Digital Commons Network^™

Green Lighting The Altruistic Influencer, Savanna Rebecca Bagley

Theses and Dissertations

This paper comprehensively examines a new type of social media influencer characterized by altruistic tendencies. Utilizing the popular YouTube channel Vlogbrothers as the case study text for a constant comparative analysis, this research explores how the strategies altruistic influencers use to mobilize their community for good, the characteristics of the altruistic influencers, and how altruistic influencers create community. Through an in-depth analysis of 30 Vlogbrothers videos, the themes of education, community, and shared humanity emerged. Education, shared values, and calls to action are discussed as essential for mobilizing communities in charitable endeavors. Authenticity, quality, accessibility, and solutions-focused action were found …

Ecology And Retribution: Blake, Tokarczuk, And Animal Rights, Kristina Isaak Powell

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores how Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk's 2008 novel, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, engages with William Blake's life and his writings on animal welfare and speaks to current conversations about multispecies justice in the environmental humanities. It argues, first, that in recognizing how this novel's protagonist, Janina, selectively reads Blake to rationalize retributive justice, readers should resist a tendency to mistake this character for Tokarczuk's ideal advocate for environmental ethics. Secondly, it asserts that legal scholars' division between retributive and restorative justice offers valuable framework for approaching both this novel and ongoing debates about …

Group Therapy For Externalizing Behavior Problems In Youth: A Meta-Analysis, Rachel Anne Arnold

Theses and Dissertations

Externalizing behavior problems are a common concern among youth and can be associated with significant problems. As such, the need for effective treatment is evident. While research on psychosocial interventions has been promising, the specific efficacy of youth group therapy has not been assessed in a meta-analysis. Objectives: to assess group therapy's efficacy for youth with behavioral issues and whether treatment effects are moderated by study, patient, leader, or group characteristics. Method: major databases were used to identify and screen potential articles based on inclusion criteria. Included studied were analyzed in a random effects meta-analysis, and potential moderators were assessed. …

Investigating The Use Of Translational Methods To Characterize Therapeutic Interventions In Models Of Pulmonary Disease, Ashley Rae Chang

Theses and Dissertations

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is an interstitial lung disease with no known cause or cure. IPF has an incidence of 75/1,000,000 of the population, predominately in men over the age of 60. This relatively rare disease develops in a chronic and progressive way, ultimately leading to death within two to five years of diagnosis. Our use of translatable methodologies in the bleomycin mouse model of IPF led to the novel identification of the similarities between the average percent loss of lung function in previous human clinical trials to that of our mouse model data. There is no treatment for IPF …

Soft Contact Lens Tear Film Proteomics For Clinical Diagnostic Biomarker Discovery, Robert Kimball Roden

Theses and Dissertations

Human tear film is an accessible biospecimen rich with useful biological information. As tear protein biomarkers for both ocular and systemic diseases have been identified in tears, efforts are being made to create point-of-care tests useful for clinical diagnoses. However, there are significant obstacles to tear diagnostics, including inadequate sampling methods and biomarkers with insufficient sensitivity and specificity. Furthermore, tear film diagnostics are particularly challenging for dry eye disease (DED) patients, where low tear volume makes sampling more difficult and the multifactorial nature of DED makes identifying the exact pathological subtype very complex. As soft contact lenses (SCLs) are designed …

The Performative History Of Tomboys In Anglophone Literature Prior To Little Women, Kimber Palmer

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the expansive history of literary tomboys in the century preceding Louisa May Alcott's Little Women (1868). Applying concepts from gender performativity theory, it explores earlier and previously overlooked portrayals of tomboys (or, alternatively, "hoydens" or "romps"), especially in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's A Trip to Scarborough (1777), Isaac Bickerstaffe's The Romp; A Comic Opera in Two Acts (1786), Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey (1817), and E.D.E.N. Southworth's The Hidden Hand (1859). Because the tomboy phenomenon emphasizes that gender roles must be learned and can be resisted, tomboy characters are …

Differential Levels Of Nutrients And Heavy Metals In Tilapia Collected From Drains In Egypt, Emily Burch

Theses and Dissertations

Tilapia is one of the most widely cultivated and consumed fish globally. In terms of human health, tilapia is an excellent source of protein, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and micronutrients. Tilapia and other aquatic species have become increasingly susceptible to contamination, as anthropogenic activities have been increasing around the world. Anthropogenetic activities often introduce high levels of contaminants, including heavy metals, into the marine environment. These contaminants often do not biodegrade, and they are absorbed by aquatic species. Contaminants can bioaccumulate and proceed in biomagnification up the fish food chain putting consumers at an increased risk of exposure. Heavy metals can …

Narrating & Living With Loss: Towards An Ethnography Of Grief, Fayrouz Ibrahim

Theses and Dissertations

Through this paper, I seek to approach grief through how it is lived, the nexus between loss, and the sought-for physical abstractions through memory, objects, and materials to live with/despite such a loss. This paper is a phenomenological and ethnographic research project on the curatory rituals and practices that individuals employ in keeping lost loved ones alive in their everyday. I explore grief through a multidisciplinary and multimodal conceptualization rather than simply through cultural and social practices such as burial and mortuary rituals. The research follows the grief narratives of different individuals in Egypt in inquiring about the objects, memories, …

Fragments Of A Writer’S Mind: Virginia Woolf In Her Own Words, Baheya Zeitoun

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis provides a thematic reading of select autobiographical and theoretical works by Virginia Woolf. It utilizes Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophy of the rhizome as a methodological framework. The rhizome does not have a hierarchal structure but is rather interconnected. In the same way, the chapters interweave the multi-disciplinary theoretical approaches to connect the disparate factions of the modernist writer’s mind and life.

The early twentieth century saw the rise of post-suffrage writers with narratives that diverged from male-centric values. Woolf is one of the writers who makes a clear distinction between male and female values by championing women’s experiences …

The Use Of Artificial Intelligence In Higher Education: A Study On Faculty Perspectives In Universities In Egypt, Farah S. Sharawy

Theses and Dissertations

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an emerging technology that is transforming various aspects of society, including higher education. This paper examines faculty perspectives from five different institutions; The American University in Cairo (AUC), The German University in Cairo (GUC), The Arab Academy for Science and Technology (AAST), Ain Shams University, and Cairo University, on the use of AI in higher education in teaching and learning in Egypt, with all its challenges and resources available to support it, and how it can be used to achieve equity and accessibility. This research was conducted through a qualitative study using semi-structured one- on-one interviews …

User Profiling Through Zero-Permission Sensors And Machine Learning, Ahmed Elhussiny

Theses and Dissertations

With the rise of mobile and pervasive computing, users are often ingesting content on the go. Services are constantly competing for attention in a very crowded field. It is only logical that users would allot their attention to the services that are most likely to adapt to their needs and interests. This matter becomes trivial when users create accounts and explicitly inform the services of their demographics and interests. Unfortunately, due to privacy and security concerns, and due to the fast nature of computing today, users see the registration process as an unnecessary hurdle to bypass, effectively refusing to provide …

Using Multicultural Texts To Motivate Special Education Middle Schoolers To Read Independently, Ramona Maria Di Maria

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to investigate and examine middle school students’ motivation to read independently. The goal was to see what happens to seventh grade special needs students’ motivation when using authentic multicultural texts during independent reading. Motivation profiles, student interest surveys, reading habit observations and student multicultural book choices were collected and analyzed. The special needs students that participated in the study showed how a structured daily independent reading schedule, choice of multicultural literature, and classroom environment can increase their motivation to read independently. The implications for teaching independent reading in a middle school special needs …

Proletariat Cinema: The Representation Of The Working Class In Egyptian Cinema Over 80 Years, Reham Emam

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the representation of the working class “Proletariat” in Egyptian Cinema. One of the main goals of the thesis is to investigate how the working class were depicted in the Egyptian Cinema and film industry over 80 years (1940-2020). What picture of the working class was conveyed to the mass audience, and what messages were eventually hoarded throughout the years? This is a qualitative descriptive study that conducts in-depth interviews with four categories of stakeholders in the Egyptian film industry including film directors, film critics, and film and media scholars. The study explores what values of working-class people …

Understanding Student Reading Motivation In Relation To Representation And Reader’S Workshop, Abigail Sophie Ronberg

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a case study on one group of on-level learners in a sixth grade language arts class in northern New Jersey. Students were instructed using Reader’s Workshop principles throughout the school year. This study looks at whether student choice, using reader’s workshop, and providing student feedback affect reading motivation. Motivation to read is measured though Gambrell’s Motivation to Read Profile, once at the beginning of a Reader’s Workshop unit and once at the end. Throughout the unit, students are asked to rate their experiences and share their thinking. Parents are interviewed to determine familial literacy history and provide …

Association Of Gut Microbiota Composition With Alzheimer’S-Like Disease In A Rat Model, Hana Heiba

Theses and Dissertations

With many countries turning ‘grey’ and facing an issue with aging populations, the risk of developing one form of neurodegenerative disease is increasing. Dementia, being the most common syndrome resulting from neurodegeneration, severely affects memory and cognitive functions. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder, with an estimated 615,000 new cases will be added to the existing 5.7 million by 2030 (Alkasir et al., 2017).

In the current study, we establish a sporadic AD-like rat model by injecting STZ intracerebrally. Stool samples were collected at two time points; after three weeks for the acute stage, and 3 months …

The Impact Of Slavery And Colonialism On The Black Consciousness: Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass, The Confessions Of Nat Turner, And Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl, Mariam Badawi

Theses and Dissertations

According to the German author, essayist, and empirical psychologist Karl Philipp Moritz, to be able to analyze someone psychologically, we have to be able to analyze ourselves as one would know oneself better than one would know anyone else. Therefore, he proposed the study of autobiographies to be able to delve into a writer's "innermost soul"; through their knowledge of themselves" (qtd. in Schlumbohm 32). Moreover, "the psychological effect that the ideology of white supremacy and European imperialism, in the form of slavery and colonialism, has had on Africa and her people has never been fully addressed and understood" (Nobles …

The Death And Rebirth Of The Feminine Muse: Edgar Allan Poe And Sylvia Plath, Noha Ibrahim

Theses and Dissertations

While drawing on mythology and a literary history that associated women with death as well as creativity, Edgar Allan Poe and Sylvia Plath experimented with binary oppositions such as masculine/feminine, composition/decomposition, and death/(re)birth. They gained inspiration from the same source, the dead muse, but how do they transform traditions that derive from classical and medieval literary precedent, perhaps in ways that are inherently critical of patriarchal modes of gender dynamics? Why is Poe fixated on a feminine dead muse while Plath is inspired by what she calls her “father-sea-god muse”? How do both authors represent the female body, and how …

A Qualitative Exploration Of Food Literacy In International Schools In Egypt, Amy Pugsley

Theses and Dissertations

Food literacy is an essential part of good physical and psychological health, however, food literacy is not a mandatory part of K-12 education in all schools. Many factors can influence food literacy levels including familial culture, socioeconomic status, and education levels. This research seeks to examine perceptions of food literacy in high school students and educators at two private American international schools located in Cairo, Egypt. Through the use of observations and interviews, the researcher used a qualitative approach to understand the self-perceptions of food literacy in students studying the American curriculum. The study revealed that students from high-socio-economic backgrounds …

Building Envelope Retrofits For Achieving Thermal Comfort In Naturally Ventilated Buildings In Future Climates: A Case Study Of Social Housing In Egypt, Donna Nader Kamel Ebeid

Theses and Dissertations

Envelope thermal insulation has a significant impact on a scale from global to individual interest. It contributes to indoor thermal comfort, provides economic benefit through reduced electricity bills, increases energy efficiency of buildings through reduced energy consumption, and protects against the change in Earth’s climate through reduced greenhouse gas emissions. In 2021, building operations accounted for 30% of global energy consumption, 27% of annual global CO₂ emissions and 35% of building energy use accounted for electricity consumption which is used to create comfortable indoor living conditions. In Egypt, electricity consumption in residential sector has been steadily increasing, among other …

Evaluation Of Green Roof Technology In Egypt, Hend Abada

Theses and Dissertations

A green roof is a well-known technology worldwide that provides many social, economic, and environmental benefits. In Egypt, green roofs are still a new construction practice where most stakeholders lack business and technical expertise within this emerging industry. This research is concerned with assessing this emerging technology within its contemporary context, Egypt, and testing its feasibility within the physical condition of the Egyptian buildings and the social and economic conditions of the Egyptians. This study starts by presenting intensive information about green roof technology and reviewing the literature on green roofs within the Egyptian context. A grounded methodology is used …

The Egyptian Private-Climate Nexus: Private Sector Perceptions On The Green Transition, Yehia Shaheen

Theses and Dissertations

The issue of climate change poses the most pressing threat for humanity. This is especially the case amongst developing countries who, while emitting the minority of global emissions, are forecast to bear the most damage. Such is the case with Egypt, who suffers from marked water scarcity and is vulnerable to climate change driven detriments across a number of levels. As climate finance and private sector investments are key towards the green transition; transitioning to a green economy to fight the adverse impacts of climate change, this thesis aims to analyze the perceptions of private sector actors on the issue …

Atomistic Assessment Of Drug-Phospholipid Interactions Consequent To Cancer Treatment: A Study Of Anthracycline Cardiotoxicity, Yara Elsayed Ahmed

Theses and Dissertations

Despite being one of the most effective chemotherapeutic agents developed to date, Anthracyclines are notorious for their cardiotoxicity. Their clinical use is frequently limited both in dosage and in prescription due to the severe cardiac damage they cause. The mechanism of anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity is not yet fully understood. However, it is hypothesized that interactions with the myocardial membrane play an important role in imparting cardiotoxicity. In this study, we use molecular dynamics simulations and density functional theory calculations to study the anthracycline drug molecules and the interactions that they have with the myocardial membrane. We construct a myocardial membrane model …

Assessing The Correlation Between The Socioeconomic Level And Cognitive Function Among Older Adults In Egypt, Macy Abougabal

Theses and Dissertations

The number of older adults is increasing worldwide at an unprecedented rate. Some countries began to understand the challenges of aging, while others are still at the stage of comprehending the true dimensions of the situation. There is a global focus on aging research to appropriately mitigate the negative impact of aging and cognitive decline. Not only that dementia add economic pressure on governments, it also increase the psychological and physical burden of the caregivers. Scholars have previously studied socioeconomic level in three variables, namely work, education, and income, and their relationship with cognitive function. It was concluded that the …

Growing Brine Shrimp (Artemia) In Desalination Brine Water, Khaled Madkour

Theses and Dissertations

Water scarcity is one of the main issues in the recent and coming decades that resulted from the growing population, increasing agricultural lands, and other current challenges. This problem led to finding alternatives to provide fresh water for domestic usage. Desalination is one of these solutions, especially in the MENA region, which has more than half of the desalination plants in the world. The desalination process has two main outputs: freshwater and highly concentrated saline water (brine water). The brine water discharge can be done in various approaches, including deep-well injection, surface water disposal, land application, effluent disposal, and evaporation …

Chemical And Polymer Characterization Of The Potential Modes Of Degradation Of An Injectable Nucleus Pulposus Replacement Device, Antonio G. Abbondandolo

Theses and Dissertations

HYDRAFIL™ is a poly(vinyl alcohol)/poly(ethylene glycol)-based hydrogel nucleus pulposus replacement device that is injected in situ and has demonstrated efficacy in lowering the prevalence and pain associated with back. In this work, we developed a method to analyze HYDRAFIL™ polymer composition using (TGA) and characterized intermolecular bonding interactions within the hydrogel through (FTIR). To function as a permanent implant for nucleus pulposus replacement, HYDRAFIL™ must be stable when exposed to a multitude of degradation pathways, namely, thermal, chemical, and mechanical. We subjected HYDRAFIL™ to accelerated thermal and chemical degradation pathways and described compositional, physical and chemical property changes using a …

Design And Implementation Of Electromagnetic Actuation System To Actuate Micro/Nanorobots In Viscous Environment, Mostafa Abdelaziz

Theses and Dissertations

The navigation of Micro/Nanorobots (MNRs) with the ability to track a selected trajectory accurately holds significant promise for different applications in biomedicine, providing methods for diagnoses and treatments inside the human body. The critical challenge is ensuring that the required power can be generated within the MNR. Furthermore, ensuring that it is feasible for the robot to travel inside the human body with the necessary power availability. Currently, MNRs are widely driven either by exogenous power sources (light energy, magnetic fields, electric fields, acoustics fields, etc.) or by endogenous energy sources, such as chemical interaction energy. Various driving techniques have …

Characterizing The Role Of P38kb And Gars In Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease, Piotr Stan Klos

Theses and Dissertations

Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease (CMT) is a progressive neuropathology caused by the deterioration of neuronal function of the peripheral motor and sensory nervous systems. Motor symptoms include tripping, ankle twisting, and clumsiness, while sensory symptoms include sensations such as pins and needles and burning pain. Though mutations in a variety of genes can give rise to CMT, several of the genes are tRNA-synthetases. We have recently found that the p38 MAPK (p38Kb), a kinase involved in aging and age-dependent locomotor deficits, regulates the levels of several tRNA-synthetase proteins during aging. p38Kb interacts with the Chaperone-Assisted Selective Autophagy (CASA) complex to mediate the …

The Pioneering Efforts Of Ellen Larsen: The First Female Sports Information Director At Brigham Young University, Kiana Schlenker

Theses and Dissertations

Title IX began the change of integrating women's sports into universities, but it was up to each university's athletic administration, external media sources, and public relations practitioners to determine how female athletes and sports were supported and publicized. In 1976, Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah hired Ellen Larsen as its first female sports information director responsible for women's sports. Through her 19 years as a sports information director at BYU, Larsen was an advocate for her athletes and helped pave the way for future female athletic administration roles. While there is plenty of literature on male sports information directors, …

Evaluating The Feasibility Of Bioenergy Production From Single And Mixed Beverage Waste And Sewage Sludge Through An Integrated Hydrothermal Liquefaction-Anaerobic Digestion System, Oluwayinka Michael Adedeji

Theses and Dissertations

Beverage waste and sewage sludge are two of the most generated waste-based biomasses. Recent interest in the hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of these wastes pointed to the generation of a byproduct of high dissolved organic carbon [also called aqueous co-product (ACP)]. However, ACP is being discarded which not only increases the environmental footprints of the HTL process but also results in reduced bioenergy potential. Hence, anaerobic digestion (AD) is touted as an effective utilization process of ACP for further bioenergy recovery. This study evaluated the feasibility of producing bioenergy (biocrude and biomethane) from the combination of beverage waste and sewage sludge …

Experimental Evolution Under Varying Sex Ratio And Behavioral Plasticity In Response To Perceived Competitive Environment Independently Influence Male Cricket Calling Effort, Jack Thomas Mckermitt

Theses and Dissertations

The operational sex ratio (OSR) is a key component influencing the magnitude of sexual selection driving the evolution of male sexual traits, but males often also retain the ability to plastically modulate trait expression depending on the current environment. Here we employed an experimental evolution approach to determine whether the OSR affects the evolution of male calling effort in decorated crickets, a costly sexual trait, and whether plasticity in calling effort is altered by the OSR under which males have evolved. Calling effort of males from two selection regimes maintained at different OSRs over 18-20 generations (male- versus female-biased) was …