Digital Commons Network^™

Cycling And Women's Rights In The Suffrage Press., Christine Neejer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Responding to research gaps in both cycling and women's rights history, the purpose of my thesis is to investigate conceptualizations of cycling in the 1890's suffrage press. I analyze six aspects of cycling in suffrage periodicals: advice and tips to women cyclists; dress reform and women's cycling; women's cycling clubs; health, medicine and exercise; travel and touring; and cycling among anti-suffrage women reformers. I argue cycling and women's rights activism should not be framed as separate aspects of women's lives in the 1890's, but joint practices that influenced and informed the other. Suffrage press authors did not view cycling as …

The Moonlight Schools : Adult Literacy Education In The Age Of Americanization., Samantha Hope Necamp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation analyzing the rhetorical interplay between the Moonlight Schools-an adult literacy education program initiated in 1911-and two other literacy programs: the Americanization movement and U.S. college composition. Through my analysis, I demonstrate that the Moonlight Schools played a vital role in (re)defining literacy in the public sphere. In particular, exchanges between Moonlight Schools advocates and Americanizers helped to solidify public attitudes regarding the professionalization of literacy teaching-attitudes that remain entrenched in public discourse and that have had negative consequences for the disciplinary status of Rhetoric and Composition. I argue that incorporating the Moonlight Schools into our disciplinary imaginary can …

An Immediate Survival Focus : Linking Substance Abuse, Fight, Flight, And Prosocial Behavior., George B. Richardson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the United States substance abuse takes a toll that is costly in both economic and human terms. In 2005 we paid 467.7 billion dollars to address the consequences of substance abuse, and each year we have lost an estimated 537,000 of our fellows to substance abuse related causes. It is important that we identify and intervene upon the mechanisms translating risk factors for substance abuse into the related behaviors. This study synthesized life history theory and dual process models of cognition to produce an adaptive and cognitive framework for explaining substance abuse. An immediate survival focus was proposed as …

The Effects Of A Video Designed To Empower Parents To Find The Time To Complete Their Child's Speech And Language Homework., Lana E. Ridge 1987-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study was completed to determine if parents' feelings of empowerment is improved after viewing a video. The video was designed to assist parents in determining appropriate time(s) to complete speech and language therapy homework. Parents from the JCPS, who had children in speech therapy, were recruited through a recruitment packet distributed by the school SLP. Parents were to complete 3 questionnaires, each two weeks apart, on www.surveygizmo.com regarding homework. Parents were asked to view a video at the end of the first and second questionnaire. Twenty-four percent, of the SLPs initially agreed to participate. It is known that 4 …

Swarm Intelligence For Clustering Dynamic Data Sets For Web Usage Mining And Personalization., Esin Saka

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Swarm Intelligence (SI) techniques were inspired by bee swarms, ant colonies, and most recently, bird flocks. Flock-based Swarm Intelligence (FSI) has several unique features, namely decentralized control, collaborative learning, high exploration ability, and inspiration from "dynamic social" behavior. Thus FSI offers a natural choice for modeling dynamic social data and solving problems in such domains. One particular case of dynamic social data is online/web usage data which is rich in information about user activities, interests and choices. This natural analogy between SI and social behavior is the main motivation for the topic of investigation in this dissertation, with a focus …

Sulforaphane Prevents Acetaminophen-Induced Hepatic Injury In Mice., Robin H. Schmidt 1984-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sulforaphane (SFN), an isothiocyanate found in cruciferous vegetables, is known to confer antioxidant protection in vivo. Rather than directly reacting with free radicals, however, SFN works by inducing Nrf2, a transcription factor that binds to the promoter regions of several known antioxidant genes and enhances detoxification. Because oxidative stress is a major contributor to acetaminophen (APAP)-induced hepatotoxicity, SFN may defend the liver against APAP overdose by activating the Nrf2 pathway and increasing endogenous antioxidant response. To test this hypothesis, mice were pre-treated with SFN for four days, injected with APAP on the fifth day, and sacrificed shortly thereafter. APAP overdose …

Teacher Efficacy, Teacher Burnout, And Attitudes Toward Students With Autism., Joshua Benjamin Skuller 1979-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Students with autism require a variety of supports to be successful in classrooms. Because of this, special education teachers need additional training to address these needs along with balancing the demands of the rest of their caseload. This daunting task can often lead to lower levels of efficacy (general teaching and personal teacher) and increased levels of burnout. The Teacher Efficacy Scale-Short Form (Hoy & Woolfolk 1993), Teacher Burnout Scale (Seidman & Zager, 1987), and Autism Attitude Scale for Teachers (Olley et al., 1981) were chosen for this study. The Olley et al. work was modified to reflect current trends …

Exploitation Of Costimulatory Sa-4-1bbl In The Development Of Therapeutic Cancer Vaccines., Abhishek K. Srivastava

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cancer accounts for nearly one-quarter of deaths in the United States, exceeded only by heart diseases. Despite the development of various strategies to treat cancer, it remains one of the most deadly diseases worldwide due to the limited effects of treatments available. The limited efficacy of these current treatment modalities, such as surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, are often due to their association with adverse side effects arising from lack of specificity for tumors, and most importantly their failure of eliminating residual and micro-metastatic tumors, which can lead to recurrences. Therefore, there is a dire need to develop tumor-specific therapies that …

Mixed-Effects Models For Modeling Cardiac Functions And Treatment Effects., Hyejeong Jang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mixed-effects model is an efficient tool for analyzing longitudinal data. The random effects in mixed-effects model can be used to capture the correlations among repeated measurements within a subject. The time points are not fixed and all available data can be used in mixed-effects model provided data are missing at random. For this reason, we focus on applying mixed-effects models to the repeated measurements of cardiac function including heart rate, left ventricle developed pressure, and coronary flow in the Glutathione-S-transferase P (GSTP) gene knockout and wild-type mice following ischemial/reperfusion injury performed in the isolated, Langendorff-perfused heart. Cardiac function is measured …

The Regulatory Function Of Social Referencing In Preschoolers With Down Syndrome Or Williams Syndrome., Angela E. John

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present project examined the regulatory function of social referencing in two neurodevelopmental disorders that have been well defined genetically and are characterized by differing patterns of socio-cognitive development: Down syndrome (DS) and Williams syndrome (WS). In addition, since the social referencing process requires children to coordinate three fundamental abilities (initiation of joint attention, gaze following, emotional responsivity), the present project also included three follow-up studies which examined these abilities separately. Participants were 21 children with DS (M age = 4.97 years; SD = .74) and 21 children with WS (M age = 4.92 years; SD = .76) closely matched …

Aerobic And Anaerobic Performance Changes Following Three Training Phases In Men's Soccer Players., Tony Jouaux

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this study was to determine if playing 5 soccer matches in 4 weeks after 8 weeks of strength, conditioning and soccer training further improves aerobic and anaerobic performances. Ten college soccer players (20.1 ± 1.2 yr) completed three different training phases. Maximal aerobic testing, skinfold 7-site and counter movement jump (CMJ) were performed at the beginning of the study (Tl), at the end of 8 weeks of training (T2) and at the end of the 13 weeks of the study (T3). Repeated measures ANOVA followed by a Post-Hoc test Least Significant Difference indicated that CMJ increased by …

Dealing With Manhood : General Strain Theory, Masculinity, And The Engagement In Illicit Drug Trafficking., Sonita L. Arnold

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis integrates James Messerschmidt's Masculinity Theory (1997) with Robert Agnew's General Strain Theory (1992) to examine the relationship between failure to achieve ideal masculine standards, resultant psychological stressors, and the decision to engage in illicit drug activity. OLS and Binary Logistic Regression was performed on a sample of male college students (N = 851) to examine three hypotheses. Findings support the hypothesis that a positive relationship exists between failed masculinity and negative emotions. Partial support was found for the hypothesis that a positive relationship exists between negative emotions and drug trafficking. Partial support was also found for the hypothesis …

Scheduling Procedures For A Family Practice Doctor's Office., Gabriel Barron

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In order to allow quality healthcare to be available to more people, healthcare must be as affordable as possible. Ideally this will be done through the elimination of the waste that is built into the current healthcare system. One area that is ready for waste reduction is the manner in which family practice doctors’ offices and hospitals schedule patients. Despite hospitals being incredibly sophisticated and employing very intelligent individuals, their scheduling is often very old fashioned and does not take into account walk-in patients or no-show patients. Fortunately, some more advanced scheduling methods have been developed. One of these scheduling …

Partial Vs. Full Support Of The Heart With A Continuous-Flow Left Ventricular Assist Device : Implications For Myocardial Recovery., Carlo Renato G. Bartoli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

INTRODUCTION: Heart failure is a major and growing public health concern. Although heart failure has been considered an inexorable and progressive disorder, emerging evidence suggests that some patients may have reversible left ventricular dysfunction. Indeed, recent reports have documented the potential for myocardial recovery in humans in response to prolonged mechanical circulatory support with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD). However, myocardial recovery remains uncommon, and a strategy of unloading the failing left ventricle with a continuous-flow (non-pulsatile) LVAD has not been specifically developed to promote favorable myocardial remodeling. As a preliminary investigation, we developed a bovine model of chronic, …

Hydrolysis Of Concentrated Dilute Base Pretreated Biomass Slurries., Gregory A. Brockmann 1987-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Enzymatic hydrolysis is an important, but time limiting step in the process of converting biomass into ethanol. High solids concentrations are desired in order to minimize reactor size and achieve a higher concentration of glucose in the end product stream. However, higher solids concentrations lead to higher viscosities and hence, mixing and mass transfer becomes more difficult. In this study, a mixer designed to overcome the mass transfer limitations was used to conduct enzymatic hydrolysis of dilute-base pretreated corn stover, wheat, and miscanthus at high solids concentrations. This was done to determine if overcoming the mass transfer limitations would improve …

Fluid Dynamic Analysis Of Flow In Orbiting Dishes And The Effects Of Flow On Shear Stress And Endothelial Cellular Responses., Amlan Chakraborty 1976-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work presents a novel comprehensive effort to understand the fluid dynamics within orbiting dishes and the effects of the resulting oscillating fluid flow on shear and endothelial cellular responses within the dishes. It is well documented that hemodynamic parameters, especially wall shear stress (WSS), have been shown to play important roles in altering various endothelial cellular responses, intracellular pathways and gene expression, and to have significant impacts on disease progression, such as atherosclerotic plaque development. In practice, wall shear stress (WSS) is oscillatory rather than steady due to the travelling waveform and varies across the surface of the dish …

Increased Production Capabilities By Job Rotation Through Simulation., Scott Douglas Cramer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Implementing Job Rotation as a manufacturing method is beneficial to production efficiency, reduction of labor cost, operator satisfaction, and Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs) reduction. In this thesis, the steps of simulating the change from a single station operator work center to a job rotational work center in an automotive components production facility are investigated, analyzed and performed. The objective is to show how the use of rotational manufacturing positively impacts the working environment by operators sharing the workload, but also that production is not negatively impacted and can thrive when implemented correctly. The production facility provided a real-world application of …

The Collective Affiliation Of Community College, Commuter And Distance Education Students : Developmental Math And Dropout., Jeffrey Cody Davidson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

From 1988 to 2006, between 40% and 60% of all first-time community college students are referred to and enroll in at least one developmental education course; some colleges reported as high as 80 percent (e.g. Attewell, Lavin, Domina, & Levey, 2006; Bers & Smith, 1991; Bettinger & Long, 2005; Boughan & Clagett, 1995; Brawer, 1996). More students begin college less prepared in math than any other developmental area (e.g. ACT, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009; Attewell, Lavin, Domina, & Levey, 2006; Bettinger & Long, 2005; Cartnal, 1999). The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between a set …

Achievement Motivation And Self-Evaluative Emotions In Preschool Children From Low-Income Families., Crystal A. Day

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study was designed to better understand the early behavioral and emotional factors influencing young children's responses to challenge, which have important implications for learning. Understanding why children respond to challenge as they do is particularly important for young children from poverty, who face many contextual factors that place them at-risk for experiencing negative academic outcomes (Brooks-Gunn, Linver, & Fauth, 2005). Previous research suggests that children adopt distinct behavioral and emotional reactions to challenge. Such reactions have been studied in terms of either achievement motivation or self-evaluative emotion research (Dweck & Leggett, 1988; Lewis & Sullivan, 2005), with achievement …

A Multi-Objective Decision Support System For Worker-Task Assignments And Workforce Training., Brandon B. Elmes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper models a realistic problem involving workforce assignment and training for a large manufacturing environment. In this particular environment, the workforce is undertrained and most assignments will result in necessary training. This problem was previously addressed as a single objective problem. This paper expands to a multi-objective formulation. This is a more accurate reflection of the problem because almost all real world problems have many objectives which can be conflicting. The program developed in this paper is designed for use by supervisors in the production setting. A two stage program is designed where the first stage generates initial solutions …

Reconciliation Of Il-1ss Loss With Trif-Biased Tlr4 Signaling By Monophosphate Lipid A., Chelsea A. Embry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Monophosphoryl Lipid A (MPLA), a derivative of LPS endotoxin, is a TLR4 agonist that displays as little as 0.1-1% as much toxicity as its parent molecule while retaining immunostimulatory properties. We discovered that MPLA activates a TRIF-biased pattern of TLR4 signaling, resulting in reduced production of MyD88-dependent pro-inflammatory factors, and credited TRIF-bias for MPLA's reduced toxicity. A contemporary study showed that MPLA fails to promote maturation of the potent inflammatory cytokine IL-1ß. This dissertation seeks to reconcile MPLA's TRIF-biased signaling with IL-1 ß loss, and to determine the ultimate cause of MPLA's reduced toxicity compared to LPS. We find that …

Teenage Pharmapocalypse? : An Exploratory Examination Of Prescription Drug Abuse., Lorin Brooke Friley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the phenomenon of teenage prescription drug abuse in Jefferson County, Kentucky to gain a better understanding of the environment and characteristics of a teenager who abuses prescription drugs, and to gain insight into this situation through the perspectives of adult professionals who regularly work with teenagers. In-depth interviews were conducted with five professionals, and data analyses were performed to determine recurring themes. There were four primary emergent themes, including: profiling of a teenage prescription drug abuser; factors influencing likelihood of drug abuse; portfolio of mental, emotional, and social issues; and treatment processes. …

Statistical Analysis And Data Mining Of Medicare Patients With Diabetes., Xiao Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to find ways to decrease Medicare costs and to study health outcomes of diabetes patients as well as to investigate the influence of Medicare, part D since its introduction in 2006 using the CMS CCW (Chronic Condition Data Warehouse) Data and the MEPS (Medical Expenditure Panel Survey) data. In this dissertation, we introduce pattern recognition analysis into the study of medical characteristics and demographic characteristics of the inpatients who have a higher readmission risk. We also broaden the cost-effectiveness analysis by including medical resources usage when investigating the effects of Medicare, part D. In …

Cardiac Abnormalities After Transaortic Constriction Are Worsened By Changing Glucose Metabolism And Benefited By Repair Of Mitochondrial Dna., Jianxun Wang 1969-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Heart failure is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the USA. During the development of heart failure, many cardiac parameters change at the same time including fuel metabolism, oxidative stress and mitochondrial function. Each of these changes occurs in the context of multiple other abnormalities in the failing heart. This complexity makes it difficult to discern the importance of each of these parameters. In this dissertation changes in glucose metabolism and mitochondrial DNA repair have been targeted separately and specifically in the heart to test their roles in heart failure independently. Abnormal glucose metabolism is always found in …

Riparian Corridor Vegetation Structure And Soil Function Along Urban, Suburban, And Rural Streams In Louisville, Ky, Usa., R. Jonathan White

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Stream riparian zones are ecotones between terrestrial and aquatic environments. Studying these areas in urban environments is important since they lie adjacent to stream water supplies. I conducted a study of riparian woody and groundcover vegetation along urban, suburban, and rural streams (land-use designations based on % impervious surface) to assess how cities are affecting plant community structure. I also studied riparian soil gas flux (carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide) in relation to water table depth and groundwater nutrient concentrations spanning a 10-month period (January to October, 2008). I found distinct woody and groundcover communities associated with proportion of …

Beggars Can't Be Choosers Or The Refugee As A Moral Agent?, Pamela Cartier Allen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project considers the ways in which the dominant discourse on refugees might reinforce the negative impacts or limit the positive impacts of aid. Care for refugees is a difficult task that takes place in a discourse that begins with numerical calculi, a language that expresses ambivalence about our obligations for this category of persons, fear of their collective identity, and a deep ceded notion of refugees as an object of concern, a worthy cause, a growing problem, and a burden that must be shared.

What we choose to do for and about refugees emerge from our present awareness (knowledge) …

A Prototype Security Hardened Field Device For Scada Systems., Bradley Alan Luyster

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes the development of a prototype security hardened field device (such as a remote terminal unit) based on commodity hardware and implementing a previously developed security architecture. This security architecture has not been implemented in the past due to the difficulty of providing an operating system which meets the architecture's isolation requirements. Recent developments in both hardware and software have made such an operating system possible, opening the door to the implementation and development of this new security architecture in physical devices attached to supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems. A prototype is developed using commodity hardware …

Modeling The Workflow Of One Primary Care Physician-Nurse Team., Abigail R. Wooldridge 1988-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Primary care has been identified as a vital part of the healthcare system in the U.S., and one that operates in a challenging, unique environment. Primary care sees a wide variety of patients and is undergoing a series of major transformations simultaneously. As a result, primary care would greatly benefit from a systemic approach to the analysis of its workflows. Discrete-event simulation has been identified as a good tool to evaluate complex healthcare systems. The existing primary care DES models focus on the physician. Also, those models are limited in (a) their usefulness to produce generic models that can easily …

Promoting Smooth School Transitions For Children In Foster Care, Ghyslyn T. Laviolette

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Children in foster care move two times per year on average. School records are not always transferred in a timely manner, which leads to a lack of services. Schools often are not aware of the legal issues surrounding foster care, such as who has legal rights to sign field trip permission slips or consent for educational evaluations. This study led to the development of an informational guideline as to how best support the school transition process for children in foster care. The Delphi technique was used to enlist the expertise of four respondent groups: foster parents, Guardians ad Litem, school …

The Security Situation For Central Asia: Afghanistan, Water, And Uzbek Stability, Carleton Wesley Becks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Central Asia has emerged on the global stage after spending decades in isolation. As developing nations, most of Central Asia possesses the resources to spur rapid development. Things would seem to be in the region's favor. There are, however, a few events that could derail the region.

Afghanistan is on the periphery of the region and presents a series of difficult dilemmas such as creating a functioning government from a country that has been at war for nearly 30 years, the problem of the insurgency in the south, and narcotics trafficking.

Water is scarce in the region, the leaders cannot …