Digital Commons Network^™

Stability, Bifurcation And Chaos Analysis Of Vector-Borne Disease Model With Application To Rift Valley Fever, Sansao A. Pedro, Shirley Abelman, Frank T. Ndjomatchoua, Rosemary Sang, Henri E.Z. Tonnang

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

This paper investigates a RVF epidemic model by qualitative analysis and numerical simulations. Qualitative analysis have been used to explore the stability dynamics of the equilibrium points while visualization techniques such as bifurcation diagrams, Poincaré maps, maxima return maps and largest Lyapunov exponents are numerically computed to confirm further complexity of these dynamics induced by the seasonal forcing on the mosquitoes oviposition rates. The obtained results show that ordinary differential equation models with external forcing can have rich dynamic behaviour, ranging from bifurcation to strange attractors which may explain the observed fluctuations found in RVF empiric outbreak data, as well …

Learning Opportunities 2014/2015, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

Course Catalogs

The graduation requirements of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy are in concert with those maintained by the State of Illinois with additional requirements as established by the IMSA Board of Trustees. Each semester students must take a minimum of 5 academic courses (2.5 credits) for a grade (not Pass/Fail). Fine Arts, Wellness, and Independent Study courses, or any course taken on a Pass/Fail basis do not count towards the 5 course (2.5 credits) minimum. Most students will take between 5 (2.5 credits) and 7 (3.5 credits) academic courses per semester. Only courses taken for a letter grade will count …

Standard Deviations: Reality, Reproducibility, And Politics In Performance Art Since 1989, Jonah Westerman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Performance art is conventionally seen as having a privileged relation to reality because of the way it insists on the immediate experiences of specific human bodies, the full depth of which can never be adequately reproduced or captured. This understanding of performance as accessing authenticity through ephemerality has long made it a stage for artistic and political subversion. Since the early 1990s, however, a group of European artists responding to processes of globalization that have changed the nature of political economy--the demise of the Soviet Union, NAFTA, and new regulations concerning trade and travel in the E.U.--have developed performance strategies …

The Role Of The Striatal Neuropeptide Neurotensin In The Methamphetamine-Induced Neural Injury In Mice, Qingkun Liu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Methamphetamine (METH) is a widely abused psychostimulant that induces neurotoxicity to several brain regions, including the striatum. Similar to dopamine (DA) in chemical structure, METH can be transported into DA pre-synaptic terminals, evoking the neurodegeneration in DA terminals and post-synaptic striatal neurons. Despite the critical role of DA in METH-induced neurodegeneration, no pharmaceutical therapeutics has been approved for these conditions. It is therefore essential to investigate the endogenous factors regulating the dopaminergic system. The neuropeptide neurotensin has emerged as a potential modulator of METH-induced striatal neurodegeneration mainly due to its intimate interactions with dopamine in the striatum.

In this study, …

Control Of Exciton Photon Coupling In Nano-Structures, Xiaoze Liu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this thesis, we study the interaction of excitons with photons and plasmons and methods to control and enhance this interaction. This study is categorized in three parts: light-matter interaction in microcavity structures, direct dipole-dipole interactions, and plasmon-exciton interaction in metal-semiconductor systems.

In the microcavity structures, the light-matter interactions become significant when the excitonic energy is in resonance with microcavity photons. New hybrid quantum states named polariton states will be formed if the strong coupling regime is achieved, where the interaction rate is faster than the average decay rate of the excitons and photons. Polaritons have been investigated in zinc …

The Presentation Of Trans In Everyday Life: An Autoethnographic Exploration Of Gendered Performance, Elijah C. Nealy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The life experiences of transgender men are an understudied area in social work research. Given the negative experiences many transgender men have utilizing the medical and social service systems, greater understanding is needed about how these men negotiate their identities in an array of relational contexts. This dissertation uses autoethnography to explore how one transgender man navigates his identity as a man, father, and social work professional.

Viewed through the theoretical frame of Erving Goffman's work, and in dialogue with masculinities studies and queer theory, this study finds that trans men are continually negotiating their identities in varying relational contexts, …

Paleoecology Of Late Cretaceous Methane Cold-Seeps Of The Pierre Shale, South Dakota, Kimberly Cynthia Handle

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Most investigations of ancient methane seeps focus on either the geologic or paleontological aspects of these extreme environments. In contrast, this thesis encompasses both disciplines to evaluate the paleoecology of these systems with greater detail than previously published either within the Western Interior Basin or elsewhere. This thesis addresses the following questions: 1) Are the changes in mineralogy of a seep discernable and predictable as a seep shifts from a clay-based environment to a carbonate-based environment? 2) What are the foundation organism(s) of Late Cretaceous methane cold-seeps? 3) Is there a correlation to the mineralogic changes and shifts in community …

Reconstructing The Nation: African American Political Thought And America's Struggle For Racial Justice, Alex Zamalin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines how twentieth-century African American intellectuals engaged American political cultural beliefs central to American identity. A prominent argument of American political thinkers has been that the liberal-democratic ideals of freedom, equality, representative government, the rule of law, tolerance and civic obligation are what make Americans a unique people. From the immediate aftermath of the Second World War to the late twentieth-century such an argument provided American politicians, social movements and intellectuals a strong justification for divergent political claims, from Cold War warriors calling for the containment of Soviet Communism, to Civil Rights activists calling for racial integration to …

Science Identity Transformations Through Place-Based Teaching And Learning In The Natural World, Amy Defelice

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation includes three main components related through a sociocultural lens of identity transformation. The first component describes the Field Studies program for ninth grade students at Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment (BASE High School), and explores how outdoor settings and place-based pedagogies can be used to enhance urban students' science identities. Student researchers took digital photographs of their Field Studies experiences and met in cogenerative dialogues with me, their teacher, where we shared our reflections. The second component explains students' experiences and reactions to a week-long place-based geoscience program held over spring break at Prospect Park. This …

Biological Motion Processing In Typical Development And In The Autism Spectrum, Aaron Krakowski

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Biological motion (BM) analysis and interpretation is a fundamental process of human neurocognition that has been only minimally explored neurophysiologically. In addition to its importance in understanding the underlying roots and development of social cognition, BM processing is a prime candidate domain for exploring the underlying etiology of social cognitive disorders such as the autism spectrum.

In an initial experiment, typical adults observed BM point-light displays of a human actor (UM) as well as their spatially scrambled counterparts (SM), in both an unattended distractor task as well as an explicit attention task. Results showed a neurophysiological response manifested as three …

Shifted One-Parameter Supersymmetric Family Of Quartic Asymmetric Double-Well Potentials, Haret C. Rosu, S.C. Mancas, Pisin Chen

Publications

Extending our previous work (Rosu, Mancas, Chen, Ann.Phys. 343 (2014) 87-102), we define supersymmetric partner potentials through a particular Riccati solution of the form F (x) = (x - c)^2 - 1, where c is a real shift parameter, and work out the quartic double-well family of one-parameter isospectral potentials obtained by using the corresponding general Riccati solution. For these parametric double well potentials, we study how the localization properties of the two wells depend on the parameter of the potentials for various values of the shifting parameter.

Unf Journal Fall 2014, University Of North Florida

UNF Journal

A university periodical for alumni and friends of the University of North Florida

Positive Effects Of Corporate Social Responsibility On Youth Development A Case Study Of The Royal Swazi Sugar Corporation In Swaziland, Danielle V. Shtraus

Capstone Projects – Politics and Government

What is corporate social responsibility (CSR)? How does it directly affect the youth in the areas where corporations come in to set up factories or farms? When one thinks of corporations operating in Africa, only those examples from the news come to mind, and they are all negative. One example is the recent strikes at the Marikana Mines in the Gauteng province of South Africa due to unfair wages and sanitation issues in the camps where employees live. I intend in this capstone to paint a picture of a corporation in Africa that strives to work towards best practices, and …

Ucc Minutes, October 21, 2014, University Curriculum Council

UCC Agendas/Minutes

No abstract provided.

Does It Make Sense To Believe In God?, Francesco Janne Y. Labuntog

Loyola Papers

No abstract provided.

Characterization Of Postural Tremor In Essential Tremor Using A Seven-Degree-Of-Freedom Model, Daniel William Geiger

Theses and Dissertations

Essential Tremor (ET), a condition characterized by postural and kinetic tremor in the upper limbs, is one of the most prevalent movement disorders. While pharmaceutical and surgical treatment options exist, they are not ideal. Assistive devices have the potential to provide relief to patients but are largely unexplored for ET. Furthermore, prior characterizations of essential tremor have focused on endpoint tremor and provide insufficient detail for designing such a device. We propose and demonstrate a novel method for characterizing essential tremor in the 7 proximal degrees of freedom (DOF) of the upper limb in various postures. In addition, we provide …

Outcomes And Intentions In Children’S, Adolescents’, And Adults’ Second- And Third-Party Punishment Behavior, M Gummerum, Mt Chu

School of Psychology

Theories of morality maintain that punishment supports the emergence and maintenance of moral behavior. This study investigated developmental differences in the role of outcomes and the violator's intentions in second-party punishment (where punishers are victims of a violation) and third-party punishment (where punishers are unaffected observers of a violation). Four hundred and forty-three adults and 8-, 12-, and 15-year-olds made choices in mini-ultimatum games and newly-developed mini-third-party punishment games, which involved actual incentives rather than hypothetical decisions. Adults integrated outcomes and intentions in their second- and third-party punishment, whereas 8-year-olds consistently based their punishment on the outcome of the violation. …

Information And Communication Technologies And Igbo Studies In Tertiary Institutions In Nigeria: Issues And Challenges, Brendan Eze Asogwa, Martha Nkiruka Asogwa

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Purpose: This paper identifies ICT tools and programmes that are relevant to Igbo studies in tertiary institutions in the South East Nigeria; it examines the opportunities and challenges in applying these technologies in the enhancement and promotion of teaching and learning Igbo in Nigeria universities.

Methodology/Approach: Questionnaire, interviews, and observations were used in collecting data for this study. The population was 118, comprising 31 lecturers and 87 students randomly drawn from the Department of Igbo Studies in six selected tertiary institutions in the South East Nigeria.

Findings: Flash drive, video camera, electronic white board, cassette recorder and tapes, …

Rethinking The Core List Of Journals For Libraries That Serve Schools And Colleges Of Pharmacy., Robert D Beckett, Sabrina W. Cole, Hannah K Rogers, Skye Bickett, Christina Seeger, Jennifer A Mcdaniel

PCOM Scholarly Works

The Core List of Journals for Libraries that Serve Schools and Colleges of Pharmacy is a guide for developing and maintaining pharmacy-affiliated library collections. A work group was created to update the list and design a process for updating that will streamline future revisions. Work group members searched the National Library of Medicine catalog for an initial list of journals and then applied inclusion criteria to narrow the list. The work group finalized the fifth edition of the list with 225 diverse publications and produced a sustainable set of criteria for journal inclusion, providing a structured, objective process for future …

From The Forefront To The Sidelines: Youth In Post-Revolution Egypt, Khadiga Omar

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the reasons for the declining role of youth as effective political players since the Egyptian Revolution in 2011. Particularly looking at the “Revolutionary Youth”, this study investigates why their activism over the course of the past four years could not translate into political power that would lead to the realization of the goals of the revolution. Resource Mobilization Theory, Political Opportunity Structure and Framing constitute a tri-lens through which the political experience of the youth is analyzed in this research. This thesis argues that a) the youth’s organizational dilemma; b) their reliance on protest as the exclusive …

The Culture Of Generativity: Exploring The Manifestation Of Generativity In The Manifestation Of Generativity In The Mexican/Mexican-American Population, Mara J. Bach

Dissertations (1934 -)

Generativity is a developmental stage in adulthood where an individual makes a conscious decision to leave their mark on the world with the intent to make the world a better place for future generations. Research has shown that engaging in generativite acts benefits both the person engaging in such practices as well as the recipient, and thus generativity is positively correlated with reported wellbeing. It has also been shown that adults engaging in such practices are psychologically healthier and ease into old age with less resistance than their non-generative counterparts. Generativity is a strengths-based approach. It is shaped by one's …

Characterization Of Bone Material Properties And Microstructure In Osteogenesis Imperfecta/Brittle Bone Disease, John Robert Jameson

Dissertations (1934 -)

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a genetic disorder primarily associated with mutations to type I collagen and resulting in mild to severe bone fragility. To date, there is very little data quantifying OI cortical bone mechanics. The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate bone microstructure, mineralization, and mechanical properties in adolescents with OI. Characterization studies were performed on small osteotomy specimens obtained from the extremities during routine corrective surgeries. Nanoindentation was used to examine the longitudinal elastic modulus and hardness at the material level for mild OI type I vs. severe OI type III. Both modulus and hardness were significantly …

Palliative Care's Sacramental And Liturgical Foundations: Healthcare Formed By Faith, Hope, And Love, Darren M. Henson

Dissertations (1934 -)

Medical history identifies Dame Cicely Saunders as the founder of modern hospice and palliative care for the unique care she gave to the incurably and terminally ill. Less known is how her Christian faith, combined with her knowledge of medicine, influenced her vision. This work retrieves the Christian roots of palliative care and asserts that the practice of faith preserves the practice of medicine from succumbing to medicalized dying--a phenomenon that excessively relies on technology with the implied hope that it will ultimately conquer illnesses and even death. Efficiency and effectiveness ground modern medicine's epistemology. These concepts follow the philosophical …

Structural And Biochemical Studies Of The Carboxyltransferase Domain From Pyruvate Carboxylase, Adam David Lietzan

Dissertations (1934 -)

Pyruvate carboxylase (PC; E.C. 6.4.1.1), a multifunctional biotin-dependent enzyme, catalyzes the bicarbonate- and MgATP-dependent carboxylation of pyruvate to oxaloacetate. To complete the overall reaction, the tethered biotin prosthetic group must first gain access to the biotin carboxylase domain and become carboxylated, and then translocate to the carboxyltransferase (CT) domain where the carboxyl group is transferred from biotin to pyruvate. Kinetic analyses of PC have suggested that the spatially distinct reactions, which occur in the active sites of the BC and CT domains, are well coordinated. To gain insights into the molecular events necessary for coordinating catalysis in the CT domain, …

Supramolecular Biopolymeric Composite Materials: Green Synthesis, Characterization And Applications, Tamutsiwa Moven Mututuvari

Dissertations (1934 -)

Macrocycles, such as crown ethers (CRs) and resorcinarenes (RESs), exhibit selective complexation of heavy metal ions and organic pollutants respectively. Consequently, they have been investigated for their suitability in adsorbing these aqueous pollutants. However, they are difficult to handle and recycle for reuse because, by themselves, they can only be fabricated in powder form. To alleviate this challenge, we developed a method to encapsulate these macrocycles into film-forming polysaccharides--cellulose (CEL) and chitosan (CS). This was achieved by using a green and recyclable solvent, an ionic liquid, to dissolve both macrocycles and polysaccharides and regenerate corresponding composites in water. Resultant composites …

A Subject-Specific Multiscale Model Of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Brian Daniel Goodwin

Dissertations (1934 -)

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a neuromodulation technique used to treat a variety of neurological disorders. While many types of neuromodulation therapy are invasive, TMS is an attractive alternative because it is noninvasive and has a very strong safety record. However, clinical use of TMS has preceded a thorough scientific understanding: its mechanisms of action remain elusive, and the spatial extent of modulation is not well understood. We created a subject-specific, multiscale computational model to gain insights into the physiological response during motor cortex TMS. Specifically, we developed an approach that integrates three main components: 1) a high-resolution anatomical MR …

Impact Of Mtr4 Structural Domains On Its Enzymatic Activities, In The Regulation Of Nuclear Rna Turnover, Li Yan

Dissertations (1934 -)

RNA processing and turnover plays an important role in RNA maturation, metabolism and quality control, which contribute to gene regulation and cell health. The TRAMP complex, composed of an RNA binding protein Air2p, a poly-A polymerase Trf4p, and a RNA helicase Mtr4p, assist nuclear exosome-dependent RNA processing and degradation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, like tRNAiMet turnover, 5'ETS degradation and rRNA processing. Mtr4p structure reveals a novel protruding arch domain, which contains the recognizable KOW domain and a stalk domain. Except for the two conserved RecA-like helicase domains, the helicase core contains two other structural domains, a winged helix that connects arch …

Resonant Two-Photon Ionization Studies Of Non Covalent Interactions In Halo Aromatic Clusters And Spin-Orbit Coupling Modeling In Mono-Halocarbenes, Silver Nyambo

Dissertations (1934 -)

Non-covalent interactions in halobenzenes (PhX) (X=F, Cl, Br) and phenylamine (C₆ H₅ NH₂ ) have been studied here using resonance two-photon ionization (R2PI) spectroscopy combined with a linear TOF-mass spectrometer. Their interaction with polar molecules in form of ammonia (NH ₃ ) and trifluorohalomethanes (CF₃ X) has also been studied. DFT and TD-DFT calculations using M06-2X functionals were carried out on different cluster conformations to compliment experimental results. A general trend of broadness in homogenous dimers (PhX)₂ , has been attributed to mainly the presence of multiple cluster isomers and Frank-Condon activity in the low …

Nanogap Device: Fabrication And Applications, Jun Hyun Han

Dissertations (1934 -)

A nanogap device as a platform for nanoscale electronic devices is presented. Integrated nanostructures on the platform have been used to functionalize the nanogap for biosensor and molecular electronics. Nanogap devices have great potential as a tool for investigating physical phenomena at the nanoscale in nanotechnology. In this dissertation, a laterally self-aligned nanogap device is presented and its feasibility is demonstrated with a nano ZnO dot light emitting diode (LED) and the growth of a metallic sharp tip forming a subnanometer gap suitable for single molecule attachment.

For realizing a nanoscale device, a resolution of patterning is critical, and many …

Beauty And The Beastly Prime Minister, John J. Su

English Faculty Research and Publications

This essay examines the so-called “turn to beauty” in British fiction since the 1990s as a response to the political and social consequences of Thatcherism. Focusing primarily on four texts—Jonathan Coe’s What a Carve Up! (1994), Julian Barnes’s England, England, (1998), Alan Hollinghurst’s The Line of Beauty (2004), and Zadie Smith’s On Beauty (2005)—this essay argues that conceptions of beauty and beastliness delineate possible boundaries to the neoliberalism with which Thatcherism is associated. Two distinct phases of the beauty/beastliness rhetoric are identified: an ironized utopianism in the 1990s; an ambivalent embrace of global humanism in the 2000s.