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The Chemical Ecology Of Bed Bugs (Cimex Lectularius, L.) And The Impact Of A Neurotoxic Insecticide On Physiology And Behavior, Sydney E. Crawley

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

Following a decades-long hiatus in many nations, populations of bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) have rebounded and are thriving on a global scale posing substantial challenges for pest management professionals. Insecticide resistance to both pyrethroid and neonicotinoid compounds has been identified in many populations, leading to renewed interest in alternative control methods for management of this pest. The objectives of my dissertation research were to study various, typically cryptic, bed bug behaviors in order to improve both conventional and alternative management strategies. Novel behavioral interactions among mother and offspring were characterized. Additionally, changes in behavior and physiology after treatment …

Endosymbiotic Bacteria In The Bed Bug, Cimex Lectularius L. (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), Mark H. Goodman

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

The return of bed bugs to prominence as an urban pest has precipitated an emphatic research response from the scientific community in an effort to better understand their biology and management. However, not all aspects of bed bug biology have received equal attention. The role of symbiotic bacteria in the normal function and biology of insects is often underappreciated, and this is true of bed bugs. Bed bugs have two main endosymbiotic bacteria, a Wolbachia species and a poorly-characterized gamma-proteobacterium referred to as BLS. However, their interactions with the host are poorly understood. I explored various aspects of these symbionts …

Evaluation Of Diet Composition Of Pediatric Cancer Survivors As A Need For Nutrition Counseling, Sean O'Nan

Theses and Dissertations--Nutrition and Food Systems

Prior research has shown that pediatric cancer survivors face a multitude of longterm effects from treatment of their disease. Many of these conditions can be treated or managed through proper nutrition, however patients of the DanceBlue Kentucky Children's Hospital Hematology/Oncology Clinic do not see a registered dietitian. This study looked at food and drink consumption of the past 30 days by the patient using the NHANES Dietary Screener Questionnaire to see if they met nutrition recommendations as outlined by the 2015‐2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Results from the study found that off‐treatment pediatric cancer survivors (n=21) failed to meet …

Do Beliefs About Sex Behaviors Mediate The Link Between Parent-Adolescent Communication About Sex And Risky Sexual Behaviors?, Guangyi Cui

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

The current study examined the protective effect of parenting-adolescent communication about sex on four risky sexual behaviors (age of onset of sex, number of sex partners, condom use, and STDs) among youth, framed by the Theory of Planned Behavior. It also tested for potential mediation effects between parent-adolescent communication and risky sex measures by sexual cues, date rape attitudes, and acceptance of dating violence in a sample of 2,245 college students from Japan, Slovenia, Spain, and the United States. Results provided evidence of a weak effect of parent-adolescent communication about sex on risky sexual behaviors across samples. A number of …

Attachment And Social Competence Of Children With A Mother Coping With Bipolar Disorder, Jennifer Forster

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to provide a better understanding of the attachment between a mother diagnosed with bipolar disorder and her child and the subsequent social competence of the child. A descriptive survey design was chosen due to the lack of existent literature in this area and the need to identify problematic areas of attachment and social competence in this identified population. A sample of ten mothers diagnosed with bipolar disorder with at least one school-aged child (between kindergarten and sixth grades), to whom the mother is the primary caregiver, participated in this study. Each participant was given …

Extending The Implications Of Myriad To Ambry –The New Interpretation Of Section 101, Micah O’Keefe

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Increasing Patient Safety By Permitting Generic Drug Manufacturers To Update Product Safety Labels, Jessica Seiden

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Out Of The Goodness Of My Heart, I Give You This Child, Jill Colban

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Drones And Machine Learning Analytics – The Best Way To Provide Privacy Safeguards On Drone Surveillance Is With Technology, Not Law, Victoria Dorum

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Existence Of Periodic Solutions For A Quantum Volterra Equation, Muhammad Islam, Jeffrey T. Neugebauer

Mathematics Faculty Publications

The objective of this paper is to study the periodicity properties of functions that arise in quantum calculus, which has been emerging as an important branch of mathematics due to its various applications in physics and other related fields. The paper has two components. First, a relation between two existing periodicity notions is established. Second, the existence of periodic solutions of a q-Volterra integral equation, which is a general integral form of a first order q-difference equation, is obtained. At the end, some examples are provided. These examples show the effectiveness of the relation between the two periodicity notions that …

Almost Automorphic Solutions Of Delayed Neutral Dynamic Systems On Hybrid Domains, Murat Adıvar, Halis Can Koyuncuoğlu, Youssef Raffoul

Mathematics Faculty Publications

We study the existence of almost automorphic solutions of the delayed neutral dynamic system on hybrid domains that are additively periodic. We use exponential dichotomy and prove uniqueness of projector of exponential dichotomy to obtain some limit results leading to sufficient conditions for existence of almost automorphic solutions to neutral system. Unlike the existing literature we prove our existence results without assuming boundedness of the coefficient matrices in the system. Hence, we significantly improve the results in the existing literature. Finally, we also provide an existence result for an almost periodic solutions of the system.

Stochastic Models Of Evidence Accumulation In Changing Environments, Alan Veliz-Cuba, Zachary P. Kilpatrick, Krešimir Josić

Mathematics Faculty Publications

Organisms and ecological groups accumulate evidence to make decisions. Classic experiments and theoretical studies have explored this process when the correct choice is fixed during each trial. However, we live in a constantly changing world. What effect does such impermanence have on classical results about decision making? To address this question we use sequential analysis to derive a tractable model of evidence accumulation when the correct option changes in time. Our analysis shows that ideal observers discount prior evidence at a rate determined by the volatility of the environment, and the dynamics of evidence accumulation is governed by the information …

Ecological Laws And Their Promise Of Explanations, Viorel Pâslaru

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Marcel Weber (1999) argued that the principle of competitive exclusion is a law of ecology that could explain phenomena (1) by direct application, or (2) by describing default states. Since he did not offer an account of explanation by direct application of laws, I offer an interpretation of explanation by direct application of laws based on a proposal by Elgin and Sober (2002). I show that in both cases it is the descriptions of mechanisms that explain phenomena, and not the laws. Lev Ginzburg and Mark Colyvan (2004) argued Malthus’ Law of Exponential Growth is the first law of ecology, …

Ursinus Magazine, Winter 2016, Brock Blomberg, Wendy Greenberg, Elizabeth Shimer Bowers, Beth Rubino, Hugh R. Clark, Meredith Goldsmith, Jennifer Cohen

Ursinus Magazine, 1995–Present

What winter break? • It's an honor for alumnus DeSimone '86 • Finding founders • Three times a champion • Pomp and circumstance • It's an honor for wrestling's Racich • First course for restaurateur • Best in financial analysis • Community collaboration • Bear pride • Quarterbacks • NBC cites alumnus as innovator, game changer • Lost and found • She gives fitness studio a one-two punch • My morning with Tom Dixon '07 (One memory at a time) • Ganging up on cyberbullies • Building your brand • Burning question: Why did China recently change its one-child policy …

Techniques For Automated Parameter Estimation In Computational Models Of Probabilistic Systems, Faraz Hussain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The main contribution of this dissertation is the design of two new algorithms for automatically synthesizing values of numerical parameters of computational models of complex stochastic systems such that the resultant model meets user-specified behavioral specifications. These algorithms are designed to operate on probabilistic systems – systems that, in general, behave differently under identical conditions. The algorithms work using an approach that combines formal verification and mathematical optimization to explore a model's parameter space. The problem of determining whether a model instantiated with a given set of parameter values satisfies the desired specification is first defined using formal verification terminology, …

Non-Dispersive Infrared (Ndir) Gas Sensor Utilizing Light-Emitting-Diodes Suitable For Applications Demanding Low-Power And Lightweight Instruments, Kyle Thurmond

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Gas sensors that are low-power, light-weight, and rugged, while also remaining low-cost, have considerable appeal to areas from automotive to space flight. There are increasing demands for higher efficient vehicles with lower emissions in order meet regulations that are meant to mitigate or lessen the effects of climate change. An affordable, fast response sensor that can measure transient carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) has broad application which can lead to more efficient, fuel flexible engines and regulations of harmful emissions. With compact, economical, low-power sensors that are able to continually monitor gases that are characteristic of burning materials, …

Transcriptional And Post-Transcriptional Regulation Of Gene Expression, Jun Ding

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Regulation of gene expression includes a variety of mechanisms to increase or decrease specific gene products. Gene expression can be regulated at any stage from transcription to post-transcription and it's essential to almost all living organisms, as it increases the versatility and adaptability by allowing the cell to express the needed proteins. In this dissertation, we comprehensively studied the gene regulation from both transcriptional and post-transcriptional points of view. Transcriptional regulation is by which cells regulate the transcription from DNA to RNA, thereby directing gene activity. Transcriptional factors (TFs) play a very important role in transcriptional regulation and they are …

Biophysical Sources Of 1/F Noises In Neurological Tissue, Alan Paris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

High levels of random noise are a defining characteristic of neurological signals at all levels, from individual neurons up to electroencephalograms (EEG). These random signals degrade the performance of many methods of neuroengineering and medical neuroscience. Understanding this noise also is essential for applications such as real-time brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), which must make accurate control decisions from very short data epochs. The major type of neurological noise is of the so-called 1/f-type, whose origins and statistical nature has remained unexplained for decades. This research provides the first simple explanation of 1/f-type neurological noise based on biophysical fundamentals. In addition, noise …

Development Of Enzyme-Free Hydrogen Peroxide Biosensor Using Cerium Oxide And Mechanistic Study Using In-Situ Spectro-Electrochemistry, Shashank Saraf

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

During recent development, it has been demonstrated that cerium oxide nanoparticles (CNPs) have exhibited catalytic activity which mimics naturally existing enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase. The underlying mechanism is attributed to the modulation of oxygen vacancies on CNPs lattice by dynamic switching of the oxidation states between Ce3+ and Ce4+ due to the electron transfer resulting from the redox reaction between CNPs and reactive oxygen species such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Thereby the redox potential of CNPs is dependent on the surface chemistry i.e. the surface concentration of Ce3+ and Ce4+ Currently, the ratio of Ce3+/ Ce4+ …

Effects Of Climate Change And Anthropogenic Activities On The Everglades Landscape., Daljit Sandhu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Everglades has been experiencing major changes, both climatic and anthropogenic, such that the landscape is experiencing additional stresses and forcings leading it away from its natural equilibrium. The land within and surrounding the Everglades has undergone severe modifications that may have detrimental effects on wildlife and natural features, such as rivers and landscape connectivity. Here in this study, the main focus is on understanding and quantifying hydrologic and geomorphic signatures of climatic and anthropogenic changes on the Everglades landscape. For this, in particular, available data on natural hydrological processes was used, such as rainfall, groundwater elevation, streamflow as well …

Modeling Wastewater Indicators And Effects Of Contaminant Removal Strategies On Groundwater And Spring Discharge In A Karst Aquifer, Erin Reed

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation reports on research related to groundwater and contaminant transport to the Volusia Blue Spring (VBS), an Outstanding Florida Water Body located in Volusia County (Florida). The integration of springshed water quality and contaminant fate and transport (CFT) modeling played key roles in the evaluation of anthropogenic recharge impacts on VBS. To study anthropogenic recharge into the karst limestone aquifer, wastewater effluent, golf course ponds, septic tanks, groundwater monitoring wells, and VBS discharge were sampled for boron, nitrate-nitrogen, nitrate-oxygen and their isotopes spatially throughout the VBS springshed. Data related to natural water features, rainfall, land use, water use, treated …

Trauma, Resilience, Hope, And Religious Coping In Haiti, Deborah L. Galindo

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Trauma is an international area of research, specifically in countries that have experienced natural disasters and political unrest (Bolton, Surkan, Gray, & Desmousseaux, 2012; Derivois, Merisier, Cenat, & Castelot, 2014; Desrosiers & Fleurose, 2002; Hobfoll, 1989, 2012, 2014; Hobfoll et al., 2007; Kira, 2001, 2010; Kira et al., 2008). Haiti has endured an immense amount of trauma, including the 2010 earthquake and daily traumas resulting from poverty, economic disparity, and political unrest. This study explored the experiences of trauma, resilience, hope, and religious coping of 51 Haitian individuals through a mixed methods design. Quantitative data was gathered through the following …

Religious Coping And Spiritual Struggle Among Emergency Room Patients With Suicidal Intent, Rosanna J.S. Bailey

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Suicide continues to be a leading cause of death around the globe (World Health Organization, 2012; Wu, Wang, Jia, & Mazza, 2015). Previous literature has shown religiosity as a protective factor for depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation (Dervic et al., 2004; Dew et al., 2010; Miller et al., 2012; Nonnemaker, McNeely, & Blum, 2003; Rasic et al., 2009; Rosmarin et al., 2012), and that spiritual struggle is associated with increases in suicidal ideation (Ahles, Mezulis, & Hudson, 2016; Henslee et al., 2014; Lee, Nezu, & Nezu, 2014; Rosmarin et al, 2013; Stratta et al., 2011; Trevino, Balboni, Zollfrank, Balboni, & …

She's Not Fit For The Business World: An Initial Examination Of Gender, Age, And Weight, Miranda Pelkey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined archetype theory (Marcus & Fritzsche, 2015) that suggests that the intersection of multiple group memberships will create a unique cognitive representation, as it is relates to sex, age, and weight. Following a pilot study to equate photos on attractiveness, perceived competence, professionalism, and intelligence, 183 participants reviewed a fictitious LinkedIn profile in which all information was held constant across participants except the photo. Using a 2 (sex) x 2 (age) x 2 (weight) design (manipulated through the photos), participants rated the job applicant on adjectives associated with proposed sex, age, and weight archetypes and on perceptions …

Fabrication And Investigation Of An Enzyme-Free, Nanoparticle-Based Biosensor For Hydrogen Peroxide Determination, Craig Neal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Electrochemical biosensors often employ enzymes as detection elements. These sensors are highly selective towards target analytes, however the scope of their application is limited by the poor stability of the enzyme. In this study, multi-valent inorganic cerium oxide nanoparticles were used as detection elements for the analysis of hydrogen peroxide. The electrochemical response of the cerium oxide towards hydrogen peroxide analyte is defined through cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. This response was found to be dependent on nanoparticle Ce3+:Ce4+ redox state ratio and this property is exploited to fabricate a biosensor. As produced, the biosensor demonstrated sensitivity at picomolar analyte concentrations. …

Modeling Mass Transfer And Assessing Cost And Performance Of A Hollow Fiber Nanofiltration Membrane Process, David Yonge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bench-scale water treatment testing of three next generation hollow-fiber (HF) nanofiltration (NF) membranes was conducted to characterize divalent ion rejection capabilities and investigate removal mechanisms. Existing mathematical models were investigated to describe solute transport using synthetic magnesium sulfate solutions including the size exclusion model, homogenous solution diffusion (HSD) model, dimensional analysis, and the HSD model incorporating film theory. Solute transport for two of the membranes were described by HSD theory and were predictive of their 90% divalent ion removal. A third membrane was more accurately modeled using size exclusion and was found to be predictive of its 40% divalent ion …

A Longitudinal Investigation Of A Sequential Arabic-English Bilingual Child’S Vocabulary Development, Seba A. Al-Hindawy

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to explore the lexical development of a sequential bilingual Arabic-English speaking child. The study contributes to the growing research literature on the language behaviors of early bilingual children and specifically to the discussion of bilingual developmental milestones. The child's vocabulary growth was assessed over the course of a year with the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI-III, English and Arabic versions), the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT-4), parent interviews, and the Frog Story Narrative Test. Lexical measures were analyzed over time and indicated that the child progressed in the dominant language, English, similarly to the …

Dordt College 2016-17 Catalog, Dordt College. Registrar's Office

Academic Catalogs

Academic Catalog for 2016-17

Executing The Innocent: How To Remedy A State's Wrong, Nicole Megale

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

No abstract provided.

Ordered Eating: Food And Social Structures, Bobbi Sutherland

History Faculty Publications

Article is a review essay of Medieval Tastes: Food, Cooking, and the Table by Massimo Montanari and Food and Identity in England, 1540-1640: Eating to Impress by Paul S. Lloyd.

In the last few decades, food history has gone from being an unusual side-study viewed as outside the realm of academic history proper to one of the most popular sub-fields of social, economic, and cultural history – if not a field in its own right. Pre-modern historians have welcomed this development as one that expands our limited sources by opening new ones to us and providing us another method for …