Digital Commons Network^™

Recycling Effect In Expanded Granular Sludge Bed Reactor And Implementation Of Six Sigma In A Methane Generation Process, Manohar Manchenahalli Shivashankaraiah

Masters Theses

"Brewery industries are the largest consumers of water among several production industries. Despite consuming these huge amounts of water and electricity, they generate by-products that are harmful to the environment. These by-products contain organic, inorganic, and solid wastes with high chemical oxygen demand (COD) strength. The anaerobic digestion (AD) process plays an important role in treating this wastewater. This study investigates the design and development of an expanded granular sludge bed reactor (EGSB) effluent recirculation, which can achieve high COD removal efficiency of the wastewater and enhance the efficiency of generating biogas with high yields and increases in the concentration …

The Effects Of Privacy Violation Abstractness On Privacy Attitudes And Behaviors, Delicia Anceisao Vaz

Masters Theses

"This research investigates new methods to present privacy policy information to consumers. It makes the argument that current privacy policies do not present consumers with information in a manner that helps align their privacy attitudes with their privacy behaviors. With the introduction of smart appliances to the market, it is critical that appropriate privacy policies are created to equip consumers with information that is easy to understand. Neutral Examples and Risk Examples were created along with the Traditional Content of a privacy policy. These three components were used in different combinations to provide privacy information about smart appliances. Additionally, it …

Coaxial Cable Ring Resonator Based On Pair Sided Coaxial Cable Bragg Grating Coupler For Sensing Appllication, Xiaotong Tang

Masters Theses

“Coaxial cable based devices, such as coaxial cable Bragg grating (CCBG), coiled coaxial cable resonator have been demonstrated for sensing applications to address the challenges faced by fiber optic sensors (e.g., large strain survivability, installation). Inspired by the fiber ring resonator (FRR), coaxial cable based ring resonator (CCRR) is reported in this thesis. The device mainly formed by a homemade coaxial cable Bragg grating (CCBG) pair based side coupler. Comparing to the commercial coupler, CCBG-SC improves the flexibility of the device for sensing applications. The coupling frequency of the CCBG-based coupler can be modified by changing the grating length and …

Development Of Hollow Coaxial Cable Fabry Perot Resonator For High Temperature Sensing Applications, Mohammed Farhan Ahmed

Masters Theses

"The thesis is comprised of two papers, the first paper presents the novel High-Quality Factor Coaxial Cable Fabry-Perot Resonator for sensing applications. The sensor is fabricated by creating two highly reflective mirrors in a coaxial cable. The temperature response of the sensor was tested, by monitoring the frequency shift of the reflection spectra as the temperature increased linearly from 35 °C to 80 °C in steps of 5 °C. The sensor exhibited high temperature sensitivity and good measurement resolution.

A high Q factor of 133 was recorded. The second paper in the thesis presents a low cost, robust, homemade hollow …

Untangling The Effects Of Biosynthetic And Metabolic Rates On Oxidative Cellular Damage In An Insect Model, Nikki Jihui Gomez

Masters Theses

“Previously, a theoretical model for unravelling the entwined effects of metabolic and biosynthetic rates on oxidative cellular damage accumulation during an animal’s growth period was developed and tested in hornworms (Manduca sexta larvae). In theory, if an animal had unrestricted amounts of energy and a high repair efficiency, they could repair most of the oxidative cellular damage accumulated, regardless of how their metabolic rate varies. However, organisms have a finite amount of energy that is allocated to repair and, during the animal’s development period, a considerable amount of energy goes towards growth eliciting a tradeoff between biosynthesis and repair. …

Corrosion Performance Of Zirconium-Based Passivations On Electroplated Zinc Nickel, Madison Morgan Reed

Masters Theses

“Performance requirements for Department of Defense (DoD) electrical components include corrosion and electrical contact resistance. Historically, electroplated cadmium with a chromate conversion coating (CrCC) has been used to meet corrosion and contact resistance standards. However, replacements are needed for these materials because they are toxic and carcinogenic. Electroplated γ-ZnNi has been identified as an acceptable alternative to Cd. This study evaluated commercially available Zr-based thin films and sealers as passivations for potential replacement of CrCCs. Ten different passivations were tested and compared with bare γ-ZnNi. X-Bond and Zircobond passivations were found to provide some improvement to the bare ZnNi corrosion …

Epithelium Detection And Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia Classification In Digitized Histology Images, Sri Venkata Ravitej Addanki

Masters Theses

“Cervical cancer is one of the most deadly cancers faced by women. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in women aged 20 to 39 years. In order to detect cancer at early stages, pathologists analyze the epithelium region from the cervical histology images. These histology images have a pre-cervical cancer condition called cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) determined by pathologists. This study deals with automating the process of epithelium detection and epithelium CIN classification in digitized histology images. For epithelium detection, the objective is to detect epithelium regions in microscopy images from non-epithelium regions and background. convolutional neural …

Predictors Of Fish Assemblage Structure And Dynamics In Atlantic Coastal Plain Streams, Rebecca Scott

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Effective management of freshwater fishes requires a mechanistic understanding of the drivers of assemblage composition; in other words, what determines who is where and when. Stream fish assemblages are potentially influenced by environmental factors that act on multiple spatiotemporal scales, but the relative influence of these drivers may vary between geophysically distinct regions. This study sought to determine the patterns and drivers of fish taxonomic and functional assemblage composition in the coastal plain, a region possessing unique hydrologies, faunas, and physiochemical conditions. I addressed this goal using two complementary chapters, both of which utilized environmental and biotic data collected from …

Characterizing The Complex Relationship Between The Brown Widow Spider And Its Bacterial Endosymbiont, Wolbachia, Emily Knight

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The brown widow spider, Latrodectus geometricus (C. L. Koch 1841), has been found to harbor the maternally inherited bacterial endosymbiont Wolbachia pipientis (Hertig and Wolbach 1924), but endosymbiont infection frequency varies widely among Southeastern US populations. Wolbachia is known to manipulate the reproduction of its hosts through male feminization, parthenogenesis, male killing, and cytoplasmic incompatibility. In brown widows, Wolbachia does not alter sex ratios, but any other effects the symbiont has on the spider are unknown. In my first chapter, I assess if there is linkage between Wolbachia infection and maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in three brown widow populations. …

(Re)Learning To Question: Curriculum Studies And (Re)Thinking Science For The 21st Century, Anthony Jerome Stawiery

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation proposes a science literacy which revisits the nature of science and how it has fallen away from its inquiry-based roots and has become a tool for oppression and exclusion. The epistemological roots of science begin with curiosity and questioning. Asking questions is also foundational to democratic society. A critical science literacy emphasizes the need to question and to remain curious. Such skills can be incorporated across multiple disciplines. Therefore, this dissertation proposes science literacy not as a literacy in the life or physical sciences, but as a methodology of inquiry, a skillset that nurtures curiosity and strengthens critique. …

Mchm (4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol) Influences The Predator-Prey Interaction Between Danio Rerio And Daphnia Magna, Anna C. Wagner

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Chemical contamination alters organism-level traits, such as activity and feeding, that can ultimately affect aquatic trophic interactions. Despite the importance of predator-prey relationships in aquatic communities, chemical toxicity is often tested on single species prior to use. For example, 4-methylcyclohexane methanol (MCHM) used in industrial coal-cleaning enters the environment regularly from low-level contamination during disposal and occasionally in high concentrations following accidental spills, but its effects on fish-zooplankton interactions remain unknown. It was hypothesized MCHM exposure affects zebrafish and D. magna swimming behavior differently when exposed individually or together, and ultimately affects their relationship. Zebrafish and D. magna were exposed …

Draft Genome Sequence Of Streptomyces Sp. Strain Jv178, A Producer Of Clifednamide-Type Polycyclic Tetramate Macrolactams, Yunci Qi, John M. D’Alessandro, Joshua A.V Blodgett

Biology Faculty Research

Here, we report the draft genome sequence of Streptomyces sp. JV178, a strain originating from Connecticut (USA) garden soil. This strain produces the polycyclic tetramate macrolactam compounds clifednamides A and B. The draft genome contains 10.65 Mb, 9,045 predicted protein coding sequences, and several natural product biosynthetic loci.

Resilience, Glenda Militano

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

ABSTRACT

My objective for creating this body of work is to explore the complexity and beauty of the human brain. What inspired these works is my research on cognitive psychology and neuroscience. Cognitive psychology involves the study of internal mental processes, while neuroscience deals with nerves and nervous tissue that relate to behavior and learning. Neuroscience is where psychology meets biology. The series of paintings in Resilience, were created with the intent to connect these two fields of study, while charting my exploration and discoveries found linked with science and psychology. The brain and its components are portrayed in …

Deconstructing Abject Complacency Of Ascribed Gender, Kyle M. Hooten

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

My life has been dedicated to the relentless pursuit of masculinity throughout my transition from female to male. While originally focusing on the physical transition, my attention is now focused on the social aspects of transition. For me, this involved coming out, managing legal name/gender change paperwork, and understanding a newfound, cultural privilege. This is where I draw inspiration to create my work. My process and techniques are informed by Drag Kings and Queens as well as contemporary culture and art. After performing as a Drag King for a year I developed a sense of gender that differed from what …

Application Of Evolutionary Network Concept In Structuring Mathematics Curriculum, Aditi Mitra

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Phylogenetic tree and in general, evolutionary network, has found its application well beyond the biological fields and has even percolated into recent high demanding areas, such as data mining and social media chain reactions. An extensive survey of its current applications are presented here. An attempt has been made to apply the very concept in the mathematics course curriculum inside a degree program. Various features of the tree structure are identified within the curriculum network. To highlight various key components and to enhance the visual effect, several diagrams are presented. The combined effect of these diagram provides a sense of …

Embracing The Bounty: Countering The Curriculum Of Deficit, Diana Bishop

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Embracing the Bounty: Countering the Curriculum of Deficit (2018) addresses the restrictive nature of neoliberalism and offers alternative perspectives and possibilities for change by countering the curriculum of deficit now prevalent in the United States – a curriculum reflective of neoliberalism’s invasion of public schools and the rationality that reduces students, teachers, and schools to statistics emphasizing economic value above all else. In this dissertation, the impact of neoliberalism on public schools and its destructive effects are discussed as are alternative philosophical frameworks. Through a series of essays, I explore how a curriculum of deficit infiltrated American public schools and …

Investigation Of Flocculation Dynamics Under Changing Hydrodynamic Forcing On An Intertidal Mudflat, C Guo, Qing He, Prooijen Bc Van, L Guo, Andrew J. Manning, Sarah Bass

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

© 2017 In situ floc size and turbulent shear stress were measured together with suspended sediment concentration to investigate the floc properties under changing hydrodynamic forcing over the intertidal mudflat. A tripod system was established in the field for a period of approximately one month, including ~ 6 days of stormy conditions in the middle of the investigation period. Mean floc size exhibited strong temporal variations within a tidal cycle, and inverse relationship was found between mean floc size and shear stress. Suspended sediment concentration (SSC) can modulate the flocculation dynamics when shear stress decreases down to enhancing flocculation. Asymmetrical …

Survey For Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials At A Gas Fractionation Plant, Brittany Diane Jones

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Marcellus Gas Company (MGC) is a midstream energy company operating natural gas gathering and processing assets in the Marcellus Shale region, primarily in Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. At the time of the study, MGC was interested in surveying for naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) at their primary fractionation facility in the region, the Ohio River Fractionation Plant. A NORM survey, consisting of over 300 measurements, was conducted at the site to evaluate the need to implement the company's written NORM program and to assess for additional controls to protect employees against ionizing radiation exposure. Additionally, a qualitative exposure assessment …

Caregiver Selection Of Treatments For Their Child With Autism, Amy Kurowski-Burt

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This project was completed to understand what treatments caregivers are selecting for their child with autism and why treatments were selected and discontinued. Caregivers of children with autism participated in a mixed methods study. An online survey was completed (N=127) to identify treatments used for their child. Interviews were completed (n=14) to understand why treatments were selected and discontinued. Selection of medical, dietary, therapeutic, complimentary/ alternative medicine, community-based, behavioral, and educational treatments were mostly influenced by recommendations of others. Caregivers reported discontinuing because relationships and professionalism were lacking between provider and family. Providers must consider all the variables that influence …

The Protective Effects Of Social Support And Engagement Coping Strategy On The Relationship Between Perceived Discrimination And Psychological Distress Among Chinese Migrant Children, Jin-Liang Wang, Hsing-Fang Hsieh, Shervin Assari, James Gaskin, Detlef H. Rost

Faculty Publications

This study was aimed to figure out whether perceived stress mediates the relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological distress among Chinese migrant children and whether social support and engagement coping moderate the detrimental effects of perceived discrimination on psychological distress. The sample comprised 813 middle-school students (482 migrant children, 331 non-migrant children) from three schools in Southwest China. The results indicate that migrant children’s perceived discrimination and perceived stress are associated with psychological distress, and perceived stress does not mediate the relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological distress. Both social support and engagement coping are inversely related to psychological distress …

Crop Rotations That Integrate Pasture Are Less Vulnerable To Nitrogen Leaching Due To Changes In Microbial Community Composition And Reduced Nitrification, Jeth Gv Walkup

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Agroecosystems occupy a large portion of the United States and receive a disproportionally high amount of terrestrial nitrogen inputs. As application rates increase, nitrogen use efficiency declines leading to higher rates of nitrogen loss. To develop sustainable agricultural practices, the long-term effects of management practices on the soil microorganisms that perform central roles in the transformation of nitrogen need to be studied. To study the long-term impacts of compost application and pasture integration in crop rotation, samples were collected from the existing 19-year-old Organic Crop Livestock Field (OCLF) experiment on the WVU organic research farm. The OCLF experiment includes a …

Differentiating Human Populations Based On K-Mer Classification Of Hand Bacteria, Thrisha Doppala

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Bacterial communities found in and on the human body are not only used in studying human health conditions but are also effective in differentiating individuals due to their distinct profiles. Human palm regions harbor relatively more diverse bacterial communities and are indicative of population groups, life styles, geographic locations, age groups and health conditions. Sequences extracted from hypervariable region V3 of the 16S rRNA bacterial gene of hand bacterial samples from 9 different population groups were classified into Operational Taxonomic Units (OTU) with GreenGenes reference taxonomy using RDP (Ribosomal Database Project) classifier. Frequencies of identified OTUs were used to study …

The Microvascular And Systemic Effects Of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticle Exposure: A Physiological Perspective, Alaeddin Bashir Abukabda

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nano-TiO₂) are one of the most widely used engineered nanomaterials (ENM). Their ubiquitous inclusion warrants a more thorough understanding of their toxicity, particularly in sensitive populations such as pregnant women and the developing fetus.

The aim of the first study was to determine the most sensitive segments of the vasculature to pulmonary ENM exposure. Macrovascular function was investigated in the thoracic aorta, common femoral artery and 3^rd order mesenteric arterioles using wire myography. Microvascular function was assessed in 4^th and 5^th order mesenteric arterioles via pressure myography. Nano-TiO₂ exposure induced impairments …

Application Of Molecular Pathology Techniques To Understand Mechanisms Of Disease In Smallmouth Bass, Heather Leigh Walsh

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In the Chesapeake Bay drainage, smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu are used as an indicator species of estrogenic contaminant exposure and have been implicated in fish kills and disease since 2005. In the Potomac River drainage, adult smallmouth bass have experienced mortality and disease and males have a high prevalence of intersex (testicular oocytes). Conversely, in the Susquehanna River drainage mortalities and disease of young-of-the-year smallmouth bass (YOY SMB) have occurred and resulted in a population shift to older and larger fish. The exact cause of these events remains unknown; however, factors such as poor water quality, contaminants, pathogens and parasites, …

Impact Of A Fruit And Vegetable Diet Intervention In Young Adults With Metabolic Syndrome On Behavior And Gut Microbiome, Rashel L. Clark

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Background: Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is a clustering of factors that increases the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. The rates of MetS are on the rise, even among young adults. The primary objective of the Fruvedomics phase 2 study was to determine changes in behavior, cardiovascular, and gut microbiome health in a group of young adults with MetS following an 8-week, free-living, dietary intervention.;Methods: The dietary intervention followed the USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans and focused on increasing fruit and vegetable intake to equal half their diet. University students (18--30 years old) with MetS were recruited on the West …

Estimating Bald Eagle Occupancy And Density In The Chesapeake Bay Watershed, Bethany Drahota

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) are a newly recovered species, and as such, little is known about their modern population dynamics and how these dynamics interact with their ecology. With the recent expansion of eagle populations, managers have begun to question assumptions about bald eagles, including their sensitivity to disturbances. Discerning how eagles react to both outside influences and internal factors is crucial for eagle conservation, especially in focal areas of importance, such as the Chesapeake Bay. I used seven years of monitoring data from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) to determine the occupancy (chapter 1) and …

Annual Aboveground Biomass Growth In Temperate Forests Of Eastern North America, Alex W. Dye

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The below dissertation is organized into three individual standalone manuscripts supporting the overarching theme of reconstructing annual aboveground biomass growth in temperate forests of eastern North America using dendrochronological applications. Each manuscript is organized with the intent of submission to a peer-reviewed journal. The first manuscript validated the technique I use throughout my dissertation by comparing tree-ring derived estimates of annual aboveground productivity with estimates from co-located or nearby permanent remeasurement plots at Howland, Maine, Harvard Forest, Massachusetts, and Fernow, West Virginia. The second manuscript investigated the size-related distribution of biomass growth at 16 eastern U.S. forest sites and compared …

The Uneasy Case For Patent Law, Rachel E. Sachs

Michigan Law Review

A central tenet of patent law scholarship holds that if any scientific field truly needs patents to stimulate progress, it is pharmaceuticals. Patents are thought to be critical in encouraging pharmaceutical companies to develop and commercialize new therapies, due to the high costs of researching diseases, developing treatments, and bringing drugs through the complex, expensive approval process. Scholars and policymakers often point to patent law’s apparent success in the pharmaceutical industry to justify broader calls for more expansive patent rights.

This Article challenges this conventional wisdom about the centrality of patents to drug development by presenting a case study of …

Providing A Premarital Education Seminar For The Single Young Adults Of Abuakwa Seventh-Day Adventist Church In Ghana, Daniel Opoku-Adjei

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

In my years of service as a gospel minister, I noticed that a sizeable number of church members are censured or disfellowshipped on marriage or family issues, including divorce, adultery or fornication. The reasons for these unfortunate situations in our changing society could be linked to misunderstanding about marriage and the needed preparations. The major root cause of these problems on the part of both the young adults and the older people is inadequate premarital education. This results in wrong selection of life partners, short circuiting the courtship process and misunderstanding of what constitute marital satisfaction and marital stability. …

Renovations Needed: The Fda's Floor/Ceiling Framework, Preemption, And The Opioid Epidemic, Michael R. Abrams

Michigan Law Review

The FDA’s regulatory framework for pharmaceuticals uses a “floor/ceiling” model: administrative rules set a “floor” of minimum safety, while state tort liability sets a “ceiling” of maximum protection. This model emphasizes premarket scrutiny but largely relies on the state common law “ceiling” to police the postapproval drug market. As the Supreme Court increasingly holds state tort law preempted by federal administrative standards, the FDA’s framework becomes increasingly imbalanced. In the face of a historic prescription medication overdose crisis, the Opioid Epidemic, this imbalance allows the pharmaceutical industry to avoid internalizing the public health costs of their opioid products. This Note …