Digital Commons Network^™

The 100 Precepts Of Orran Dain, Daniel Lee Pickles

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A novel surrounding the mass-suicide of a cult in Northern Wisconsin.

The Persistent Fear Of Crime In A Safe Metropolitan Area: The Continual Impact Of Social Disorganization, Guillermo Rivas

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

While the association between physical and social disorder on crime have been established (Skogan, 1990), it is less clear how they influence fear of crime. Fear of crime is important to consider given that is can decrease both physical and mental health (Gee & Payne-Sturges, 2004). Utilizing data based on a randomly selected household survey in El Paso County, Texas (N= 1,070) I seek to examine the influence of physical and social disorders and social cohesion on fear of crime. OLS linear regression results illustrate the persistent impact of physical and social disorders regardless of neighborhood characteristics of poverty and …

The Effect Of A Fluent Signing Narrator On Children's Behavior During Technology-Enhanced Shared Reading With Children With Hearing Loss And Their Parents, Gabriela Itzel Rodriguez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Shared reading plays an essential role in the language and literacy development of children who are at risk of future problems in those areas. Children with hearing loss (CHL) are a group who usually experience limited and poor quality activities that foster literacy development such as shared reading (SR). Researchers examining high quality interactions have rated child behaviors, primarily attention and initiation, during shared reading and play based activities finding positive correlations between these behaviors and the overall development in typically developing children as well as in children with other impairments such as Autism Spectrum Disorder and Down syndrome (Kim …

Becoming Resilient: A Positive Deviance Inquiry Into The Resilience Of Mexican Immigrant Women, Maria Del Carmen Sajquim De Torres

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The United States has approximately 12 million Mexican-born immigrants, almost half of which are female (Gonzalez-Barrera & Lopez, 2013). Research has determined that Mexican immigrants have the best level of mental health when compared to other ethnic groups in the U.S. (Alegria et al., 2008; Horevitz & Organista, 2012). Adverse living conditions resulting from immigration and time spent in the U.S. are believed to cause the loss of this advantage. The potential strengths or assets contributing to advantageous levels of mental health in Mexican-born immigrants have not been fully identified in research.

This exploratory and descriptive inquiry used an …

Synthesis Of Neoglycoproteins/Neoglycopeptides And Their Immunological Evaluation In The Context Of Chagas Disease, Nathaniel Scott Schocker

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease (ChD), has a cell surface covered by immunogenic glycoconjugates. A synthetic glycoarray containing non-reducing α-galactopyranosyl moieties related to mucin O-glycans of the parasite T. cruzi was evaluated by a chemiluminescent enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (CL-ELISA) with sera from patients with chronic ChD, revealing the disaccharide Galα(1,3)Galβ as the immunodominant glycotope (Chapter 2). This disaccharide comprises the two terminal sugars of the known immunodominant glycotope Galα(1,3)Galβ(1,4)GlcNAcα, which is expressed on glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored mucins of the infective trypomastigote stage of T. cruzi and triggers high levels of protective anti-α-Gal antibodies (Abs) in infected …

"We Are Not The Same"-An Examination Of The Relationships Between Mexican Americans And Mexican National On The Us-Mexico Border, Angela Jacqueline Silva

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

According to the Pew Hispanic Center, as of 2013, there are an estimated 33.7 million persons of Mexican-origin (native and foreign-bon) currently residing in the United States. Mexican-origin persons currently occupy 17% of the total population of the country (Stepler and Brown 2015). While Mexican-origin persons occupy the largest ethnic group within the Latino/a pan-ethnic group research on intra-ethnic group relations (Mexicans and Mexican-Americans) is limited (for exceptions see Gutierrez 2000; Ochoa 2004; Knoll 2012; Morales, Murga, and Sanchez 2013; Dowling 2014; Alba et al. 2014). This research has examined the relationships and perceptions that Mexican-Americans have towards Mexican immigrants …

'Out Vile Jelly': The Consumption Of Violence In King Lear And The Winter's Tale, Evan Marie Stapleton

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

There is a distinct difference in the representation of violence and its aftermath in Shakespeareâ??s Elizabethan and Jacobean plays. More so after 1603, bloody spectacles, brutal torture, and public theatrics are commonplace in daily life and entertainment; Jacobean life is comprised of a culture of violence. This paper examines the representation of violence and its aftermath in "King Lear" and "The Winter's Tale." As Shakespeare adapts plays for a Jacobean audience, the violence in the plays is decidedly more nuanced and psychological than in the Elizabethan plays, which tend to favor gore, spectacular images, and mostly physical damages. First, I …

Video Composition: Tracing Multimodal Assemblages, Zachary Aaron Warzecka

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Video Composition: Tracing Multimodal Assemblages questions and complicates current approaches to integrating digital videography, and new media at large, within academic environments. Given the field of Rhetoric and Writing Studies' persistent desire, if not struggle, to take on alternative modes of composing, the project provides an exploration of the distinct affordances, composing practices and rhetorical principles of digital videography. In particular, the Dissertation traces how videographic composing processes are taught, taken up, and even paved over within two distinct first year-writing classrooms.

In conducting grounded case studies of multimodal classrooms, the Dissertation draws disciplinary and pedagogical commonplaces into conversation with …

Design Of A Thermal Management System For An Oxy-Methane Direct Power Extraction Combustor, Jad Gerges Aboud

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The overarching goal of this Thesis is to present the design of a thermal management system for an oxy-methane direct power extraction combustor. The design is initiated by performing a 2D analysis on the combustor geometry and then using these results in a 3D model. This is done by using results for heat transfer coefficient and temperatures found from the 2D simulation and importing these to the 3D model. The approach used here couples the combustion process, heat transfer through the chamber wall, and fluid flow behaviors in order to observe the thermal characteristics of the combustor during operation. This …

Modulation Of The Physiological And Biochemical Effects Of Copper Nanoparticles In Kidney Beans (Phaseouls Vulgaris) Treated By Kinetin, Suzanne Annette Apodaca

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

It is imperative to not only understand the impact of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) in edible plants, but also the interactions they have with various additives used in agriculture. In this study, kidney bean plants were grown in potting soil treated with nano copper (nCu), bulk copper (bCu), and copper chloride (CuCl2) at concentrations of 0, 50, and 100 mg/kg for 55 and 90 days. At 15 days of growth, 0, 10, and 100 μm of kinetin (KN) were applied to plants. Plant tissue samples were harvested at 55 days and seeds were reaped at 90 days. Physiological and biochemical parameters …

The Role Of The Dopamine/Ecdysteroid Receptor Dopecr In Ethanol Induced Behavioral Disinhibition, Gissel Pryscilla Aranda

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Ethanol, a main active ingredient of alcoholic beverages, exerts numerous effects on behavior through its interaction with diverse membrane and signaling molecules and effector cells. The effects include lack of motor control, behavioral disinhibition, tolerance, sensitization and addiction. In particular, behavioral disinhibition is typically associated with heavy drinking and can lead to detrimental consequences such as car accidents, violent rages, risky sexual behavior and illegal substance abuse. This research aimed to clarify the neural elements and cellular mechanisms underlying behavioral disinhibition induced by ethanol. The neurotransmitter dopamine (DA) is implicated in ethanol-induced behavioral disinhibition (Van Gaalen et al., 2006). To …

Assessing Accuracies And Improving Efficiency For Segmentation-Based Rna Secondary Structure Prediction Methods, Gerardo A. Cardenas

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

RNA secondary structure prediction has become an important area of interest in biology and medicine because it helps in understanding the mechanisms of many biological processes such as gene regulation and viral replication, and in designing RNA-based therapies to treat various diseases such as cancers and AIDS. Different thermodynamics-based computational algorithms for RNA structure prediction exist, and have been used to help understand the disease mechanisms and design treatments. However, most of these computational tools that can predict complex pseudoknot structures have a sequence length limitation of few hundred nucleotide bases due to their high demands of computer resources. Yet, …

The Characterization Of A Recombinant Virophage Integrase, Martin Christopher Chacon

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Virophages are satellite-like dsDNA viruses that parasitize giant viruses of the family Mimiviridae. Mavirus is the second virophage discovered that associates with its host virus Cafeteria roenbergensis Virus (CroV). When co-infecting their common host cell Cafeteria roenbergensis, a marine zooplankton that is widely spread throughout the oceans, mavirus will inhibit CroV's replication. In addition, mavirus was shown to share high similarities to the Maverick/Polinton eukaryotic DNA transposons. A coding sequence in mavirus genome (MV02) reveals high homology to retroviral integrases such as those found in HIVs. The putative integrase MV02 is predicted to integrate mavirus DNA into the host genome. …

Containing Communism In Texas: How The Right Interpreted The Cold War, 1945-1965, Frank Delao Delao

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The United States Cold War policy was based on Containment: a strategy of containing communism where it existed and keeping it from spreading throughout the rest of the world. The Red Scare was a manifestation of the perceived failures to fully accomplish that goal. A belief existed that communists had infiltrated into the U.S. and were threatening to derail American society. In Texas, that fear was attached to changes taking place in society that either went against the status quo or simply threatened the traditional way of life in the state. The radical Right viewed communism as the main influence …

Gender Differences In Risk Behaviors And Health Outcomes Due To Methamphetamine Use In A Mexico-U.S. Border City, Priscilla Guevara

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

BACKGROUND: Methamphetamine (meth) is a stimulant known to affect the central nervous system (CNS). When individuals are under the influence of meth, their judgment is impaired which can lead them to make irrational decisions and engage in high-risk behaviors, such as having unprotected sex and needle sharing. Thus the behaviors of meth users can place them at high risk of contracting infectious diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Few studies highlight gender differences in meth use, fewer studies address high-risk behaviors and health outcomes attributed to meth use by gender. El Paso, TX …

Removal Of Endocrine Disrupting Compounds From Water And Wastewater Using Ecofriendly Materials, Alma Lili Loya Posada

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are compounds considered pollutants of emerging concern. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) defines emerging pollutants as new chemicals without regulatory status and with an impact on the environment and human health that is poorly understood. Bisphenol A (BPA) has been considered an EDC and found to be ubiquitous in the environment because of its presence in a multitude of products including food and beverage packaging, flame retardants, adhesives, building materials, electronic components, and paper coatings Currently, BPA is not regulated by the federal government in the US and waste water treatment plants are not …

Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning As Creative Problem Solving, Tr Colin, T Belpaeme, A Cangelosi, N Hemion

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Although creativity is studied from philosophy to cognitive robotics, a definition has proven elusive. We argue for emphasizing the creative process (the cognition of the creative agent), rather than the creative product (the artifact or behavior). Owing to developments in experimental psychology, the process approach has become an increasingly attractive way of characterizing creative problem solving. In particular, the phenomenon of insight, in which an individual arrives at a solution through a sudden change in perspective, is a crucial component of the process of creativity. These developments resonate with advances in machine learning, in particular hierarchical and modular approaches, as …

Simultaneous Removal Of Cr(Vi) And 4-Chlorophenol Through Photocatalysis By A Novel Anatase/Titanate Nanosheet Composite: Synergetic Promotion Effect And Autosynchronous Doping, Wen Liu, Weiling Sun, Alistair G.L. Borthwick, Ting Wang, Fan Li, Yidong Guan

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Meeting With God On The Mountains: Essays In Honor Of Richard M. Davidson, Jiří Moskala

All Books

This Festschrift in honor of Dr. Davidson is divided into four parts that reflect upon his main areas of study, lectures, and publications: (1) Old Testament Exegesis; (2) Intertextuality, Typology, and Ancient Near Eastern Background; (3) New Testament Studies; and (4) Theology and Church History.

In Their Own Words: The Waldensian Experience: Students Discover The Meaning Of Faith, Kathleen M. Demsky

All Books

No abstract provided.