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2016

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Design Of Layer-By-Layer Shaped Microparticles For Controlled Drug Delivery, Jun Chen Jan 2016

Design Of Layer-By-Layer Shaped Microparticles For Controlled Drug Delivery, Jun Chen

All ETDs from UAB

Free drug administration is always associated with several problems, such as poor drug solubility, rapid drug breakdown, fast drug clearance, lack of targeting viability, and inappropriate biodistribution. These problems significantly prevent the accumulation of drugs, specifically to the cancer sites, to achieve high therapy efficacy. The unrestricted diffusion of drugs throughout the whole body also results in severe side effects, such as cytotoxicity and immune responses, to healthy cells which limit the accomplishment of the necessary drug dose to produce efficacious therapy. Therefore, to address these prob-lems, it is urgent to design and develop drug delivery carriers that can protect …

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Use Of Medicare Inpatient Claims Data For The Identification Of Myocardial Infarction, Lisandro Damian Colantonio Jan 2016

Use Of Medicare Inpatient Claims Data For The Identification Of Myocardial Infarction, Lisandro Damian Colantonio

All ETDs from UAB

Claims are being used for the identification of myocardial infarctions (MI) in research studies, either as a complement of primary data collection or as the sole data source. However, few data are available to support these approaches. The current dissertation analyzes the use of claims for the identification of MIs in a large population-based cohort linked to Medicare data, the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke study. Analyses included 9,951 study participants ≥65 years of age with Medicare Part A (inpatient) fee-for-service coverage at baseline in 2003-2007. Participant self-report and Medicare inpatient claims with a diagnosis code for …

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Parental Acculturation And Adolescent Depression, Serra Sevde Aydogan Jan 2016

Parental Acculturation And Adolescent Depression, Serra Sevde Aydogan

All ETDs from UAB

This study investigates whether or not parental acculturation is associated with depression levels among youth in US-based immigrant families. Previous research has shown that even though individual acculturation is negatively correlated with adolescents’ good mental health, parental acculturation is associated with higher levels of mental health among youth. This study elaborates on these prior findings by using a large national sample of immigrant children ages 13-14 and considering the mediating role of social ties and social support. Data for the study are derived from the Children of Immigrant Longitudinal Study to examine the relationship between parental acculturation and youth depression. …

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Exploring Bacteriophage P22 As A Selective Molecular Scaffold And Molecular Sensor, Gregory Joseph Bedwell Jan 2016

Exploring Bacteriophage P22 As A Selective Molecular Scaffold And Molecular Sensor, Gregory Joseph Bedwell

All ETDs from UAB

The virus capsids of many dsDNA bacteriophage are finely tuned macromolecular machines. Their functionality begins at assembly, when their capsids are built under the guidance of a class of proteins referred to as scaffolding proteins. The scaffolding protein of bacteriophage P22 is a flexible, highly elongated protein that binds to the interior surface of the P22 procapsid via its C-terminal domain. The finding that N-terminus is dispensable for procapsid binding prompted the development of chimeric scaffolding protein molecules, wherein N-terminal residues of scaffold are replaced with a variety of different peptide sequences or functional proteins that are then encapsidated within …

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Methods For Measuring Individually Experienced Temperature And Food Intake In Controlled Thermal Environments, Molly Bernhard Jan 2016

Methods For Measuring Individually Experienced Temperature And Food Intake In Controlled Thermal Environments, Molly Bernhard

All ETDs from UAB

The three studies to be presented assess individual-level heat exposure in free-living urban and rural environments and assess food intake in randomized controlled trials in a 2-hour exposure, and a 7-hour crossover heat exposure. The first interest was broad: examining heat exposure and its relation to potential health outcomes. To examine whether heat exposure could be measured in free-living organisms, a light and temperature monitoring device was repurposed and used in a pilot study of individual-level heat exposure in urban and rural community members. Differences between the current and most commonly accepted way of estimating heat exposure, weather station datasets, …

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A Comparison Of Soft Tissue Topographical Norms For The Local Ethnic People Of Zimbabwe And African American Norms Based On 3dmd Soft Tissue Photography, Elvin Bhaskar Jan 2016

A Comparison Of Soft Tissue Topographical Norms For The Local Ethnic People Of Zimbabwe And African American Norms Based On 3dmd Soft Tissue Photography, Elvin Bhaskar

All ETDs from UAB

Introduction: The purpose of this study is to determine the soft tissue topographical norms for the local ethnic people of Zimbabwe and compare them with the African American norms based on 3dMD soft tissue photography. The rationale for the study is to evaluate how the soft tissue drape over the facial skeleton correlates with the different soft tissue analysis widely available today. This study seeks to establish an average base on which clinicians can treat people according to their cultural esthetic perceptions. Previous reported studies only evaluate small numbers of populations and it is well known that different races and …

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Structure-Function Relationships In The Sec7 Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factor Gbf1, Jay Manoj Bhatt Jan 2016

Structure-Function Relationships In The Sec7 Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factor Gbf1, Jay Manoj Bhatt

All ETDs from UAB

All eukaryotic cells contain a secretory pathway composed of membrane-bound compartments connected by vesicles that transport cargo from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) through the Golgi apparatus to various destination within and outside the cell. The Golgi Brefeldin A-resistant Factor 1 (GBF1) is required for protein traffic between ER and Golgi and within the Golgi. GBF1 belongs to a family of Guanine nucleotide Exchange Factors (GEFs) that stimulate the nucleotide exchange of GDP for GTP on small GTPases called ADP-ribosylation factors (ARFs). Once GTP-bound, ARFs become active and initiate a cascade of events that lead to vesicle formation. Thus, GBF1 is …

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1,1-Diamino-2,2-Dinitroethylene (Fox-7) Under High Pressure-Temperature, Matthew Marc Bishop Jan 2016

1,1-Diamino-2,2-Dinitroethylene (Fox-7) Under High Pressure-Temperature, Matthew Marc Bishop

All ETDs from UAB

The high pressure-temperature (P-T) phase diagram of 1,1-diamino-2,2-dinitroethylene (FOX-7) was determined by in situ synchrotron infrared radiation spectroscopy and resistively heated diamond anvil cell (DAC) techniques. The stability of the high P-T FOX-7 polymorphs is established from ambient pressure up to 10 GPa and temperatures until decomposition. The phase diagram indicates two near isobaric phase boundaries at ~2 GPa (  I) and ~ 5 GPa ( I  ) that persists from 25oC until the onset of decomposition at ~300oC. In addition, the ambient pressure, high-temperature    phase transition (~111oC) lies along a steep boundary (~100oC/GPa) with …

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Performance Of Ordinary Least Squares And Heteroskedasticity Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimators In Heteroskedastic Analysis Of Covariance Models, Erica Lynn Dawson Jan 2016

Performance Of Ordinary Least Squares And Heteroskedasticity Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimators In Heteroskedastic Analysis Of Covariance Models, Erica Lynn Dawson

All ETDs from UAB

Ordinary Least Squares Optimization is one of the most widely used methods in statistical analysis to estimate the parameters of a general linear model. Yet, when the assumption of homoskedastic errors is violated, the statistical model is incorrectly specified and alteration of both Type I and Type II error rates occurs. We examine different heteroskedasticity consistent covariance matrix estimators (HCCM) under various heteroskedastic analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) models with orthogonal predictors, and find that under the test of group differences, MacKinnon and White’s HC2 and Davidson and MacKinnon’s HC3 perform reasonably well in terms of Type I error control; and …

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Calcium Carbonate Composition And Other Measures Of Vulnerability Of The Skeletons And Shells Of Echinoderms And Gastropods Challenged By Ocean Acidification Or Climate Warming, Ashley Duquette Douglas Jan 2016

Calcium Carbonate Composition And Other Measures Of Vulnerability Of The Skeletons And Shells Of Echinoderms And Gastropods Challenged By Ocean Acidification Or Climate Warming, Ashley Duquette Douglas

All ETDs from UAB

Marine invertebrate calcium carbonate (CaCO3) composition will likely be impacted by climate warming and ocean acidification (OA). Elevated temperature alters physiological processes that can induce stress, and OA alters the ability of calcareous marine invertebrates to maintain acid-base balances, calcify, and repair skeletal dissolution. The first of three chapters of this dissertation exploits a natural CO2 seep to evaluate impacts of chronic exposure to OA on the shells of four gastropods: the limpets Patella caerulea and P. rustica, top-shell snail Osilinus turbinatus, and whelk Hexaplex trunculus. All four gastropods experienced shell dissolution to various degrees and reduced shell integrity as …

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Telephone Versus Face To Face Palliative Care Consults During Referral, John Weru Jan 2016

Telephone Versus Face To Face Palliative Care Consults During Referral, John Weru

Internal Medicine, East Africa

Introduction: Palliative care aims at ameliorating patients and families suffering when they are faced with life-limiting illnesses. It involves symptoms management as well as psychosocial, spiritual support. As such, proper communication between clinicians taking care of the patient is an important aspect of this care. Studies have shown that errors in communication are common and relevant in palliative care as they negatively impact on the quality of care provided. The service at Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi (AKUHN) provides both in and out patient consult services. Primary physicians to patients consult the palliative care team via telephone models as well …

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Measuring Reproductive Norms And Stigma And Examining Their Roles In Unintended Pregnancy-Related Health Behavior Among Young Adult Women, Whitney Smith Jan 2016

Measuring Reproductive Norms And Stigma And Examining Their Roles In Unintended Pregnancy-Related Health Behavior Among Young Adult Women, Whitney Smith

All ETDs from UAB

Substantial disparities are observed in rates of unintended pregnancy and the health consequences of unintended pregnancy in the United States, with these events and outcomes occurring more frequently among young adult women and women in the southern region. The contribution of social norms and stigma to these disparities is unclear. This dissertation is comprised of three manuscripts examining unintended pregnancy-related norms and stigma, and their health implications among young adult women aged 18-24 in Birmingham, Alabama. The aims of the dissertation are to (1) elucidate perceptions of norms and stigma regarding unintended pregnancy and pregnancy decisions (abortion, adoption, and parenting), …

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The Function Of Prmt1 In Normal And Abnormal Megakaryopoiesis, Hairui Su Jan 2016

The Function Of Prmt1 In Normal And Abnormal Megakaryopoiesis, Hairui Su

All ETDs from UAB

Protein arginine methylation is a common type of post-translational modifications. Protein arginine methyltransferase 1 (PRMT1) is the predominant PRMT that is involved in diverse physiological and pathological processes in mammalian cells. Dysregulation of PRMT1 is often positively correlated with cancer development, yet many aspects of PRMT1’s role in cancer, especially in acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AMKL) remain unclear. We identified two PRMT1-methylated substrates and how they impact normal and abnormal megakaryopoiesis. In this dissertation, we demonstrate that dual-specificity protein phosphatase 4 (DUSP4) and RNA binding motif protein 15 (RBM15), two crucial factors for megakaryocytic (MK) differentiation, are methylated by PRMT1 and …

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The Lived Experiences Of African American Students In A Suburban High School: A Qualitative Case Study., Steven Marlon Tarver Jan 2016

The Lived Experiences Of African American Students In A Suburban High School: A Qualitative Case Study., Steven Marlon Tarver

All ETDs from UAB

an association between log(CRP) and smoking, controlling for WC and race. Yet, when

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Natural Variation Of The Ire1a Gene Of Arabidopsis Thaliana And Its Effects On Abiotic Stress Tolerance, Brenna Cathryn Terry Jan 2016

Natural Variation Of The Ire1a Gene Of Arabidopsis Thaliana And Its Effects On Abiotic Stress Tolerance, Brenna Cathryn Terry

All ETDs from UAB

The IRE1a protein is a key player in the response of plant cells to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress by activating bZIP60, a transcription factor implicated in effective ER stress response. Natural variation has been observed in the expression of the IRE1a gene in natural accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana, a model plant organism. Here, an attempt is made to correlate basal natural variation of IRE1a with response of the plant to abiotic stress. Abiotic stress response through IRE1a activity, specifically bZIP60 transcript splicing, does correspond to basal IRE1a expression. Additionally, alleles of the IRE1a gene were determined to exist as a …

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Managing Data Flow Through The Storage Hierarchy Of Extreme Scale Hpc Systems, Sagar Thapaliya Jan 2016

Managing Data Flow Through The Storage Hierarchy Of Extreme Scale Hpc Systems, Sagar Thapaliya

All ETDs from UAB

Scientific applications running on extreme scale high performance computing (HPC) machines require high performance I/O and storage system to carry out operations including checkpointing, analysis and visualization of simulation outputs. However, there is significant imbalance in I/O and compute capabilities in HPC systems, and as a result, applications often have to spend a large amount of time to complete I/O. Such imbalance is projected to be higher in the future exascale systems. The I/O problem is exacerbated by I/O interference that occurs when processes of an application or multiple applications simultaneously access the shared storage systems, such as a parallel …

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The Roles Of Il-21 And Il-10 In Cellular And Humoral Immune Responses, Yuan Tian Jan 2016

The Roles Of Il-21 And Il-10 In Cellular And Humoral Immune Responses, Yuan Tian

All ETDs from UAB

values, it may be more appropriate to use CH

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How Does Principal Leadership Influence Improved Graduation Rates In Urban High Schools In The Greater Metropolitan Area Of Birmingham, Alabama?, Chris Aaron Trawick Jan 2016

How Does Principal Leadership Influence Improved Graduation Rates In Urban High Schools In The Greater Metropolitan Area Of Birmingham, Alabama?, Chris Aaron Trawick

All ETDs from UAB

HOW DOES PRINCIPAL LEADERSHIP INFLUENCE IMPROVED GRADUATION RATES IN URBAN HIGH SCHOOLS IN THE GREATER METROPOITAN AREA OF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA? CHRIS TRAWICK EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP ABSTRACT Principals of urban high schools are under extraordinary pressure to improve graduation rates of high school seniors (Zepeda, 2013). According to Layton (2014), urban high schools graduate approximately 55% of students, which is well below the national average of 80%. Greater expectations have been placed on principals to improve student achievement. Marzano, Sims, and Warrick (2014) noted that principals are required to improve student achievement. Zepeda (2013) described the role of principal as the instructional …

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Torsion Analysis Of A Cantilever Sign Support Structure From Natural Wind Gusts, Lonny Charles Traylor Jan 2016

Torsion Analysis Of A Cantilever Sign Support Structure From Natural Wind Gusts, Lonny Charles Traylor

All ETDs from UAB

Many DOTs mainly across America and some departments outside the states have been experience fatigue failures of some highway cantilever support structures. Fatigue of these structures have been analyzed intensively for research purposes, but the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) have adopted fatigue design pressures for cantilevered signals, signs, and light supports introduced by the researchers extend the life of new structures. The fatigue design pressures were developed by applying virtual wind spectrums on various computer models of cantilever support structures and luminaire structures. The main goal of this thesis was to utilize experimental natural wind …

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Liberty And Collaboration For All: A Case Study On Collective Impact, Social Capital, And Community Inclusion, Laura Peyton Vickery Jan 2016

Liberty And Collaboration For All: A Case Study On Collective Impact, Social Capital, And Community Inclusion, Laura Peyton Vickery

All ETDs from UAB

Disenfranchised communities often face exclusion at the hands of outside organizations trying to assist. Citizens within the community are excluded and left with few means of actively participating in the conversation and development surrounding these communities. This paper takes the position that the imbalance of power dynamics, where citizens become subjects, does not fully utilize the potential of those inside and those from outside the community. As discussed in Chapter 1, utilizing social capital to build networks and integrate insider and outsider organizations and resources will ultimately create optimization. Chapter 2 uncovers historical examples of civic life and a new …

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Investigating The Mechanisms Of Dopaminergic Signaling In Regulating Refractive Error, Alexander Hadwyn Ward Jan 2016

Investigating The Mechanisms Of Dopaminergic Signaling In Regulating Refractive Error, Alexander Hadwyn Ward

All ETDs from UAB

Myopia is a significant public health problem. Most juvenile-onset myopia occurs because the eye becomes too long for its own optics. We study mechanisms regulating refractive error in an animal model, the tree shrew (Tupaia glis belangeri), a mammal closely related to primates. We use translucent diffusers to induce form deprivation myo-pia (FDM). A role of the retinal dopaminergic system has been validated during the de-velopment of FDM. In this study, in Specific Aim 1, we used intravitreal injections as a way to deliver sub-stances to the retina to investigate their effect on eye growth and induced myopia. However, a …

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An Investigation Into The Developmental Response Of The Amphipod Hyalella Azteca To Different Predator-Related Chemical Cues, William Ryan James Jan 2016

An Investigation Into The Developmental Response Of The Amphipod Hyalella Azteca To Different Predator-Related Chemical Cues, William Ryan James

All ETDs from UAB

Predator chemical cues have been widely demonstrated to influence developmental plasticity in aquatic prey. However, understanding the role that conspecifics have on an individual’s anti-predator response has received little attention. The present thesis investigated the developmental plasticity of individual and groups of the amphipod Hyalella azteca chronically exposed to kairomones from predatory sunfish. Previous field studies have suggested that small body size in H. azteca is a likely adaptive response to reducing predation by sunfish, but no experimental studies have been carried out to test if the amphipods have a developmental response to the presence of sunfish. Containers with single …

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Egesta Of The Sea Urchin Lytechinus Variegatus Promote Weight Gain In The Shrimp Litopenaeus Vannamei, Karen Elizabeth Jensen Jan 2016

Egesta Of The Sea Urchin Lytechinus Variegatus Promote Weight Gain In The Shrimp Litopenaeus Vannamei, Karen Elizabeth Jensen

All ETDs from UAB

Long-term economic and environmental sustainability of aquaculture will be dependent on utilization of novel nutrient sources and remediation of effluent streams. Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) is a method intended to maximize productivity and minimize waste by strategically reusing effluent from a primary, fed species in the production of one or more secondary, extractive species. Such relationships are based on the trophic role of the fed and extractive species in question. Sea urchin egesta are thought to play a role in nutrient cycling in natural habitats by providing an energy source for many coprophagous deposit feeders, suspension feeders, and microbes. The …

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Comparing The Quality Of End Of Life Cancer Care In The Medicare Population Prior To And After The Enactment Of The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement And Modernization Act Of 2003, Rene Jooste Jan 2016

Comparing The Quality Of End Of Life Cancer Care In The Medicare Population Prior To And After The Enactment Of The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement And Modernization Act Of 2003, Rene Jooste

All ETDs from UAB

Reimbursement for chemotherapy could account for two thirds of the income for oncologists in private practice. The Medicare prescription drug improvement and modernization act of 2003 (MMA) brought about a dramatic change in the way physicians were reimbursed for delivering chemotherapy in an attempt to slow the skyrocketing costs of drugs and Medicare costs for covering these drugs . The MMA reduced Medicare reimbursements for covered outpatient prescription drugs from 95% to 85% of the average wholesale price. In 2005, a new payment system was instituted that reimbursed fee-for-service providers for drugs at the national average sales price plus 6%. …

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Extrema Based Signal Transforms For Biomedical Signal Analysis, Bhadhan Roy Joy Jan 2016

Extrema Based Signal Transforms For Biomedical Signal Analysis, Bhadhan Roy Joy

All ETDs from UAB

Signal transforms are very important tools to extract useful information from scientific, engineering, or medical raw data. Unfortunately, traditional transform techniques impose unrealistic assumptions on the signal, often producing erroneous interpretation of results. Well-known integral transforms, such as short time Fourier transform, though have fast implementation algorithms (e.g., FFT), are still computationally expensive. They have multiple parameters that should be tuned, and it is not readily clear how to tune them for long-duration nonstationary signals. To solve these problems, one needs a computationally inexpensive transform with no parameters that will highlight important data aspects. We propose a simple transform based …

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Malaria, Changes In Angiogenesis Factors, Cytokine Profiles And Birth Outcomes, John A. Keenan Jan 2016

Malaria, Changes In Angiogenesis Factors, Cytokine Profiles And Birth Outcomes, John A. Keenan

All ETDs from UAB

Malaria remains an important public health problem, with over three billion people at risk of infection and as many as 214 million new cases each year. Of particular concern is the effect Plasmodium falciparum malaria has on reproductive health. Malaria is responsible for a wide array of adverse birth outcomes including infant death, low birth weight, preterm delivery and small for gestational age. The mechanism by which malaria influences adverse birth outcomes remains poorly understood. Cross-sectional data from 291 women delivering infants in Ghana are used to investigate whether malaria during pregnancy was associated with select cytokines or angiogenesis factors …

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Motor Unit Remodeling During Neuromuscular Degeneration In Aging And Parkinson's Disease, Neil Anthony Kelly Jan 2016

Motor Unit Remodeling During Neuromuscular Degeneration In Aging And Parkinson's Disease, Neil Anthony Kelly

All ETDs from UAB

The human neuromuscular system deteriorates progressively with age and disease. This results in denervation events and ultimately motor unit remodeling, which is revealed by abnormal “groups” of myofibers expressing the same myosin protein isoform – a phenomenon described as myofiber type grouping. Despite the acceptance of myofiber type grouping as a hallmark indicator of motor unit remodeling, traditional techniques of detecting it lack quantitative parameters and therefore comparative data in aging and disease are scarce. The purpose of this dissertation is to establish a statistically-driven, quantitative method for detecting myofiber type grouping and to use it to characterize the effects …

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Fastnumerics: Compiling Matlab To C++, Sujan Khadka Jan 2016

Fastnumerics: Compiling Matlab To C++, Sujan Khadka

All ETDs from UAB

and bone strength feedback. Participants, through computer surveys, rated perceived

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Perturbation Formulas For Gross-Pitaevskii Equation With Periodic Potential, Seonguk Kim Jan 2016

Perturbation Formulas For Gross-Pitaevskii Equation With Periodic Potential, Seonguk Kim

All ETDs from UAB

Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GPE), which was introduced in early 1960s, is widely used in several areas, such as condensed matter physics, and nonlinear optics. The purpose of this thesis is to carry out mathematical studies for GPE. We concentrate on extended solutions of GPE. This thesis mainly contains three parts. The first part is to investigate explicit perturbation formulas for stationary solutions close to a plane wave and their corresponding energies for the nonlinear polyharmonic equation when 2l > n, where n is dimension and l is a power of the Laplacian. The main idea is to consider a non-linear term as …

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The Lived Experiences Of African American Male School Leaders In Suburban School Districts, Dexter Clayton Leblanc Jan 2016

The Lived Experiences Of African American Male School Leaders In Suburban School Districts, Dexter Clayton Leblanc

All ETDs from UAB

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the personal, professional, and social experiences of African American male school leaders in suburban school districts. Suburban school districts were defined as residential areas on the outskirts of metropolitan areas that often have higher standardized test scores and successful programs with higher rates of college attendance. The area also has higher family incomes and few African American residents. Using a phenomenological design allowed the researcher to inquire and gather data through open-ended, face-to-face, interviews with study participants. Critical Race Theory was used to frame this study. The researcher identified 10African American …

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