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Assessing The Thermodynamic Potential Of Deep Eutectic Solvents In The Absorption Of Greenhouse Gases Through Computational Methods, Thomas Michael Quaid Dec 2023

Assessing The Thermodynamic Potential Of Deep Eutectic Solvents In The Absorption Of Greenhouse Gases Through Computational Methods, Thomas Michael Quaid

Theses and Dissertations

Greenhouse gas (GHG) capture is a fundamental technology in the fight against climate change. Some species of devastating GHGs like fluorinated compounds are released directly to the air from industrial processes. Some GHGs are co-produced in sustainably derived biofuels which require absorptive upgrading. The development of more efficient, cost effective, and environmentally friendly methods of capturing GHG’s from pollutant sources and industrial streams is of utmost importance in the fight against climate change. Deep eutectic solvents have entered the separations stage as potential disruptors to conventional solvent choices for a variety of applications. Deep eutectic solvents (DES) are compounds of …


Low Reynolds Number Locomotion Near Interfaces In Two-Fluid Media, Avriel Rowena Mae Cartwright Dec 2023

Low Reynolds Number Locomotion Near Interfaces In Two-Fluid Media, Avriel Rowena Mae Cartwright

Theses and Dissertations

Microorganisms often swim within complex fluid environments composed of multiple materials with very different properties. Biological locomotion, including swimming speed, is significantly impacted by the physical composition and rheology of the surrounding fluid environment, as well as the presence of phase boundaries and free interfaces, across which physical properties of the fluid media may vary greatly. Through computational simulations, we first investigate the classical Taylor’s swimming sheet problem near interfaces within multi-fluid environments using a two-fluid immersed boundary method. The accuracy of the methodology is illustrated through comparisons with analytical solutions. Our simulation results indicate that the interface dynamics and …


An Evaluation Of Process- And Performer-Based Improvement To Increase Online Giving In Churches, Lauren Elizabeth Rivera Dec 2023

An Evaluation Of Process- And Performer-Based Improvement To Increase Online Giving In Churches, Lauren Elizabeth Rivera

Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of electronic transactions for many churches. Churches which were more inclined to establish online giving platforms weathered the disruption of the pandemic more successfully. Electronic transactions proved to be an efficacious modality for churches to maximize tithing and offering. Behavioral Systems Analysis (BSA) is an evidence-based framework which can inform decision-making, starting with macro-level assessments of the effects of external variables on adaptive systems and systematically funneling down to focus on processes and individuals. This study examined the effects of a process and performer-based intervention, through automation, to increase the percentage of online giving …


Project Thetis: A Low-Cost, Low-Profile Inertial Data Logger, Braidan Duffy Dec 2023

Project Thetis: A Low-Cost, Low-Profile Inertial Data Logger, Braidan Duffy

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis details the design, testing, calibration, and verification of a nine degree of freedom inertial measurement data logger for use with floating bodies. The instrument was conceived to address limitations of equipment used in classes within the Ocean Engineering department at Florida Institute of Technology. By meeting with several stakeholders and end users, a series of stakeholder requirements, capabilities, and component-level requirements were de- veloped that informed the design constraints. There were several hardware iterations of the board, culminating in Revision F5 which was extensively tested and proven. The design was inspected after testing concluded to determine which capabilities …


Assessing The Thermodynamic Potential Of Deep Eutectic Solvents In The Absorption Of Greenhouse Gases Through Computational Methods., Thomas Michael Quaid Dec 2023

Assessing The Thermodynamic Potential Of Deep Eutectic Solvents In The Absorption Of Greenhouse Gases Through Computational Methods., Thomas Michael Quaid

Theses and Dissertations

Greenhouse gas (GHG) capture is a fundamental technology in the fight against climate change. Some species of devastating GHGs like fluorinated compounds are released directly to the air from industrial processes. Some GHGs are co-produced in sustainably derived biofuels which require absorptive upgrading. The development of more efficient, cost effective, and environmentally friendly methods of capturing GHG’s from pollutant sources and industrial streams is of utmost importance in the fight against climate change. Deep eutectic solvents have entered the separations stage as potential disruptors to conventional solvent choices for a variety of applications. Deep eutectic solvents (DES) are compounds of …


Examining Factors Among People With Opioid Use Disorder And Comorbid Mental Health Disorders, Tori Denae Livingston Dec 2023

Examining Factors Among People With Opioid Use Disorder And Comorbid Mental Health Disorders, Tori Denae Livingston

Theses and Dissertations

Opioid use disorder (OUD) affects over two million Americans, and over 42,000 Americans perished of opioid overdoses in 2016 (Volkow et al., 2019). During the initial years of the opioid crisis, overdose deaths were primarily attributed to prescription analgesics, heroin, and synthetic opioids. However, it was illicit prescription opioid painkiller use that ranked highest in terms of fatalities (Volkow et al., 2019). The increasing prevalence of opioid use among individuals with mental health disorders is in stark contrast to the ongoing opioid crisis (Prince, 2019). Additionally, there is evidence that individuals undergoing substance use treatment and concurrently suffering from a …


Chemical Investigation Of Dichloromethane Extract Of Aloe Vera Peels: An Agricultural Waste, Nazmul Huda Dec 2023

Chemical Investigation Of Dichloromethane Extract Of Aloe Vera Peels: An Agricultural Waste, Nazmul Huda

Theses and Dissertations

Aloe barbadensis Miller, commonly called Aloe Vera, is a widely popular succulent plant species cultivated across subtropical regions worldwide from India to the Tex-Mex border. Besides its historical uses, Aloe juice has garnered attention as a potential remedy for various ailments, particularly in treating various skin conditions and facilitating wound recovery, including obesity, diabetes, hepatitis, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis. Regrettably, the agricultural practice following sap extraction involves discarding Aloe vera peels, constituting agricultural waste. As part of our continuous research on extraction, isolation, separation, and spectral characterization of value-added chemicals present in waste botanicals herein, …


Age-Related Oligodendrocyte Lineage And Learning Abnormalities Driven By Nf1 Mutation In Mice, Saul Lopez Dec 2023

Age-Related Oligodendrocyte Lineage And Learning Abnormalities Driven By Nf1 Mutation In Mice, Saul Lopez

Theses and Dissertations

Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) is an autosomal dominant disease caused by mutations in the NF1 gene, on chromosome 17. NF1 patients suffer from a number of neurological issues including learning deficits and increased risk of age-related dementia. Additionally, NF1 patients present with multiple white matter and myelin abnormalities. Whether and how myelin abnormalities impact learning in NF1 is not known; therefore, we aimed to gain insights on potential links between Nf1 mutation and learning issues Unpublished data indicate that NF1 female-but not male- mice with Nf1+/- germline mutation show defects in a myelin-regulated learning/memory test (the complex wheel; CW) at …


Rage In Chronic Pulmonary Inflammation And Obstetric Complications, Katrina Lynn Curtis Nov 2023

Rage In Chronic Pulmonary Inflammation And Obstetric Complications, Katrina Lynn Curtis

Theses and Dissertations

The receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) is a transmembrane cell surface protein of the immunoglobulin superfamily that acts as part of both the innate and adaptive immune system. RAGE is highly expressed in lung tissue and is therefore of interest in the pulmonary immune response. Specifically, RAGE mediates several cell-signaling responses such as inflammation and apoptosis. This work sought to elucidate the role of RAGE in the setting of chronic pulmonary irritation such as that found in long-term exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS). This irritation has several shared characteristics with lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) …


Prosodic Pitch And Intensity In Autistic Individuals, Cassidy Gooch Nov 2023

Prosodic Pitch And Intensity In Autistic Individuals, Cassidy Gooch

Theses and Dissertations

This study is an examination of how prosodic pitch and intensity compare in autistic individuals and neurotypical individuals. Ten-minute recordings of casual conversation were taken and analyzed. Participants included 11 autistic individuals and 11 neurotypical individuals with six males and five females in each group. The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2nd Edition (ADOS-2; Lord et al., 2012) prosody rating scale was used to collect a perceptual evaluation of each participan's prosody, and Praat acoustic analysis software was used to collect measures of pitch and intensity over the 10-minute period to investigate how speech characteristics change with conversation partner familiarity. Results …


Stability, Longevity, And Regulatory Bionetworks, Christian N. K. Anderson Nov 2023

Stability, Longevity, And Regulatory Bionetworks, Christian N. K. Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

Genome-wide studies of diseases and chronic conditions frequently fail to uncover marked or consistent differences in RNA or protein concentrations. However, the developing field of kinetic proteomics has made promising discoveries in differences in the turnover rate of these same proteins, even when concentrations were not necessarily different. The situation can theoretically be modeled mathematically using bifurcation equations, but uncovering the proper form of these is difficult. To this end, we developed TWIG, a method for characterizing bifurcations that leverages information geometry to identify drivers of complex systems. Using this, we characterized the bifurcation and stability properties of all 132 …


Mechanisms, Evolution, And Rapid Diagnosis Of Carbapenem Resistance, Taalin Shale Hoj Nov 2023

Mechanisms, Evolution, And Rapid Diagnosis Of Carbapenem Resistance, Taalin Shale Hoj

Theses and Dissertations

An estimated 70% of bacterial infections in the United States are resistant to first-line antibiotics. Of these, among the most difficult to treat are highly resistant to carbapenems, an antibiotic class used as a last resort. Septicemia, particularly when caused by a carbapenem-resistant organism, is among the most challenging clinical scenarios to treat, with an overall mortality rate of carbapenem-resistant septicemias 63.8%. Encouragingly, if effective antimicrobial treatment begins within 1-3 hours of septic shock onset, patient survival rates are around 80%. The first section of this work describes a real-time PCR-based assay that when coupled with existing bacteria-blood separation technology, …


Elucidating The Architecture Of The Tclijn Complex That Converts Cysteine To Thiazoles In The Biosynthesis Of Micrococcin, Diana G. Calvopina Chavez Nov 2023

Elucidating The Architecture Of The Tclijn Complex That Converts Cysteine To Thiazoles In The Biosynthesis Of Micrococcin, Diana G. Calvopina Chavez

Theses and Dissertations

Thiopeptides are a family of antimicrobial peptides that are characterized for having sulfur-containing heterocycles, and for being highly post-translationally modified. Numerous thiopeptides have been identified; almost all of which inhibit protein synthesis in gram-positive bacteria. These intrinsic antimicrobial properties make thiopeptides promising candidates for the development of new antibiotics. The antimicrobial peptide micrococcin is a thiopeptide that is synthesized by the ribosome and undergoes several post-translational modifications (PTMs). Micrococcin is formed from a precursor peptide, TclE. TclE comprises an N-terminal leader (35-AA) that is crucial for recognition of the PTM machinery, alongside a C-terminal core sequence (14-AA) that undergoes multiple …


Evolutionary Conservation And Times Of Action Of Heterochronic Genes, Maria Ivanova Nov 2023

Evolutionary Conservation And Times Of Action Of Heterochronic Genes, Maria Ivanova

Theses and Dissertations

The heterochronic pathway of C. elegans is the most well-characterized system to date for controlling the sequence and timing of developmental events. However, we still have critical unanswered questions to address. First, little is known about the evolution of the heterochronic pathway, and of developmental timing in general. To determine if the roles of major heterochronic genes are conserved, I made mutants in orthologs of these genes in C. briggsae, using CRISPR/Cas9. My studies revealed a significant drift in the roles of some of the genes, although all of them are still involved in the developmental timing regulation, and several …


Monitoring Brain Region-Specific Control Of Protein Turnover And Concentration Using Proteomics, Rebecca Suzanne Burlett Nov 2023

Monitoring Brain Region-Specific Control Of Protein Turnover And Concentration Using Proteomics, Rebecca Suzanne Burlett

Theses and Dissertations

Regulation of metabolism is vital to health and lies at the core of many different diseases. The breakdown of metabolisms' regulation within the brain can lead to neurological disease like Alzheimer's Disease (AD). AD is known to affect brain regions responsible for memory and memory processing like the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex. The regulation of these regions' protein quality, synthesis, and degradation deviate from 'normal' or 'healthy' levels when AD is happening. It is known there is a breakdown of regulation in those regions; however, little is known about the specifics of regulation in healthy brains regions or how it …


Dynamic Regulation Of Store-Operated Calcium Entry By Protein S-Acylation, Goutham Kodakandla Nov 2023

Dynamic Regulation Of Store-Operated Calcium Entry By Protein S-Acylation, Goutham Kodakandla

Theses and Dissertations

Calcium plays a pivotal role in many physiological functions in cells. Cytosolic calcium levels are finely tuned by calcium ion channels, pumps, and intracellular organelles. Store-operated calcium entry (SOCE) is when depletion of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) calcium stores activates a calcium sensor known as stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1). Activation of STIM1 leads to a conformational change from a compact state to an extended state. This extended state of STIM1 allows it to bind to a calcium channel in the plasma membrane (PM) known as Orai1. The binding of Orai1 and STIM1 leads to opening of Orai1 channels and calcium …


Student Learning And Literacy Practices When Video Games Are Incorporated Into A Secondary Classroom, Amy Smith Nov 2023

Student Learning And Literacy Practices When Video Games Are Incorporated Into A Secondary Classroom, Amy Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study explored high school students’ engagement with a unit where video games and video game materials were incorporated into an English Language Arts classroom. Over several weeks, students engaged with video game content and composed their own video games using the free online platform, Scratch. The purpose of the study was to examine students’ learning during the unit, focusing on students’ products, individual interviews, and whole class and small group discussions. The research questions were: 1. What can be learned about secondary students' learning and literacy practices when video games as a text are incorporated into the secondary …


The Moderating Effect Of Volunteer Motives On The Relation Between Job Demands And Exhaustion, Aaron Whitely Oct 2023

The Moderating Effect Of Volunteer Motives On The Relation Between Job Demands And Exhaustion, Aaron Whitely

Theses and Dissertations

Developments in the burnout literature have shown that concepts such as a personality can function as job resources in a framework where resources buffer the relation between job demands and burnout. The present study looked at the concept of volunteer motivation as a job resource used to buffer the relation between job demands and exhaustion. With a sample of 338 volunteers from various volunteer organizations, this research examined the relation of motivation, broken into intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and exhaustion. Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation were negatively associated with exhaustion. Intrinsic motivation was found to interact with job demands such …


Intimate Partner Violence, Socioeconomic Status, And The Media, Christianna Victoria Page Oct 2023

Intimate Partner Violence, Socioeconomic Status, And The Media, Christianna Victoria Page

Theses and Dissertations

News media’s communication of social issues can create societal pushes for policy change. This is true regarding femicide and violence against women. How news media communicate demographics such as socioeconomic status (SES) of intimate partner femicide (IPF) victims in a digital space is underexplored. This study is a thematic analysis analyzing how digital news articles communicate the SES of IPF victims. The sample for this study was taken from a population of digital news articles about IPF sources from ten major U.S.-based online news sites and analyzed 50 digital articles for news media’s communication of SES of victims. Results from …


Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Host Immunity In The Drosophila-Parasitoid System And Its Application In A Course-Based Research Experience, Ashley Waring-Sparks Oct 2023

Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Host Immunity In The Drosophila-Parasitoid System And Its Application In A Course-Based Research Experience, Ashley Waring-Sparks

Theses and Dissertations

A functional immune response is essential for the survival of all living organisms. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is a well-established model for studying host immunity as well as metabolic regulation during an immune response. Fruit fly larvae, in nature, are commonly infected by parasitoid wasps whose survival is dependent on the successful parasitization of their host. The immune response that the fly elicits toward the wasp egg is a primitive yet effective process. I characterized the genes induced by a host during infection, identified metabolites present in a host during infection, investigated the role of Ab in the cellular …


Structural Design And Synthesis Of Growth Factor Receptor Binding Protein 2 (Grb2) Stabilizing Small Molecule, Mahfuzul Hasan Oct 2023

Structural Design And Synthesis Of Growth Factor Receptor Binding Protein 2 (Grb2) Stabilizing Small Molecule, Mahfuzul Hasan

Theses and Dissertations

The growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) family is a potent inducer of cellular growth. Ligand binding to cognate receptors on plasma membrane induces receptor dimerization and activation, which in turn recruits intracellular molecules for downstream signal transduction. A key signaling pathway activated by growth factor (GF) receptors is the Ras signaling cascade that ultimately leads to cell proliferation. Activation of RTKs leads to the recruitment of adapter protein Grb2, which is constitutively bound to the mammalian homolog of drosophila son of sevenless (SOS), and a guanine exchange factor (GEF) for Ras. The recruitment of the Grb2-SOS complex by activated …


Criminalization Of Environmental Harms In Bangladesh And The United States, Md Lokman Hussain Oct 2023

Criminalization Of Environmental Harms In Bangladesh And The United States, Md Lokman Hussain

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores and compares the nature, features, and measures of criminalization of environmental harms in Bangladesh and United States. The exploration is based on the descriptive and analytical comparison of the legal frameworks addressing the environmental harms in these two countries. To explore how are environmental harms criminalized in Bangladesh and United States, following aspects were described and compared: the criminalizing power of the state, criminalization of environmental harms regarding air pollution, water pollution, protection of biodiversity, waste management, and use of pesticide, theoretical frameworks in explaining criminalization, role of constitution and international law.


Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Kills Staphylococcus Aureus In A Polyphosphate-Dependent Manner, Ritika Sujit Shah Oct 2023

Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Kills Staphylococcus Aureus In A Polyphosphate-Dependent Manner, Ritika Sujit Shah

Theses and Dissertations

Due to their frequent coexistence in many polymicrobial infections, including in patients with wounds and cystic fibrosis, recent studies have started to investigate how the opportunistic pathogens Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus interact with each other. P. aeruginosa rapidly outcompetes S. aureus under in vitro co-cultivation conditions, which is mediated by several of P. aeruginosa’s virulence factors. Here, we report that polyphosphate (polyP), an efficient stress defense system and virulence factor in P. aeruginosa, plays a role for the pathogen’s ability to inhibit and kill S. aureus in a contact-independent manner. We show that P. aeruginosa cells characterized by low …


Application Of Computational Tools To Identify Variations Associated With Peromyscus Dominant Spot, Zhenhua Shang Oct 2023

Application Of Computational Tools To Identify Variations Associated With Peromyscus Dominant Spot, Zhenhua Shang

Theses and Dissertations

Peromyscus are the most prevalent mammalian species in North America, and they're employed extensively in both laboratory and field studies. P. maniculatus and P. polionotus, the deer mouse and the old-field mouse, are closely related and can produce viable and fertile hybrid offspring. However, a comprehensive database of polymorphisms, particularly in those kept as living stocks and supplied to university researchers, is lacking. In chapter 2, we performed comparative genomic study on P. maniculatus and P. polionotus and used the polymorphic data to identify the range of genetic complexity that underlies physiological and behavioral differences between two species. We also …


Revolting Motherhood: [De]Generative Breast Stories Transmuting Medical/Moral Paradigms In Britain During The Long Nineteenth Century, Leslie Rene Pearson Oct 2023

Revolting Motherhood: [De]Generative Breast Stories Transmuting Medical/Moral Paradigms In Britain During The Long Nineteenth Century, Leslie Rene Pearson

Theses and Dissertations

Eric Plemons writes in *The Look of A Woman* that “biological stories do more than describe biologies” (54). This dissertation explores what breast cancer stories do and how society creates meaning around the experience of breast cancer. I argue that, in the long nineteenth century in Britain, breast cancer was part of a two-sided medical/moral paradigm where medical diagnosis became enmeshed with morality. Health, then, became a result of proper domestic behavior, disease a result of straying from societal norms. Following the introductory chapter, chapter two traces the development of this paradigm as an outgrowth of the emergence of middle-class …


Transforming Lessons And Those Who Write Them: Professional Development For Educational Content Writers To Integrate Technology Into Lessons Using The Tpack Framework, Rachael Patricia Santopietro Oct 2023

Transforming Lessons And Those Who Write Them: Professional Development For Educational Content Writers To Integrate Technology Into Lessons Using The Tpack Framework, Rachael Patricia Santopietro

Theses and Dissertations

Efforts to improve technology integration for K–12 teaching and learning focus on professional development for teachers. This research study, however, implemented a professional development course in technology integration for educational content writers at a publisher in the Southeastern United States. This research is strategic because most writers surveyed do not integrate technology to align with pedagogy and content, because developing 21st century learning is important, and because educational resources should meet national standards for integrating technology. This action research involved designing and implementing a professional development course that instructed content writers (n = 6) in technology integration using the TPACK …


Truth And Knowledge In A Literary Text And Beyond: Lydia Chukovskaya’S Sofia Petrovna At The Intersections Between Selves, Culture, And Paratext, Angelina Rubina Oct 2023

Truth And Knowledge In A Literary Text And Beyond: Lydia Chukovskaya’S Sofia Petrovna At The Intersections Between Selves, Culture, And Paratext, Angelina Rubina

Theses and Dissertations

Although Lydia Chukovskaya’s novella Sofia Petrovna (1965) is not considered to be an autobiographical work, the life story of its protagonist, Sofia Petrovna, and the life of Lydia Chukovskaya herself have certain parallels. Chukovskaya’s very own fate, which she described in the foreword to the novella and in her other biographical works, is often viewed inseparably from the novella. However, among the many connections between the fictional fate of Sofia Petrovna and the real fate of Lydia Chukovskaya, one aspect that has not been properly explored by the critics is the “dialogue” between the author and the protagonist with respect …


The Role Of Insulin Signaling In Controlling Oogenesis In Drosophila Melanogaster, Tancia W. Bradshaw Oct 2023

The Role Of Insulin Signaling In Controlling Oogenesis In Drosophila Melanogaster, Tancia W. Bradshaw

Theses and Dissertations

Adult stem cell activity responds to organismal nutrient status to maintain and support tissue homeostasis. Despite the intricate relationship between dietary input, adipose tissue and peripheral organ function, we are at the tip of the iceberg regarding our understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying adipose communication to other tissues. The Drosophila ovary receives nutritional signals from the fat body with multiple nutrient-sensing pathways functioning in adipocytes to control distinct stages of oogenesis. Insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling (IIS) within adult adipocytes remotely controls oocyte production at distinct stages of oogenesis. The PI3K/Akt1 axis in adipocytes promotes germline stem cell …


Neural Correlates Of Audiovisual Integration, Jonathan Conrady Oct 2023

Neural Correlates Of Audiovisual Integration, Jonathan Conrady

Theses and Dissertations

Successfully integrating multiple streams of information is paired with a variety of behavioral enhancements. Multisensory research over the past few decades has demonstrated the criticality of spatial proximity and stimulus effectiveness. Here, we focused on the temporal aspects and underlying neural activity of frequency-varying, audiovisual stimuli using scalp recorded electroencephalography (EEG). Our set of stimuli was particularly chosen because humans are most sensitive to the auditory sound and visual spatial frequencies that make up speech. Recent work has shown that audiovisual integration effects of low-level, simple stimuli are largest when both modalities fall within, compared to outside of, their respective …


Robust Underwater State Estimation And Mapping, Bharat Joshi Oct 2023

Robust Underwater State Estimation And Mapping, Bharat Joshi

Theses and Dissertations

The ocean covers two-thirds of Earth, which is relatively unexplored compared to the landmass. Mapping underwater structures is essential for both archaeological and conservation purposes. This dissertation focuses on employing a robot team to map underwater structures using vision-based simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). The overarching goal of this research is to create a team of autonomous robots to map large underwater structures in a coordinated fashion. This requires maintaining an accurate robust pose estimate of oneself and knowing the relative pose of the other robots in the team. However, the GPS-denied and communication-constrained underwater environment, along with low visibility, …