Digital Commons Network^™

Evaluating The Biological Effects And Safety Of Exposure To Low, Putatively Safe Concentrations Of The Common Pesticide Chlorpyrifos Using An Anuran Model, Sara Mcclelland

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the US, over 1.1 billion pounds of pesticides are applied annually. Unfortunately, pesticides contaminate natural habitats affecting animal health. Chlorpyrifos (CPF) is an organophosphorous insecticide that contaminates surface waters. Few studies have assessed the impacts of CPF at low, ecologically realistic doses. I aimed to test the effects of low dose CPF exposures on biological parameters including body morphology, hormone levels, and brain development in Northern Leopard Frogs (Lithobates pipiens), a common vertebrate model. To determine if CPF exposure has direct impacts or indirectly impacts animals through the disruption of the food web, I examined CPF exposure …

Aphasia Friendly Medication Instructions: Effects On Comprehension In Persons With And Without Aphasia, Anna Saylor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Accessible health information supports people to understand and manage chronic medical conditions and is frequently presented via text. Comprehension of written health information becomes more difficult for people with language impairments, such as aphasia. Nine people with aphasia (PWA) and nine people without aphasia (PWoA), participated in this study. Each participant reviewed two unmodified medication instructions and two modified medication instructions using aphasia-friendly principles, then answered eight multiple choice questions and provided their preferences. Results showed that PWA demonstrated improved comprehension given modifications, but PWoA’s comprehension did not improve with modifications. Group comparison in the modified condition demonstrated that PWoA …

Afrosofia: Knowledge And Methode Chez Cheikh Anta Diop, Francois Kodena

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Thinkers generally treat the concept of “philosophy” as a transparent term, defining it as the love of wisdom. However, a quick look at etymological dictionaries and Greek philosophers like Plato or Aristotle leads us nowhere. In other words, we are faced with a semantic conundrum. The verdict is discomforting: “philosophy” is not a Greek concept, and its etymology remains unknown.

This dissertation attempts to decipher that mystery. It leads us to the Afrikan terrain under the guidance of Cheikh Anta Diop and the Beti Mvett through a direct trans-disciplinarian (cultural, monogenetic, historical, linguistic, etc.) Afrosofian methodology.

Ultimately, the Beti So …

The Effect Of Teacher-Child Interaction Training On Children Who Are Exhibiting Disruptive Behaviors Within The Classroom Setting, Jaclynn Susan Stankus

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teacher-Child Interaction Training (TCIT) is an adaption of the evidenced-based treatment of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). The TCIT intervention is used with students, typically in a preschool setting, who are exhibiting disruptive behaviors within the classroom. Teacher-Child Interaction Training improves the teacher-child relationship, while also training teachers to use effective and consistent consequence strategies. The large research base behind PCIT and the growing empirical base for TCIT provides evidence that this model would be an effective early intervention treatment for young children exhibiting disruptive behaviors in their school settings.

The success of Teacher-Child Interaction Training (TCIT) with the general preschool …

The Banality Of The Social: A Philosophy Of Communication Of Social Media Influencer Marketing, Kati Sudnick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project engages in a philosophy of communication approach in order to understand the role of social media influencer marketing within a historical moment defined via Hannah Arendt’s understanding of the social. Social media influencer marketing emerges as a new form of celebrity endorsement in which those finding fame on the Internet engage in word-of-mouth marketing for brands and organizations on their own personal social media pages, blurring the line between organic and sponsored content. According to Arnett (2010), philosophy of communication acts as a background road map for understanding foreground public action. Utilizing a myriad of metaphorical coordinates as …

Listening To The Voices Of International Undergraduates Regarding Their Perceptions Of Engagement And Their Strategies To Achieve Academic Success, Gulcan Tokluoglu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While international students greatly influence globalization with their diverse cultural backgrounds, they often encounter issues when adapting to a new academic, social, and cultural setting. The goal of this research question was twofold in nature in that it sought to not only explore the adjustment experiences of participants but also be able to see what resources and practices were found helpful and needed to be expanded upon in order to provide ways of redressing inequitable practices and contributing to pedagogical change to promote engagement and success of international undergraduate students. A thorough analysis of in-depth interviews considered both upstream and …

The Ontology Of Not-Being In Aristotle And His Predecessors, Abraham Jacob Greenstine

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Aristotle is not thought to have a theory of not-being, but, in this project, I show that there are several distinct ways of not-being established in his writings. As being is said according to what is in-itself, what is accidentally, what is true, and what is actualized, so not-being is determined as the privative, the false, or potentiality. In each of these cases, I articulate what it means that it is a way of not-being, and how it is also a way of being. Aristotle’s theory is put in contrast to his predecessors, especially Parmenides and Plato, whose ontologies are …

A Bioethical Paradigm For Enhanced, Post Or Transhumans In Medicine And Biological Research, Roderick Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation the question addressed is the ethical protocol that should be used when enhanced, post or transhumans present themselves as patients to hospitals, or as subjects for scientific research. With the advent of the birth of four children who were genetically engineered in China to be resistant to HIV, I contend that transhumans are already here, and the prevailing Western paradigm of principlism, while good, is not adequate to the task. I explore the basic religious argument that can be used against or in favor of what I call human-directed human evolution. I show how the fears of …

Effects Of Hands-On Experiences On Student Achievement, Interest, And Attitude In Chemistry, Donna Gretchenn Adkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effect of hands-on experiences on student achievement, interest, and attitude in chemistry. The researcher gathered data from 82 students enrolled in an East Texas high school chemistry course for the 2019-2020 school year. Historical data from five-unit tests were used to assess differences in mean achievement scores between test items aligned with hands-on laboratory experiences and test items aligned with computer-simulated experiences. An independent t-test and a paired t-test were used to statistically evaluate the data. The independent t-test showed no statistically significant difference. However, the paired t-test did indicate a statistically significant difference. To assess …

20th And 21st Century Sea-Level Variability In Winyah Bay, Sc, Madison Schemery Fink

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Without Words: Relational Neuropsychology And Creative Arts Therapies With People Managing Aphasia, Autumn Marie Chilcote

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Aphasia describes the broad experience of disrupted language production or comprehension acquired after structural changes in the brain. These changes, usually associated with stroke, tumor, or cortical degeneration, are often co-occurring with other symptoms, such as emotional dysregulation, partial paralysis, and difficult social, occupational, and community relationships. Common approaches to research and rehabilitation with persons managing aphasia highlight conversation and semantic retrieval, with a lack in literature considering the diversity of symptoms and responses. Questions arise as to the ways that psychotherapies, typically language- centered, can be adapted to collaborative, low-verbal approaches that attend to the range of individual symptoms …

Use Of Multibeam And Split-Beam Sonar To Observe Changes In Fish School Biomass In Relation To Dolphin Abundance, Reece Eleanor Aponte

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Brewing History: How Local Option And Prohibition Altered The Texas Brewing Industry, Shelby Winthrop Dewitt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The prohibition movement began decades before the Civil War but did not gain considerable support in Texas until the late nineteenth century. While local option elections and calls for statewide prohibition in Texas failed, national prohibition efforts culminated in the instatement of the Eighteenth Amendment in January 1919 and the Volstead Act in October 1919. This thesis details the prohibition issue through an analysis of eight larger, better-funded Texas breweries who used evolving social and political conditions to combat prohibition and grow their companies, laying the foundation for the Texas brewing industry. This thesis and subsequent digital exhibit provide a …

The Influence Of Environmental Variables On The Height Growth Of Loblolly Pine (Pinus Taeda) In The Western Gulf, Osakpamwan Edo-Iyasere

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the effects of environmental factors on stand growth is important in optimizing forest management plans. This study investigated the effects of soil and climate factors on the height growth (site index) of loblolly pine (Pinus Taeda L.) using data collected from permanent plots established in intensively-managed plantations across East Texas and Western Louisiana. The Chapman-Richards model was selected as the base model to describe the height-age relationships and important soil and climate variables were incorporated into the models as model parameter coefficient adjustors. Our results showed that the most important factors for predicting site index were nitrogen …

Analyzing The Management Practices Of East Texas Beef Cattle Producers, Hiliary Cheyenne Swor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A survey of East Texas beef cattle producers was designed to evaluate the management practices that were prevalent in the area. Demographic and cattle operation data from 103 respondents were analyzed using SPSS (Version 25; Chicago, IL). This electronic-based survey was distributed through Qualtrics. Respondents were located in Angelina, Nacogdoches, or Cherokee county. Most producers (38.8%) had a Bachelor’s degree. A negative correlation was established between castration method and weaning weight (p = - 0.204). Calves were weaned 50 pounds heavier when band or surgically castrated. Females were less likely to castrate their calves or utilize a mineral program. Approximately, …

Surface Levels, Keisha Brathwaite

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Surface Levels are depictions of unobserved and imperceptible realities of many phytoplankton exteriors. The exhibition explores various structures, textures, and repetitious forms from microscopic surfaces of objects that cannot be seen with unaided eyes. Electron microscopy is used to perceive and analyze these otherwise unseeable surfaces in depth. Magnifications provide a reference in creating three- and two-dimensional works that are minimalistic and abstract at a visible level. This abstract 3D/2D image collection is translated into material expressions using acrylic sheets, acrylic ink, and wood as the main media for construction of individual works. Collectively, they serve to make the invisible …

Isotopic Analysis Of Human Migration Among The Ancient Maya Of Ambergris Caye, Belize, Rachel L. Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses the isotopic composition of tooth enamel from two Maya sites on Ambergris Caye Belize, to identify basic patterns of population movement among the Classic period Maya. Three individuals from San Juan and ten individuals from Chac Balam will shed light on the origin of individuals buried at the sites, including those with nonlocal grave goods. Strontium and oxygen isotope values provide new information on Maya coastal populations and suggest that at least one individual with a distinct body position had a nonlocal origin. Carbon isotope values reveal a childhood diet related to, but not the same as, …

Predictors Of Urban Homeless Rates., Andrew John Bates

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes the differences among homeless rates in urban and suburban “continuums of care” (service areas for homelessness in the United States) over the period of 2014-2018. The purpose is to determine which variables are useful to predict the rates of two definitions of homelessness: the more extreme “Category One” homelessness as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): those unsheltered or living in homeless shelters; and the broader Department of Education definition of homelessness: families with children that are homeless, including those in Category One but also those living in hotels, staying temporarily with …

Marginal Methods And Software For Clustered Data With Cluster- And Group-Size Informativeness., Mary Elizabeth Gregg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Clustered data result when observations have some natural organizational association. In such data, cluster size is defined as the number of observations belonging to a cluster. A phenomenon termed informative cluster size (ICS) occurs when observation outcomes vary in a systematic way related to the cluster size. An additional form of informativeness, termed informative within-cluster group size (IWCGS), arises when the distribution of group-defining categorical covariates within clusters similarly carries information related to outcomes. Standard methods for the marginal analysis of clustered data can produce biased estimates and inference when data have informativeness. A reweighting methodology has been developed that …

N-Acetyltranserase 2 (Nat2) Genotype Polymorphism In Cryopreserved Human Hepatocytes And Chinese Hamster Ovary (Cho) Cells., Mariam Refaat Zaky Habil

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Arylamine N-acetyltransferases, NAT1 and NAT2, catalyze the detoxification and/or activation of drugs and aromatic amine carcinogens. Single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs result in different human NAT2 genotypes thus dividing the population into rapid, intermediate, and slow acetylators. We hypothesize allelic variants of NAT2 genotype will decrease levels of N-acetylation, cytotoxicity, oxidative stress, DNA adduct formation, and mutagenesis compared to the reference allele NAT2*4. Cryopreserved human hepatocytes expressing different NAT2 genotypes and NER-deficient Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells transfected with human CYP1A2 and human NAT2*4, NAT2*5B or NAT2*7B have been used to investigate N-acetylation of different xenobiotics. In …

Costs And Benefits Of Hipv-Mediated Eavesdropping Under Field Conditions., Grace Ellin Freundlich

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Eavesdropping is defined as the act of an organism taking advantage of a cue that was not originally intended for them for their own gain. Plant-mediated eavesdropping is a widely documented phenomenon and eavesdropping cues range from oviposition cues to airborne volatile compounds. Eavesdropping is predicted to be widespread because eavesdropping confers a fitness advantage. In plants, eavesdropping on herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) often results in enhanced resistance profiles upon herbivory. As a result of this enhanced resistance, it is predicted that eavesdropping alone incurs minor costs due to resource shifts towards inducible defense responses. Although HIPV-mediated eavesdropping is widely …

Modulation Of Inflammatory Pathway By Inflammatory Inhibitor Jsh-23 Mitigates Diabetic Retinopathy., Rubens Petit Homme

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most common microvascular complication of diabetes mellitus (DM). Its pathology is consisted of the breakdown of the blood-retinal barrier (BRB), particularly the inner blood-retinal barrier (iBRB). The exact mechanism that leads to the iBRB impairment and the development of DR has not been elucidated yet. However, chronic inflammation that is hallmark of the type I DM has recently become a key focus in DR study. Hyperglycemia causes dysregulation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kB); and its constant activation increases the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in the …

Therapeutic Rupture Repair In Treatment Of Military Adolescents., Brent Anthony Luebcke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ruptures in the therapeutic alliance have shown to be a significant predictor of therapy outcomes, with non-repaired ruptures resulting in increased dropout rates of therapy, and repaired ruptures resulting in positive therapy outcomes. This study investigated the impact of alliance ruptures on outcomes of therapy among youth and adolescents, with a specific focus on military youth and adolescents. A sample of 5,640 military adolescents who were treated by 101 therapists were selected for analysis based on inclusion criteria of: a) being aged 13 to 19 years old; and b) attending more than one session of therapy. Each session, clients completed …

Connecting Right-Wing Authoritarianism To Environmental Beliefs And Behaviors: A Pilot Study., Rebecca Halpryn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Climate change is an urgent situation that may be alleviated by a dramatic transformation in individual’s lifestyles. Right-wing authoritarianism relates to a wide variety of beliefs and behaviors, yet little is known about its relationship with environmental beliefs and behaviors. An online survey utilizing the 18-item ACT scale, the revised NEP scale, the PEB scale, and background questions as conducted; 60 college students enrolled in introductory sociology courses responded. Multiple regression and backwards stepwise statistical methods were employed on the survey data to investigate the relationship between right-wing authoritarianism and pro-environmental beliefs and the relationship between right-wing authoritarianism and pro-environmental …

Mechanisms Of Chromate-Induced Suppression Of Rad51: A One Environmental Health Approach., Rachel M. Speer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death. Lung cancer is commonly associated with smoking, however, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 12 men who develop lung cancer are never-smokers. Environmental exposures, therefore, account for a significant portion of lung cancer cases. Hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] is a global environmental contaminant and known human lung carcinogen. Cr(VI) and other carcinogenic metals induce chromosome instability, an early event in lung cancer. Structural chromosome instability arises in part due to failed DNA repair. Particulate Cr(VI), the most potent form of Cr(VI), induces DNA double strand breaks and inhibits the high-fidelity DNA …

Genes Involved In Nitrogen Assimilation In Ustilago Maydis., Sunita Khanal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

U. maydis can utilize nitrate as a source of nitrogen from its environment, a process requiring a nitrate transporter to bring the nitrate inside the cell. This is followed by a two-step reduction of nitrate to ammonium. At first, nitrate reductase reduces nitrate into nitrite; in the second reaction, nitrite is reduced to ammonium by nitrite reductase. The goal of the study was to identify the nitrate transporter and nitrite reductase genes in U. maydis and characterize them based on their role in mating and virulence. The genes um03848 and um03849 were identified bioinformatically as encoding, respectively, the nitrite reductase …

Moral Distress And Moral Residue Among Nurses Working In The Surgical Intensive Care Unit: A Descriptive Qualitative Approach., Adam Tyler Booth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Approximately one in five Americans will die in the intensive care unit (ICU). Nurses spend more time with chronically ill and end-of-life patients than any other healthcare professional, and may perceive some actions in the ICU as immoral. Moral distress is defined as knowing the right course of action to take but being hindered by institutional constraints. Development of the Moral Distress Scale-Revised revealed that 31% of ICU nurses left a prior position or considered leaving their current nursing job because of moral distress. The purpose of this descriptive qualitative study is to explore surgical ICU (SICU) nurses’ perceptions …

Water Cluster Motifs In Structurally Similar N-(2-Aminoethyl)-1-Methylimidazole-2-Carboxamide Metal Complexes: Synthesis, Characterization, Thermal And Electrical Properties., Nina Saraei

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Water is a remarkable molecule and in all of its forms exhibits an amazing collection of properties and functions. Besides its crucial role in life and many technological processes, water displays some unusual and anomalous properties at various interfaces and under different conditions. Although the role of hydrogen-bonding interactions and their fluctuations are well known to determine the properties of water, the main obstacle exists in the complexity of correctly describing the interactions between water molecules. The key to understanding the behavior of water is to collect precise structural data of various H-bonded water networks in diverse environments. In this …

Exploring Black "Saviors": A Content Analysis Of Black Characters And Racial Discourses In Obama-Era Films., Eric A. Jordan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes how black characters across twenty movies released in the years 2006-2018 inspire, coach, “save,” or “rescue” other characters. Studies on “savior” characters in film tend to focus on white savior characters who seek to “save” people of color from harm. When comparing black characters and white saviors, I find that black characters use three specific strategies—revolution, vigilantism, and altruism —to help other characters. The characters who use the revolution and vigilantism strategies seem to be what I call “black saviors” who work to fight against institutional and systemic racism to save the black diaspora. Altruistic characters seem …

Comparative Secretomics And Functional Analysis Of Effectors Utilized By The Microbotryum Genus Of Anther-Smut Fungal Pathogens, And Their Role In Host-Specificity., William Christopher Beckerson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding how pathogens evolve in response to changes in their host is paramount to combating the spread of emergent strains of disease. This is particularly true for plant pathogens that cause billions of dollars of damages to crops globally, every year. Understanding the molecular interactions between pathogens and their hosts therefore sheds light on the coevolutionary arms race that can result in host-specificity and host-shifts in plant pathogens. This research approaches the question of how fungal pathogens interact with their plant hosts utilizing both unique and shared arsenals of secreted proteins (SPs) during infection, and addresses the question of whether …