Digital Commons Network^™

Influence Of Compressible Aerogel Electrodes On The Properties Of An Electrochemical Cell, Chris Sponheimer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the biomedical field the need for intra organ pressure measurement can only be facilitated by adapting existing pressure sensing technology to the specific tissues under test. The customization of these sensors has only driven up cost and the need to explore new technologies has become increasingly more important. For this dissertation, we explore the use of a new technology, particularly electrochemical pressure sensing to provide a low-cost pressure sensor to fill this need. Preliminary testing showed that electrically conductive polymers exhibited a change in voltage when pressurized if bubbles were first electrolyzed in the gel creating an aerogel, and …

Emergent Geographies In Green Energy, Sean Tierney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A consensus on climate change is spurring an energy transition, but the geography of this transition is uneven and this paper evaluates the energy landscape globally, in the United States and in Colorado. Developed countries have taken the lead in installations and of next generation energy technology ownership. Green electricity has still not achieved parity with fossil fuels, which puts their adoption in the hands of policy makers who are trying to spur innovation with minimal financial disruption. Yet the future of green electricity is in question due to weak and fragmented policy regimes, but also because of inadequate R&D …

The Impact Of Self-Efficacy, Commitment, And Coping On Occupational Strain In Non-Managerial, Non-Professional Employees, Susan Leslie Bennett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study explored the effects of moderators, self-efficacy and commitment, and mediators, problem-focused coping (strategies used when changeable conditions exist, thereby resulting in the employee taking action [Folkman & Lazarus, 1980]) and emotion-focused coping (perception that conditions are not changeable and emotions are regulated in a variety of ways versus taking action [Folkman & Lazarus, 1980]), on predicting psychological and physical occupational strain in non-managerial, non-professional employees. Ninety-three shift workers in a 24/7 call center from one division of a transportation company located in the western United States participated in the study. The first research objective was to examine …

The Implementation Of Restorative Justice In Iceland: A Comparison Of Police- And Expert-Led Conferencing, Hafsteinn Gunnar Hafsteinsson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

On first of October 2006 the Ministry of Justice in Iceland launch a restorative justice pilot project. Building on the pilot project data, this thesis evaluates the implementation of restorative justice into the criminal justice system in Iceland by asking victims, offenders and other participants in police- and expert-led conferencing to answer questionnaires' relating to these two types of restorative justice practices to crime. The thesis compares its results with findings from a review conducted by Paul McCold (1998) who more than a decade ago challenged concerns on police facilitated conferencing. The data examined in the present thesis support Paul …

Treefrog (Hyla Squirella) Responses To Rangeland And Management In Semi-Tropical Florida, Usa, Kathryn Windes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As urban areas expand, agricultural lands become increasingly important habitat for many species. Compared to some types of agricultural land-use, ranchlands provide vast expanses of minimally modified habitat that support many threatened and endangered species. Conservation biologists can promote ecologically sound management approaches by quantifying the effects of agricultural practices on resident species. I examined the effects of pasture management, cattle grazing, and landscape characteristics on both adult and larval treefrogs in a ranchland in south-central Florida. I experimentally determined optimal deployment of artificial treefrog shelters constructed of polyvinylchloride (PVC) pipe to efficiently sample adult treefrogs (Chapter 1). Seventy-two shelters …

Controlled Assembly And Electronic Transport Studies Of Solution Processed Carbon Nanotube Devices, Paul Stokes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Developing techniques for the parallel fabrication of Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) compatible single walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) electronic devices is of great importance for nanoelectronic applications. In this thesis, solution processed SWNTs in combination with AC dielectrophoresis (DEP) were utilized to fabricate CMOS compatible SWNT field effect transistors (FETs) and single electron transistors (SETs) with high yield and their detailed electronic transport properties were studied. Solution processing of SWNTs is attractive not only for the high throughput and parallel manufacturing of SWNT devices but also due to the ease of processing at room temperature, and compatibility with various substrates. …

An Investigation Of The Role Of Aquatic Plants In The Cycling Of Phosphorus And Nitrogen In Murphy's Bottom Lake, Armstrong County, Pa, Melanie Ann Mathews

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objectives established for the Murphy's Bottom Ecological Project are to obtain baseline biological inventories and establish a Master Plan for reclamation of the 100 acre site located in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. Reclamation plans include connecting the 20+ acre Lake, formed by sand and gravel removal, to the Allegheny River to form a backwater wetlands. This study produced a macrophyte species list, mapped the macrophyte community and determined water and plant phosphorus concentrations and water nitrogen concentrations. Replicable laboratory methods for the analysis of these nutrient concentrations were adapted from established molybdenum blue, Nitrate Electrode and HACH Cadmium Reduction Methods. …

Activity Analysis Of The Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein Isoforms 1, 2 And 3: Recombinant Bacterial Expression And Purification With Subsequent Quantitative Analysis Of Binding To In Vivo Target G Quadruplex Forming Ribonucleaic Acids And Regulation Of Translation, Timothy Lee Evans

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The loss of expression of the fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) leads to fragile X syndrome. Fragile X syndrome is the most prevalent inheritable mental retardation. FMRP has two types of RNA binding domains, two K-homology domains and an arginine-glycine-glycine box domain, and is proposed to act as a translation regulator of specific mRNA. Despite extensive research, the mechanism by which FMRP loss leads to the fragile X syndrome remains unclear. Thus, there is high interest to produce sufficient quantities of pure recombinant FMRP for biochemical and biophysical studies of the protein function. However, the recombinant bacterial expression of …

A Methodology To Stabilize The Supply Chain, Alfonso Sarmiento

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In today's world, supply chains are facing market dynamics dominated by strong global competition, high labor costs, shorter product life cycles, and environmental regulations. Supply chains have evolved to keep pace with the rapid growth in these business dynamics, becoming longer and more complex. As a result, supply chains are systems with a great number of network connections among their multiple components. The interactions of the network components with respect to each other and the environment cause these systems to behave in a highly nonlinear dynamic manner. Ripple effects that have a huge, negative impact on the behavior of the …

Thermal Detection Of Biomarkers Using Phase Change Nanoparticles, Chaoming Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Most of existing techniques cannot be used to detect molecular biomarkers (i.e., protein and DNA) contained in complex body fluids due to issues such as enzyme inhibition or signal interference. This thesis describes a nanoparticle-based thermal detection method for the highly sensitive detections of multiple DNA biomarkers or proteins contained in different type of fluids such as buffer solution, cell lysate and milk by using solid-liquid phase change nanoparticles as thermal barcodes. Besides, this method has also been applied for thrombin detection by using RNA aptamer-functionalized phase change nanoparticles as thermal probes. Furthermore, using nanostructured Si surface that have higher …

Linear Enamel Hypoplasia At Santa Rita Corozal, Belize, Andrew Peter Tetlow

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this thesis is an analysis of a sample of dentition collected from the Postclassic Maya site of Santa Rita Corozal in Northern Belize. The goal of this study is to determine what the presence (or absence) of Linear Enamel Hypoplasia (LEH) can demonstrate about the general health (i.e. stress, disease, nutrition, and weaning age) and social status of a single subset of the Late Postclassic (900-1500 CE) Maya living at Santa Rita Corozal. Specifically, this thesis focuses on dentition of thirteen individuals from a large Postclassic platform group. The sample consists of sub-adult and adult female dentition …

Study Of The Egfr, Src And Stat3 Pathway In Pancreatic Cancer, Soumya Jaganathan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cancer is associated with many molecular aberrations that support the malignant phenotype. In that regard, aberrant activation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), Src, and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) occur concurrently in pancreatic cancer and are implicated in the disease phenotype. Notwithstanding, increasing evidence indicates that therapies that target only EGFR or Src are rather ineffective in modulating the cancer phenotype. The poor therapeutic outcome of the monotherapies targeting EGFR or Src may in part be due to the increased incidence of signaling cross-talks among aberrant signaling pathways in cancer. Molecular details of the signaling integration …

In-Frame Mutagenesis Of Genes Encoding A Selenium-Dependent Molybdenum Hydroxylase And Putative Accessory Proteins In Enterococcus Faecalis, Christopher J. Mallard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Enterococcus faecalis is a well known nosocomial drug resistant pathogen that is responsible for urinary tract infections, bacteremia, wound infections and endocarditis through the formation of biofilms. It has been shown that 68 genes present within the core genome of E. faecalis are upregulated in biofilm formation. One of those 68 genes is a putative seleniumdependent molybdenum hydroxylase (SDMH). Adjacent to this gene are a series of open reading frames that have been postulated to play a role in the maturation of a labile selenium cofactor. The biosynthesis of this labile cofactor has yet to be studied at either the …

Describing The Phenomena Of Principals' Experiences With Implementation Of Response To Intervention, Lorrie Belk Butler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The traditional method of identifying students with disabilities has led to a new innovation being implemented at the school level. Response to Intervention (RTI) is an alternative approach that received federal approval with the passage of Individuals with Disabilities Educational Improvement Act (IDEIA) 2004. On July 1, 2010, RTI became the required process for determining identification of students with learning disabilities for all schools in the state of Florida. Implementation of this approach requires significant changes in how schools operate. Using a phenomenological study design, the purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the experiences of elementary …

A Phenomenological Description Of The Lived Experience Of Creating Art For Women With Breast Cancer, Laurie Stark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Conventional approaches to cancer treatment typically do not address the personal experiences of the women with breast cancer. The aim of this study was to develop a structural description of the lived experience of women with breast cancer who create art, specifically through painting, sketching or drawing. A phenomenological approach was employed to explore the meaning of creating art for four women with a diagnosis of breast cancer. The philosophical underpinnings for this study were based on the phenomenological method of bracketing which allows the researcher and subjects to focus on lived experience. This qualitative methodology provided a means to …

Identification Of Novel Antimalarials From Marine Natural Products For Lead Discovery, Stephenie M. Alvarado

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An estimated 500 million cases of malaria occur each year. The increasing prevalence of drug resistant strains of Plasmodium in most malaria endemic areas has significantly reduced the efficacy of current antimalarial drugs for prophylaxis and treatment of this disease. Therefore, discovery of new, inexpensive, and effective drugs are urgently needed to combat this disease. Marine biodiversity is an enormous source of novel chemical entities and has been barely investigated for antimalarial drug discovery. In an effort to discover novel therapeutics for malaria, we studied the antimalarial activities of a unique marine-derived peak fraction library provided by Harbor Branch Oceanographic …

Concentric Layout, A New Scientific Data Layout For Matrix Data Set In Hadoop File System, Lu Cheng

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The data generated by scientific simulation, sensor, monitor or optical telescope has increased with dramatic speed. In order to analyze the raw data speed and space efficiently, data preprocess operation is needed to achieve better performance in data analysis phase. Current research shows an increasing tread of adopting MapReduce framework for large scale data processing. However, the data access patterns which generally applied to scientific data set are not supported by current MapReduce framework directly. The gap between the requirement from analytics application and the property of MapReduce framework motivates us to provide support for these data access patterns in …

Design And Simulation For Encoded Pn-Ofc Saw Sensor Systems, John Pavlina

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors provide versatility in that they can offer wireless, passive operation in numerous environments. Various SAW device embodiments may also be employed for retrieval of the sensed data. Single sensor systems typically use a single carrier frequency and a simple device embodiment since tagging is not required. However, it is necessary in a multi-sensor environment to both identify the sensor and retrieve the information. Overlapping sensor data signals in time and frequency present problems when attempting to collect the sensed data at the receiver. This dissertation defines a system simulation environment exclusive to SAW sensors. The …

Designing Of Energy Efficient Indoor Environments Using A Localized Radial Basis Function Meshless Method, Victor Huayamave

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Around the world, the energy over consumption issue has been one of the key socio-economic and political challenges, which has drastically worsened over the last few years. Over the years engineers and environmentalists have proposed several approaches to improve energy efficiency. One is to reduce energy demand by improving consumption habits and a second approach is to introduce the use of a "greener" concept by using biomaterials in a diverse and more efficient manner in engineering construction to create energy efficient environments. This work will investigate the effects of using "green" stabilized earth materials to provide and enhance thermal regulation …

An Inquiry Of The Lived Experiences And Contextual Understandings Of Early Childhood Special Educators Related To Children's Trauma, Alison Dubois

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Secondary trauma stress, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma are terms rarely found in educational literature. Studies have shown the significant and lasting ramifications of these constructs within the realm of counseling and psychology. Professionals working in educational settings with high risk populations encounter multiple exposures to children experiencing traumatic events. Despite this phenomenon, teacher and counselor training programs do little to address the issue, thereby matriculating graduates who do not feel confident, well informed, and effective when dealing with trauma material on a daily basis.

This inquiry sought to examine the lived experiences and contextual understandings of early childhood special …

Sensation Rebuilt: Carnal Ontology In Levinas And Merleau-Ponty, Tom Sparrow

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The phenomenological approaches to embodiment presented by Levinas and Merleau-Ponty cannot provide an adequate account of bodily identity because their methodological commitments forbid them from admitting the central role that sensation plays in the constitution of experience. This neglect is symptomatic of their tradition's suspicion toward sensation as an explanatory concept, a suspicion stemming from Kant's critique of empiricist metaphysics and Husserl's critique of psychologism and objectivism. By contrast, I suggest that only with a robust theory of sensation can the integrity of the body and its relations be fully captured. I therefore develop--contra Kant and Husserl's idealism--a realist conception …

Particle Separation Through Taylor-Couette Flow And Dielectrophoretic Trapping, Christopher Paul Bock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the world population approaches seven billion, a greater strain is put on the resources necessary to sustain life. One of the most basic and essential resources is water and while two thirds of the earth is covered by water, the majority is either salt water (oceans and seas) or it is too contaminated to drink. The purpose of this project is to develop a portable device capable of testing whether a specific source of water (i.e. lake, river, well…) is potable. There are numerous filtration techniques that can remove contaminants and make even the dirtiest water clean enough for …

Extreme Ultraviolet Spectral Streak Camera, John Michael Szilagyi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The recent development of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) sources has increased the need for diagnostic tools, and has opened up a previously limited portion of the spectrum. With ultrafast laser systems and spectroscopy moving into shorter timescales and wavelengths, the need for nanosecond scale imaging of EUV is increasing. EUV’s high absorption has limited the number of imaging options due to the many atomic resonances in this spectrum. Currently EUV is imaged with photodiodes and X-ray CCDs. However photodiodes are limited in that they can only resolve intensity with respect to time and X-ray CCDs are limited to temporal resolution in …

Thermally-Induced Motion Of Droplets On A Thin Liquid Layer And Its Application To Droplet Manipulation Platforms, Ehsan Yakhshi-Tafti

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the recent years, there has been a growing interest in droplet-based (digital) microfluidic systems due to their ability to handle multiple discrete samples in a self-contained configuration compared to continuous flow systems. Various methods for droplet manipulation are currently available based on hydrodynamic, electrostatic, chemical, photonic and thermal interactions. High speed, controlled response and minimal thermal loading with least contamination are required in practical applications, especially in chemistry and biology. Although, thermal actuation of droplets has been recognized as an attractive choice due to a wide range of thermomechanical properties that can be exploited, the previous studies yielded limited …

Tunable Infrared Metamaterials, David Shelton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Metamaterials are engineered periodic composites that have unique refractive-index characteristics not available in natural materials. They have been demonstrated over a large portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, from visible to radiofrequency. For applications in the infrared, the structure of metamaterials is generally defined using electron-beam lithography. At these frequencies, the loss and dispersion of any metal included in the composite are of particular significance. In this regard, we investigate deviations from the Drude model due to the anomalous skin effect. For comparison with theoretical predictions, the optical properties of several different metals are measured, both at room temperature and at …

Processing, Optimization And Characterization Of Fire Retardant Polymer Nanocomposites, Jinfeng Zhuge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fiber reinforced polymeric composites (FRPC) have superior physical and mechanical properties, such as high specific strength, light weight, and good fatigue and corrosion resistance. They have become competitive engineering materials to replace conventional metallic materials in many important sectors of industry such as aircraft, naval constructions, ships, buildings, transportation, electrical and electronics components, and offshore structures. However, since FRPC contain polymer matrix, the polymer composites and their structures are combustible. FRPC will degrade, decompose, and sometimes yield toxic gases at high temperature or subject to fire conditions. The objective of this study is to design and optimize fire retardant nanopaper …

Probing The Nanoscale Interaction Forces And Elastic Properties Of Organic And Inorganic Materials Using Force-Distance (F-D) Spectroscopy, Abhilash Vincent

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Due to their therapeutic applications such as radical scavenging, MRI contrast imaging, Photoluminescence imaging, drug delivery, etc., nanoparticles (NPs) have a significant importance in bio-nanotechnology. The reason that prevents the utilizing NPs for drug delivery in medical field is mostly due to their biocompatibility issues (incompatibility can lead to toxicity and cell death). Changes in the surface conditions of NPs often lead to NP cytotoxicity. Investigating the role of NP surface properties (surface charges and surface chemistry) on their interactions with biomolecules (Cells, protein and DNA) could enhance the current understanding of NP cytotoxicity. Hence, it is highly beneficial to …

A Peptide-Based Platform For Displaying Antibodies To Engage T Cells, Ying Zheng

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated a strategy by which antibodies were displayed on a gel-like substance to engage T cells. The substance, a peptidic composite, was characterized in vitro and explored as an injectable system in vivo. The composite consists of two amphiphilic peptides, AEAEAKAKAEAEAKAK (referred to as "EAK") and AEAEAKAKAEAEAKAKHHHHHH ("EAKH6"). Spectroscopic analysis showed the two peptides integrated into a single structure. Prior to combination, conformational analysis revealed that EAKH6 adopts a mixed alpha-helix/bata-strand conformation. In the presence of EAK, EAKH6 exists predominantly in a beta;-strand conformation. Using nickel-bound horseradish peroxidase as a probe, the composite of EAK-EAKH6 was found to …

Phoneme-Based Video Indexing Using Phonetic Disparity Search, Carlos Leon Barth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents and evaluates a method to the video indexing problem by investigating a categorization method that transcribes audio content through Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) combined with Dynamic Contextualization (DC), Phonetic Disparity Search (PDS) and Metaphone indexation. The suggested approach applies genome pattern matching algorithms with computational summarization to build a database infrastructure that provides an indexed summary of the original audio content. PDS complements the contextual phoneme indexing approach by optimizing topic seek performance and accuracy in large video content structures. A prototype was established to translate news broadcast video into text and phonemes automatically by using ASR …

Fabrication Of Integrated Optofluidic Circuits In Chalcogenide Glass Using Femtosecond Laser Direct Writing, Troy P. Anderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Femtosecond laser direct writing (FLDW) is a versatile process that uses focused femtosecond pulses to modify the physical structure of a material, which can result in a shift of optical properties such as the linear and nonlinear refractive index. If the photon energy of the femtosecond pulses lies below the material bandgap, nonlinear absorption rather than linear absorption becomes the dominant mechanism of energy transfer to the material. In this manner, a focused femtosecond pulse train can be used to fabricate functional features such as optical waveguides, diffractive optical elements, or micro-fluidic elements within the volume of a transparent medium. …