Digital Commons Network^™

The Art Of Engagement In A Tourist Economy: An Examination Of Prospect.2, Tara Foster

Arts Administration Master's Reports (1984-2016)

The landscape of contemporary art in New Orleans is a challenging one, and in relative infancy. U.S. Biennial, Inc. immediately following Hurricane Katrina saw an opportunity to merge this burgeoning scene with the well-established tourism industry. As a result, the Prospect New Orleans biennials are an attempt to increase cultural tourism through the presentation of international contemporary art exhibitions. Audience engagement is a current hot topic for arts organizations of all kinds. Concerns over sustainability and community relevance have led many arts organizations to deeply examine who their targeted audiences are and how they are engaging those audiences. While U.S. …

French Quarter Festivals, Incorporated: A Report On Volunteer Coordination And Educational Programming, Kylee Kidder

Arts Administration Master's Reports (1984-2016)

This internship report reviews the non-profit entity French Quarter Festivals, Inc. (FQFI), and each of the three festivals it produces. The report includes an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the organization and offers suggestions for improvements. The history of FQFI, a description of programs and a breakdown of the staff structure provide a basic understanding of the organization. For the purpose of this internship report, the timeframe being reviewed covers June 2012 through August 2012.

Finding The Maximum Magnitude Response (Gain) Of Second-Order Filters Without Calculus, Kenneth V. Cartwright, Patrick Russell, Edit J. Kaminsky

Electrical Engineering Faculty Publications

The maximum gain (with respect to frequency) of second-order filters such as low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, low-pass notch and high-pass notch filters is derived without using calculus. Our method uses the fact that the square of the magnitude response (gain) for these filters can be written as a positive constant divided by a quadratic function of frequency. Hence, the gain is maximized when the denominator of the gain is minimized, which is easily achieved without calculus, as the denominator is parabolic.

Racial Identity Attitudes, Perceived Barriers, Career Self-Efficacy, And Career Outcome Expectations Among African American Male Adolescents., Norman L. Townsel 1960-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) holds that self-efficacy and outcome expectations are primary predictors of career choice goals and actions, with contextual influences moderating those choices and actions. Racial identity research indicates that African American adolescents perceive more barriers than their White counterparts. The current study hypothesized that chronological age, racial identity attitudes, and the perception of barriers would be significant influences on self-efficacy and outcome expectations for African American adolescents. The study explored the research question using two separate stepwise regression analyses. The first analysis explored racial identity attitudes, age, and perceived barriers in relation to self efficacy. The …

Experience, Effectuation, And Something Good : Does The Use Of Effectuation Lead To Positive Outcomes?, Thomas E. Nelson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The theory of effectuation is ascending in entrepreneurship education. Hundreds of articles have been written on the topic. Many textbooks mention the theory, and one college level textbook teaches entrepreneurship entirely from an effectual perspective. Given its acceptance, the natural assumption is that effectuation is somehow 'good.' That is, there is some unique benefit that an entrepreneur gains from using effectuation. This dissertation examines the concept of effectuation, and its value to entrepreneurship. It seeks to determine if entrepreneurs who use effectual logic outperform entrepreneurs who don't. Four hundred and fifty entrepreneurs across three states are surveyed to determine if …

The Nature Of Implementing Response To Intervention In Fourth Grade, Maha Alsuliman

Dissertations

The ultimate goal of this concurrent embedded mixed-method study was to

describe the implementation of Response to Intervention (RTI) and understand the role of

Response to Intervention at the fourth-grade elementary school level on the academic

performance. This study examined both qualitative and quantitative data. In the

qualitative phase, a case-study method was utilized by collecting data in the form of

interviews, observations, and corresponding data collection. The quantitative data

examined student data based on progress monitoring in math and reading. The researcher

analyzed and graphed the students’ data to determine a trend of student performance

when provided with Response …

The Development Of The Simulation Thinking Rubric, Jessica Doolen

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Perceptions Of Special Educators On Disproportionate Representation, Troy Daniel Gonzales

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Resiliency With Pre-Adjudicated Females, Lori Ann Romont

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if there were differences between selected protective factors as self-reported by pre-adjudicated female youth and their parents. The determinants were presence of a loving caregiver, connectedness to school, academic success, and religiosity; the dependent variables were resilience and externalizing behavior. The study used a correlational research design that examined the relationships between the protective factors as self-reported by pre-adjudicated female youth and their parents. This study relied exclusively on youth and parental perceptions and self-report of resiliency using two self-report surveys involving the Behavior Assessment System for Children-Second Edition (BASC-2; Reynolds & …

Professional Basketball Consumer Behavior: An Analysis Of The Nba Servicscape, Atmospheric Music And Attendee Attitudes, Emotional Responses, And Behaviors, Crystal Southall

Dissertations

Sport is a unique product within the domain of entertainment and leisure services. Although the sport industry continues to grow, sport spectatorship has changed dramatically, with fans consuming sport through a variety of media outlets such as television and the Internet. Sport consumers can now watch live, delayed, or recorded sporting events when and where they choose, therefore sport organizations must focus their attention on sustainability through the creation of a competitive advantage in the staging of live sporting events. The National Basketball Association product is consumed in an increasingly stimulating consumptive landscape and therefore was the focus of the …

Night Music: The Twentieth Century Nocturne In Piano Teaching, Jessica L. Murdock

Dissertations

The solo piano repertoire contains numerous examples of nocturnes by a wide variety of composers. Chopin's nocturnes receive the most play time and are often used for pedagogical purposes. The purpose of this study is to explore the other piano nocturnes that could be used in piano pedagogy. The first chapter provides a discussion of the nocturne as a genre, including the definition of "nocturne" and the differences between the 19th and 20th Century conceptions of it. The second chapter lists nocturnes composed during the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century, as well as biographical and stylistic information of …

Resistance Is Futile: The Bacteriocin Model For Addressing The Antibiotic Resistance Challenge, Margaret A. Riley, Sandra M. Robinson, Christopher M. Roy, Morgan Dennis, Vivian Liu, Robert Dorit

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Pathogenic bacteria resistant to many or all antibiotics already exist. With the decline in microbiological research at pharmaceutical companies, the high rate at which resistance has evolved and spread has demanded a novel approach to addressing this critical human health issue. In the present paper, we propose a new paradigm in antibiotic discovery and development, one that applies ecological and evolutionary theory to design antimicrobial drugs that are more difficult and/or more costly to resist. In essence, we propose to simply adopt the strategies invented and applied by bacteria for hundreds of millions of years. Our research focuses on bacteriocins, …

Regulation Of Alternative Carbon Metabolism In Candida Albicans, Arely Y. Gonzalez

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Candida albicans is the most important fungal pathogen of humans. Transcript profiling studies show that upon phagocytosis by macrophages, C. albicans undergoes a massive metabolic reorganization activating genes involved in alternative carbon metabolism, including the glyoxylate cycle, β-oxidation and gluconeogenesis. Mutations in key enzymes such as ICL1 (glyoxylate cycle) and FOX2 (fatty acid β-oxidation) revealed that alternative carbon metabolic pathways are required for full virulence in C. albicans. These studies indicate C. albicans uses non-preferred carbon sources allowing its adaptation to microenvironments were nutrients are scarce. It has become apparent that the regulatory networks required for regulation of alternative …

Identifying Genetic Variants And Characterizing Their Role In Clubfoot, Katelyn S. Weymouth

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Clubfoot is a common, complex birth defect affecting 4,000 newborns in the United States and 135,000 world-wide each year. The clubfoot deformity is characterized by inward and rigid downward displacement of one or both feet, along with persistent calf muscle hypoplasia. Despite strong evidence for a genetic liability, there is a limited understanding of the genetic and environmental factors contributing to the etiology of clubfoot. The studies described in this dissertation were performed to identify variants and/or genes associated with clubfoot. Genome-wide linkage scan performed on ten multiplex clubfoot families identified seven new chromosomal regions that provide new areas to …

Predictors Of Drug Court Client Graduation, Marie E. Gill

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Background: Substance use disorder in the United States adversely effects society by burdening the justice system with offender incarceration for drug-related crimes, it also strains in the healthcare system with costs in excess of $216 billion dollars for treatment of drug-related mental and physical illnesses. Many offenders of nonviolent crimes with substance use disorder have been diverted to Drug Court (DC) for year-long supervised community-based drug addiction treatment as an alternative to incarceration for non-violent drug-related crimes. Drug Court program outcomes, however, have been studied as a criminal justice intervention, rather than a primary care mental health intervention. The majority …

Anti-Apoptotic Mcl-1 Localizes To The Mitochondrial Matrix And Couples Mitochondrial Fusion To Respiration, Rhonda Perciavalle

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

MCL-1, an anti-apoptotic BCL-2 family member that is essential for the survival of multiple cell lineages, is also among the most highly amplified genes in cancer. Although MCL-1 is known to oppose cell death, precisely how it functions to promote survival of normal and malignant cells is poorly understood. Here, I report that different forms of MCL-1 reside in distinct mitochondrial locations and exhibit separable functions. On the outer mitochondrial membrane, a MCL-1 isoform acts like other anti-apoptotic BCL-2 molecules to antagonize apoptosis, whereas an amino-terminally truncated isoform of MCL-1 that is imported into the mitochondrial matrix is necessary to …

High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (Hrms) Based Investigation Of Small Molecule, Bioactive Secondary Metabolites As Probes In The Examination Of Bacterial Resistance And Virulence, Jerrod Stephen Scarborough

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

The widespread availability of antimicrobial chemotherapeutics over the last half of the twentieth century has offered dramatic increases in life expectancy. Unfortunately, many pathogenic agents are exhibiting ever increasing resistance to many frontline antibiotics. New chemotherapeutic agents are urgently needed to combat this threat; this work seeks to illustrate applications in which mass spectrometric techniques may be applied to the investigation of novel, small molecule chemotherapeutics for the treatment of bacterial infections. Chapter 1 contains an introduction to mass spectrometry, as well as an overview of relevant chromatographic techniques. Chapter 2 introduces the bacterium F tularensis and M ulcerans and …

Radiation Exposure In Interventional Procedures, G. K. Korir, B. O. Ochieng, J. S. Wambani, I. K. Korir, C. Y. Jowi

Imaging & Diagnostic Radiology, East Africa

The aim of this study was to estimate radiation doses patients and staff are exposed to during interventional procedures (IPs), compare them with the international diagnostic reference levels and to develop initial National Diagnostic Reference Levels. The IP survey was undertaken as the initial task of which, retrospective data were collected from the only four Kenyan hospitals carrying out interventional radiology and cardiology procedures at the time of the study. Real-time measurement of radiation dose to patients and staff during these procedures was done. To the patients, kerma-area product (KAP) and fluoroscopy time measurements were done using an in-built KAP …

B-Type Natriuretic Peptide (Bnp): A Potential Biomarker For Extubation Failure In Infants Following Cardiac Surgery, Jennifer Flint, Lori Erickson, Dawn Tucker, Erica Molitor-Kirsch

Posters

Background: BNP is a hormone released from the cardiac ventricles in response to increased pressure and volume overload1 and is an important biomarker in heart failure. Following congenital heart surgery, elevated BNP levels correlate with longer duration of mechanical ventilation, low cardiac output syndrome, and increased ICU length of stay2-4 Mechanical ventilation (MV) has an exaggerated impact on cardiopulmonary interactions in children with myocardial dysfunction, and extubation readiness can be difficult to determine post-operatively following congenital heart surgery.

Hypothesis: An increase in post-extubation BNP levels can predict extubation failure and the need for reintubation within 48 hours.

Methods:

Design: prospective, …

Analysis Of The Effectiveness Of A Preseason Strength And Conditioning Program For Collegiate Men's And Women's Lacrosse, Aaron Michael Randolph

Dissertations

Lacrosse participation in recent years has experienced tremendous growth. Though lacrosse has been documented as the oldest team sport in North America, lack of research exists regarding appropriate strength and conditioning systems for the sport. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of two lacrosse-specific preseason strength and conditioning programs offered to NCAA DII men's and women's lacrosse players. This synthesizes literature covering lacrosse's past; lacrosse's current status; differences in play between men's and women's lacrosse; physiological profiles of male and female lacrosse athletes; injury prevalence in both genders; and the various strength training and conditioning …

Biogenic Amine Levels Correlate With Time Of Day, Age, Light Cycle, And Aggressive State In The Flesh Fly, Sarcophaga Crassipalpis, Veronica L. Fregoso

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The biogenic amines serotonin (5HT), dopamine (DA), and octopamine (OA) have been indicated in the regulation of behaviors, including aggression. The flesh fly, Sarcophaga crassipalpis, was used to investigate ontogenetic and circadian changes in amines and aggression. Heads of male flies were analyzed for amine content using high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection (HPLC-ECD) at 3 time points on each of 4 consecutive days in 2 light cycles, 12:12 LD and 15:9 LD. Both DA and OA levels decreased with age. Light-cycle dependent differences were observed for all amines in overall levels and patterns of change throughout the …

Venezuela As An Exporter Of 4th Generation Warfare Instability, Max G. Manwaring Dr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

Almost no one seems to understand the Marxist-Leninist foundations of Hugo Chavez’s political thought. It becomes evident, however, in the general vision of his “Bolivarian Revolution.” The abbreviated concept is to destroy the old foreign-dominated (U.S. dominated) political and economic systems in the Americas, to take power, and to create a socialist, nationalistic, and “popular” (direct) democracy in Venezuela that would sooner or later extend throughout the Western Hemisphere. Despite the fact that the notion of the use of force (compulsion) is never completely separated from the Leninist concept of destroying any bourgeois opposition, Chavez’s revolutionary vision will not be …

India's Changing Afghanistan Policy: Regional And Global Implications, Harsh V. Pant Dr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

View the Executive Summary

Since 2001, the situation in Afghanistan has afforded New Delhi an opportunity to underscore its role as a regional power. India has a growing stake in the development of peace and stability in Afghanistan; and the 2011 India-Afghan strategic partnership agreement underlines India’s commitment to ensure that a positive momentum in Delhi-Kabul ties is maintained. This monograph examines the changing trajectory of Indian policy toward Afghanistan since 2001, and it is argued that New Delhi has been responding to a strategic environment shaped by other actors in the region. U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces are …

Salud Y Saludos: The E-News Of The College Of Health Sciences, College Of Health Sciences

College of Health Sciences

Monthly e-newsletter of the University of Texas at El Paso.

Data Mining Of Pancreatic Cancer Protein Databases, Peter Revesz, Christopher Assi

School of Computing: Conference and Workshop Papers

Data mining of protein databases poses special challenges because many protein databases are non- relational whereas most data mining and machine learning algorithms assume the input data to be a type of rela- tional database that is also representable as an ARFF file. We developed a method to restructure protein databases so that they become amenable for various data mining and machine learning tools. Our restructuring method en- abled us to apply both decision tree and support vector machine classifiers to a pancreatic protein database. The SVM classifier that used both GO term and PFAM families to characterize proteins gave …

Differential Surface Deposition Of Complement Proteins On Logarithmic And Stationary Phase Leishmania Chagasi Promastigotes, Amanda Ramer-Tait, Soi Meng Lei, Bryan H. Bellaire, Jeffrey K. Beetham

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Previous works demonstrated that various species of Leishmania promastigotes exhibit differential sensitivity to complement-mediated lysis (CML) during development. Upon exposure to normal human serum (NHS), cultures of Leishmania chagasi promastigotes recently isolated from infected hamsters (fewer than 5 in vitro passages) are CML-sensitive when in the logarithmic growth phase but become CML-resistant upon transition to the stationary culture phase. Visualization by light and electron microscopy revealed dramatic morphological differences between promastigotes from the 2 culture phases following exposure to NHS. Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that surface deposition of the complement components C3, C5, and C9 correlated inversely with promastigote CML-resistance. …

Glutaredoxin 2 (Grx2) Knockout Increases Sensitivity To Oxidative Stress In Mouse Lens Epithelial Cells, Hongli Wu, Liren Lin, Frank Giblin, Ye-Sheh Ho, Marjorie F. Lou

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Glutaredoxin belongs to the oxidoreductase family with cytosolic glutaredoxin 1 (Grx1) and mitochondrial gluraredoxin 2 (Grx2) isoforms. Of the two isozymes, the function of Grx2 is not well understood. This paper studied the effect of Grx2 deletion on cellular function using primary lens epithelial cell cultures isolated from Grx2 gene knockout (KO) and wild type (WT) mice. We found that both cell types showed similar growth patterns and morphology, and comparable mitochondrial glutathione pool and complex I activity. Cells with deleted Grx2 did not show affected Grx1 or thioredoxin (Trx) expression but exhibited high sensitivity to oxidative stress. Under treatment …

High-Order-Harmonic-Generation Spectroscopy With An Elliptically Polarized Laser Field, M. V. Frolov, N. L. Manakov, T. S. Sarantseva, Anthony F. Starace

Anthony F. Starace Publications

Analytic formulas describing high-order-harmonic generation (HHG) by atoms in an intense laser field with small ellipticity are obtained quantum mechanically in the tunneling limit. The results show that factorization of the HHG yield in terms of an electron wave packet and the photorecombination cross section (PRCS) is valid only for s states of a bound atomic electron, whereas the HHG yield for p states involves two different atomic parameters. For the latter case, elliptic HHG spectroscopy enables one to retrieve both the energy and angular dependence of the PRCS of the target atom, as we illustrate for the case of …

Optimal Controller Design For Dynamic Systems With Perturbed Time-Varying Delay, Abdulsalam H., Asmaa Q. Shareif

Iraqi Journal of Computers, Communications, Control and Systems Engineering

In this paper, a controller design is proposed to control systems subjected to uncertainties and perturbed time-varying delay. The proposed controller strategy is composed of three parts, the linear state feedback part is used for assigning the closed loop eigenvalues, and the nonlinear switching part of the sliding mode and the adaptive part are used to achieve the robustness of global stability. By using the stability theorem, the adaptive law is utilized for adapting the unknown bounds of the lumped perturbations so that the objective of asymptotical stability is achieved, and then to use the variable structure control method to …

Medication Adherence Among Patients In A Chronic Disease Clinic, Ayla M. Tourkmani, Monirah A. Albabtain, Ahmed H. Bakhiet

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVES: To assess motivation and knowledge domains of medication adherence intention, and to determine their predictors in an ambulatory setting. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey study among patients attending a chronic disease clinic at the Family and Community Medicine Department, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between June and September 2010. Adherence intention was assessed using Modified Morisky Scale. Predictors of low motivation and/or knowledge were determined using logistic regression models. RESULTS: A total of 347 patients were interviewed during the study duration. Most patients (75.5%) had 2 or more chronic diseases with an average …