Digital Commons Network^™

The Impact Of Global Crises On Women: The Case Of Covid-19 In Egypt, Nour A. Dokhan

Theses and Dissertations

Any global crisis is expected to affect every human being, but for women it is always twice as hard. In the case of Covid-19, women are more affected across every domain, from social protection to health, simply because if their gender. This research explores the impact of Covid-19 on women, both economically and socially, with the focus on the case of Egypt. It explores the systematic gender inequalities in the economic, social, and health spheres using cases from previous crises, and how this gender inequality and vulnerability has resulted in much worse consequences of Covid-19 than that of men. The …

An Examination Of Drug Court Clients’ Risky Behavior And Perceptions Following An Hiv Education Program, Latunja Sockwell

Theses and Dissertations

Drug courts were intended to allow non-violent drug offenders an alternative to imprisonment. Drug court programs have a focus on health as well as drug use, and HIV education is a required component of drug courts. Through a partnership with the AR Department of Health (ADH) and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, ADH was able to provide an HIV intervention conducted by certified trainers and counselors. Research is limited on HIV education, delivery, and outcomes in drug court settings. The purpose of this study is to examine whether using an outside entity to deliver HIV education should prove …

Rape Myth Prevalence Among Resident Assistants At Rowan University, Erin Flynn

Theses and Dissertations

College campuses have become the front lines in the battle to end sexual assaults. One in five college-aged women will experience sexual assault during their time in school (Muehlenhard et al., 2017). This study explores whether mandatory reporters may disregard a report of sexual misconduct due to their belief in rape myths. Rape Myths are defined as any belief that exonerates the perpetrator while placing blame on the victim. This study aims to explore the relationship between rape myths and the largest population of mandatory reporters on campus, Resident Assistants. This study explores the degree of understanding Resident Assistants hold …

Characterizing The Demographic Effects Relative To Race, Gender, And Skin Tone On The Accuracy Of Deep Convolutional Neural Network Based Face Recognition Systems, Krishnapriya Kottakkal Sugathan

Theses and Dissertations

Automated face recognition (AFR) is an important tool used in national security and public safety operations. Numerous cases exist in which AFR was successfully used to search large repositories containing millions of face images, such as identifying a suspect in a mass shooting, a victim of a crime, or even a person attempting to acquire a driver’s license under an assumed identity fraudulently. However, concerns have been raised about how this technology impacts privacy and civil liberty. The studies from the Georgetown Law Center on Privacy and Technology and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have noted different rates of …

The Meaning In The Message: Impact And Implications Of University Presidential Statements Regarding Sexual Assault, Nicole Christine Kides

Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to critically analyze university presidential statements made regarding sexual assault on campus and how those statements might impact campus culture. Through critical content analysis, manifest content and latent content were examined. The results explain that while the statements made are satisfactory and making a statement is better than not doing so, the statements are vague and indistinct. In order for the statements to have more meaning and impact, it is clear that messaging needs to be more specific to each individual institution, and be more critical, using unique language so the campus community can feel seen, understood, …

Understanding Perceptions Of Campus Safety And Community College Student Development: A Mixed Methods Case Study, Tiffany J. Ruocco

Theses and Dissertations

Campus safety is an important aspect of a student's collegiate experience. Although statistics indicate campus crime has been decreasing, these statistics do not provide an understanding of a student's perception of crime and how they are responding to that perception. This points to campus safety being a complex construct that transcends often cited numerical statistics and warrants a closer examination of students' feelings, behaviors, and experiences that build these perceptions. This mixed methods sequential explanatory single case study sought to understand the perceptions that students have about the overall safety of their campuses and whether fear of crime and the …

Why So Long? Examining The Nexus Between Case Complexity And Delay In Florida’S Death Penalty System, Corey Daniel Burton

Theses and Dissertations

Over the last few decades, there has been greater recognition that increased time on death row is a significant problem in the United States that is getting worse. Beginning with the U.S. Supreme Court’s denial of certiorari in Lackey v. Texas (514 U.S. 1045, 1995), numerous defendants have attempted to assert Eighth Amendment claims of cruel and unusual punishment on the grounds that the length of their death row confinement combined with their subsequent execution is unconstitutional. Although such claims have been unsuccessful in the U.S. Supreme Court, other federal courts have examined the issue. In 2014, the Central District …

Student Veterans: The Transition Process, Andrew Edwin Crane

Theses and Dissertations

Separation from the military and reintegration into civilian life can be a challenging experience for veterans. One opportunity that veterans pursue during this transition process is secondary education. Despite growing rates of student veterans across campuses limited research exists on the psychosocial functioning and reintegration difficulties faced by these individuals. The current study examined the relationship between factors such as deployment experience, perceived social support following deployment, psychological flexibility, academic functioning, as well as student engagement in collegiate activities. Findings from this study highlight the relationship between experiential avoidance and social support with psychological distress and student engagement for student …

Improving Text Classification With Semantic Information, Joshua H. White

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force contracts a variety of positions, from Information Technology to maintenance services. There is currently no automated way to verify that quotes for services are reasonably priced. Small training data sets and word sense ambiguity are challenges that such a tool would encounter, and additional semantic information could help. This thesis hypothesizes that leveraging a semantic network could improve text-based classification. This thesis uses information from ConceptNet to augment a Naive Bayes Classifier. The leveraged semantic information would add relevant words from the category domain to the model that did not appear in the training data. The experiment …

Optimizing Cost And Performance Of Infrastrucure Alternatives At Contingency Bases In A Hub-And-Spoke Network, Kyle J. Rodriguez

Theses and Dissertations

Military contingency bases require substantial resources and funding sustain and are often not connected to an infrastructure grid. Infrastructure assets produce the required outputs for sustainment, but are often expensive and inefficient, producing a significant logistical burden. With the increasing near-peer threats of opposing military forces, there is a need for more self-sufficient contingency bases with alternatives that reduce resources usage and the cost of sustainment. Accordingly, the goal of this research is to develop an optimization model capable of selecting infrastructure alternative combinations that minimize the overall resource usage and cost of sustainment at the contingency base level.

Climate-Informed Prediction And Forecast Modeling Of Installation Total Energy Consumption, Scott C. Weiss

Theses and Dissertations

Climate variability is an external and stochastic factor that causes energy demand uncertainty. Energy managers can use climate-based models to understand future trends of energy demand and to adjust operations, policy, and budgets accordingly. This research focuses on 1) identifying how climate attributes impact energy use, 2) creating a historically informed statistical modeling framework to skillfully predict energy use, and 3) forecasting future changes to energy use and costs, using CMIP5 temperature projections, at the campus level. After synthesizing the existing breadth of research on climate-informed energy modeling, a skillful, unbiased, climate-informed total energy consumption prediction model is developed for …

Student Well-Being In The Time Of Covid: Survey Of Online Students’ Coping, Ellen Catherine Coble

Theses and Dissertations

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has presented the global population with a considerable stressor resulting in significant loss of life, impaired health, disrupted social practices, and economic atrophy. While many have been impacted and are currently being studied, a population less frequently considered in the literature is that of online college students. Previous research has indicated the influence of several factors on college students’ well-being when coping with stress under typical circumstances such as coping strategies (e.g., problem-focused, emotion-focused, and avoidant/dysfunctional), experiential avoidance, and social support. Studies performed in the wake of large-scale crises highlight proximity to the crisis …

An Optimized Lte-Based Technique For Drone Base Station 3d Placement And Resource Allocation In Delay-Sensitive M2m Networks, Ahmed Fahim

Theses and Dissertations

The deployment of drone-mounted communication systems has received increasing interest and attention recently as it allows significant improvement to the network access capacity and coverage. Many applications can benefit from such deployments in particular machine-to-machine (M2M) communications. Drones are expected to facilitate extending wireless network access for both human users and the smart machine-type-communication devices (MTCDs) that have strict and diverse quality of service (QoS) requirements. In this thesis, we propose an optimal solution for the dynamic placement of an LTE drone-mounted base station to maximize the coverage of MTCDs deployed over a large geographical area in disaster situations or …

Effect Of Inhibition Of Glycogen Catabolism In Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells, Shrikant Barot

Theses and Dissertations

Metabolic reprogramming is one of the important features of cancers, and there has been growing interest in targeting metabolic proteins to treat cancer. Glycogen is a polymer of glucose and serves as its storage unit in cells. Glycogen can provide energy to cells during the situations of high energy demand. A number of tumors are known to contain high levels of glycogen than their normal tissue counterparts. The liver plays an essential role in maintaining glucose homeostasis in the body via storing it into glycogen. The significance of glycogen metabolism in patients suffering from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not been …

Preference-Aware Task Assignment In Mobile Crowdsensing, Fatih Yucel

Theses and Dissertations

Mobile crowdsensing (MCS) is an emerging form of crowdsourcing, which facilitates the sensing data collection with the help of mobile participants (workers). A central problem in MCS is the assignment of sensing tasks to workers. Existing work in the field mostly seek a system-level optimization of task assignments (e.g., maximize the number of completed tasks, minimize the total distance traveled by workers) without considering individual preferences of task requesters and workers. However, users may be reluctant to participate in MCS campaigns that disregard their preferences. In this dissertation, we argue that user preferences should be a primary concern in the …

Validating Nde Dataset And Benchmarking Infrared Thermography For Delamination Detection In Bridge Decks, Eberechi Orie Ichi

Theses and Dissertations

We collected and developed an SDNET2021 dataset, a rare combination of annotated non-destructive evaluation (NDE) data, from five in-service bridge decks in Grand Forks as a feed for validating, benchmarking, developing, training, and testing artificial intelligence (AI) models to evaluate, monitor, and assess bridge conditions. The developed dataset, which serves as ground truth, contains sound concrete as class 1 and delaminated sub-surface concrete as classes 2 and 3. The SDNET2021 dataset consists of 488 delaminated (class 2 and 3) and 1,448 sound (class 1) Impact Echo (IE) signals, 214,943 delaminated (class 2 and 3) and 448,159 sound (class 1) Ground …

Military Combat Veterans, Sentencing Reform, And Problem-Solving Courts, Andrea Sivanich

Theses and Dissertations

Military veterans involved with the criminal justice system may have unique behavioral health and physical needs, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injury (TBI), and could benefit from sentence mitigation that emphasizes rehabilitation. This research is related to sentencing reform and how it may support problem-solving court sentencing, as a subset of community-based treatment options within the criminal justice system. This research is important in that it attempts to determine whether the law distinguishes veteran offenders, as a specific population, from other offenders with treatment needs. To do that, this dissertation examines the role of legal texts in …

Impacts Of Vertical Grid Resolution On The Representation Of A Convective Environment, Caitlyn Mensch

Theses and Dissertations

In a pre-convective environment, modeled atmospheric conditions can be presented as discrete parameters, which serve as valuable resources both in forecasting potential severe weather events and also in assessing changes in convective potential over time. However, the value of these parameters may depend on the vertical resolution of the simulation that is used to do the calculation. Upper-air radiosonde sounding data from various research campaigns (e.g., PECAN, DC3, TRMM-LBA, etc.) in both midlatitude and tropical convective regimes are analyzed and later interpolated to the pressure levels in a range of atmospheric reanalysis and operational models. Indices such as CAPE, CIN, …

A Systematic Review Of The Literature On Post-Traumatic Growth In Police Officers After Exposure To Potentially Traumatic Events, Michael Norfleet

Theses and Dissertations

As police departments and officers across the world take on the task of reducing crime and enhancing public safety, their jobs entail the potential of exposure to events that may be experienced as traumatic. In contrast to the larger literature on negative outcomes of potentially traumatic events (PTEs), there is limited knowledge on the potential for post-traumatic growth (PTG) and how clinicians can promote it, generally and in police officers (Westphal & Bonanno, 2007). Tedeschi and Calhoun (1996), “coined the term posttraumatic growth to describe the experience of positive changes that occur as a result of the struggle with major …

“Insurance Doesn’T Care About The Patient”: An Institutional Ethnography Of The Influence Of Professional Autonomy On The Provision Care For Medicaid Dental Patients With Disabilities, Stephanie Lau

Theses and Dissertations

In terms of unmet needs for people with disabilities (PWD), dental care is number three behind residential care and employment (Fisher, 2012). Regardless of disability, oral healthcare traverses all disability diagnoses and can be a significant factor in quality of life (Deckler, 2011; Griffin et al., 2007; Norwood & Slayton, 2013). When attempting to secure oral healthcare, people with disabilities face many challenges, including lack of access, lack of provider education on proper care of PWD, and difficulty finding a willing dental provider (Deckler, 2011; Fisher, 2012; Kennedy, 2009).

The purpose of this study was to investigate professional practices and …

The Birth Of Exceptionalism: American Newspaper Coverage In The Revolutionary Era, Benjamin R. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores American exceptionalism through the lens of American newspapers during the Revolutionary era. As American newspapers covered the revolutions in France, Haiti, and Latin America, unique narratives developed around controversial leaders like Thomas Paine, Toussaint Louverture, and Simón Bolívar. Although at first newspapers covered the events in France and Latin America with glee, their coverage gradually began to change over time, increasingly finding flaws large and small in revolutions other than their own—chaos and violence in France and Haiti, and failures in the realization of republicanism in Latin America. If Americans initially believed their revolution was responsible for …

Are The Tickets For Everyone? Heterogeneity Of Economic Rewards For Associate’S Degree Completion, Kathleen E. Lee

Theses and Dissertations

Associate’s degree completion has been billed as the quickest way to upskill the workforce and a ticket to the middle class (Carnevale et al., 2018; Gittell et al., 2017). Yet, over 35 million Americans have left college without a degree (Wheatle et al., 2017). Black and Hispanic students are more likely than White and Asian students to leave college before completing a degree (Shapiro et al., 2017). This study examined if economic benefits differ between those whose highest level of educational attainment is “some college, no degree (SCND)” and an associate’s degree, specifically by analyzing heterogeneity and interaction effects between …

Threat Assessment Team Activity And Outcomes In K-12 Public Schools: Integrating Methods To Better Understand School Safety, Jessica C. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The use of threat assessment teams in schools is recommended as a violence prevention measure in K-12 public schools. The present study focused on the threat assessment process in the K-12 environment in Virginia and is the first to examine the association between threat assessment and school safety in tandem over time and the first to incorporate the views of K-12 threat assessment practitioners. Findings from this study demonstrate that while the number of threat assessments has increased overtime, threat assessment practitioners identified numerous concerns regarding threat assessment training, expressed doubts about fidelity to the recommended process, and revealed an …

Socio-Ecological Predictors Of Social Connection Among Older Adults, Georganna Amateau

Theses and Dissertations

Decades of research has established an unequivocal link between states of social connection and health status. Lack of social connection, whether construed as social isolation or loneliness, negatively influences health and is highly associated with cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, fall risk, and premature death. Despite extensive research on social isolation and loneliness, evidence relative to the broader construct of social connection suffers. Few studies inform practice standards for community-based organizations. This study aimed to develop a multidimensional, continuous composite variable of social connection and use the composite variable to examine predictors with a socio-ecological lens.

A secondary data analysis …

A Qualitative Examination Of Student Threat Assessment In Nassau County, New York, Christopher J. Cleary

Theses and Dissertations

Law enforcement agencies and school systems face the critically important task of preventing attacks of targeted school violence and providing safe environments for students, faculty, and staff. The tragic results of past school shooting incidents have caused law enforcement agencies to work collaboratively with educators to develop strategies to reduce violent attacks.

Numerous examples from previous school shooting incidents show that shooters exhibited certain warning signs before the attack, and those signs went unaddressed. The student threat assessment process was developed to help educators and law enforcement members recognize the warning signs and take preemptive action before violence occurs. Threat …

Community Attitudes Towards Juvenile Sex Offenders And Registration In Virginia, Paige Reed

Theses and Dissertations

The collateral consequences and harmful effects of juvenile sex offender registration and restrictions has been the forefront of conversation surrounding sex offender legislation in the United States. The literature available has consistently shown that juveniles profoundly differ from adults in significant areas such as decision making, cognitive capability, judgment, and overall development. The literature has also consistently shown that juvenile sex offenders are amenable to treatment, have considerably low recidivism rates, and are unlikely to offend into their adulthood. Despite this, and even though the juvenile justice system prioritizes rehabilitation over punitive measures, juvenile sex offenders are commonly subjected to …

American Epidemic: The Societal And Multi-Generational Impacts Caused By The Mass Incarceration Of Women In The United States, Jessica Younts

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the social impacts of incarcerating women, specifically mothers, as well as the far-reaching collateral consequences that the mass incarceration of women in the United States has on formerly incarcerated women’s successful reintegration back into society and analyzed how the harsh policies that exist detrimentally impact family members and society as a whole. This study revealed several themes that show the far reaching damage incarceration itself has on women and their families and provides a more comprehensive analysis of the incalculable costs of mass incarceration. By raising awareness to the long-term impact on society, this research can provide …

Pretrial Release Policy Portfolios: Examining Changes Over Time In States With Low Policy Activity, Madison Kristine Doyle

Theses and Dissertations

Changes in the policy process is one of the lesser explored phenomena within the field of criminal justice. A basis of knowledge about changes in various criminal justice policy processes in the U.S., could benefit scholars and practitioners alike. This thesis explores changes in content of pretrial release policy (PRP) portfolios in states with the least policy activity both within and across states over time. A thematic content analysis of PRPs from eight U.S. states (Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Maine, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming) revealed how PRPs have changed in those states over time. States that had fewer …

Development Of A Management Guide For Concrete Bridge Decks In Utah, Tenli Waters Emery

Theses and Dissertations

The objectives of this research were to 1) investigate bridge deck condition assessment methods used in the field and laboratory, methods of managing bridge decks, and methods for estimating remaining bridge deck service life using computer models through a comprehensive literature review on these subjects; 2) collect and analyze field data from representative concrete bridge decks in Utah; and 3) develop a decision tree for concrete bridge deck management in Utah. As a result of the literature review performed for objective 1, a synthesis of existing information about condition assessment, bridge deck preservation and rehabilitation, bridge deck reconstruction, and estimating …

Attitudes Of Criminal Justice Students' Towards Women: Hegemonic Masculinity In The Workplace, Lauren Escovedo

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the following study is to examine positive, benevolent, and hostile attitudes towards women in the workplace held by criminal justice students enrolled at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. As well, to examine whether or not criminal justice students enrolled at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley believe that criminal justice personnel create a gender-neutral classroom environment. The application Qualtrics XM was used to comprise a 35 question survey that, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, was administered online to students for a two week period during the Fall 2020 semester. Criminal justice students …