Digital Commons Network^™

Investigating A Cyber-Human System For Millennial Caregivers, Ashley Lofton

Theses

Research indicates that most caregiving of persons with dementia (PwD) is done by adults 49 years of age and older. However, millennials make up 25% of the estimated 44 million caregivers in the United States. Although the definition varies, “millennials” for this research is defined by those born between 1984 - 2000, which aligns with the research by Strauss and Howe (2003). Millennial caregivers are taking on this task as their parents or grandparents get older and diagnosed with dementia. Taking on the task of caring for a loved one with dementia can present itself as difficult because of competing …

Impact Of Usmca On The U.S. Beef Industry, Theophilus Amoah

Theses

Policies implemented to govern trade between two or more countries have proved vital as it affects the economies of nations. Political inputs into trade certainly establish effects that impact the livelihood of people in the economy. Every sector in an economy faces its impacts when there are changes in trade agreements. The extent to which this impact is always significant to note as it helps to determine the sustainability of trade agreements, which in turn sets the path for sectorial and national developments. This study utilizes the Computable General Equilibrium modeling to predict the impact of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement …

Effects Of International Trade On Food Security Of Selected Low Income And Low-Middle Income Economies, Rose Anapoka Anaabah

Theses

Food security has been a challenge for most people all over the world, especially among people living in low income countries. Food security is considered a complex sustainable development issue and is linked to health through malnutrition due to poverty. Food security became a major challenge following the sharp increase in global food prices during the last decade. Several factors contribute to food security. One factor is international trade which plays a major role in shaping the economy in most countries of the world. Access to food which is supposed to be an entitlement, or a basic right can be …

Farm Financial Analysis For Small-Scale, Organic Mixed Vegetable Operation, Janet Ayobami Osawere

Theses

The small farmers in the United States face challenges from market uncertainties and climate variations. Many small farmers do not keep consistent financial records, thus making it difficult to analyze their profitability and make decisions in planning. This research is to use a real farm production stimulation from Goldsboro, North Carolina, to collect data from 2017 to 2018 for farm financial analysis that mimics a small-scale certified organic mixed vegetable production. The goal is to use the stimulating information from Goldsboro, North Carolina to help small-scale organic mixed vegetable farmers to identify the main strengths and weaknesses of farm operation; …

Decarbonising The Automotive Industry: The Future For Irish Motorists., Robert Maher

Theses

This research study is an examination of the current state of the Irish automotive industry, which is being reshaped by the imminent shift to electric vehicles. This transition is designed to assist in solving Ireland's air quality and environmental challenges in line with the worldwide move to combat climate change. The research topic of the decarbonisation of the automotive industry determined the research question: "Decarbonising the Automotive Industry: The Future for Irish Motorists". This inquiry focuses on private cars owned for social, pleasure and domestic use. Secondary research was completed to verify the most prevalent and current existing information. A …

Crystallographic Structure Determination Of Bacteriophage-Encoded Enzymes That Specifically Target Pathogenic Bacteria, Marta Sanz Gaitero

Theses

Antibiotic resistance is becoming a serious public health concern. Infections that some decades ago could be treated with antibiotics now sometimes do not respond to traditional treatment, causing higher mortality and economic losses. An alternative to the use of antibiotics are bacteria's natural predators, bacteriophages (or phages), and specifically their lytic enzymes. These proteins are produced by phages to degrade bacterial peptidoglycan to inject their genetic material into the bacteria (virion-associated peptidoglycan hydrolases) or to release their progeny once the infection is finished (endolysins). They can be applied exogenously to lyse Gram-positive bacteria or be genetically engineered to lyse Gram-negative …

An Investigation Of The Impact Of Nursing Support And The Financial Implications Associated With Cpap Adherence, Christine Brunnick

Theses

The prevalence of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is increasing. As the prevalence of OSA increases, as does the need for the condition to be treated effectively to reduce several risk factors which increase both mortality and morbidity rates. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) therapy is easily recognised as the most effective treatment for OSA. Despite the recognised benefits of CPAP therapy, adherence rates reported worldwide remain suboptimal. A transitional change within the Irish healthcare system means that private medical device companies will provide CPAP devices in specific contractual regions throughout Ireland. This change presents challenges and opportunities for policymakers. This …

Mind Over Matter : Stimulant Adhd Medication Use And Bone Mineral Density In College-Aged Subjects ; Is There A Trade-Off?, Sims Kirkland Lawson

Theses

Literature review showed lowered bone mineral density (BMD) among methamphetamine users and in mice that were given methylphenidate. No human clinical studies have been carried out, to date, to investigate whether there is a correlation between use of psychostimulants prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (in this case methylphenidate and amphetamines) and lowered BMD in young adult aged humans. This study observed 53 human subjects, age 19-27 years (average age 21 years); 25 experimental, psychostimulant-prescribed ADHD patients, and 28 healthy control subjects. Each subject was given dual x-ray absorptiometer (DXA) scans of femur, hip area, lumbar spine, and whole-body …

Novel Machine Learning Frameworks For Protein Conformational Selection In Drug Discovery Applications, Vishnu Sripriya Akondi

Theses

Drug discovery refers to the process of identification of specific-disease causing proteins and underscores the research efforts to derive a new medication that targets these proteins. As such the drug discovery process entails significant Big Data challenges as it is time consuming, data intensive, and involves an expensive developmental process which demands rigorous lab testing with high rates of uncertainty that the given drug will succeed. Therefore, it highlights the crucial need for machine learning methods to automate and hasten the drug discovery pipeline for improved healthcare and assist clinicians to make informed decisions for in-vitro testing. However, most real-world …

The Effects Of Gender, Family-To-Work Conflict, And Family Supportive Supervisory Behavior On Perceptions Of Leaders, Aubriauna J. Harris

Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of gender, family-to-work conflict, and family supportive supervisory behaviors on perceptions of leaders’ competence. A sample of 123 university students completed an online Qualtrics survey. In the survey, participants read a vignette and background information on leaders and answered a series of questions. Results indicated that gender did not have a significant effect on perceived competence. However, the amount of family-to-work conflict and family supportive supervisory behaviors did relate to perceptions of competence. This study demonstrates that for leaders to maintain subordinates’ belief in their competence as a leader they …

The Lew.1wr1 Rat Model Is Glucose Intolerant, Genoah Collins

Theses

The susceptibility to the development of glucose intolerance in the young adult type 1 diabetes model LEW.1 WRl was investigated. The animals were given either a 10% fat 7% sucrose diet or a 45% high fat 21% sucrose diet for 10 weeks. Two glucose tolerance tests (GTT) and an insulin tolerance test (ITT) were performed at 0, 8, and 4 weeks, respectively. Terminal anesthetized blood glucose was measured before sacrifice . Serum obtained at harvest was used for a metabolic hormone and cytokine/chemokine multiplex array and ongoing metabolomics studies. Pancreata collected at harvest were used for histological examination of islets. …

Genetics And Molecular Dynamics Of L,L-Diaminopimelate Aminotransferase (Dapl): An Enzyme Involved In Lysine And Peptidoglycan Biosynthesis, Lily E.J. Adams

Theses

The marked increase of bacteria that are resistant to clinically relevant antibiotics in recent years has sparked a push in the development and discovery of novel antibiotics. Complementary to this, the identification of novel antibiotic targets is also of great interest. The lysine biosynthesis pathway is an ideal candidate for these efforts because its product is an essential amino acid. Lysine cannot be synthesized by humans and thus poses minimal risk of side effects if synthesis is targeted. The penultimate product in the lysine biosynthesis pathway, meso-DAP, is also a key component of the gram-negative bacterial cell wall peptidoglycan layer. …

A Modified Rcm Medium For The Growth Of Lactobacillus Bulgaricus, Ayowole Caleb Oyeniran

Theses

In this study, we modified reinforced clostridial medium (RCM) to selectively enumerate and isolate Lactobacillus bulgaricus, a probiotic and an important starter culture in the dairy industry. The disparity in the reported carbohydrate fermentation pattern of L. bulgaricus was used to develop a growth medium not only selective for L. bulgaricus but significantly inhibitory to the growth of other lactic acid bacteria. A recently modified RCM (mRCM) was optimized for this study by the addition of 0.5% fructose, 0.5% dextrose, 1% maltose and 0.25% sodium pyruvate while replacing lactose as a carbohydrate source. The cell recovery and bacterial counts of …

Literacy And Educational Development Programs For Arab Refugee Women In The Piedmont Area Of North Carolina, Noor Al-Samraai

Theses

Arab refugee women experience incomprehensible acts of violence and war that drive them out of their homelands. According to Greenwood (2013), among the 4.8 million Arab refugees, women and children comprise approximately three-fourths of those displaced and compound the conditions of gender-based violence, poverty, lack of economic opportunities, and a dire lack of the most basic educational programs. Arab refugee women are more likely to face further violence and marginalization because of economic pressures (UNICEF, 2001).

The purpose of this study was to document and analyze the factors, barriers, and learning needs of Arab refugee women with low-level language and …

Design Of Dual-Band Rf-Dc Rectifier And Dc-Dc Boost Converter For Energy Harvesting Applications, Merghani K. Merghani

Theses

Wireless sensors are used in many industrial and commercial applications. However powering up those sensors is challenging, because batteries have limited lifetime, require periodic maintenance, and their depositions are toxic to the environment. One of the new methods to power up those small sensors is to capture energy from ambient sources and convert it into a steady dc output voltage, which is known as energy harvesting or scavenging. In this thesis, we propose an energy harvesting method by scavenging the electromagnetic (EM), or radio frequency (RF) energy in the ambient and converting it into a steady dc output voltage that …

Passive Cooling In Non-Residential Nearly Zero Energy Buildings: A Thermal Comfort Analysis Based On Measurement, Modelling And Simulation, Adam O'Donovan

Theses

Overheating in non-residential nearly zero energy buildings (nZEBs) presents a major risk to the well-being, productivity and thermal satisfaction of the people who occupy them. As global temperatures are expected to increase in the future, the overheating risk and cooling demand is also expected to increase. Therefore, low cost and low energy solutions that are able to maintain thermally comfortable conditions without the need for mechanical systems will be vital in decarbonising the building stock and ensuring that buildings are comfortable and remain low carbon now and in the future. Passive cooling has long been championed as a low cost …

"Bridging Two Worlds?”: Towards Cultural Safety Within Schools Of Nursing In Australian Universities, Samantha Petric

Theses

Cultural safety has been a developing movement within the nursing profession in Australia over the past decade, led by the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives. This thesis explores this progress towards cultural safety; with a focus upon the Schools of Nursing in Australia. The philosophical and educational shifts from cultural awareness and competence, towards cultural safety are required within these very Schools that prepare nurses for their profession and its practice.

This thesis utilises a descriptive survey method, derived from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Framework, to gather information about the Schools of …

A Study Of Stakeholder Power Relations, Governmentality And Capital In Vocational Education And Training Policy In Australia, Jonathon Mascorella

Theses

The purpose of this study was to observe the perspectives of stakeholders on Vocational Education and Training (VET) policy in Australia. The intention was to explore the interplay of policy implementation, stakeholder perspectives on policy and VET activities, and theoretical notions of power relations, governmentality and capital, utilising frameworks by Foucault and Bourdieu. The problem, as it was established in literature review, is the potential influence of policy relations, governmentality and capital on VET activities and VET policy formation and implementation. The outcome was to better understand stakeholder perspectives of VET and to add a facet of knowledge to the …

St Thomas Aquinas On Affectivity: A Way Forward For Seminary Formation, Bernard Gordon

Theses

St Thomas Aquinas on Affectivity: A Way Forward for Seminary Formation, is a theological argument that St Thomas’ teaching can be applied to the affective formation of men preparing to be Catholic priests. St Thomas’ teaching provides a very helpful understanding of affective maturity and its integral importance for a truly Christian and priestly life in the service of others. It flows from a theological anthropology that recognizes proper affective growth as an integral part of human life and interpersonal relationships. Affective maturity is an essential attribute for the seminarian to acquire because he is preparing to be a priest …

Perceptions Of Parental Awareness, Knowledge And Anxiety Levels Regarding Infant Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Training Amongst Parents Residing In Southern Tasmania, Nakita Stephens

Theses

Prenatal and postnatal education help to prepare parents to care appropriately for their newborn child. This education however, rarely includes learning infant cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR. CPR for Infants differs from both adult and paediatric resuscitation techniques, and most people who do learn CPR usually only learn adult techniques. Research shows that bystander intervention with CPR improves the chances of both survival and survival without sequelae in out of hospital arrests. Including Infant CPR education as part of the general parent education could assist in scenarios of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) or other emergency situations. Some concern has been …

The Validity And Reliability Of The Basketball Jump Shooting Accuracy Test, Brenton Boddington

Theses

Valid and reliable jump shooting assessments that replicate in-game shooting performance are currently lacking in basketball. The aims of this thesis were to (1) describe the development of the newly-established Basketball Jump Shooting Accuracy Test (BJSAT), (2) determine the intra- and inter-rater reliability of the BJSAT, and (3) determine the content validity, construct validity, and test-retest reliability of the BJSAT. Basketball athletes from different playing levels (State Basketball League [SBL], n = 30, age: 22.7 ± 6.1 yr; SBL Division I, n = 11, age: 20.6 ± 2.1 yr) completed four trials of the BJSAT with each trial consisting of …

Christmas Island: A Question Of Self-Determination, Kelvin Matthews

Theses

The notion of self-determination for Christmas Island has been considered for many years. There have been a range of reports, studies, inquiries and indeed protests (on the Island and in Canberra) over the years that have failed to provide a solution which is satisfactory to residents of Christmas Island and Australia’s Commonwealth Government. Accordingly, the purpose of this thesis is to explore and investigate the possibilities and options of the Territory of Christmas Island:

a) becoming an autonomous self-governing region (Parliamentary Legislative Assembly);
b) being incorporated into the legislative arrangements of West Australia (WA) or Northern Territory (NT);
c) developing …

The Steering Towards Readiness Framework : The Lived Experience Of Clinical Facilitators In Identifying, Assessing And Managing Students At Risk Of Not Being Ready To Practice As Beginning Practitioners Within Western Australian Health Settings, Rosealie Southwell

Theses

Clinical facilitators (CFs) are a fundamental resource for student registered nurses (RNs) as they facilitate the consolidation of theory and practice in preparation for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA). Health service providers (HSPs) and higher education providers (HEPs) require CFs to identify, assess and manage (I, A & M) the risks of final placement nursing students and, in doing so, protect risk to patient safety. This research aimed to explore the lived experience of CFs in Western Australia in identifying, assessing and managing risk of a student progressing to be a RN. The study used …

A Quest For Confidence: The Extent To Which Philosophical Inquiry Through The Integrated Pedagogies Of The Question Quadrant And Community Of Inquiry Can Encourage The Exhibition Of Attributes Associated With The Critical And Creative Thinking Capability, Stephanie Massey

Theses

With the increasing need for Australian students to be prepared for the ‘world of work’ once they have finished their schooling (Gonski et al., 2018), it is important for schools to offer opportunities to develop the necessary skills required for adulthood. Western Australian schools have the responsibility of ensuring that all students develop the General Capabilities stipulated by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment, and Reporting Authority (2009). One of these capabilities is ‘critical and creative thinking’. One of the ways to develop students’ ability to think critically and creatively is through philosophical inquiry adopting an integrated pedagogy of Cam’s (2006) Question …

Applying Merleau-Ponty’S Phenomenology Of Perception To Maternal Well-Being In The First Twelve Months Following Birth, Anna Bosco

Theses

Maternal emotional wellbeing is a deeply personal experience embodied through society; however previous literature examining emotional adaptation to motherhood has focussed on negative outcomes, risk factors and pathology. This perspective is limiting and objectifies a mother’s experiences rather than exploring her being-in-the- world. In contrast to current conceptualisations, Maurice Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of perception asserts a holistic view of the individual within the world, whereby the subjective body and the lived body are intertwined, and perception is a conversation between the body and the world. This conversation is how the mother embodies the world within her being, for example how she …

Crystallographic Studies On Host-Interacting Proteins Of Phage K Virion, Antonio Pichel Beleiro

Theses

Phage K is a lytic bacteriophage that infects a broad range of staphylococci, including some methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains. Phage K attaches to its host via a baseplate. The contracted conformation of the baseplate contains a fiber and two receptorbinding proteins responsible for the interaction with the host. The native conformation of the baseplate also includes a tail central spike that shears off after contraction. The aim of the thesis is the structural characterization of phage K receptor-binding proteins and tail central spike. Experimentally, the thesis relies on crystallographic methods, which encompass: production of suitable sample, crystallization, diffraction, and data …

Isolation, Identification And Characterisation Of Enterococcus Faecalis Isolates For The Generation Of Multifuctional Bioactive Peptides From Milk, Kenneth Patrick Graham

Theses

Enterococci are lactic acid bacteria (LAB) that have the paradoxical position of possessing biochemical properties of technological importance, but are also considered as opportunistic pathogens capable of causing infection in immunocompromised patients. However, they have a long history of safe use in foods and have been evaluated in several studies for their role as starter, adjunct, probiotic and protective cultures. They show higher proteolytic activities than other LAB and have demonstrated the ability to produce bioactive peptides during the fermentation of milk. The aim of this project was to identify proteolytic Enterococcus faecalis isolates capable of generating health-promoting bioactive peptides …

The Occurrence Of Listeria Monocytogenes In The Mushroom Production Chain And The Use Of Bacteriophage For Its Control, Vincenzo Pennone

Theses

In Agaricus bisporus production, the occurrence of L. monocytogenes is still poorly understood. A number of studies have shown the presence of L. monocytogenes in the mushroom processing environment, suggesting its source from raw materials storage areas (Viswanath et al, 2013; Murugesan et al, 2015). In this study, 10 mushroom producers and three raw material (compost and casing) producers participated in two surveys on the occurrence of L. monocytogenes in the most high-risk areas of the production environment. In the first survey, floors, drains, platforms, crates, raw materials and mushrooms were tested for L. monocytogenes presence and the results were …

Experimentally Linking Head Kinematics To Brain Deformation, Imouline Algharbi

Theses

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) research is used to study the effects of brain injuries and the rehabilitations for them. TBI contributes to major cause of disability and deaths quantifying up to 30% of all the head injuries. To mimic real world impact to understand the mechanism of injury head-surrogate models are used. This thesis describes a method to record head kinematics from acceleration and angular rate sensors of head-brain surrogate model for blast and blunt injury. This methodology is validated through experimental testing. To get a better insight of the head kinematics experienced by a real skull a drop tower …

Longitudinal Investigation Of Disparity Vergence In Young Adult Convergence Insufficiency Patients, Patrick C. Crincoli

Theses

Vergence is a form of eye movement in which the eyes move in opposite directions to minimize retinal disparity. It allows an object at different distances from a viewer to appear single during binocular vision by centering the image on the fovea of each retina. Convergence insufficiency (CI) is a binocular disfunction in which blurry and double vision is a symptom. Office-based Vergence/Accommodative Therapy (OBVAT) has been shown to be effective in treating CI. A randomized clinical trial was designed to study fifty participants with CI before and after therapy using randomized therapy treatment (active and placebo), standardized clinical definitions, …