Digital Commons Network^™

Biomechanical Analysis And Modeling Of Contact Interface As Applied In Tonometry And Bio-Inspired Skin Sensors, Jun Nishiyama

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

The modeling of contact interface, in which two entities are brought to interact with each other, either through direct contact or non-direct contact, is crucial in the understanding of robotics and biomedical research where such interface will determine important engineering properties. The modeling and analysis of direct contact interface and non-direct interface are studied in this dissertation, as applied in tonometry (non-contact) and skin sensors (contact). The stiffness of human organs or tissues is an important factor for medical diagnoses, and the accurate measurement of contact properties are very important. For instance, cancerous tissue has higher stiffness, and stiffer eyeballs …

Microglia In The Healthy And Diseased Central Nervous System, Luisa Torres

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in the death of neurons, disruption of neuronal connections, demyelination, and inflammation. There are three phases of SCI: Acute (from the time of impact to the first few days post-injury), secondary (hours to weeks), and chronic (months to years). Currently, little can be done to modify the acute phase. Efforts to intervene have focused on the subsequent phases to both promote healing and prevent further damage. In this study I show that the small molecule inhibitor Pifithrin-μ (PFT-μ significantly reduced lesion volume and decreased the presence of inflammatory cells (microglia and macrophages) in the lesion …

Modeling The Effect Of Sequencing Error, Ruiqi Zhang

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Genotype misclassification errors are known to reduce the power to detect genetic association, but the size of the effect is not known in next generation sequencing (NGS). The non-centrality parameter (NCP) and hence power of the association test allowing for errors for a specified error model at a base pair was found. This NCP was compared to the NCP for the usual chi-square test. The asymptotic power was compared to simulated power for specific settings of the true genotype and phenotype frequencies in the case and control populations, genotype misclassification rates, and total sample size. An R script was provided …

Internal Resistive Heating Of An Almax-Boehler Diamond Anvil Cell, Adairé Tuandé Heady

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

A new internal resistively heated diamond anvil cell (DAC) for the investigation of Earth materials at simultaneous high pressure and temperature will be developed on base of the Almax-Boehler type DAC. Combining resistively heated strip heater with the large opening angle design of the Almax-Boehler DAC will be beneficial for in situ diffraction and spectroscopy experiments of the structure-property relationships in Earth materials at pressure and temperature conditions of the Earth's interior. This new design will address some of the technical shortcomings of the laser-heated DACs method, such as inhomogeneous temperature distribution and imprecise measurement of the temperature. Previous studies …

(Re)Vindicando A La Madre: Matriherencias, Orfandad Y Memoria Colectiva En La Narrativa Contemporã¡Nea Espaã±Ola Escrita Por Mujeres | (Re)Vindicando A La Madre: Matriherencias, Orfandad Y Memoria Colectiva En La Narrativa Contemporánea Española Escrita Por Mujeres, Maria Nieves Alonso Almagro

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

This study adds to the current discussion on the literary treatment of the mother-daughter bond as used by Spanish contemporary women writers (1945-2013). It examines a representative corpus of novels to show how Spanish cultural, social and historical idiosyncrasy has produced differing modes of representation of the mother-daughter bond. This bond responds to a historically specific, autochthonous literary tradition as presented by the narrative of women writers of different generations: the postwar, the transition to democracy, and new novelists of the transition to the XXI century. Two main topics shape the treatment of the mother/daughter bond in these works: orphanage …

Thermal Emission Spectral Characterization Of Sandstones And Mudstones, Michael Terrance Thorpe

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Thermal emission spectroscopy was used to determine the mineralogy of sandstone and mudstone rocks as part of an investigation of linear spectral mixing between sedimentary constituent phases. With widespread occurrences of sedimentary surfaces on Mars, the critical examination of sedimentary rocks spectral behavior provides a basis for interpreting the environment controlling the mineralogical history of this planet. Unmixing algorithms for thermal infrared rock spectra have previously proven to be a viable technique, with accuracies better than ~17 vol %. However, sedimentary rocks, with natural variation of composition, compaction, and grain size, have yet to be critically examined. In this work, …

Unmasking The Nation: Disputing Of National Myths In The Work Of Cristina García | Unmasking The Nation: Disputing Of National Myths In The Work Of Cristina Garcã­A, Jaimee Lyn Christinat

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

This thesis examines the ways in which Dreaming in Cuban, Monkey Hunting and A Handbook to Luck, three novels by Cristina Garcia, contradict and deconstruct popular national myths. In each novel, characters move between nations at key moments in each nation's history. Tracking these individuals' movements within a larger geopolitical framework allows for a new understanding of subaltern migration patterns. In each chapter, a specific aspect of movement is studied illustrating ways in which subaltern people are motivated and/or coerced to move from one nation or another, how their story becomes coopted by the larger national myth and where their …

Circulation And Transport Across The Iceland Faroes Shetland Ridge, Katelin Childers

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

The pathways and variability of warm Atlantic Water crossing over the Iceland Faroes Scotland Ridge to the Nordic Seas are an important component of the large scale Atlantic circulation. This dissertation presents the spatial and temporal characteristics of the currents crossing the ridge from both an observational and modeling perspective. Previous analyses of the volume flux across the ridge have relied on moored velocity data and standard hydrographic sections. A unique velocity dataset collected weekly by the M/F Norrona along repeated routes significantly improves the spatial resolution of observations between Iceland and Denmark. Output from a global climate model complements …

Place Self: Identity At The Crossroads Of Place And Time In Catherine Opie's Los Angeles Landscape Seires, 1988-2004, Kim Woltmann

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Catherine Opie achieved success and notoriety during the 1990s for several controversial photographic series of herself and members of her LGBT community that explored themes of sexuality, gender, and identity. She also, however, built a contemporaneous body of work throughout the 1990s comprised of landscape series. These images embraced a cool stoicism and deadpan aesthetic that contrasted the intimacy and dissidence of Opie's portraits, as well as the early branding of her as a contemporary provocateur. They therefore received little scholarly attention. More recent renewed interest in Opie's landscapes is largely inspired, retrospectively, because images of place have now overtaken …

Analysis Of Principal Structural Orientation Of Trabecular Bone Using Quantitative Ultrasound, Liangjun Lin

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Quantitative ultrasound (QUS) has been accepted widely as a non-invasive, economic, non-radioactive and portable modality for assessing bone heath status. This technology utilizes the basic physical mechanism of interaction between ultrasound wave and bone structure to provide mechanical and structural information of bone. Instead of only evaluating the quantity of bone like other traditional techniques such as duel energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), QUS is also capable of measuring the quality of bone such as anisotropy, microarchitecture and microfracture. This advantage of QUS is beneficial for treating the patient suffering from osteoporosis or other bone health deterioration, long term bed-rest patient …

High Resolution, Frequency Comb-Referenced Measurements Of Spectral Line Shapes, Matthew James Cich

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Spectroscopic methods for retrieval of atmospheric data such as pressure, temperature, and concentration depend on the accurate characterization of spectral line shapes. As a model system, the P(11) line of the υ ₁+υ ₃ band of acetylene, near 1.5 µm, was explored in great detail using a high resolution spectrometer based on a frequency comb-referenced continuous wave laser. This spectrometer is capable of measurements with frequency accuracy better than 1 part in 1011. This allows for unprecedented accuracy in experimental data exploring the effects contributing to a spectral line shape. Direct absorption measurements on acetylene in a cell capable …

Structural And Computational Study On The Interaction Of Bacterial Cell Division Protein, Ftsz, With Its Inhibitors For New Antibacterial Drug Discovery, Edwin Ottoniel Lazo

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Filamenting temperature-sensitive mutant Z (FtsZ) from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is an essential bacterial cell division protein that polymerizes into a structure called the " Z-ring" . Here it has been targeted for drug discovery. Compounds that exhibit anti-tuberculosis activity have been synthesized and used in crystallization conditions. Four crystal structures of MtbFtsZ have been determined, of which two are similar to the published dimer (PDB 1RQ7) which exhibits lateral interactions; they belong to P65 space group and crystals diffracted to about 2.6Å. The other two structures had two trimers in the asymmetric unit. The crystals diffracted to approximately 3.5Å and …

The Other Half Of The Protein Folding Equation Characterization Of The Protein Denatured State Ensemble (Dse): The Case Of C-Terminal Domain Of The Ribosomal Protein L9 (Ctl9), Bowu Luan

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Studies on the unfolded state of proteins are important for understanding the mechanism of protein folding. The protein unfolded state or protein denatured state ensemble (DSE) is the starting point for protein folding. It provides a thermodynamic reference state for protein stability, and it can be targeted by rational protein design. Studies of the properties of DSEs can also reveal the factors that impact protein misfolding and modulate the tendency for protein aggregation in vitro and in vivo, and amyloid formation. The 92-residue C-terminal domain of ribosomal protein L9 (CTL9) is used as a model to study protein DSEs. This …

Structural And Optical Characterization Of Semiconductors For Solar Water Splitting, Andrew Charles Malingowski

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Finding a clean and renewable source of energy that can compete commercially with fossil fuels is one of the great challenges facing the world today. Photoactive semiconductors that can be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gas by absorbing visible light are one means of harvesting the sun's abundant energy and storing it as chemical fuel. Although several photoactive semiconductor systems have demonstrated water splitting, one is yet to be found that has a high enough H2 production efficiency to be a commercially viable source of renewable energy. Water splitting using a photoactive semiconductor is a complex process …

Piratical Designations: Power And Possibility In Representations Of Piracy, Michael D. High

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

This dissertation analyzes how designations and representations of piracy define, police, and challenge legitimate production and circulation. From antiquity through the present, the labeling of others as pirates has excluded the less powerful from the authorized distribution of tangible and intangible property. Such discursive exclusion not only defines piracy but also creates it, distinguishing it from other, sanctioned forms of appropriation. This exclusion generates political, legal, and cultural subjectivity, thereby allowing so-called pirates to affect the very discourses and processes from which they are excluded. The first chapter traces the term piracy from its linguistic origin in Ancient Greece to …

Performance-Optimized Detection, Tracking And Modeling Of Physical Phenomena In Distributed Sensing Environments, Anurag Umbarkar

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) are distributed systems-of-systems that perform reliable data acquisition in order to build efficient data models. Data models are mathematical expressions that describe the attributes of the observed environments. These models can be used for monitoring, tracking and predicting the dynamics of the physical phenomena. Also, data models aid in formulating decision-making procedures under resource constraints. Data model construction in CPS is challenging because the dynamics of physical environments are hard to track in real-time through a distributed sensing network with limited bandwidth and local memory. Therefore, the limited resources must be optimally utilized to boost performance …

Acculturation Experiences Of Latina Immigrants In Suffolk County, New York: A Grounded Theory Study, Jennifer Wood

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

This study examines the process of acculturation for female Latina immigrants in Suffolk County, New York. Thirty in-depth audiotaped interviews were conducted with adult women who were born in Mexico, El Salvador, or Ecuador and a theoretical model for acculturation was constructed using grounded theory methodology. The model reflects the lived experiences and perceptions of the participants. It also provides a number of factors involved in the acculturative process and attainment of acculturative goals for the participants. Social, psychological, cultural, and environmental supports and barriers are presented that impact the acculturative process. Findings suggest that the level of acculturation attained …

A Study Modeling Secure Base Parenting Cognitions, Sandra Skinner

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Secure attachment is associated with a host of positive outcomes including higher levels of prosocial behavior and self-efficacy, better stress regulation, and a lower incidence of psychopathology. Secure base support and sensitive caregiving interactions are predictive of secure attachment. Interventions designed to promote sensitive caregiving have had success in both improving parental behaviors and in increasing levels of attachment security. These interventions are, however, too time consuming and resource intensive to be rolled out to the general population. This study sought to determine if a brief and easy to deliver intervention could be successful in enhancing secure base cognitions in …

Gender, Power, And Inequality: An Examination Of The Causes And Consequences Of Queer Intimate Partner Violence, Bethany Marie Coston

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Violence is a not a new social phenomenon--at least, in the sense that violence has occurred throughout history between individuals, within communities, and practiced by institutions. But mainstream sociological studies of violence are all too often studies of men's violence. This project is an attempt to challenge critically the specter of heteronormativity that haunts the theories and praxis of intimate partner violence (IPV). Under this preexisting framework, studies have focused on men's violence against woman and used patriarchy as an explanation (i.e. the unequal distribution of gendered power, with men benefiting). However, I want to know if gender is still …

Sexual Decision Making In The Context Of Hookup Culture; A Mixed-Method Examination, Rachel Kalish

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

This dissertation is a multi-method study of college students' sexual decision-making. It relies on interviews and focus groups to examine how college students make decisions within the context of the " hook-up culture" (Heldman and Wade 2010) prominent on American campuses. Patterns in the qualitative data are examined quantitatively using the Online College Life Survey. To understand how students make decisions in hookup culture, I examine their views of relationships, how they enact relationships, and the effects of hooking up on relationships. I that students envision relationships in their future, and choose not to expend time on them during their …

Why Wiki Works: Peer Production And Making Knowledge The Wiki Way, Michael Andrew Restivo

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

With the widespread adoption of advanced information and communication technologies, the past decade has witnessed a proliferation of online organizations that aim to create public goods through voluntary collaboration among self-organized, networked individuals. This form of online collective action has been termed peer production. One of the most successful examples of peer production, and the most widely studied, is the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia, which is written in a collaborative fashion by hundreds of thousands of volunteers and used by millions of people daily. In this dissertation, I use Wikipedia as a strategic case site to critically reflect on the …

Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act And The Infection Prevention And Control Department Of The Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Daniel R. Keppel

Public Administration Master’s Projects

Through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Prospective Payment System-Exempt Cancer Centers, including the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, will eventually be denied payments by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program for certain preventable Hospital Acquired Conditions. This study is a participant-observer case study of the Infection Prevention and Control Department of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute. The purpose of this study is to explore the effects that the CMS’ Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program may have on the Infection Prevention and Control Department of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Data was collected through direct observation …

Pre-Operative Outpatient Physical Therapy Of A Torn Rotator Cuff And Suspected Nerve Injury Caused By Anterior Shoulder Dislocation: A Case Report, Taylor Lacouture

Case Report Papers

Background and purpose: Rotator cuff repair surgeries are very common and there are many different post-operative rehabilitation protocols available, but there is little to no literature on pre-operative therapy. The purpose of this case report is to investigate the effectiveness of pre-operative passive range of motion (ROM), joint mobilization and exercises for a patient with both a torn rotator cuff and a suspected neuropraxic peripheral nerve injury. Case Description: The patient was a healthy 47-year-old male with no prior medical or surgical history. He was referred to outpatient physical therapy for pre-operative joint mobilization and exercise for his left shoulder, …

Parties Annexes

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

No abstract provided.

The Deaf Catholic, Winter 2014

ICDA The Deaf Catholic

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in USA

ICDA The Deaf CatholicFinding Aid

Front Matter And Table Of Contents (V.83)

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

No abstract provided.

Matière Grise De Kivu Ruhorahoza : Un Nouveau Discours Filmique Pour Le Rwanda?, Charles J. Sugnet

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

Films like Hotel Rwanda, Sometimes in April, and Shooting Dogs have codified certain ways of representing the 1994 Rwandan genocide, with realist aesthetics, epic sweep, and aspirations to historical authenticity. A young Rwandan director, Kivu Ruhorahoza, has won two major prizes at the Tribeca Festival for his 2011 feature Grey Matter, a breakthrough film that is different from its predecessors in almost every respect. Ruhorahoza’s film is intimate, cosmopolitan, metaphorical, and avant-garde; it requires some effort to understand, yet it is extremely moving. On the 20th Anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda, it offers new ways of understanding the consequences …

Cultural Mismatch In Pedagogy Workshops: Training Non-Native Teachers Communicative Language Teaching, Maria Luisa Spicer-Ecalante, Karin Dejonge-Kannan

Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

As a professional ideology, the Communicative Language Teaching approach (CLT) (Ellis, 1996, 2012; Lee & VanPatten, 2003) has been exported to non-Western contexts with varying degrees of success (e.g., Lewis & McCook, 2002; Li, 1998). The authors of this paper, both non-native speakers of English who have lived and taught in the USA for 20 years, discuss their experiences training teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) from China and Iraq/Kurdistan. Confirming previous research on the topic, they found teachers’ beliefs about teaching to be highly resistant to change, even in the face of evidence that negates them (Bax, …

The Association Of Attachment Style And Perceptions Of Caregiver Experience, Kandace Luther

HIM 1990-2015

This research examines caregiver experiences as they relate to attachment style. The overarching hypothesis is that perceptions of the caregiver role differ depending on the degree of avoidance and anxiousness in the caregiver's attachment style. Caregiver response was measured in the areas of filial obligation, work reduction, perceived control, caregiver burden, depressive symptomatology, and preparedness for caregiving. The final sample consisted of 150 caregivers who identified as the primary caregiver for a parent over the age of 65. This sample was recruited using Mechanical Turk, an online survey distribution tool. The survey was created online with Qualtrics software. Data were …

The Search For Bose-Einstein Condensation Of Excitons In Cu2o: Exciton-Auger Recombination Versus Biexciton Formation, James P. Wolfe, Joon I. Jang

Physics, Applied Physics and Astronomy Faculty Scholarship

Excitons in high-purity crystals of Cu2O undergo a density-dependent lifetime that opposes Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC). This rapid decay rate of excitons at a density n has generally been attributed to Auger recombination having the form dn/dt = -An(2), where A is an exciton-Auger constant. Various measurements of A, however, have reported values that are orders-of-magnitude larger than the existing theory. In response to this conundrum, recent work has suggested that excitons bind into excitonic molecules, or biexcitons, which are short-lived and expected to be optically inactive. Of particular interest is the case of excitons confined to a parabolic strain well-a …