Digital Commons Network^™

Passing, Segregation, And Assimilation: How Nella Larsen Changed The Passing Novel, Vivian Maguire

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In 1929, Nella Larsen wrote Passing, a novel that delves into the lives of two African-American women living in segregated society. Passing portrays the reunion of two childhood friends, Clare Kendry and Irene Westover. The two had lost touch when Clare's father died and Clare was forced to move in with her two white and racist aunts. When they meet again, Irene is living in Harlem with her two children and her husband, who practices medicine. Clare has married a successful businessman, John Bellew. Clare's husband however, is a white racist who is unaware that Clare is in fact black. …

Identification Of A Novel Cytokine Inducible Stat5 Phosphoserine Site (Ps193) That Positively Regulates Its Transcriptional Activity And Is Found Constitutively Activated In Certain Hematopoietic Cancers, Abhisek Mitra

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Hematological malignancies such as leukemia and lymphoma, can develop from aberrant changes in the cell signaling molecules to drive their uncontrolled cellular proliferation and differentiation. Activation, maturation, expansion and differentiation of T cells are critically regulated by the dynamics of various transcription factors activated by a variety of cytokines. Additionally, multiple effector molecules that mediate these T cells dependent signals include the JAK (Janus Kinase)-STAT (Signal transducer and activator of transcription) cascade. These signaling proteins are activated in response to a broad array of cytokines. Constitutively activated JAKs and STATs have been described in several T cell malignancies. A growing …

Copper Isotope Fractionation During Surface Adsorption And Intracellular Incorporation By Bacteria, Jesica Urbina Navarrete

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Copper isotopes may prove to be a useful tool for investigating bacteria-metal interactions recorded in natural waters, soils, and rocks. However, experimental data that constrain Cu isotope fractionation in biologic systems are limited and unclear. In this study we utilized Cu isotopes (65Cu) as a tool to investigate Cu-bacteria interactions, including surface adsorption and intracellular incorporation. Experiments were conducted with individual Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) bacterial species as well as with bacterial consortia from several natural environments. Adsorption experiments were conducted with live or dead cells over the pH range 2.5 to 6. Surface adsorption of Cu …

Development Of Nanotube Hexaniobate For Photocatalytic Production Of Hydrogen From Water, Saroja Pradhan

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

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Study Of Pbdes In Wastewater, Water And Sludge Of El Paso Del Norte Border Region Using Sbse Td/Gc-Ms, Beatriz Adriana Rocha-Gutierrez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are a group of brominated compounds widely used as flame retardants. PBDEs are structurally similar to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and appear to act similarly in the environment. Due to their persistence and lipophilicity, PBDEs are found to be bioaccumulated and biomagnified in the food chain. Current research in PBDEs is focused on their occurrences, concentration, fate and transport in the environment, and the impact in the ecosystem and human health. Since PBDEs are not regulated in the USA, large amounts of these harmful chemicals are being dumped indiscriminately into the drainage system. As a result, these …

The Internet As A Social Contract, Kenneth Wayne Sayles

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Internet is a complex network, with both physical and virtual aspects, and is composed of a vast community of individuals at various levels. This complexity makes exploring ethical issues on the Internet difficult because the many relationships that occur among the individual Internet entities make Internet governance difficult and varied. But the social contract theories of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau can provide a practical way of understanding Internet governance by investigating these relationships that have formed among the individuals of the Internet through their interactions. Previous research investigated using social contract theory for Internet governance, but …

School And Campus Characteristics Of Non-Graduating Seniors Due To Failure Of Taks Tests In The Western Independent School District, Patricia Silva

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study examined TAKS test scores of seniors that did not graduate with their cohort group due to failure of TAKS test. The data was for the 2007-2008, 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 school years and included students from ten traditional high schools. This researched focused on the relation between this senior cohort group and student and campus factors. The student characteristics included gender, ethnicity, at-risk status and students identified as economically disadvantaged and Limited English Proficient. The school characteristics included campus size, longevity of campus principal, teachers' classroom years of experience, and state and federal accountability factors. Through an observational and …

Politics Of Hegemony And Denial In The Rhetoric Of Language And Education Policy In Nepal: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Policy Documents And Government Sponsored Textbooks (1960-2009), Phanindra Kumar Upadhyaya

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

My dissertation analyses the power dynamics of policy documents and government sponsored text-books in Nepal since the 1960s making use of critical applied discourse analysis as its theoretical lens. It looks into the rhetoric of language policies and planning in Nepal and shows how such rhetoric has shaped the overall linguistic, ethno-linguistic, ethno-religious and educational scenario, both overtly and covertly. Drawing on Antonio Gramsci's "notion of hegemony" and Teun A. van Dijk's "theory of denial," I have shown that there are groups and individuals in societies that try to keep language under control for the promotion of their political, social, …

Effects Of Unbalanced Approach Volumes On Roundabout Operations, Marilyn Valdez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Modern roundabouts are increasingly popular in the United States due to their advantages in improving safety and reducing delay at intersections. A roundabout is an intersection in which traffic enters the intersection and travels in a circular counterclockwise motion around a center island. In a roundabout, priority is given to vehicles traveling in the circular roadway, and incoming traffic at the roundabout approach must yield to the circulating traffic. If there is an unbalance in approach volume, the approaches with higher input volumes may dominate the circulating flow preventing vehicles the other approaches to enter the roundabout. This may consequently …

Beyond "Infinite Jest": Post-Postmodern Solidarity In 9/11 Narratives, Najwa Heather Al-Tabaa

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

My thesis interrogates the postmodern view of popular culture as being banal and questions Theodore Adorno's view of postmodern consumer culture as ultimately anti- human(istic). My re-reading of postmodern popular culture finds that there is potential for meaningful human interaction through popular culture. My re-reading asserts that popular culture is capable of being a vehicle for solidarity. In my analysis I locate a postmodern paradigm shift in which human solidarity becomes a necessary consideration and focus of postmodern narratives and art forms. I term this shift "post-postmodernism" which is marked by a focus on solidarity.1 While the shift to the …

Isolation, Characterization And Molecular Cloning Of Dnase Iiib From Drosophila Melanogaster, Brenda Cristina Anchondo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Nucleases are enzymes that breakdown nucleic acids; they are classified by their biochemical properties into different groups (Evans et al., 2003). The ββα-Me finger family of nucleases are enzymes that combine structurally different groups but they are defined by a highly evolutionary conserved active site, a stretch of 22 amino acids composed by a β-hairpin (ββ) and α-helix (α) that anchor a catalytic metal ion (Sokolowska et al, 2009). Within this family is found the DNA/RNA non-specific nucleases. Nucleases that belong to the DNA/RNA non-specific group hydrolyze both ds and ss DNA, as well as RNA at equal or similar …

Sensitivity Analysis Of The Johnson-Cook Plasticity Model For Hypervelocity Impacts: A Hydro-Code Study, Carlos David Castellanos

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Computer simulations have been in use for decades in the modeling of hypervelocity impacts and general large deformation problems. Several computer codes have been developed to simulate this type of problems under a variety of geometric configurations and for any number of materials. These codes make use of several constitutive material models to simulate the response of the material under a variety of thermo-mechanical conditions. The Johnson-Cook constitutive model is widely used in the simulation hypervelocity impacts for the simulation of crater formation and even perforation of target structures. This thesis presents the results of a sensitivity study of this …

Synthesis And Manufacture Of Photocrosslinkable Poly(Caprolactone)-Based 3d Scaffolds For Tissue Engineering Applications, Nathan Jonathan Castro

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

It is known that the body can efficiently repair hard tissue (bone) micro fractures by suturing the defect through the deposition of minerals resulting in an area that is stronger post-injury. Larger defects, however, generally cause more trouble since the body is incapable of repairing them. Bone defects can occur as a result of congenital abnormalities, trauma, or disease. Traditional methods for addressing these defects have involved the use of acellular cadaverous bone or autologous bone. Both contain innate problems associated with them; the former method can result in disease transmission, as well as very low integration with the host …

Conversion Of Racemic Ibuprofen To (S)-Ibuprofen, David Chavez-Flores

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Ibuprofen is a common Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug (NSAID) sold as a racemic or equal mixture of (R) and (S) mirror-image enantiomers. Without patent protection, ibuprofen is an orphan drug even though one enantiomer, (S)-ibuprofen, provides relief three times faster than its racemic mixture with fewer side effects. The goal of this research was to develop a facile, environmentally benign (no waste of ibuprofen or catalysts), and inexpensive process to convert a commercially available racemic mixture of ibuprofen to the therapeutically active (S)-ibuprofen.

After many attempts, the most successful conversion of racemic ibuprofen to (S)-ibuprofen was the in situ racemization and …

A Survey Of Variables Influencing Speech-Language Pathologists' Use Of Evidence-Based Practice In Clinical Settings, Ailbhe Tressan Cormack

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Although the need for evidence-based practice (EBP) in speech-language pathology has been well attested, multiple barriers hamper its implementation. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare variables influencing the use of EBP by practicing speech-language pathologists (SLPs). Method: Eighty-five SLPs based out of different primary work settings in El Paso, Texas responded to a survey addressing: 1. attitudes and perceived barriers toward EBP, 2. exposure to EBP, research methodology and statistics in graduate courses, 3. time in practice, 4. practice setting(s), 5. amount and nature of support for EBP in work settings, and 6. use of research literature …

Engineering Design Educational Model: From Skills To Objectives, Jose Gabriel Davila Rangel

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The objective of this thesis is to develop an engineering design educational pedagogy on how to improve the engineering design learning experience. The design engineering activity is a complex mix of skills and knowledge that has been taught over decades by directly delivering to the students the design methodologies developed by design researchers and by exposing the students to open ended projects that could develop their design skills. Understanding this we can conclude that the three main pedagogical components of a successful educational design experience are: the design skills, the design methods and the design projects. On one hand, the …

Automated Fluid Handling And Leveling System For Multiple Material Stereolithography, Yinko I. Grajeda

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This work addresses the development of an automated multiple material fluid handling and leveling system for its implementation into a Multiple-Material Stereolithography (MMSL) apparatus. A patent filed by Wicker et al. (US Patent 7,556,490) disclosing a MMSL apparatus served as the basis for the development of this work. The system is designed to operate in a variety of MMSL apparatus configurations. Fluid vats are designed to meet the enclosure constraints, facilitate the interface to the pump and sensor, and support the handling of the fluids. Due to its fluid isolation and bi-directional flow capabilities, a digital drive peristaltic pump is …

Analysis Of Secondary Data On The Causes And Consequences Of Migration In Central American Children, Jacquelin Hawley

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

It is said that immigration is approaching historic levels, and it is believed that one-third of the foreign-born population in the United States is undocumented. By examining the available research on Central American families that migrate to the United States, it seems plausible to argue that one of the main causes for migration is the lack of employment opportunities in their home country. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between the migration of Central American youth and low employment opportunities. The paper intends to address the following questions. Is lack of employment opportunities a cause for …

Mujeres Haciendo Frente Al Desplazamiento Forzado / Women Confronting Forced Displacement, Rocio Clarisa Lemus

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The main question of this research whether or not a relationship exists between gender and forced displacement. More specifically, my interest is to document the experiences that women undergo when they are forced to leave their places of origin due to the Colombian War. The present research looks both to study the current condition of women who live in displaced condition in Bogotá and to contribute to the discussion regarding the concept of ambivalent empowerment. The analysis of the information is enriched by the Intersectionality Theory of Patricia Hill Collins . The research method and design used in this research …

Embodied Cognition As Refutation To Langer's "Illusory Powers": "I Move, Therefore, I Know", Ruby Amanda Montana

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Thesis Objective: To refute Susanne Langer's notion within her philosophy of dance which holds that emotional forces in dance are solely "virtual" and thus illusory. I plan to do so by means of the growing research in the branch of cognitive science known as Embodied Cognition.

In Brief: Susanne Langer, one of the most prominent philosophers of Aesthetics, contends that dance is able to express emotions as an external force, while creating what she calls a "primary illusion". Langer attributes gesture as the basic abstraction whereby the dance illusion is made and organized. Furthermore, she contends that dance is not …

Tuberculosis And Stigma: Impacts On Health-Seeking Behaviors And Access In Ciudad Juarez, Mexico And El Paso, Texas., Eva Margarita Moya

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This exploratory research is a study of tuberculosis (TB) and health-related stigma which examines the experiences and perspectives on the disease from the vantage point of the Persons Affected by Tuberculosis (PATB). Research on the causes and sustainability of stigma will be useful to guide health and social interventions that reduce its effects. Also of importance is research that focuses on the behavioral and psychological as well as in the social context and dimensions of TB-related stigma. The personal experience of tuberculosis illustrates that an infectious disease entails much more than treatment involving medications, microbes and risk categories. Stigma associated …

What Motivates Young Latina Females Along The U.S. Mexico Border Region To Participate In Team Sports?, Dora A. Pichardo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Physical activity gives women and girls an overall better quantity of life and positive health benefits. Statistics indicate lack of participation in physical activity and exercise by the U.S. general population and among the Latino population in particular. The primary purpose of this study is to explore the variables that motivate young Latinas to play and eventually continue to stay involved in team sports. This is a survey correlational study including young Latina females a U.S.-Mexico border community. Statistical analysis included frequencies, means, and Pearson Product Momentum Correlations. Sixty-nine participants (12 to 15 years old) completed the survey. The response …

Bajo La Lira De Dios, Manuel José Rincón Domí­Nguez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The novel is about William Walker, his dictature in Nicaragua, his dead and the American presence in latinoamerican countries.

Dominant Discourses Embedded In Popular Culture: An Analysis Of Brazilian Teachers` Consciousness, Luciene Soares Wandermurem

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Many scholars believe that popular culture is part of students` identity and a symbol of subordinated groups` resistance to cultural domination, therefore they support the use of popular culture in the classroom as a way to value students` identity. However, scholars also recognize that often times popular culture is manipulated by elites so as to convey discourses that oppress people of color as an strategy to maintain the status quo. In Brazil, country where this research was conducted, white male individuals are the ones who have historically held power and money, utilizing the media as an instrument of social control. …

Physical And Biochemical Assessment Of Mexican Palo Verde Response To Chromium Toxicity, Yong Zhao

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In the United States, about 1/3 of the 1400 superfund sites have been reported to be chromium contaminated, making chromium the second most common metal found in superfund chemical contamination sites. Chromium removal from soil has commonly been carried out via chemical, physical, and thermal processes. However, these methods are expensive and/or invasive to local ecosystems. In contrast to these techniques, phytoremediation (the use of plants to remove toxic substances from areas containing contamination at low or medium levels) appears to be a cost-effective and environmentally friendly process for chromium removal. However, most reports on chromium phytoremediation suggest that this …

Security By Contractor: Outsourcing In Peace And Stability Operations, Volker Franke

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Flawed Assumptions: A Corporate Law Analysis Of Free Speech And Corporate Personhood In Citizens United, Anne M. Tucker

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Physical Classroom Environment On Student Satisfaction And Student Evaluation Of Teaching In The University Environment, Mary C. Hill, Kathryn K. Epps

Faculty Articles

Recently, many colleges and universities have made significant investments in upgraded classrooms and learning centers, incorporating such factors as tiered seating, customized lighting packages, upgraded desk and seat quality, and individual computers. To date, few studies have examined the impact of classroom environment at post-secondary institutions. The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of classroom environment factors on individual student satisfaction measures and on student evaluation of teaching in the university environment. Two-hundred thirty-seven undergraduate business students were surveyed regarding their perceptions of classroom environment factors and their satisfaction with their classroom, instructor, and course. The results …

Statement, Winter 2010, Office Of Alumni Relations. Morehead State University

Morehead State Alumni Association Publications

Statement Magazine of Morehead State University from Winter of 2010.

What I Talk About When I Talk About Health Law, Elizabeth Weeks

Scholarly Works

Invited contribution celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Beazley Institute for Health Law & Policy.