning. The present study, which employed a multiple-baseline across participants design, aimed to investigate the effects of providing Implementation Planning on paraeducators’ adherence …

Toward The Design Of Novel Biodegradable Materials By Engineering The Protein-Colloid Interface, Kyle Benson

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on development of protein-derived materials, with the goal of incorporation into biodegradable devices such as enzymatic fuel cells or light emitting diodes (LEDs). Proteins are the key building blocks, for their inherent functions, hierarchical 3D structures, diversity of functional groups, and natural biodegradability. The interfaces between proteins and colloidal materials were exploited in the rational design of these materials.

First, enzyme-poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) conjugates with enhanced stability and catalytic efficiency were explored. Conjugation of cytochrome c (cyt c) to PAA dramatically improved cyt c peroxidase activity, achieving 34-fold enhancement in k_cat. Here, polyanionic PAA …

Black Women Surviving Sexual Trauma: The Cultural Components Used To Aid Recovery, Charrin Kimble

Doctoral Dissertations

The physical and psychological impacts women face as a result of sexual trauma has been researched extensively. While sexual trauma affects all women, far less attention has been given to cultural impacts on Black female survivors. Black women have unique experiences with sexual trauma due to the intersection of racism and sexism. Given the sociohistorical context of Black women and sexual trauma, research is needed to understand how cultural factors may aid the recovery process of Black women. This qualitative study examined the lived experiences of Black women who survived sexual trauma to understand the role cultural factors may have …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Peer Engagement And Knowledge (Peak): A Community-Based Group Intervention For Youth In Hawai‘I, Jennifer T. T. Ho

Doctoral Dissertations

This study is a program evaluation with a mixed methods design that evaluated the effectiveness of Peer Engagement and Knowledge (PEAK), a six-week community-based group intervention that incorporates mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) to address multiple health behaviors for multiracial youth in Hilo, Hawai‘i. A total of 51 youth, ages 12-23 years old, participated in this study which included pre-/posttest analyses of health risk factors such as substance use and depression and health promoting factors such as resilience, self-esteem, and mindfulness. Responses from two subsets of participants, who engaged in a focus group (n = 11) and composed gratitude letters ( …

Borderlands Of Teenage Mothering: Life Stories Of Latinx Teen Mothers From A Critical Feminist Perspective, Ashley Burciaga

Doctoral Dissertations

Borderlands of Teenage Mothering: Life Stories of Latinx Teen Mothers from a Critical Feminist Perspective Rather than trying to understand and support teenage mothers, society has stigmatized and marginalized them, even more so for women of color. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of teenage mothers of color as they reflected back on their teenage years in school, at home, and in their communities. Participants were asked to photograph people, places, and things that reminded them of their time as a teen mom. Open-ended semi-structured interview questions along with photo elicitation were implemented to support the …

Protein Joinery Using Molecular Cooperation: An Analysis Of The Capsid Stabilizing Interactions In Bacteriophage P22, Kunica Asija

Doctoral Dissertations

Bacteriophage P22 is an icosahedral phage with T=7 symmetry infecting host Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. P22 is an ideal model system to understand the assembly mechanisms of other phages and viruses such as the Herpes Simplex Virus due to the presence of the HK97 fold in their coat proteins. The assembly mechanism is a well-orchestrated event; however, we are yet to comprehend the significant structural changes that proteins undergo during assembly. The end of the assembly process is marked by the formation of a procapsid which then undergoes numerous conformational changes to form a functional, infectious virion. This event is …

The Storm Time Response Of The Inner Magnetosphere During Coronal Mass Ejection And Corotating Interaction Region Driven Storms, Samuel Bingham

Doctoral Dissertations

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and corotating interaction regions (CIRs) are the most common drivers of geomagnetic storms, influencing the dynamics of the inner magnetosphere and the response of the radiation belts. The main outer radiation belt acceleration mechanisms are inward radial diffusion and local acceleration by chorus waves, while magnetopause shadowing and by pitch angle scattering by electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves and other wave modes are the main true loss mechanisms. The link between these mechanisms and the solar interplanetary structures is the ring current response to these drivers. The different characteristics of the two solar wind drivers, CMEs …

Atrc Processes And Architectures As Tools For Advancing The Complexity Of Single-Chain Polymeric Nanoparticles, Elizabeth Bright

Doctoral Dissertations

Atom transfer radical coupling (ATRC) is gaining recognition for its utility in building complex polymeric architectures because it features efficiency, a wide range of compatible substrates, and a lack of byproducts. These qualities are especially desirable in applications requiring intramolecular cross-linking as in the synthesis single-chain nanoparticles (SCNP).

This dissertation aims to (I) provide motivation and context for developing ATRC technology for intramolecular cross-linking, (II) provide guidance into the impact of catalyst selection and substrate on reaction efficiency and morphology, and (III) demonstrate the possibility to sequence intrachain ATRC with ATRP to create advanced SCNP architectures.

Chapter II describes the …

Direct And Indirect Effects Of Anthropogenic Land Use On Bobcats (Lynx Rufus) In New England, Rory Patrick Carroll

Doctoral Dissertations

Bobcats (Lynx rufus) are the most widely distributed wild felids in North America, ranging across the contiguous United States, southern Canada, and northern Mexico. In the New England region (NER) bobcat populations endured nearly two centuries of intense harvest pressure and land use change that nearly led to their extirpation in parts of the region. However, they are currently experiencing a population resurgence despite large-scale increases of anthropogenic impacts on the landscape in the last 60 years. In this dissertation, I sought to understand the resurgence of bobcats in the NER by studying several aspects of bobcat ecology in relation …

Acoustic Detection And Quantification Of Crude Oil, Scott Christopher Loranger

Doctoral Dissertations

The fate and transport of oil droplets from natural and anthropogenic sources is key to understanding the impact of spills and the resilience of marine communities. Without knowledge of natural background levels, it is difficult to determine the response of the marine environment to large influxes of oil. Current estimates of global flux of oil from natural seeps varies by an order of magnitude, and the wide range of estimates is due in part to the lack of sufficient in-situ quantification techniques for oil droplets in the water column. This work is focused on the feasibility of employing broadband acoustics …

Rebel Rebels: Race, Resistance, And Remembrance In "The Free State Of Winston", Susan Neelly Deily-Swearingen

Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

REBEL REBELS: RACE, RESISTANCE, AND REMEMBRANCE IN

“THE FREE STATE OF WINSTON”

by

Susan Neelly Deily-Swearingen

University of New Hampshire

Murderous division was the defining characteristic of Winston County, Alabama during the turbulent Civil War era. To this day the county, located in the foothills of the Appalachians, retains its eponymous title “The Free State of Winston”- a reference to the county’s attempt to remain neutral during the war. It was not a universally welcomed position either within Winston County or in the somewhat sympathetic neighboring counties. A once tightly knit county of mostly non-slaveholding, subsistence farmers became homicidal, …

Experimental Investigations Of Thermal Pulsatile Boundary Layer Flow, Drummond Biles

Doctoral Dissertations

The need to reliably analyze, predict, and control the transport of mass, momentum, and energy in turbulent boundary layers is critically important across a broad spectrum of technological applications and scientific disciplines. While there has been extensive–and continuing– research investigating laboratory-scale canonical wall-bounded flows, beyond the scope of these well-studied flows there exists a broad range of application relevant flows that are far less studied. The theme of this dissertation research is to study a non canonical flow, specifically to study coupled momentum and thermal transport in pulsatile boundary layer flows.

The primary contributions of the present work are (1) …

Fungal Community And Soil Responses To Invasive Alliaria Petiolata (Garlic Mustard), Soil Warming, And Nitrogen Deposition, Mark Alan Anthony

Doctoral Dissertations

Non-native, invasive plants can fundamentally alter soil fungal communities and edaphic properties. In this dissertation, I first measured fungal and edaphic responses and recovery to invasive, Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard; Brassicaceae) eradication across Southern New England. I conducted an experimental eradication and tracked fungal communities and soil properties for three years in relation to reference uninvaded plots and actively invaded plots. Neither the fungal community nor soil properties recovered (i.e. became similar to reference uninvaded plots) following eradication, and I discuss how altered soil properties likely prevented fungal communities from recovering via environmental filtering. I also measured fungal and edaphic …

What Stepmothers Can Teach Us About Contemporary Family Life, The Institution Of Motherhood, And The Reproduction Of Gender Inequality, Melissa Day

Doctoral Dissertations

A substantial amount of scholarly attention has been dedicated to understanding changes in the institution of family and, within the context of these changes, how the institution of motherhood continues to play a central role in reproducing gender inequalities for women in society. Through two distinct, but interrelated papers, this dissertation examines stepmothers’ experiences in the family with the goal of expanding our understanding of the reach of the institution of motherhood into the lives of all women. The first paper draws on 33 semi- structured, in-depth interviews with stepmothers. From these data, my findings are two-fold. First, I find …