Digital Commons Network^™

Impact Of Medicare Part D Coverage Gap On Medicare Beneficiaries With Copd: Adherence, Healthcare Resource Use, And Cost, Yanni Fan Yu

All ETDs from UAB

Medicare Part D provides prescription drug coverage for beneficiaries to support their pharmacological treatment; however, the complex deductible structure within benefit plans creates a major coverage gap and unexpected consequences. Some evidence has demonstrated reduced adherence resulting from the coverage gap; however, little research has evaluated the effect on healthcare resource use (HRU) and cost, and no studies have been conducted for beneficiaries with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study examined the impact of the coverage gap on medication adherence as well as healthcare resource use and medical cost among beneficiaries with COPD. Claims data based on a 5% …

Orientalism Redux: Inci Eviner’S Harem, Pinar Zararsiz

All ETDs from UAB

ORIENTALISM REDUX: INCI EVINER’S HAREM PINAR ZARARSIZ (ART HISTORY) ABSTRACT This thesis examines the 2009 video Harem by Turkish artist Inci Eviner (b. 1956). Eviner’s work centralizes issues of gender in Turkish culture, the history of colonialism, and how historical location informs society at large. Eviner lives and works in Turkey, but exhibits internationally. Harem has been exhibited in Turkey, France, and England. Harem is based on a series of nineteenth-century Orientalist engravings by Antoine Ignace Melling, entitled Intérieur d'une partie du Harem du Grand-Seigneur (Interior of Part of the Harem of the Grand Signor) (1803-1819). Melling’s Harem du Grand-Seigneur …

The Impact Of Student Loans On Homeownership, Matthew Eric Click

All ETDs from UAB

This thesis examines the relationship between student loan debt and homeownership. I hypothesize that a negative relationship exists, and control for a respondent’s age, household income, household size, race, gender, marital status, and level of education. Using a binary logistic regression model to examine data from the 2012 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS) and the 2014 Survey of Household Economic Decisions (SHED), I model the odds-ratios and predicted probabilities of homeownership for respondents with and without student loans. I find a decrease in the predicted probability of homeownership by 8.4% and 9.3% in the NFCS and SHED datasets, respectively. While …

A New Return Algorithm For Elastoplastic Deformation, David Cooper

All ETDs from UAB

Beginning with a brief introduction to fundamental concepts in computational plasticity, a new return algorithm is presented and its accuracy analyzed against the generalized trapezoid and midpoint rules of Ortiz and Popov (1985). Development of the new scheme, labeled Time Centered Plastic Strain (TCPS), is motivated by the observation that the generalized methods disassociate the evaluation of the two parts of the flow rule, the plastic multiplier and the gradient of the plastic potential. TCPS addresses this flaw by incorporating an explicit evaluation of the flow rule in its formulation. Error plots are presented utilizing two test cases, the von …

Microstructural Analysis Of Aluminum High Pressure Die Castings, Maria Diana David

All ETDs from UAB

Microstructural analysis of aluminum high pressure die castings (HPDC) is challenging and time consuming. Automating the stereology method is an efficient way in obtaining quantitative data; however, validating the accuracy of this technique can also pose some challenges. In this research, a semi-automated algorithm to quantify microstructural features in aluminum HPDC was developed. Analysis was done near the casting surface where it exhibited fine microstructure. Optical and Secondary electron (SE) and backscatter electron (BSE) SEM images were taken to characterize the features in the casting. Image processing steps applied on SEM and optical micrographs included median and range filters, dilation, …

Elliptic Equations And Systems With Nonlinear Boundary Conditions, Alzaki Mohmoud Muhammed Fadlallah

All ETDs from UAB

This dissertation presents some results on the solvability of second order elliptic equations with nonlinear boundary conditions at resonance, in which the nonlinear boundary conditions perturbation is not necessarily required to satisfy Landesman- Lazer conditions or the monotonicity assumption. The nonlinearity may be unbounded. The nonlinearity interacts in some sense with the Steklov spectrum. The proofs are based on a priori estimates for possible solutions to a homotopy on suitable trace spaces and topological degree arguments. We will also study solvability of nonlinear second-order elliptic systems of partial differential equations with nonlinear boundary conditions. We study the generalized Steklov-Robin eigensystem …

Count Models With Multiple Inflations, Arvind Tripathi

All ETDs from UAB

The goal of this research is to develop new statistical models for the analysis of count data even if data exhibit over dispersion or under dispersion and has multiple inflated counts. Although many statistical models are available for the analysis of count data, there is no available statistical model that can address the presence of more than expected multiple counts together with over/under dispersion. In our first paper, we develop a multiple-inflation negative binomial (MINB) model and use the expectation maximization (EM) algorithm along with a numerical optimization to obtain maximum likelihood estimates. We applied the one step smoothly clipped …

Web Computing For Bioinformatics Applications, Sean Wilkinson

All ETDs from UAB

This work explores web computing as a solution to current problems in informatics, including algorithm delivery, distributed computation, and data visualization. A novel computing platform called QMachine has been developed for use in clinical research environments for computationally intensive applications like medical image processing and genomics sequence processing. In such applications, the emergence of Big Data as the inevitable reference for the analysis of local (“small”) data from individual experiments or patients has presented numerous challenges. In particular, computational workflows that handle Big Data need significantly greater processing and memory resources. Advances in virtualization – especially in cloud computing – …

Are Associations Between Parenting Style And Academic Achievement Moderated By Ethnicity And Individualism-Collectivism?, Thiago L. De Oliveira

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have long been concerned in documenting the nature of associations between parenting styles and academic achievement in adolescents. Social learning theory has shown how domains such as individualism, collectivism, and ethnicity are associated with parent behavior. Research suggests compatibility between individualism and authoritative parenting and collectivism with authoritarian parenting styles, which could have critical implications in the relationship between parenting styles and academic achievement. Despite the robust research on parenting styles, no research has investigated the moderating roles of individualism and collectivism. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the associations between parenting style and academic achievement …

Factors Associated With Graduation Among Latino Male High School Students, Judyann Watson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

High dropout rates for minority students require additional educational research to understand and implement changes that will increase graduation rates. The purpose of this nonexperimental study was to examine factors that may be associated with graduation for Latino male students. Guided by Tinto's work, which holds that students remain in school when they feel academically or socially connected to an institution, this study addressed the impact of social factors, academic factors, and small learning communities (SLCs) on graduation rates. The research study used archival data and bivariate logistic regression to analyze the data for Latino male participants (n = 208) …

Postgraduate Researchers Who Teach: How Can National Policy And The Structured Phd Centralise This Forgotten Tribe And Celebrate Their Skills In Tackling Some Of The Current Challenges In Irish Higher Education?, Barry Ryan

Articles

Some of the current challenges faced by Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) include financial constraints imposed by the economic downturn, the requirement to ‘teach more with less’, and the use of the knowledge based economy to drive economic stabilisation and recovery. HEIs have adopted a number of approaches to address these drivers of change including centralising the postgraduate research student who teaches. The role of these postgraduate research students is one that is not often highlighted within the fabric of the HEI; however, these transient researchers play two key roles: full-time researchers and novice educators. Centralising and celebrating the research skills …

Power Of K Choices And Rainbow Spanning Trees In Random Graphs, Deepak Bal, Patrick Bennett, Alan Frieze, Paweł Prałat

Department of Mathematics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

We consider the Erdős-Rényi random graph process, which is a stochastic process that starts with n vertices and no edges, and at each step adds one new edge chosen uniformly at random from the set of missing edges. Let G(n, m) be a graph with m edges obtained after m steps of this process. Each edge ei (i = 1, 2,…, m) of G(n, m) independently chooses precisely k ∈ N colours, uniformly at random, from a given set of n–1 colours (one may view ei as a multi-edge). We stop the process prematurely at time M when the following …

The Contribution Of Non-Thermal And Advanced Oxidation Technologies Towards Dissipation Of Pesticide Residues, N. Misra

Articles

Background

The use of pesticides has stabilised the food production to a great extent and their usage cannot be avoided anymore. Nevertheless, common food processing operations always allowed dissipating pesticide residues in foods to some extent. Within the food science community and the food processing sector, non-thermal food technologies are being researched and commercialised at a great pace over the past three decades.

Scope and Approach

In this review we provide a critical analysis of the literature pertinent to the fate of pesticide residues during non-thermal processing of solid and liquid foods. We also identify the opportunities for further development …

Computational Development Of Selective Nnos Inhibitors: Binding Modes And Pharmacokinetic Considerations, Adam Curtin, Gemma K. Kinsella, John Stephens

Articles

Abstract: Neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) produces the key signalling mediator nitric oxide, (NO). This gaseous, free radical molecule modulates a vast array of biological processes, from vascular pressure to immune responses and neurological signalling cascades. Overproduction of NO has been implicated in conditions including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia. Inhibition of nNOS therefore offers a potential therapeutic approach for treatment of these conditions. This endeavour is made more complex by the fact that there are two other isoforms of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), endothelial NOS (eNOS) and inducible NOS (iNOS). The selectivity of nNOS inhibitors is therefore a …

A Mathematical Model Of Meat Cooking Based On Polymer-Solvent Analogy, M. Chapwanya, Nissreen Misra

Articles

Mathematical modelling of transport phenomena in food processes is vital to understand the process dynamics. In this work, we study the process of double sided cooking of meat by developing a mathematical model for the simultaneous heat and mass transfer. The constitutive equations for the heat and mass transport are based on Fourier conduction, and the Flory–Huggins theory respectively, formulated for a two-phase transport inside a porous medium. We investigate a reduced one-dimensional case to verify the model, by applying appropriate boundary conditions. The results of the simulation agree well with experimental findings reported in literature. Finally, we comment upon …

Exploring Government Contractor Experiences Assessing And Reporting Software Development Status, Putnam P. Texel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Reports from academic, commercial, and government organizations have documented software-intensive system cost and schedule overruns for decades. These reports have identified lack of management insight into the software development process as one of many contributing factors. Multiple management mechanisms exist. However, these mechanisms do not support the assessment, and subsequent reporting, of software completion status. Additionally, the conceptual framework, based on industry standards, is limited in its relevance to this study due to an emphasis on what is needed while deferring implementation details. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore U.S. government contractors' lived experiences of assessing and …

Learning Disability Status And Gender As Predictors Of Self-Efficacy., Irene Ekohamen Aikhomu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the school district under study, students with learning disabilities were

underperforming when compared to students without disabilities. Research has indicated that improved self-efficacy can promote improved student outcomes and that self- efficacy can be taught. Despite this known association, the school district under study has not provided students with such support. The current study addressed ways in which that gap may be attenuated. Guided by the framework of Bandura's theory of self-efficacy and social cognitive theory, the purpose of this study was to explore (a) whether students' perceptions of self-efficacy differed depending on whether or not they had diagnosed …

Building A Scalable Global Data Processing Pipeline For Large Astronomical Photometric Datasets, Paul F. Doyle

Doctoral

Astronomical photometry is the science of measuring the flux of a celestial object. Since its introduction in the 1970s the CCD has been the principle method of measuring flux to calculate the apparent magnitude of an object. Each CCD image taken must go through a process of cleaning and calibration prior to its use. As the number of research telescopes increases the overall computing resources required for image processing also increases. As data archives increase in size to Petabytes, the data processing challenge requires image processing approaches to evolve to continue to exceed the growing data capture rate. Existing processing …

A Phenomenological Study Of Computer Science Lecturers: Lived Experiences Of Curriculum Design, Arthur Sloan

Doctoral

This hermeneutic phenomenological study presents a description of computer science lecturers’ experiences of curriculum design of degree programmes during a time of transition in curriculum design policy, specifically in the context of Technological University Dublin (DIT). It examines the lived experiences of computer science lecturers to highlight the issues and problems relating to lecturers’ lived experiences of curriculum design, and it describes how it is to be a computer science lecturer in a time of policy change for curriculum design. The findings are that lecturers have been, and are, struggling to cope with the transition from year-long to semesterised courses, …

Refraction In Mozambique: Evaluations Of Practice And Development Of Competency Frameworks For Eye Care Personnel, Kajal Shah

Doctoral

Purpose The development of competency- based education for optometrists and mid-level eye-care personnel has been identified as an important component in the elimination of avoidable blindness and vision impairment. The Mozambique Eye care Project (MEP) is a multi-institutional collaboration, which seeks to facilitate greater access to training in eye health professions, which will ultimately contribute to providing affordable and accessible eye care within the public health system in Mozambique. An important tenet of the MEP is to develop and enhance the refraction training of all existing (ophthalmic technicians) and new eye care personnel (four-year training of optometrists and eighteen-month training …

Reference Material Development For Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning Toxins And Associated Analytical Applications, Stephen Burrell

Doctoral

Food poisoning incidences relating to marine biotoxins are a global phenomenon and have the potential to severely impact the aquaculture industry. As a result, and as a legislative requirement in the European Union (EU), many countries have implemented monitoring programmes for these compounds but their success relies on the availability of certain quality assurance tools, two of which are reference materials (RMs) and proficiency testing. The limited amounts of RMs, in particular matrix certified reference materials (CRMs) for paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins has been a limiting factor in the implementation of alternatives to the mouse bioassay for routine monitoring …

Drive-Based Utility-Maximizing Computer Game Non-Player Characters, Colm Sloan

Doctoral

This research examines the emergence of the five-string fiddle in contemporary North American fiddle culture within the past ten years. By interacting with leading artistlevel practitioners, the research documents the evolution and impact of the instrument to date in exploring the possibilities the five-string fiddle presents for musical performance and innovation. North American vernacular music and, in particular, the contemporary fiddle playing landscape, exemplifies virtousic and innovative idiomatic technique and improvisation as central to an overarching musical explosion, evidenced in the music of many high level, multi-stylistic contemporary practitioners. Within contemporary American fiddle performance, it is compelling to observe how …

Community College Developmental Education Services: Perspectives Of Spanish-Speaking Latino Early Childhood Educators, John Edward Eberly

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this single case study was to understand the perceptions of Latino Spanish-speaking English learners on the efficacy of developmental education services at a western United States community college. The conceptual frameworks used in the investigation included critical theory related to human emancipation, social learning theory aligned to second language acquisition, and contemporary adult learning theories. The goal of the investigation was to understand how students used and perceived the developmental education services to transition from Spanish language instruction to English coursework. Research questions focused on how the developmental education services contributed to the successful completion of the …

Cortisol Levels And Voltage Conditions Of College Students, Adriana Steffens

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

There is a limited research base on low voltage brain conditions, which are characterized by electrical activity being measured at below 20 microvolts. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between saliva cortisol levels and voltage using an EGG in a college student population. Illuminating this relationship is important to inform how low voltage conditions can affect daily memory and cognitive functioning of undergraduate college students that may be a result of stress. The college student population may be vulnerable to the low voltage condition because of stress from the transition between teenage and adult life and …

The Role Of Online College Courses In Rehabilitating Offenders, Niares Hunn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research and testimonial evidence indicate the importance of postsecondary education in the rehabilitating inmates and in decreasing reoffending. However, limited research exists on improving critical thinking skills and cognitive processing among inmates. The purpose of this quantitative study was to (a) examine the influence of a psychology course on the critical thinking scores for individuals who took an online psychology course and to (b) analyze how the scores of inmates and other students in the course differed. Using a social cognitive theoretical framework, pretest and posttest scores were compared using a paired t test of statistical analysis of secondary, archival …

Applying The Analytic Hierarchy Process To Oil Sands Environmental Compliance Risk Management, Izak Johannes Roux

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Oil companies in Alberta, Canada, invested $32 billion on new oil sands projects in 2013. Despite the size of this investment, there is a demonstrable deficiency in the uniformity and understanding of environmental legislation requirements that manifest into increased project compliance risks. This descriptive study developed 2 prioritized lists of environmental regulatory compliance risks and mitigation strategies and used multi-criteria decision theory for its theoretical framework. Information from compiled lists of environmental compliance risks and mitigation strategies was used to generate a specialized pairwise survey, which was piloted by 5 subject matter experts (SMEs). The survey was validated by a …

Subsurface Parameter Estimation In Oilfield Modeling, Fatin Alawam

All ETDs from UAB

Inverse problems involving partial differential equations have many physical applica- tions. One of the most important applications is in petroleum reservoir modeling. The estimation of petroleum reservoir properties is an essential component in predicting reservoir behavior. Generally, oil and water are present together in petroleum reservoirs and the resulting reservoir model consists of two nonlinear partial differential equations. Much research deals with two phase flow in porous media assuming incompressibility, but a few researchers consider the weakly compressible case which generally applies when the reservoir model does not include a gas phase. In this thesis we assume the weakly compressible …

Treating The Disease: A First Amendment Prescription For The U.S. Patent System, Stephanie A. Diehl

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Butyrylated Starch Intake Can Prevent Red Meat-Induced O6-Methyl-2-Deoxyguanosine Adducts In Human Rectal Tissue: A Randomised Clinical Trial, Richard K. Le Leu, Jean M. Winter, Claus T. Christophersen, Graeme P. Young, Karen J. Humphreys, Ying Hu, Silvia W. Gratz, Rosalind B. Miller, David L. Topping, Anthony R. Bird, Michael A. Conlon

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Epidemiological studies have identified increased colorectal cancer (CRC) risk with high red meat (HRM) intakes, whereas dietary fibre intake appears to be protective. In the present study, we examined whether a HRM diet increased rectal O⁶-methyl-2-deoxyguanosine (O⁶MeG) adduct levels in healthy human subjects, and whether butyrylated high-amylose maize starch (HAMSB) was protective. A group of twenty-three individuals consumed 300 g/d of cooked red meat without (HRM diet) or with 40 g/d of HAMSB (HRM+HAMSB diet) over 4-week periods separated by a 4-week washout in a randomised cross-over design. Stool and rectal biopsy samples were collected for …

Volume Reduction Of Municipal Solid Wastes Contaminated With Radioactive Cesium By Ferrocyanide Coprecipitation Technique, Y. Fujikawa, H. Ozaki, H. Tsuno, P. Wei, A. Fujinaga, R. Takanami, S. Taniguchi, S. Kimura, R.R. Giri, Paul Lewtas

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Municipal solid wastes (MSW) with elevated concentrations of radioactive cesium (rad-Cs hereafter) have been generated in some areas of Japan in the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (F1 hereafter) accident. Both recycling and final disposal of the contaminated MSW have become a difficult problem in the affected areas, resulting in accumulation of treated residues in the treatment facilities. The rad-Cs in MSW, especially fly ash, often showed a high leaching rate. Extraction of contaminated MSW with water or hot oxalic acid followed by selective removal of rad-Cs from the extract using ferrocyanide (Fer hereafter) coprecipitation technique could …