Digital Commons Network^™

The Effect Of Aeration Rate And Free-Floating Carrier Media On The Emission Of Bacillus Globigii In Bioaerosols, Andrew J. Owens

Theses and Dissertations

Aerosols produced by turbulent mechanical mixing and bubble aeration at Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTPs) become bioaerosols with the entrainment of biological materials. Bioaerosols become a public health risk when human pathogens are present. This study evaluated bioaerosols containing Bacillus globigii (BG) spores, and the effects that aeration rate and the addition of Free-Floating Carrier Media (FFCM) had on the amount of BG spores collected following aerosolization. A series of laboratory-scale experiments investigated two different sizes of floating polystyrene spheres as FFCM and four different aeration rates. When the differences in compared aeration rates were sufficiently large, a positive correlation …

Preferred Treatment Methods For Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease, James L. Deitschel

Theses and Dissertations

Shared decision making is the concept of physicians involving patients in the treatment planning process. The University of Maryland Medical Center is interested in applying shared decision making to the treatment of patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). The two treatment methods analyzed in this study were medical management and surgery. To explore patient preferences between these two alternatives, a discrete choice experiment (DCE) was employed. The responses for the DCE were binary, so logistic regression models were explored. The conditional logistic regression model was determined to be the most appropriate for this analysis. After step-wise regression was performed, a …

Retrospective Cohort Study Of Pure Tone Audiometry Threshold Shifts From Ototoxic Substance, Continuous Noise, And Impulse Noise Exposures At Tinker Air Force Base From 2005 To 2019, Marc J. Blair

Theses and Dissertations

This retrospective cohort epidemiology study sought to establish the comparative risks and potential indicators of hearing loss associated with combinations of ototoxic substances, impulse noise, and continuous noise exposure. Currently, there is not an existing model or methodology in the Department of Defense (DoD) that joins occupational exposure data and pure tone audiometric data. After developing an integrated database model for Tinker Air Force Base, the largest of three depot installations within Air Force Material Command, 2,372 individuals were grouped into eight combinations of exposure groups with a minimum three years exposure duration to hazards. The incidence rates and relative …

Development And Characterization Of A Filter-Based Bioaerosol Sampler Capable Of Integration Into Small Unmanned Aerial Systems, Stephanie A. Ohms

Theses and Dissertations

In developing functional SUAS, performance characteristics that indicate system capability should be developed prior to initiating initial system design. Key performance parameters should be developed involving all system elements (including vehicle body, operator, ground station, sensor, and algorithm or processing module). A bioaerosol sampler designed specifically for the use in SUAS was characterized based on designated performance measures to determine overall effectiveness compared to traditional bioaerosol samplers. For a system with a goal of accurately identifying and quantifying areas of airborne biological contamination or surveying background levels for longitudinal studies, performance parameters such as weight of the vehicle with payload …

Determination Of Lithium Isotope Concentration By Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Using Chemometrics, Jason C. Wood

Theses and Dissertations

The role of enriched 6Li in nuclear applications makes the ability to detect and monitor lithium enrichment activity imperative. Detecting levels of enrichment of this isotope currently requires sensitive, complex equipment operated by highly-trained technicians, which is prohibitive to rapid detection of enrichment activity. While commercial companies market portable laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) with the ability to detect elements on the order or parts per million concentrations, they have not yet been demonstrated to possess the ability to quantitatively determine isotopic concentrations of lithium. This research performs single-pulse LIBS experiments under laboratory conditions to determine concentrations of 7Li and …

Small-Town Living: Do Illinois Universities Understand The Rural College Student?, Erik Andrew Dalmasso

Theses and Dissertations

Rural students are confronted with unique challenges when considering postsecondary choices. According to McShane and Smarick (2018), scholarship on this overarching issue is limited, as it is “often shunted to specialized journals that have not been able to integrate findings into the broader education policy conversation” (p. 1). Rural students, and to a broader extent, rural education have little voice in the postsecondary pathways that have been created within higher education (Goldman, 2019). Recruitment of rural students, financial aid policy, remediation/developmental programming, state and federal postsecondary legislation have largely treated rural students in tandem with their urban and suburban peers, …

A Qualitative Study Of The Genesis Of A Community Food Pantry For Students Of Higher Education, Elizabeth Fast

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The purpose of this case study was to understand the development of a food pantry for students of higher education at a Midwestern university.

Methods: The researchers recruited 11 individuals on the food pantry’s board using a snowball sampling method to participate in a 30-minute interview about the food pantry’s development from conception to implementation. The interviews were transcribed and then qualitatively analyzed by two researchers. The researchers coded interviews separately to identify frequent commonalities between participant responses. The researchers then organized the codes into themes, which were then summarized in the results of this study.

Results: The first …

Voice, Choice, And ( Material ) Agency: The Sexualized Feminine Body In Young Adult Literature, Tharini Viswanath

Theses and Dissertations

My study unites two disparate strands of feminist theory: the linguistic, which emphasizes the relationship between language and power, and the material, which argues that the human body has its own agency. I raise three main points. First, I contend that the sexualized feminine body is the site of neither the linguistic nor the material independent of one another, but both the linguistic and the material existing in a state of fluidity and interdependency, which combine to grant the young female character agency. Second, I contend that feminist novels should not only have strong female characters, but that they should …

Mediation Among Maladaptive Perfectionism, Maladaptive Emotion Regulation, And Distress, Jennifer L. Woodrum

Theses and Dissertations

Perfectionism is a personality trait characterized by high standards for performance (Frost, Marten, Lahart, & Rosenblate, 1990) and a striving for flawlessness (Flett & Hewitt, 2002). Maladaptive perfectionism, which has to do with self-critical thoughts (Dunkley, Zuroff, & Blankstein, 2003) and feelings of falling short of high standards (Slaney, Rice, & Ashby, 2002), is often associated with maladaptive strategies of emotion regulation (Aldea & Rice, 2006; Dunkley et al., 2003; Rudolph, Flett, & Hewitt, 2007). Additionally, research has shown that general use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies mediates the relation between maladaptive perfectionism and distress (Aldea & Rice, 2006; Di …

Productivity Of Kale (Brassica Oleracea Var. Acephala) And Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis Niloticus) Culture In Aquaponic Systems, Kazir Adewale Afolabi

Theses and Dissertations

Crop production and aquaculture play important roles in food security and water withdrawals and contribute to over 70% of global water consumption. The aquaponic system is a sustainable way of integrating soilless crop farming and freshwater fish farming in a single system to reduce water consumption and pollution, increase food production per unit area, thereby rendering economic benefits to the farmer. In this study, an attempt was made to assess the productivity of aquaponic systems by measuring the biomass output of fish and crop, water requirement, as well as net-financial gain of the production unit. Two aquaponic systems types were …

Using A Data Science Driven Approach To Analyzing Chemistry Hazard Code Data, Devlon Bomer

Theses and Dissertations

There exists a mostly unexplored ‘big data’ dataset comprising of chemical hazard and safety codes. The purpose of this research is to apply a data science methodology to the problem of exploring this data. The data was run through extract-transform-load protocols, and then through data mining algorithms. The results are described and discussed. More work could be done on the subject, but this paper starts the process.

Plate Detection Using Deep Learning, Besart Mustafa

Theses and Dissertations

The detection of a vehicle License Plate is a key technique in most of the applications related to vehicles movement. Automatic detection of car license plate number became a very important in our daily life because of the unlimited increase of cars and transportation systems whichmake it impossible to be fully managed and monitored by humans, examples are so many like traffic monitoring, tracking stolen cars, managing parking toll, red-light violation enforcement,border and customs checkpoint.As known is a quite popular and active research topic in the field of image processing.Diffrent methods and algorithms have been developed to detect License Plate(LP).In …

Niveli I Njohurive Të Grave Të Trajtuara Në Qkmf-Në E Komunës Së Pejës Lidhur Me Diagnostikimin E Hershëm Të Kancerit Të Gjirit, Vlera Gashi

Theses and Dissertations

Qëllimi i kësaj teme është të japë sado pak ndihmë në ngritjen e nivelit të vetëdijesimit dhe sensibilizimit të popullatës lidhur me sëmundjen e kancerit të gjirit. Duke e vlerësuar nivelin aktual të njohurive tek gjinia femërore, do japim rekomandime për mundësitë e ngritjes së nivelit të njohurive të popullatës tek autoritetet relevante shëndetësore.

Metodat e vlerësimit të gjendjes së gjinjëve mbështeten duke filluar në grumbullimin e të dhënave anamnestike, vetëkzaminimi i gjinjeve, ekzaminimi klinik, ku merr pjesë edhe inspeksioni dhe palpimi, pastaj vazhdohet me metodat imazherike si ekzaminimi me ultratingull i gjinjeve, mamografia, rezonanca magetike (MRI), citologjia aspirative, core …

Kujdesi Infermieror Tek Pacientët Me Infeksione Purulente, Ermale Shala

Theses and Dissertations

Hyrje: Një sëmundje purulente është ajo që gjeneron shumë qelb.Një akumulim i qelbës në një hapësirë indi të mbyllur njihet si një absces, ndërsa një koleksion i dukshëm i qelbës brenda ose nën epidermës njihet si një puçërr ose njoll.Ky punim është realizuar me qëllim të zgjerimit të njohurive të infermierëve të ardhshëm në fushën e parandalimit të infeksioneve purulente ndaj pacientit respektivisht kujdesit infermieror ndaj tyre.

Metodologjia: Kemi kryer një studim retrospektiv tek pacientët me infeksione purulente përkatsisht me abses flegmon dhe fascit nekrotizues të shtruar dhe te trajtuar në Kliniken e Kirurgjisë Plastike QKUK Prishtinë gjatë periudhës kohore …

Gestational Infections And Obesity: Implications For Intellectual Disability Risk, Maggie S. J. Mccarter

Theses and Dissertations

Maternal body weight, measured as Body Mass Index (BMI) and infection during pregnancy are established risk factors of multiple adverse birth outcomes that are also associated with intellectual disability (ID) in children, but little is known of the interaction of these two factors. This retrospective cohort study sought to explore whether BMI is an effect modifier in the association between maternal infection during pregnancy and ID of the child, and to make comparisons between categories of gestational infection. The study sample (n= 124,047 after exclusion) was derived from Medicaid administrative data. After preliminary analysis of interaction, stratified logistic regression analysis …

Assessment Of Forage Quality Among The Sudangrasses, Sweet And Grain Sorghum Inbred Lines At Different Cutting Time Points, Muziri Mugwanya

Theses and Dissertations

Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench is the world's fifth mostly cultivated cereal after wheat, corn, barley, and oats. Although originated in Ethiopia, the United States is the leading producer and exporter of grain sorghum worldwide. In Africa, it is the second most widely grown crop after corn and mainly cultivated in the arid and semi-arid regions of the continent. Its hardiness to environmental stress and low costs of production has made it a more viable forage crop for animal consumption in marginal agricultural regions. In this study, twelve sorghum varieties were evaluated for their forage quality based on their agro-morphological traits …

Sustainable Treatment Of Tanneries Wastewater Using Low-Cost And Highly Efficient Materials, Sarah Ehab Abdelkader

Theses and Dissertations

Chromium sulfate salt (Cr2(SO4)3) is the tanning agent used in the chrome tanning process, but during the process around 30 or 40% of the chromium is discharged as chromium III residues in the tannery's wastewater resulting in serious health and environmental problem in case of discharging to the environment without appropriate treatment. The main objective of this study is to investigate the efficiency of using solid waste materials for low-cost trivalent chromium removal from tanneries wastewater. This study was conducted in 5 phases: phase I, phase II, phase III, phase IV and phase V. In phase I, two groups of …

Caregivers And People With Disabilities: Relational Embodiment Of Stigma And Concern In Egypt, Nahla Omarah

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores disability as a relational model and how stigma is produced within an Egyptian domain. This study focuses not only on People with Disabilities (PWDs) but rather on their primary caregivers i.e. parents and siblings. I examine how stigma affects the relationship between caregivers and their disabled family members. I also explore how some relatives run the risk of being stigmatized themselves by association develop a "stigmaphile response". Thus, exploring the notion of concern that is inevitable in caregiver-PWD relationship and how this embodies individuals into new subjectivities under society's control. Furthermore, this thesis aims at finding a …

Impact Of Artificial Intelligence On Education For Employment: (Learning And Employability Framework), Akram Marwan

Theses and Dissertations

Sustainable development has been a global goal and one of the key enablers to achieve the sustainable development goals is by securing decent jobs. However, decent jobs rely on the quality of education an individual has got, which value the importance of studying new education for employment frameworks that work. With the evolution of artificial intelligence that is influencing every industry and field in the world, there is a need to understand the impact of such technology on the education for employment process. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and assess how AI can foster the education for …

Utilization Of Chlorella Vulgaris For Biomass Production And Treatment Of Wastewater From Greenhouse Farms, Yousif Adam

Theses and Dissertations

In the current research work, green microalgae C. vulgaris was used for treating hydroponic and aquaponic wastewater collected from the Center for Applied Research on the Environment and Sustainability (CARES) at The American University in Cairo (New Cairo, Egypt) and for producing biomass. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the use of microalgae for bioremediating wastewater from greenhouse farm and for producing biomass under different conditions and to explore the economic implications of microalgal biofuels, focusing on the effect of different cultivation modes. Various experiments were carried out into four phases to assess the effect of different conditions into …

Pegylated Chitosan / Doxorubicin Nanoparticles And Conjugated With Monoclonal Antibodies For Breast Cancer Therapy, Omar Helmi Zidan

Theses and Dissertations

The potential of nanobiomedical field for developing a promising therapeutic nano-sized drug delivery system is seen to be a great pharmaceutical trend for encapsulation and release of various antineoplastic drugs. In this context, the current work is targeting preparation of biodegradable chitosan nanoparticles (CSNP) that have been intended for selective and sustained release of doxorubicin (DOX) within breast tumor microenvironment. Surface modification of these CSNP with Polyethylene glycol (PEG) was performed in order for enhancing its blood circulation time without being opsonized or captured by immunogenic reticuloendothelial system (RES). PEG has maintained high particles stability profile and enhanced its surface …

Mustaqillat: Navigating Women's Mobilities In Post-2011 Egypt, Ghadeer Ahmed Eldamaty

Theses and Dissertations

Following the Egyptian revolution of January, the 25th, 2011, the term women's independence, istiqlal ijtma'ay, has been widely used by young Egyptian women. A mustaqilla (independent woman) identifies herself as a woman who is socio-economically independent from her family, lives on her own, and works to support herself. This thesis is concerned with the emergence of independent women, mustaqillat, as a social phenomenon, and questions how the phenomenon of istiqlal is constructed. What are its socio-economic dimensions, and associated meanings? Based on an ethnographic fieldwork with a group of Egyptian women who identify themselves as mustaqillat, this thesis focuses on …

Evaluation Of The Strength Of The Norm Against Chemical Weapons Usage Through The International Reaction. Case Study: Chemical Weapons Usage In Syria., Omnya Yassin

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to evaluate the strength of the existing norm and conventions banning the usage of chemical weapons through the international reactions. Although it is agreed by many scholars that chemical weapons were banned due to moral, military and political reasons, this research will examine the political expediency behind the existing norm; due to the lack of efficient, strong and decisive international reactions. The paper will go through the background on Syria's chemical weapons program and will provide a brief on the Syrian civil war where the chemical weapons were used. Also, the paper will go …

Valued Living And Fibromyalgia, Sean Elizabeth Edwards

Theses and Dissertations

Prior research has attempted to identify links between trauma and chronic illness, specifically, Fibromyalgia (FM). Due to the lack of understanding of the etiology of FM and the high reports of trauma and stress and FM, many have theorized there is a connection. There is minimal literature on an individual’s perception of their FM and their willingness to engage in value based behavior. The idea of value based behavior is founded on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and the mindfulness strategies meant to increase psychological flexibility and living a life according to one’s values. The current research evaluated patients with FM …

Analysis Of The Primary And Global Factors Of The 16pf To Evaluate Individual Traits The General Population Can Predict As They Relate To The Scale Of Accurate Personality Prediction (Sapp), Brittany Allison Haage

Theses and Dissertations

Miller (2000) developed the Scale of Accurate Personality Prediction (SAPP), which was derived from a formula comparing obtained and self-predicted scores from the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF)’s 21 scales. While this measure creates one score speaking to the accuracy in self-prediction of a participant across all the traits, this present study was developed in order to examine each of the 21 traits individually. This includes the 16 primary factors and the 5 global factors. Archival data from 609 participants was analyzed through 5 Pearson correlational analyses. One of the correlational analyses was performed on the total sample of 609 …

Finding Bias: Impact Of Professional Attire And Occupation Status On Compliance With Medical Advice From Female Health Care Providers, Jordan Alexandra Weber

Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to expand upon previous findings from research that suggested a provocative self-presentation harms women in high-, but not low-, status jobs. In previous research, the target was presented in explicitly sexy and inappropriate clothing for a work environment, compared to more conservative clothing. In the current study, only minor changes in clothing were utilized to classify the outfit as provocative or conservative. This produced a more covert provocative target as the differences were minimal. Participants were randomly assigned to four different groups and were presented with an image of a women in either provocative or conservative …

Attitudes And Risk Perceptions Of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (Ends) Use Among Adults With Mental Health Disorders, Alexis Leeann Booth

Theses and Dissertations

The rates of tobacco use among U.S. adults have been steadily decreasing over the past few years; however, the decline in smoking has been replaced with an increase in the use of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS). ENDS are battery operated devices which involve the heating of an “e-liquid” to produce a vapor or aerosol which is then inhaled by the user, and are often referred to as “vapes, e-cigs, e-cigarettes, and vaporizers.” Individuals with mental health disorders smoke combustible cigarettes and use ENDS products at disproportionately higher rates than the general population. To date, research has not examined the …

Analysis Of Single-Cell Rna-Seq Reveals Dynamic Changes During Macrophage State Transition In Atherosclerosis Mouse Model, Ahmed Safwat Abouhashem

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Atherosclerosis is an arterial inflammation that causes ischemic heart disease, which is the first leading cause of death worldwide. Macrophages play major roles during disease development by having pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory functions. Lack of effective treatment is mainly due to incomplete understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying disease progression and regression. Materials and methods: The transcripts of the macrophages from two aortic samples from atherosclerotic region during disease progression and regression were analyzed using previously published dataset (GEO Accession GSE123587). Pre-processing, clustering of cells and identification of unique markers for each cluster were done using Seurat package implemented in …

A Comparison Of Running Shoe Optimal Stiffness And Speed, Aubree Remund Mcleod

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Increasing the longitudinal bending stiffness of a running shoe decreases metabolic energy cost. Optimal stiffness occurs at the stiffness with the lowest metabolic cost. However, it is still unclear how optimal stiffness varies among individuals. The primary purpose of this study was to understand how optimal shoe stiffness is affected by running speed. A secondary purpose examined the anatomical and biomechanical characteristics associated with optimal stiffness variation. Methods: Six shoe stiffness conditions were manufactured by inserting carbon fiber plates between the midsole and outsole of a standard running shoe (shoe stiffness range: 9.26–23.83 N/mm). Twenty-one experienced male runners (mass …

Low-Cost Solid State Nanopore Biosensing Technology Towards Early Disease Detection, Julian Bello

Theses and Dissertations

Solid-state nanopore based biosensors are cost effective, high-throughput engines for single molecule detection of biomolecules, which is useful for detecting epigenetic modifications on DNA; one of these being the potentially cancerous hypo, or hypermethylation of CpG islands. Despite its immense potential in the realm of disease diagnostics, nanopore detection as it stands faces various limitations that inhibit it from widespread commercial use. These include the complex method of solid-state nanopore fabrication, fast DNA translocations through the pore causing poor resolution, and poor signal to noise ratio. The following work aims to improve the efficacy of the solid-state nanopore biosensing platform …