Digital Commons Network^™

Process Development Of Shale Gas Assisted Lignin And Biomass Reforming Through Novel Reaction Pathway And Catalyst Design To Produce Hydrogen Rich Syngas For Fuels And Value Added Chemicals, Amoolya D. Lalsare

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Novel biomass reforming strategy through synergistic co-processing with flare gas (methane and carbon dioxide) was developed at West Virginia University. Hardwood biomass comprised of lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose is abundant in the US and potentially a sustainable source of hydrogen through extensive reforming and gasification. Ever-increasing shale gas production in the US occasionally leads to flaring owing to stranded production across the US. Achieving biomass co-processing with natural gas about to be flared in such stranded shale plays is the underlying motivation here. A novel reaction pathway was discovered wherein methane and carbon dioxide assisted reforming of biomass could be …

Structural Transformations Of Synaptic Partners During Growth And Competition Of The Giant Nerve Terminal, The Calyx Of Held, In The Medial Nucleus Of The Trapezoid Body In The Developing Postnatal Mouse, Dakota Richard Jackson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Across many parts of the nervous system, initial neural circuit assembly involves stereotyped stages of early axonal proliferation within target territories, selective reinforcement of a subset of inputs and the removal of exuberant or unneeded connections via either activity or experience-dependent mechanisms, in a process referred to as synaptic competition. The mechanisms and associated structural transformations that underlie and define these stages of neurodevelopment have been examined in a variety of brain regions including the peripheral neuromuscular junction, the central climbing fiber innervation of cerebellar Purkinje cells and retinal ganglion cell innervation of the thalamic lateral geniculate nucleus. Each of …

Understanding Academic Relevancy: Linking Practice To Classroom Through Adventure Stem Education, Alice Morgan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this research paper was to examine the relationship between vocational relevancy and adventure STEM education in the context of a four-day adventure STEM camp. Middle school students participated in a variety of adventure activities designed to teach STEM concepts. Using a concurrent triangulation mixed methods design, 246 students completed pre- and post-surveys that assessed changes in attitudes related to STEM interest, career interest, STEM career knowledge, STEM identity, STEM self-efficacy, and STEM value. Fourteen students and eight teachers participated in semi-structured interviews to further examine the role of vocational relevancy in curricula. Overall, results indicate some support …

Respiratory Flow Characteristics Of Intensive Care Healthcare Workers Performing Patient Care Activities, Shawn R. Williamson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In the United States, under OSHA regulations, all respirators used in the workplace must be certified by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Under current NIOSH standards, loose-fitting powered air-purifying respirators (PAPR) must provide a minimum operational flow of 170 liters per minute. The objective of this study was to characterize the breathing flow rates of nine health care workers during patient care activities typically performed in a hospital's intensive care unit. This characterization will be used to determine the feasibility of lowering the minimum operational flow rate of PAPRS used in health care settings.

Each participant …

Implementation Of Radial Basis Function Artificial Neural Network Into An Adaptive Equivalent Consumption Minimization Strategy For Optimized Control Of A Hybrid Electric Vehicle, Thomas P. Harris

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Continued increases in the emission of greenhouse gases by passenger vehicles has accelerated the production of hybrid electric vehicles. With this increase in production, there has been a parallel demand for continuously improving strategies of hybrid electric vehicle control. The goal of an ideal control strategy is to maximize fuel economy while minimizing emissions. The design and implementation of an optimized control strategy is a complex challenge. Methods exist by which the globally optimal control strategy may be found. However, these methods are not applicable in real-world driving applications since these methods require a priori knowledge of the upcoming drive …

Pilot Study Of Behavioral Activation As Adjunct Treatment For Depression In Primary Care, Lindsay Ellen Toler

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Many individuals receiving care at a predominantly free primary health care clinic in the northern part of West Virginia are experiencing depression, and medication therapy is the most common form of management with limited resources for psychosocial treatment. Brief psychosocial therapy interventions provided by the primary care provider should be explored as an adjunct treatment for this population in the primary care setting.

A pilot study was conducted to explore the integration of behavioral activation, a brief psychosocial intervention focused on decreasing depressed behavior by increasing nondepressed behavior to reinforce corresponding improvements in mood. Eligible patients were invited to attend …

Energy Forensics Analysis, Rupa Das

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The energy consumed by a building can reveal information about the occupants and their activities inside the building. This could be utilized by industries and law enforcement agencies for commercial or legal purposes. Utility data from Smart Meter (SM) readings can reveal detailed information that could be mapped to foretell resident occupancy and type of appliance usage over desired time intervals. However, obtaining SM data in the United States is laborious and subjected to legal and procedural constraints. This research develops a user-driven simulation tool with realistic data options and assumptions of potential human behavior to determine energy usage patterns …

Understanding The Host Immune Response Against Pseudomonas Aeruginosa To Develop Novel Therapeutics And Vaccines, Emel Sen Kilic

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative opportunistic bacterium that causes a broad range of acute and chronic infections. The high adaptability and emergence of multidrug-resistant strains of this bacterium pose a significant threat to human health. Particularly, pneumonia caused by this pathogen is associated with high morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients. To prevent these infections, we aimed to develop novel vaccine strategies by characterizing the host immune response against P. aeruginosa. During respiratory infections, P. aeruginosa first contacts with epithelial cells along the respiratory tract. Using RNA-sequencing, we were able to characterize transcriptional changes of the epithelial cells in …

Music And Politics In Figure Skating: American And Soviet Nationalism, Cultural Diplomacy, And Identity At The Winter Olympics, 1968–1988, Mary Bridget Golden

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis situates figure skating, music, and Cold War politics during three separate Winter Olympic Games held in 1968, 1976, and 1988, examining the impact of this intersection on the sport of figure skating. Through a survey of seven Olympic medal-winning figure skating programs in the men’s and women’s single divisions and the pairs’ division, evidence of the relationship between politics and music is examined in the musical selections of the skaters’ programs. This thesis also explores the overwhelming prominence in skating programs of musical selections that appealed to the tastes of an elite majority during the Cold War, while …

Development Of Software-Only Simulation Test Beds (Sost) For Spacecraft And Smallsats, Scott Alan Zemerick

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Software-only-Simulation Test Beds (SoST) are beginning to become more popular among aircraft, spacecraft, and smallsat embedded system developers due to the high cost of duplicating hardware test beds.

SoSTs provide a software-only, or virtual test bed, that creates a “digital twin” that contains software models of the ETUs and often includes modeled components such as flight computers, busses (e.g., MIL-STD-1553, SPI, I2C), compact PCI (cPCI) backplane cards, sensors, and actuators. The ultimate goal of a SoST is for it to run the native system software compiled-binary on its native CPU architecture (e.g., PowerPC, LEON3/4, ARM) on a standard X86 personal …

Rent And How To Pay It, Grant Austin Prodan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This Document is a record of my process as the Technical Director of West Virginia University School of Theatre & Dance’s production of Rent. Included in the document is a detailed description of my budgeting, planning, and execution of the build as designed during a pandemic. The document is supported by images, schedules, drafting, and other paperwork.

Risk Assessment Of Architecture Technical Debt, Mrwan Omar Kh. Ben Idris

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Technical Debt (TD) is a metaphor that refers to short-term solutions in software development that may affect the software development life cycle cost. Researchers have found many TD types. These TD types include but are not limited to code debt (CD), design debt (DD), and architecture technical debt (ATD). Several methods have been used to detect technical debt, such as bad smells, software metrics, and code comments. Although TD has received many researchers’ attention, ATD has received less attention compared with CD and DD. We found a lack of tools to deal with ATD in contrast to CD and DD. …

Exploration Of Unknown Environments Using A Tethered Mobile Robot, Danylo Shapovalov

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Exploration with mobile robots is a well known field of research, but current solutions cannot be directly applied for tethered robots. In some applications, tethers may be very important to provide power or allow communication with the robot. This thesis presents an exploration algorithm that guarantees complete exploration of arbitrary environments within the length constraint of the tether, while keeping the tether tangle-free at all times. While a generalized algorithm that can be used with several exploration strategies is also proposed, the presented implementation uses a modified frontier-based exploration approach, where the robot chooses its next goal in the frontier …

Teacher As “Team Player”: An Early Career Teacher’S Refinement Of Critical Pedagogical Discourses, Keisha-Moraé Hopkins Kibler

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study centers on one early-career English language arts (ELA) teacher’s development of his critical pedagogical discourses (CPD) within the contextual discourses of collaboration and data informed instruction. These contextual discourses circulated assumptions of teaching and learning that are privileged by the political ideologies of the neo-liberal agenda, which can erode the democratic purposes of education. Data is drawn from an eight-month interpretive qualitative case study that included classroom observations and semi-structured interviews. The two research objectives for this study included: to come to understand the range of ways an early-career ELA teacher navigated the tensions between his belief and …

Examining Provider-Patient Communication And Family Knowledge Of Treatment In Pediatric Asthma Care, Thomas W. Ewell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Asthma knowledge is an essential factor in being able to consistently and effectively manage asthma symptoms over time, which in turn reduces asthma morbidity and improves quality of life. The way in which certain provider factors, such as communication strategies or techniques, may differentially impact pediatric patients and their caregivers has little in the way of prior investigation. The current study involves a secondary analysis from a larger project. This larger study included 45 pediatric asthma patients (ages 8-17 years; M = 11.79) and their primary caregiver recruited from pediatric asthma and allergy clinics within the WVU Medicine system to …

Examining The Career Pathways For Women Administrators At A Land-Grant University, Meridith A. Balas

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This feminist-centered, narrative study focuses on the troubling gender gaps in higher education leadership by exploring the career paths and lived experiences of current women administrators at a large, public land-grant institution. This research identifies specific supports and barriers women face throughout their careers that might enable or prevent them from attaining or accessing high-level leadership roles in academic and non-academic administration. The study leans on feminist theory to position perceptions of women in leadership roles across many disciplines in the university setting while observing it as a critical lens to analyze gender inequality in the career pipeline for women …

Cerebrovascular Dysfunction And Degeneration In Alzheimer’S Disease Pathophysiology, Dominic Dimitri Quintana

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a terminal illness and the most common form of dementia, which disproportionately affects the aged population. The pathophysiology of AD is characterized by neurodegeneration that slowly progresses, affecting regions of the brain that are involved in learning, memory, language, and executive function. In patients with the disease, early symptoms include non-disruptive forgetfulness that evolves into the inability to form new memories and ultimately the loss of autonomy at late stages. Histopathological hallmarks in the brain from patients with AD is the presence of amyloid-β (Aβ)-plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) deposited in the parenchyma. Since the discovery …

"Treading On The Footprints Of History": American Catholic Pilgrimage As Public History, Charlotte Vester

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In this thesis, I demonstrate how Catholic pilgrimage is a public history phenomenon. I define public history as public engagement, understanding, and use of the past. While I assert that pilgrimage is a public history phenomenon both in the past and in the present, my thesis will focus on American Catholic pilgrimage at the turn of the twentieth century. Each individual chapter will demonstrate that through pilgrimage, the faithful are engaged in public history in its various forms. Catholics actively took part in past-making and identity-construction in their roles as pilgrims. Through pilgrimage, Catholics were involved in the preservation and …

Effect Of Western Diet And Caloric Substitution With Apple Pomace On Fatty Acid Composition And Gene Expression In The Hypothalamus Of Growing Female Sprague-Dawley Rats, Ayad Abdulhamid Alawadi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The hypothalamus plays a major role in regulating food-intake and energy-expenditure. Hypothalamic dysfunction implicated in neurodegenerative diseases is characterized by diet-induced neuroinflammation and energy dysregulation. Apple pomace, a waste byproduct of processing, is rich in polyphenols and soluble fibers, has the potential to ameliorate diet-inducing inflammation. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of Western diet and caloric substitution of Western diet with 10% apple pomace on brain fatty acid composition and gene expression related to hypothalamic function and health in growing female rats. Growing female Sprague-Dawley rats (age 22-29 days) were randomly assigned (n=8 rats/group) to …

Terrain Aware Traverse Planning For Mars Rovers, Gabrielle Hedrick

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

NASA is proposing a Mars Sample Return mission, to be completed within one Martian year, that will require enhanced autonomy to perform its duties faster, safer, and more efficiently. With its main purpose being to retrieve samples possibly tens of kilometers away, it will need to drive beyond line-of-sight to get to its target more quickly than any rovers before. This research proposes a new methodology to support a sample return mission and is divided into three compo-nents: map preparation (map of traversability, i.e., ability of a terrain to sustain the traversal of a vehicle), path planning (pre-planning and replanning), …

Protein/Peptide Characterization Using Mass Spectrometry And Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Ahmad Kiani Karanji

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Mass spectrometry (MS) based-techniques and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been used to characterize protein/peptide structure as well as their interactions with lipid vesicles and detergents. Chapter 1 introduces an introduction to the concepts and tools that were used in this work. In Chapter 2, the dominant gas-phase conformer of [M+3H]3+ ions of the model peptide Acetyl-PSSSSKSSSSKSSSSKSSSSK are examined with ion mobility spectrometry (IMS), gas-phase hydrogen deuterium exchange (HDX), and mass spectrometry (MS) techniques. This section furthers the development of a protein structural prediction tool by providing information about gas-phase ion conformers of two model peptides having different solution conformational …

Why Are They Wrong? Exploring Surrogates’ Accuracy When Predicting Patient Treatment Preferences, Rachael Lynn Spalding

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Surrogate decision making is common in medical settings, particularly regarding treatment decisions for patients at end-of-life. When making decisions on behalf of patients, surrogates are most often encouraged to use the substituted judgment standard and make the decision that the patient would make if he or she were able to express a choice. A significant body of research, using patient-surrogate pairs and hypothetical vignettes, has documented that surrogates tend to inaccurately predict patient preferences when making these decisions (Shalowitz et al., 2006). This results in treatment decisions that do not match what the patient would have selected. Various factors that …

Palmprint Gender Classification Using Deep Learning Methods, Minou Khayami

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Gender identification is an important technique that can improve the performance of authentication systems by reducing searching space and speeding up the matching process. Several biometric traits have been used to ascertain human gender. Among them, the human palmprint possesses several discriminating features such as principal-lines, wrinkles, ridges, and minutiae features and that offer cues for gender identification. The goal of this work is to develop novel deep-learning techniques to determine gender from palmprint images. PolyU and CASIA palmprint databases with 90,000 and 5502 images respectively were used for training and testing purposes in this research. After ROI extraction and …

Behavior Coaching In Pennsylvania Schools Implementing School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions And Supports At The Universal Tier One Level, Lisa Anderson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) is a multi-tiered system of student support that emphasizes the use of positive behavior strategies for a school’s students. Schools are adopting SWPBIS because it gives staff the opportunity to teach desired behaviors to students and emphasizes the enhancement of instructional time by minimizing disruptions. SWPBIS uses a support framework that includes a building-level behavior coach and a core team made up of an administrator, parent(s), and professional school staff. Staff and student training is bridged with implementation efforts to sustain a positive school climate and prevent student behavior problems. The SWPBIS coach …

Evaluation Of Object Attributes To Study Speed-Accuracy Trade-Off Of Gloves Using Iso 9241-411 Standard, Isha Gaut

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Selection of appropriate gloves plays an important role in the overall comfort and productivity of workers. Currently, there are no standards and/or guidelines available to systematically evaluate the glove performance based on speed-accuracy trade-off. The ISO 9241-411 standard which is based on Fitts’ Law has been extensively used in the literature to measure speed-accuracy trade-off in terms of throughput in the virtual environments. This study was aimed at developing guidelines for implementing ISO 9241-411 standard in the physical environment so that it can be used to estimate (and compare) throughputs of safety gloves. Specifically, the various physical attributes of objects …

Objects Of Communication, Tyler Stonestreet

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis is a description and analysis of the ceramic work of Tyler Stonestreet. This thesis includes images and a description for the thesis exhibition Objects of Communication as well as a discussion regarding the conceptual, technical, and formal content of the work.

Disquiet Depictions, Olivia L. Oddo

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This written document is the accompanying thesis for my Master of Fine Arts exhibition - Disquiet Depictions. Presented within the exhibition was a collection of paintings, ranging from acrylic to mixed media. As someone living with both anxiety and panic disorder the symptoms that I have experienced, as well as the coping mechanisms that I have practiced, all influenced the paintings displayed within this exhibition. Imagery included self-portraiture across a variety of emotional expressions felt during moments of sporadic fear and happiness, vibrant geometric patterns serving therapeutic purposes, and subtle medication symbolism. Collectively, these paintings provide a visual journey into …

The 2014 West Virginia Elk River Chemical Leak: A Case Study Of Respiratory Health Disparities And Drinking Water Contamination, Maya Nye

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This case study supplements existing data with original analysis to address environmental pollution burden and health effects not previously examined from the 2014 Freedom Industries Elk River chemical leak in West Virginia. Comparisons were made between the peer-reviewed literature, governmental disaster management practices implemented during the leak, and alternative human health assessment models to determine whether the evidence relied upon for decision-making was adequate for protecting public health, minimizing health disparities and increasing health equity. An emphasis was placed on understanding how the state and federal government approached human health hazard assessment and health outcome reporting, particularly of socially vulnerable …

Accumulation, Erin Mccarty

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This written Thesis is the supporting documentation for Accumulation, a Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition at West Virginia University. This exhibition creates an environment in which a viewer can enter. This installation environment is created based on formal elements combined with fantastical elements from the imagination of the artist. The formal choices in the work provoke a positive otherworldly and whimsical response in the viewer. The environment is designed to provide relief from problems in the everyday world through patterns, forms, colors and surfaces. These elements are harvested from the natural world and recombined in a fantastical way. …

Nutrient Cycling-Tree Species Relationships In Appalachian Forests, Philip Michael Crim

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Since the colonization of North America by Europeans, ecosystems in Appalachia and across the continent have been in a prolonged state of flux. Areas particularly rich in natural resources, such as Appalachia, have historically borne the brunt of these swift changes, often with devastating consequences. Downwind of much of the power generation facilities of the Ohio Valley, Appalachian forests have been geographically predisposed to high rates of acidic deposition, a circumstance mitigated by the passage of Clean Air Legislation beginning in the 1970s. Nevertheless, decades of elevated nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) inputs had a profound impact on the ecology …