Digital Commons Network^™

Developing Queer Faith: Exploring Experiences Of Cognitive Dissonance And Identity Integration For Lgbq Catholics Individuals, Kendal M. Vaarwerk

Doctoral Dissertations

While religion may be meeting existential needs, it may, at the same time, be asking the LGBQ youth to be someone different than who they are (Longo et al., 2018). LGBQ individuals experience severe cognitive and emotional consequences because of oppressive religious doctrine, including guilt, shame, self-loathing, and suicidal ideation (Schuck & Liddle, 2001). When LGBQ individuals are involved with religious belief systems that cast rejecting or disapproving messages about LGBQ individuals, these individuals often experience more internalized negative self-messages, as well as more significant challenges in developing and accepting one’s sexual identity (Page et al., 2013). Therefore, this very …

The Association Between Physical Pain, Depression, Anxiety, And Nervios Among Latinx Agricultural Workers, Iveth Cuellar Celallos

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between physical pain, chronic pain, socio-cultural factors and mental health outcomes such as depression, anxiety, and nervios among Latinx agricultural workers. Survey data were collected in Northern California (N = 104). The sample of Latinx agricultural workers consisted of 47 (45.2%) female and 57 (54.8%) male respondents. The average age of participants was 43.13 years (SD = 14.37). Over half of participants were married (60.6%). The majority of participants (95.2%) reported Mexico as their country of origin. Most (85.6%) participants reported currently working in agriculture. Two hierarchical multiple linear regressions …

African American Female Identified Therapists' Experiences Working Culturally Similar And Dissimilar Populations, Kimiko J. May

Doctoral Dissertations

African-American female-identified individuals continue to be one of the smallest subgroups of licensed therapists. However, this group continues to grow steadily and offer services to a broad array of clientele. While the aims of literature have grown to include populations that have been historically marginalized, the research surrounding African-American female-identified therapists is scarce. Deep understanding of their lived experiences while navigating the multifaceted nature of clinical work has been grossly overlooked. This study aimed to qualitatively analyze the lived experiences of African-American female-identified therapists who work with diverse populations using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Since the nature of clinical work is …

An Exploration Of Higher Educational Experiences For Mixed Blood American Indian Males In The Santa Clara Valley, Edward Salcedo

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the availability of higher educational opportunities in the Santa Clara Valley for mixed blood American Indian males in the Santa Clara Valley from lower middle class and middle-class backgrounds born between the early 1980’s and early 1990’s who enrolled in community college courses but did not graduate. The study uses Critical Race Theory as the guiding theoretical framework but focuses on Tribal Critical Race Theory pioneered by Brayboy (2005) to understand the educational and societal experiences of American Indian people from their unique ethnic prism. The dissertation uses Red People’s Oral Tradition as the methodology, drawing from …

The Layer That Did Not Swim Away: Broadband Acoustic Discrimination And Characterization Of Ocean Stratification, Elizabeth Reed-Weidner

Doctoral Dissertations

Ocean stratification plays a critical role in many oceanographic processes. The magnitude of mixing between stable water masses is regulated, in part, by the intensity of stratification. As such, stratification modulates the vertical transport of heat and many important dissolved constituents in the water column, influencing such processes as ocean ventilation, and ocean heat and carbon uptake. As human induced climate change alters oceanic stratification a thorough understanding of its distribution and variability is critical in the study of the world’s oceans. However, traditional methods are limited in terms of spatial context and rapid, near-synoptic observational methods, such as those …

A Strong-Qcd Regime Measurement Of The Proton’S Spin Structure, David Ruth

Doctoral Dissertations

The theory of the strong force, Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) remains one of the mostimportant ways to understand the fundamental properties of ordinary matter. However, at low momentum transfer Q2, in the regime where the strong force becomes extremely strong, our understanding of QCD for ordinary nucleons becomes hazy. Several cutting edge theories such as Chiral Perturbation Theory (χPT) and Lattice QCD have provided valuable predictions in this regime, but Lattice QCD has not yet extended predictions of many important quantities to this kinematic region, and Chiral Perturbation Theory has faced several important disagreements with experimental data for the neutron over …

Ionospheric O+ And H+ Outflow During Geomagnetic Storms, Niloufar Nowrouzi

Doctoral Dissertations

A geomagnetic storm begins when solar wind carrying southward IMF Bz impinges upon the Earth’s magnetosphere. There are two major structures that can cause a geomagnetic storm: streaminteraction regions (SIRs) and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The two types of structures differ in the strength of the magnetic field and the time length of southward Bz, and so the effects on the magnetosphere are different. One result of the energy input from the solar wind is ionospheric outflow. Because of solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling, ionospheric ions can become a significant source for the magnetosphere during geomagnetic storms. In this thesis, I performed …

Elastic Electron Scattering From Mirror Nuclei 3he And 3h., Leiqaa Kurbany

Doctoral Dissertations

The primary aim of my work is the extraction of the elastic cross-sections from data collected in Jefferson Lab Hall A experiment E12-11-112, which measured inclusive elastic scattering from the mirror nuclei 3He and 3H at low momentum transfer. I determined the ratio of the 3He and 3H cross-sections since it cancels many of the systematic uncertainties that enter the absolute cross-section extraction, and it reduced fractional uncertainty to 1.85%. By going to low energy and forward angle, the effect of the magnetic form factor Fm(Q2) can be minimized, which allows for an extraction of the charge form factor Fch(Q2) …

Hearing Impaired And Leadership: Struggles Of Individuals With Hearing Loss In The Workplace, John Cleese Relihan

Doctoral Dissertations

With the passing of federal legislations such as the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Americans believe all issues relating to disability have been addressed. While Americans with disabilities gained civil rights under these two federal laws and educational opportunities have expanded, they are still struggling against the stigma of disability. They encounter many barriers as they enter the workplace and navigate toward leadership roles in their organizations. This narrative phenomenological qualitative study seeks to understand the experiences of individuals with hearing loss as they enter and navigate through their careers. Its purpose is …

A Collaborative Autoethnography: Your Passport To Immigrant Women Of Color Leader's Stories Of Identity Exploration And Leadership Barriers And Possibilities, Fraylanie Adan Aglipay

Doctoral Dissertations

The study of the personal and career narratives of immigrant Women of Color can lead to more appropriate standards in mainstream work environments and to the expansion of professional leadership opportunities for immigrant Women of Color. The experiences of immigrant Women of Color leaders are varied and complex, with each leader’s experience offering unique perspectives on their leadership journey. Additionally, it is important to analyze their identities because they contain multiple layers, serving as the foundation that has shaped them into the authentic leaders they are today. As scholars, researchers, and activists, we have a duty to address the lack …

Effectiveness Of Clay Nanotube Blended Coating Materials For Thermal Insulation, Hawa Hashm

Doctoral Dissertations

Studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy reported that heating and cooling systems use nearly 60% of the total energy consumed in a building, while approximately 31% of that energy loss occurs through the improperly insulated floor, walls, and ceiling. Hot summers or severely cold weather can make these problems worse. The passing of conditioned air through these building materials is a substantial source of energy loss, which has driven significant investigation into new environmentally friendly, sustainable, and cost-effective solutions. The main objective of the research was to experimentally evaluate the thermal conductivity of paints blended with halloysite nanotubes …

Understanding Physical Properties Of Gas Bubbles In The Ocean: How Does Reality Affect What We Think We Already Know?, Alexandra Michelle Padilla

Doctoral Dissertations

The importance of methane as a greenhouse gas has led to widespread research focused on understanding the sinks and sources for atmospheric methane. One source of atmospheric methane could include methane bubbles released from the ocean’s seafloor. These gas bubbles transport methane from the seafloor through the ocean’s water column, and the methane released during their ascent affects water column geochemistry and microbial populations. Under certain physical and chemical conditions, methane transported by gas bubbles can reach the upper water column and potentially leak across the sea-air interface. The dynamics of gas bubble emission, ascent, and dissolution in the water …

The Impact Of #Metoo On Reasons For Sexual Assault Disclosure, Cheryl H. Tien

Doctoral Dissertations

Sexual assault is a long-standing widespread problem. Yet, despite the high prevalence of sexual assault, it is the most underreported crime of all crimes reported to the police (Bureau of Justice, 2018). The #MeToo movement has had a significant impact on the way in which sexual assault survivors disclose their experiences and the reasons they disclose. Disclosure appears to be an important factor in survivors’ healing from their assault, with increasing coping, greater attachment to others, and positive growth cited as effects of disclosure provided that the response to the disclosure is positive to the survivor (Ahrens & Aldana, 2012; …

Clinicians' Perspectives On The Effectiveness Of Trauma - Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy With African American Children: A Qualitative Study, Jada Carter

Doctoral Dissertations

Literature exploring clinicians' perspectives on the effectiveness of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy with African American children who suffer from trauma-related disorders is very limited. The current study examined clinicians' perspectives on the TF-CBT model when utilized with this population, including their experiences working with African American children and families with observable types of trauma-related disorders. This research study also explored the various facets of trauma that African Americans encounter in childhood and the barriers that prevent them from receiving adequate mental health care. Thematic analysis was utilized to explore themes that emerged when treating African American children with TF-CBT. Five …

Dynamics Of A Charge Carrier Driven By Oscillating Fields In Materials With Impurities, Dileon Saint-Jean

Doctoral Dissertations

In conductive materials and semiconductors, a charge carrier under the effects of an electric field will suffer collisions due to thermal fluctuations and impurities in the lattice, altering their trajectory. The electronic properties of these materials depend on the nature and frequency of these collisions; thus, they must be accounted for in any model dealing with electrical conduction. Tracking all collisions individually, while it may be possible within certain limits, forces the model to a large degree of approximation. This work introduces a Monte Carlo-based methodology to electrical transport in Ohmic materials that consists of two parts, the utilization of …

The Moderating Role Of Experiential Avoidance Between Child-Caregiver Dynamics And Stem Motivation, Dylan L. Harrell

Doctoral Dissertations

The National Academy of Sciences released a report that discussed the increased need to improve interest and retention of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) careers in the United States. Early childhood factors within one’s family plays an essential role in the process of career decision making, self-concept, and vocational identity. The current study examined the relationship experiential avoidance has on early family dynamics (i.e., family environment, differentiation of self, attachment, and perceived parenting) and perceived motivation in STEM. A total of 231 participants currently enrolled in a Southern University taking a STEM course (Psychology, Biology, Social Science, Computer Science, …

Leadership Practices In Urban High Schools That Decrease Dropout Rates, Karura Rainey York

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the practices urban school leaders implement in daily school operations, how they form relationships with their students, and how these practices and relationships affect student initiative to engage in the high school experience and earn a diploma. High school students living in urban communities are often challenged by academic and societal deficits that separate them from their suburban counterparts. Students in these circumstances are more apt to drop out of high school. Leadership practices executed by urban school leaders to connect with their students are instrumental in motivating students to persist toward …

Examining Posttraumatic Growth As A Moderator Of The Relations Between Each Of Hope, Gratitude, And Well-Being Among Trauma-Exposed College Students, Zhen Shi

Doctoral Dissertations

College students who are exposed to trauma are likely to experience negative consequences such as adjustment difficulties, negative coping mechanisms, and poor academic achievement. It is important to identify factors that can reduce the effects of related negative outcomes and enhance an overall sense of well-being in the aftermath of a traumatic event. Previous research has shown gratitude and hope can increase well-being among trauma-exposed individuals. However, more research is needed to explore factors that may affect the degree to which both gratitude and hope promote well-being in this population. There are two main objects of the present study: First, …

Layered Metamaterial Beam Structure With Local Resonators For Vibration Attenuation: Model And Experiment, Winner Chukwuzulum Anigbogu

Doctoral Dissertations

Layered metamaterial beam structures are gaining attention in a variety of fields including vibration attenuation and energy harvesting. Exhaustive research on single-beam metamaterial vibration attenuation structures using local resonators exists in literature. Moreover, there are recent attempts at modelling double-layered beams with different kinds of constraints. The double-layered beam models in literature are limited to simple beams and not extended to metamaterials with local resonators. This research is primarily focused on developing a design criterion and a modelling platform for layered metamaterial structures with multiple beams and local resonators for vibration isolation. The model is developed using Euler-Bernoulli beam equations, …

What's The Beef With Veg*Ns: A Mixed Method Approach To Anti-Veg*N Stigma, Caitlin M. Mercier

Doctoral Dissertations

Despite veg*n scholarship within psychological science, much of this research examined anti-veg*n attitudes amongst non-veg*ns complemented with scarce research on the impact of anti-veg*n stigma and experiences of veg*ns. Underpinned by critical feminist framework with a phenomenological approach, the present study, a convergent mixed method design, examined the relationship between anti-veg*n stigma and multicultural awareness among 165 non-veg*ns and explored the experiences of 13 veg*ns in the context of stigma. Path analysis revealed that multicultural awareness and attitudes towards those with different dietary habits (e.g., veg*n diets, p. 19) was negatively associated with attitudes towards vegans. Additionally, path analysis revealed …

Understanding The Shear Deformation Mechanism Of Transition Metal/Ceramic Interfaces Using Computational Methods, Nisha Dhariwal

Doctoral Dissertations

The objective of this research was to investigate the deformation behavior of metal/ceramic interfaces under external loadings in a multi-scale framework including first principles density functional theory (DFT) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The mechanical properties of the metal/ceramic interfaces are dominated by defects on a length scale that first principles computations cannot access. Since the DFT calculations become computationally expensive for such large sized systems, therefore, MD simulations are required to deal with such systems. For MD simulations, second nearest neighbor modified embedded atom method (MEAM) potentials were developed to study metal/ceramic interfaces involving Cr, Ti, Al, and N. …

Social Media Usage: Implications On Consumer Well-Being And Maladaptive Behavior, Breanne Mertz

Doctoral Dissertations

Social media marketing is frequently leveraged due to the amount of time consumers spend on such platforms. However, research within the marketing literature rarely investigates the repercussions that time spent on social media can have on consumer well-being and behavior. Thus, this dissertation explores the effect that actual social media usage (ASMU) can have on consumers and considers the approachesthrough which healthy social media usage could be achieved. More specifically, the relationships within this study are assessed via Structural Equation Model (SEM) and contribute to the literature by exploring: 1) the effect that objective social media usage has on consumer …

Using Coherence And Interference To Study The Few Body Dynamics In Simple Atomic Collisions Systems, Sujan Bastola

Doctoral Dissertations

"Atomic Collision experiments are best suited to sensitively test the few-body dynamics of simple systems. The few-body dynamics, in turn, can be sensitively affected by interference effects. However, an important requirement to observe interference effects in atomic scattering experiments is that the incoming projectile beam must be coherent. The coherence properties of the incoming projectile can be controlled by the geometry of the collimating slit placed before the target. We performed a kinematically complete experiment where a 75 keV proton beam is crossed with a molecular hydrogen beam to study the dissociative capture process. The motivation for this project was …

Survivor Bond Models For Securitizing Longevity Risk, Priscilla Mansah Codjoe

Doctoral Dissertations

"Longevity risk is the risk that a reference population’s mortality rates deviate from what is projected from prior life tables. This is due to discoveries in biological sciences, improved public health measures, and nutrition, which have dramatically increased life expectancy. Longevity risk raises life insurers’ liability, increasing product costs and reserves. Securitization through longevity derivatives is a way of dealing with this risk.

To enhance the pricing of life contingent products, we present an additive type mortality model in the style of the Lee-Carter. This model incorporates policyholder covariates. By using counting processes and martingale machinery, we obtain close form …

Hydroclimate Variability In Central America During The Holocene Inferred From Lacustrine Sediments In Lake Izabal, Eastern Guatemala, Edward Fernando Duarte

Doctoral Dissertations

"Holocene hydroclimate reconstructions have contributed to our understanding of the mechanisms controlling precipitation in Central America. Recent hydroclimate proxy records from the region, however, have revealed considerable spatiotemporal complexity in precipitation variability. This complexity is hypothesized to result from the interaction between multiple oceanic-atmospheric processes that converge in the region. This project analyzed three sediment cores from Lake Izabal, eastern lowland Guatemala, with the goal of understanding changes in precipitation, lake productivity, and lake water chemistry during the Holocene. Our proxy results indicate that precipitation in the region increased from the early to the middle Holocene, when Lake Izabal became …

Studies Of Multiphase Distribution And Flow In Bubble/ Slurry Bubble Columns With /Without Internals And Advanced Sustainable Construction Materials Using Sophisticated Measurement Techniques, Omar Farid

Doctoral Dissertations

"Bubble/slurry bubble columns have been widely studied and employed as multiphase flow reactors with and without vertical heat-exchanging tubes. In order to understand more deeply the effect of the dense internals on the hydrodynamics of bubble/slurry bubble column, systematic experiments were performed to visualize and quantify using the radioactive particle tracking (RPT) technique. A new methodology for implementing the radioactive particle tracking (RPT) technique has been developed to investigate the effect of the dense internals on the hydrodynamics of the bubble/slurry column reactor. Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) simulation has been implemented to simulate the system to generate a large number …

Social Media Analytics With Applications In Disaster Management And Covid-19 Events, Md Yasin Kabir

Doctoral Dissertations

"Social media such as Twitter offers a tremendous amount of data throughout an event or a disastrous situation. Leveraging social media data during a disaster is beneficial for effective and efficient disaster management. Information extraction, trend identification, and determining public reactions might help in the future disaster or even avert such an event. However, during a disaster situation, a robust system is required that can be deployed faster and process relevant information with satisfactory performance in real-time. This work outlines the research contributions toward developing such an effective system for disaster management, where it is paramount to develop automated machine-enabled …

Secured Information Dissemination And Misbehavior Detection In Vanets, Ayan Roy

Doctoral Dissertations

"In a connected vehicle environment, the vehicles in a region can form a distributed network (Vehicular Ad-hoc Network or VANETs) where they can share traffic-related information such as congestion or no-congestion with other vehicles within its proximity, or with a centralized entity via. the roadside units (RSUs). However, false or fabricated information injected by an attacker (or a malicious vehicle) within the network can disrupt the decision-making process of surrounding vehicles or any traffic-monitoring system. Since in VANETs the size of the distributed network constituting the vehicles can be small, it is not difficult for an attacker to propagate an …

Quantification Of Hydrologic Response To Forest Disturbance In Western U.S. Watersheds, Sara A. Goeking '92

Doctoral Dissertations

Forested watersheds produce more than half of the water supply in the United States. Forests affect how precipitation is partitioned into available water versus evapotranspiration. This dissertation investigated how water yield and snowpack responded to forest disturbance following recent disturbances in western U.S. forests during the period 2000-2019.

Chapter 2 systematically reviewed 78 recent studies that examined how water yield or snowpack changed after forest disturbances. Water yield and snowpack often increased after disturbance, but decreased in some circumstances. Decreased water yield was most likely to occur following disturbances that did not remove the entire forest canopy. It was also …

Fully Kinetic Particle-In-Cell Simulations Of Plasma-Surface-Dust Interactions For Lunar Exploration, Jianxun Zhao

Doctoral Dissertations

"The studies involving lunar surface explorations have drawn attentions in recent years. A better understanding of possible potential hazards to astronauts and electronic equipment has become a necessity for future lunar explorations. The lunar surface, lacking an atmosphere and global magnetic field therefore directly exposed to solar radiation and solar wind plasma, is electrically charged by the bombardment of solar wind plasma and emission/collection of photoelectrons. Additionally, lunar dust grains can also get charged and levitated from the surface under the influence of the electric field as well as gravity within the plasma sheath. Since the plasma sheath formed near …