Digital Commons Network^™

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Secondary Teachers’ Health And Wellbeing, James Jonathan Ray Thornton

Theses and Dissertations

Secondary teachers across the United States have had various experiences due to the COVID-19 global pandemic during the 2020-2021 school year. These experiences may have influenced teacher exhaustion and their ability to cope with numerous stressors related to COVID-19. This applied dissertation was designed to provide additional clarity to districts related to secondary teachers’ daily work experiences and attitudes while teaching during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Secondary teachers were surveyed on how they perceived their occupational demands related specifically to emotional exhaustion, personal accomplishments, and depersonalization utilizing the Maslach Burnout Inventory- Educators (MBI-ES). The study also examined how secondary teachers’ …

Isothermal Inactivation Studies Of Listeria Monocytogenes, Salmonella, And Enterococcus Faecium Nrrl B-2354 In Almond, Peanut, And Sunflower Butters, Ruo Fen Liao

Theses and Dissertations

Vegetative, non-sporeforming foodborne pathogens show notable survival and uncanny thermotolerance in low water activity (aw) foods. Controlled studies on Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., and Enterococcus faecium NRRL B-2354 (a Salmonella surrogate) in a variety of food matrices support thermal process validation studies required to achieve global food safety objectives. In this study, we determined and compared thermal inactivation rates using independent six-strain cocktails of pathogens in three plant-based butters. Direct determinations of decimal reduction times (D-values) for L. monocytogenes, Salmonella, and E. faecium, in corresponding butters were inoculated using peanut oil, almond oil, or sunflower oil. Thermal Death Time (TDT) …

Campus Recovery Resources: Are We Doing Enough?, Marissa Simonetti

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the views and utilization of campus recovery resources along with substance use behavior of college students on a campus in the Northeastern United States. The sample consisted of 189 participants between the ages of 18-25 years that were enrolled full time in an undergraduate program when the study was conducted. Participants were surveyed online about substance use habits, mental health symptoms and their own views on campus recovery resources. Previous literature suggested that risky substance use behavior or substance use disorders are prevalent at a rate of 39.6 % in college student populations, making the issue a …

Autoignition Temperatures Of Pure Compounds: Data Evaluation, Experimental Determination, And Improved Prediction, Mark Edward Redd

Theses and Dissertations

The Design Institute for Physical Properties (DIPPR) maintains the DIPPR 801 database for the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. Autoignition temperature (AIT) is one of the properties included in the database and is the focus of this work including improvement of the overall state of AIT in the database. Phenomena related to AIT as well as the relevant literature are reviewed. Likewise, the database is presented to respond to significant misuse of the DIPPR 801 database in the literature. The database is evaluated, respecting AIT, as a whole to show where improvement is needed. An experimental study of minimum autoignition …

Synthesis Of Yaku’Amide A Analogues And Impact Of Dehydroamino Acids On The Structure And Stability Of Incipient 310 Helical Peptides, Daniel Joaquin

Theses and Dissertations

The first project in this dissertation describes the total synthesis of yaku’amide A analogues. Natural product yaku’amide A possesses potent anticancer activity and exhibits a novel mode of action. However, due to its complex asymmetrical isoleucine dehydroamino acids, the synthesis of this polypeptide poses a unique challenge. Despite the efficient synthesis developed in our lab, the total synthesis of this natural product remains lengthy. In order to simplify the overall synthesis, symmetrical dehydroamino acids were incorporated to replace the dehydroisoleucine residues yielding two analogues of yaku’amide A that closely resembles the conformation of the natural product. Biological testing of the …

Factors In Word-Final /T/ Reduction And Deletion In German, Kellie C. Busath

Theses and Dissertations

Sound reduction and deletion have been studied across many languages for some time. Usage-based approaches suggest that the more often a word is used, the more likely it is that some of the sounds are reduced. Phonetic environment, stress, and speech rate have all been studied as reasons for sound reduction or deletion. Most recently, frequency in reducing context (FRC) has been included when studying sound reduction and deletion. FRC in this thesis measures the portion of word tokens of a given word type that are followed by a reducing context. This thesis focuses on word-final /t/ reduction and deletion …

Effects Of An External Oscillation Device On Phonation Threshold Pressure (Ptp), Brittany Tiffany Jones

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of external laryngeal vibration on voice function. The current study was based on a recent pilot study using silicone vocal folds that demonstrated a decrease in phonation threshold pressure (PTP; cmH2O) when an external oscillation was applied to the vocal folds. Using a within-subjects experimental design, a custom external oscillatory device was fitted to the posterior portion of 12 excised pig larynges using a traditional benchtop phonation setup. For each larynx, phonation was elicited during 30 repeated trials, including 15 with and 15 without external oscillation. During the phonation …

A Digital Application For Assessment Of Neurocognitive Disabilities, Thomas H. Auriemma

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Neuropsychological assessment is designed to identify neurocognitive impairment and has traditionally relied on pen-and-paper tests. The behavior collected from these tests is usually expressed as a total summary score or a score that reflects a restricted number of features that assess errors. There is now interest in coupling traditional paper and pencil tests with digital assessment technology. In this context traditional metrics such as summary scores are still available. However, using digital technology, a host of time-based parameters can now be obtained. These time-based parameters include the total time to complete the task or total time to completion, as …

District Leaders' Perception Of Multi-Tiered System Of Supports Implementation: A Qualitative Study, Julia E. Facer

Theses and Dissertations

Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) is a model that can be implemented in school buildings with the support of school district leaders. However, the voices of district leaders involved in MTSS implementation are limited in the research. This study sought to investigate what district leaders perceived as impacting factors towards MTSS implementation and draw conclusions about impacting factors from their opinions. Ten district leaders in a mountain west state of the United States were interviewed via Zoom and had their transcripts analyzed for impacting factors using a form of thematic analysis. All participants were involved with MTSS at their district …

Climate Change And The Global Nutrient Overload: The Microbial Response Of Extreme Waterbodies To Environmental Change, Samuel P. Bratsman

Theses and Dissertations

One of the defining characteristics of our current epoch—the Anthropocene—is modification of nutrient cycles. At regional to global scales, humans have fundamentally reshaped the availability of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus. These changes are particularly apparent in freshwater ecosystems, which receive surface and groundwater inputs of nutrients from agriculture, fossil fuel use, and wastewater. In this thesis, I investigated how the addition of nutrients affects microbial community and biogeochemistry in two extreme environments: the hypereutrophic shallow Utah Lake and nutrient-limited Arctic permafrost streams. In my first chapter, I used bioassay and dilution bioassay experiments to identify what factors control harmful algal …

Improvement Of Ex Vivo Testing Methods For Spine Biomechanical Characterization, Aubrie Lisa Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation contributed three main areas to flexibility testing and biomechanical characterization of human spinal segments. The first was a literature review of existing testing methodology, the second examined common spine fixation procedures, and the third developed an improved fixation method. Spine biomechanical characterization is the primary technique for assessing the healthy, diseased, and surgically treated response of spinal tissues. However, despite decades of use, no standard testing protocol or reporting methodology for flexibility testing conditions has been established. As part of the present work, a comprehensive, systematic literature review was performed, and the methods sections of 242 relevant journal …

Airship Systems Design, Modeling, And Simulation For Social Impact, Daniel C. Richards

Theses and Dissertations

Although there have been oscillations in airship interest since their use in the early 1900s, technological advancements and the need for more flexible and environmentally friendly transportation modes have caused a stream of study and surge in airship development in recent years. For companies and governments to understand how airships can be incorporated into their fleets to fulfil new or existing mission types, system design space exploration is an important step in understanding airships, their uses, and their design parameters. A decision support system (DSS), Design Exploration of Lighter-Than-Air Systems (DELTAS), was developed to help stakeholders with this task. DELTAS …

Analysis Of A Full-Stack Data Analytics Solution Delivering Predictive Maintenance To A Lab-Scale Factory, Nathan Wesley Hoyt

Theses and Dissertations

With the developments of industry 4.0, data analytics solutions and their applications have become more prevalent in the manufacturing industry. Currently, the typical software architecture supporting these solutions is modular, using separate software for data collection, storage, analytics, and visualization. The integration and maintenance of such a solution requires the expertise of an information technology team, making implementation more challenging for small manufacturing enterprises. To allow small manufacturing enterprises to more easily obtain the benefits of industry 4.0 data analytics, a full-stack data analytics framework is presented and its performance evaluated as applied in the common industrial analytics scenario of …

Medication Therapy Management Implementation In Conjunction With A Rural Health Clinic In Minnesota: A Cqi Impact On Diabetes Metrics, Abigail Sirek Pharmd

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this continuous quality improvement project was to implement a pharmacist-led Medication Therapy Management (MTM) clinic in rural, central Minnesota and assess the impact on patients’ healthcare over a six-month period. Patients were identified through the clinic’s diabetes registry, which included patients 18 through 75 years old with a diagnosis of diabetes not meeting all five D5 goals, as recommended by the Minnesota Community Measurements, independently referred by the provider, or be identified by their insurance company as a patient that would benefit from an MTM visit. The D5 focuses on blood pressure and blood sugar control, appropriate …

Sexual Exploration Of The Pastoral: Analyzing Queer Desire In “Goblin Market” And In Memoriam, Amanda Rajnauth

Theses and Dissertations

The term “queer pastoral” was coined by Vin Nardizzi to refer to the use of the pastoral setting to normalize homosexuality. While the queer pastoral has primarily remained within Renaissance studies, I seek to expand the reach of this concept by applying it to Victorian literature. This thesis argues that Christina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” and Alfred Tennyson’s In Memoriam both use the pastoral as a space to explore queer desire.

Evaluating A Statistical-Based Assessment Tool For Stratifying Risk Among U.S. Air Force Organizations, Tiffany A. Low

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force Inspection System is a proponent of utilizing a risk-based sampling strategy (RBSS) for conducting inspections from major command levels down to the unit level. The strategy identifies areas deemed most important or risky by commanders and prioritizes them accordingly for an independent assessment by the Inspector General. While Air Force regulation specifies the need to use a RBSS for inspection, the implementation process is delegated to individual commands and, subsequently, wings. The 23rd Wing, the sponsor for this research, directed us to analyze a RBSS tool highlighted as an example from which to adopt for those units …

Identification And Characterization Of Point Defects In Nonlinear Optical Crystals: Barium Gallium Selenide And Lithium Triborate, Brian C. Holloway

Theses and Dissertations

Increased interest in developing new nonlinear optical materials has led to 3rd generation materials, such as BaGa4Se₇ and LiB₃O₅. These two nonlinear optical crystals have the potential to enable development of tunable lasers operating across the mid-wave infrared and the ultraviolet regions, respectively. Coherent light sources are used in the development of enhanced technologies with commercial and defense-based applications such as: health and environmental monitoring devices, next-generation infrared countermeasures, and ballistic missile booster exhaust plume characterization. The performance of optical materials in high-powered military applications is largely limited by the presence of defects. These defects …

Scheduling For Space Tracking And Heterogeneous Sensor Environments, Gabriel H. Greve

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation draws on the fields of heuristic and meta-heuristic algorithm development, resource allocation problems, and scheduling to address key Air Force problems. The world runs on many schedules. People depend upon them and expect these schedules to be accurate. A process is needed where schedules can be dynamically adjusted to allow tasks to be completed efficiently. For example, the Space Surveillance Network relies on a schedule to track objects in space. The schedule must use sensor resources to track as many high-priority satellites as possible to obtain orbit paths and to warn of collision paths. Any collisions that occurred …

Reconciliation, Restoration And Reconstruction Of A Conflict Ridden Country, Muhammad S. Riaz

Theses and Dissertations

Conflict has sadly been a constant part of history. Winning a conflict and making a lasting peace are often not the same thing. While a peace treaty ends a conflict and often dictates terms from the winners’ perspective, it may not create a lasting peace. Short of unconditional surrender, modern conflict ends with a negotiated cessation of hostilities. Such accords may have some initial reconstruction agreements, but Reconciliation, Restoration and Reconstruction (RRR) is a long term process. This study maintains that to achieve a lasting peace: 1) The culture and beliefs of the conflict nation must be continuously considered and …

The Power-Duration Relationship Is Just As Reproducible In Females As Males, Despite The Presence Of The Menstrual Cycle, Jessica Joy Linde

Theses and Dissertations

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of the menstrual cycle (MC) on exercise performance across the power-duration relationship (PDR). We hypothesized females would exhibit greater variability in the PDR across the MC than males across a similar timespan, with critical power (PCRIT) and Work prime (W') being lower during the early follicular phase than the late follicular and mid-luteal phases. METHODS: Eumenorrheic, endurance-trained females (n = 10, age = 24.1 ± 5.59) performed multiple constant-load-to-task-failure and maximum-power tests at three time points across the MC (early follicular, late follicular, midluteal phases). Endurance-trained males (n = 10 age = 29.5 ± 9.18) …

A Dynamic Capabilities Approach To Ceo Involvement In Performance Funding Policy Development, Zachary Evans Perrine

Theses and Dissertations

Performance funding has become a popular policy structure for public higher education institutions across the United States. The implications on budget and student success are considerable. This study examines performance funding through the perspective of chief executive officers (CEOs) at public community colleges in a southern state. Utilizing the theoretical lens of dynamic capabilities and political management strategies, this study investigates the involvement CEOs have within the policy development process.

Comparing Relative And Absolute Reliability Of Short Versus Long Narrative Retells, Jenna Hollis

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to examine and compare relative and absolute reliability estimates between brief, linguistically compact narrative retells and longer, more linguistically diffuse narrative retells. The participants included 190 school-age children in firstsixth grade from Utah, Arizona, and Colorado. Participants completed two brief narrative retells using the Narrative Language Measures (NLM) Listening subtest of the CUBED assessment and one longer narrative retell using the wordless picture book Frog, Where Are You? (FWAY). These language samples were then analyzed for language productivity, complexity, and story grammar elements using the Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts software program and …

Inheritance, Katherin Machalek

Theses and Dissertations

Inheritance is a feature documentary that investigates the concept of spiritual inheritance, that which is passed from parent to child. More precisely, it examines how the experiences and struggles of an individual may be transferred and reprocessed by their children. Life experience is studied not as personal, but rather a continuous process that transcends the parent and projects onto the children. The film is a hybrid composed of experimental sequences and false starts, which all bring attention to the nuances of a not-so-straightforward story. The film begins as an essay focusing on an investigation into my parents’ divorce with the …

Assessing The Effect Of Interactivity On Virtual Reality Second Language Learning, Christene Harris

Theses and Dissertations

Virtual Reality (VR) being used as a helpful tool in language education is widely supported by the current literature. It can provide a variety of stimulating scenarios that keep learner engagement high. The use of VR for language learning is a research area that has shown promise in recent years. This makes it necessary for further research to be conducted in the field to determine ways to maximize its potential. This thesis aims to determine if the level of interactivity present in a VR Language Learning Application is a factor that will impact a user's capability to successfully learn a …

Toxicity And The Effect On Digital Communities, Karen Watts Dicicco

Theses and Dissertations

Social networks or social media platforms have been around since the 1980s. With the increase of users every year, we have seen the rise of harmful content such as rude, disrespectful, unreasonable, abusive comments, and hate speech. The increase of harmful content was even more noticeable in 2020 with COVID-19 and election topics. Mainstream social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, continue to increase their efforts to reduce harmful content such as hate speech, harmful content, and misinformation. However, social media platforms cannot catch and remove all toxic content from their platforms before it impacts an individual …

A College Campus Crisis: Are Students Getting The Mental Health Support That They Need During The Covid-19 Pandemic?, Shannon Relevant

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study is to address the increased need for mental health support among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020-May 2021), and to ensure students are getting the full mental health support that they need from their campus counseling center. The study will include residential undergraduate and graduate students from Rowan University who have utilized the university's Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS) office. Mixed methods of quantitative and qualitative data will be used to collect student responses and answer the research questions. The first step will include participation in an online survey that collects student …

Policies To Protect Healthcare Providers In Public Hospitals In Egypt Amid The First Wave Covid-19 Crisis: A Case Study, Moushira Hosny Ezzelarab Sayed

Theses and Dissertations

The emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020 became a main public health problem among the worlds. Universally, healthcare workers were forced to face an unprecedented challenge since the outbreak COVID-19. The World Health Organization (WHO) has been trying to reduce transmission of COVID-19 between different countries by setting regulations and standards in attempt to control the transmission of infection. The protection of healthcare workers working as frontline workers for COVID-19 is a priority. To assess the occupational workplace policies to protect healthcare workers in public university hospitals in Egypt during the first wave of COVID-19, this research …

Defining Dyslexia Within And Across Disciplines: A Systematic Review Of The Literature, Ann Marie Trumbo

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: In the present study, we conducted a systematic review to investigate the core features of the definition of dyslexia across different disciplines according to their associated professional organizations and published research in order to evaluate the presence and type of inconsistencies within and across disciplines in how dyslexia is defined. Method: Definition statements of dyslexia from professional organizations in medicine, education, speech-language pathology, psychology, and the International Dyslexia Association were collected via scope of practice guidelines or via the organization's official website. Using a database with a wide disciplinary reach, we collected 764 of the most cited articles from …

Dark Moon, Kate Mathews

Theses and Dissertations

Dark Moon is a short narrative film that follows Billie as she comes home for the weekend to look after her father, Jack, who has recently been diagnosed with early onset Dementia. The appearance of a mysterious woman shines a light on their changing power dynamic, threatening to throw their world out of orbit. Dark Moon is a rumination on an ailing man’s need for agency and a daughter’s misguided attempts to keep her father safe. Inspired by my own relationship with my father, the film explores loss and the ways we try, however foolishly, to fight against it.

Masculinity, Mental Health, And Attitudes Towards Help Seeking, Aresh Assadi

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the numerous studies suggesting that psychological treatments are equally efficacious for men and women, many men continue to exhibit reluctance toward seeking treatment for their psychological concerns. This significant gender disparity in mental health services utilization persists despite mental illness severity. There is a plethora of quantitative studies regarding men’s help-seeking behaviors however qualitative investigations into this phenomenon are scarce. The researcher developed this phenomenological case study in order to address this gap in the literature. In addition, this study aims to investigate the factors that influence college-aged men’s attitudes and perceptions toward mental health and mental health help-seeking. …