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Utilization Of Superelectrophiles In Organic Synthesis, Hien Quoc Vuong

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation describes the use of triflic acid as a catalyst in organic synthesis. The first chapter is an introduction of reaction classes, reactive intermediate, and superacids.

Chapter 2 discusses a series of compounds have been prepared by the Fischer indole synthesis and Friedel–Crafts reactions, using a single acid catalyst in a one-pot conversion. The reactions have worked best with pyridyl-substituted hydrazones/indoles. Chlorination and bromination products are formed in good yields and high regioselectivities. Acylation products have also been prepared by the two-stage reaction. In the case of alkylation, the expected alkyl-substituted indoles are obtained however they are accompanied by …

Design, Synthesis, And Evaluation Of Potential Burkholderia Pseudomallei Ispf Inhibitors, Sydney Marie Watkins

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This body of work focuses on the inhibition of Burkholderia pseudomallei enzyme IspF. Burkholderia pseudomallei is the causative agent of Whitmore’s disease, and IspF is an essential enzyme in the synthesis of isoprenoids, a vital class of compounds. This work has involved the design and synthesis of nearly five dozen compounds, as well as the design, modification, and use of assays to demonstrate potential interactions between the compounds being investigated and the targeted organisms or enzymes. Development of assays was made challenging by the difficulty in observing the consumption of an unstable substrate or production of a product without a …

Wellness In Asexual-Identified Individuals: The Impact Of Social Support And Microaggressions, Elisa Marie Woodruff

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

One hundred sixty asexual identified individuals living in the United States were recruited from asexual online communities. The participants completed a comprehensive survey consisting of Zimet et al.’s 1988 Multidimensional Scale of Social Support, Foster’s 2017 Asexual Microaggression Scale, and the Five Factor Wellness Inventory Adult Version Revised (FFWEL-A2) developed by Myers and Sweeney in 2014, as well as 15-item demographic items. Regression models were used to assess relationships among the factors.

Social support was found to have a significant positive impact on participant wellness, supporting previous social science research. Microaggressions were not found to have a negative impact on …

Coupling Reactions Of Triaryl Carbocations Via Cationic Charge Delocalization, Hongfang Xue

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This thesis describes a coupling reaction involving cationic charge delocalization. This work began as a study of the Piancatelli rearrangement, a reaction involving furan-based triaryl methyl cations. A new synthetic reaction has been discovered using these furan-based triaryl methyl cations as electrophilic intermediates. Zinc chloride has been found to be an effective Lewis acid catalyst for the ionization of the triaryl methanols to the carbocations. It has been found that furan-based triaryl methyl cations react with nucleophiles such as enol silyl ethers and silyl ketene acetals. Similar to the Piancatelli reaction, nucleophilic reactions are found to occur at the 5-position …

An Experimental Examination Of Religious Teaching And Thought-Action Fusion, Johanna Anita Younce

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Scrupulosity is an understudied symptom dimension of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) that involves moral- and religious-based obsessions and compulsions. There are several different underlying cognitive beliefs that have been shown to be related to the development and maintenance of OCD, but one—moral thought-action fusion (TAF-moral)—has been highly associated with scrupulosity. TAF-moral is the belief that thoughts are morally equivalent to actions, including thoughts that are intrusive in nature. It has been found that individuals from different religious traditions display different levels of TAF-moral and display different strengths of association between TAF-moral and religiosity. However, these differences have not been examined experimentally …

Implementation Of The Shpb System For Material Property Test Under High Strain Rate Deformation, Jiaqi Zhu

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Since Bertram Hopkinson first raised the concept of Hopkinson pressure bar in 1914, many efforts have been taken by engineers and scholars for developing the system to measure the stress pulse propagation in metal bars for studying the properties of different materials under high strain rate deformation. The Northern Illinois University Material’s Lab has also built two generations of the split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) system with the effort of several senior design teams in history.

The aim of this study is to develop the existing SHPB system of NIU to make it function properly. By redesigning the gun barrel, …

Study Of Electron Beam Emitted From Nano-Structured Cathode, Anusorn Lueangaramwong

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Over the years, particle accelerators have enabled breakthroughs in fundamental science while also becoming critical tools in medicine, homeland security, and societal applications. High-brightness electron beams are a key to the development of some of these accelerators and especially accelerator-based light sources. Electron emission is the first stage of the accelerator that dictates the ultimate beam brightness. To achieve such beam quality, electron sources--cathodes have been developed for their emission efficiencies. The cathodes with nanostructures on their surfaces have shown promising efficiencies when a laser pulse impinges, or an electric field is applied, on the cathode surface. Alternatively, these nano-patterned …

Towards Dual-Readout Calorimetry For Redtop Experiment, Tilak B. Malla

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

By virtue of peculiar properties of the eta (η) Goldstone boson, the study of it’s de-

cays is very important. The rare decays of this meson can provide unique opportunities

to probe several fundamental invariance principles of physics world. The REDTOP experi-

ment aims at searching for Physics Beyond Standard Model (BSM) by studying such decays

at a sensitivity of 10^ (−10) or below, which requires 10^ (12) or more η mesons. The REDTOP

collaboration has designed a detector to produce and reconstruct such a large number of

η mesons, which will make REDTOP a rare decay factory. The detector …

Examining Effects Of Hearing Aids In Job Interviews, Jesus Jose Martinez

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This study attempted to examine the underlying processes of discrimination towards people with hearing disabilities in the hiring context. Previous research has used social identity theory, social categorization theory, social dominance theory, and social motives to explain discrimination toward others. Newer research has suggested that discrimination can be caused by distraction interfering with cognitive processes. There are instances in which both discrimination theories and distraction can be used to explain discrimination. This study tests a model that combines these two lines of research. The results of the study did not find support for this model. However, the results did find …

An Experimental Examination Of Intolerance Of Uncertainty In Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Hannah Faleer Martyn

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Anxiety is considered a fear response to threat, driven by the absence of certainty and elevated perceptions of the cost of harm. It has been suggested that exaggerated responding to uncertainty underlies all anxiety disorders. Although no longer classified under the anxiety disorders section of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), anxiety still is considered a primary component of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). OCD is a chronic, debilitating condition that affects multiple domains of functioning. The current gold standard of treatment for OCD is exposure and response prevention (ERP), a form of cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy. However, ERP is not effective for all …

“Hersay,” An Exception To The Rule: A Narrative Inquiry Of Women Law Professors Navigating The Gendered Organization Of Law School, Lisa M. Matich

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand how women law professors navigate the gendered organizational realm of law school. Stories of women’s experience illuminate structures within the gendered organization of the law school that reproduce gendered inequities. By understanding how these inequities are reproduced, we may learn how to create more equitable structures. This research thus provided an opportunity for women law professors to tell their stories, thereby giving voice to their experiences within the gendered organizations of law schools.

This study used the qualitative approach of narrative inquiry to explore participants’ experiences. Eight women law professors, either tenured …

How Two High School Teachers Conceive Of Student Voice, Value It, And Foster It, Katherine Mary Mccleary

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative, exploratory study was to examine two high school English teachers’ experience as they worked together to purposefully implement increased student voice in their classrooms. The study focused on how a convenience sample of teachers designed, implemented, and reflected upon classroom assignments and lessons with the intention to increase student voice and ownership in the classroom. Teachers each participated in four individual interviews, four partnership observations and three classroom observations as they related to student voice implementation.

Data from the interviews, partnership observations and classroom observations were analyzed using qualitative methods and through the lenses of …

Investigating The Effects Of Methylphenidate On Cue Salience And Behavioral Flexibility: Role Of D2 Receptors, Mercedes Mcwaters

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Healthy individuals worldwide are using cognitive enhancing drugs in an attempt to remain competitive in society for education, careers, and athletics. Commonly, these individuals are using prescription stimulants, such as methylphenidate (MPH), due to their known acute neuroenhancing effects. While these neuroenhancing effects have been established using a variety of learning, memory, and attention tasks in humans and rodents, little research has investigated the effects of MPH use on specific components of these tasks, such as cue salience. One process that is important for learning the relationship between a cue and a reward is salience, or the heightened perception and …

Trauma Memory: The Role Of Alexithymia And Emotion Regulation, Jennifer Milliken

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Alexithymia is a clinical term used to describe individuals who struggle to connect to their emotional experiences. Alexithymia is observed among individuals with a variety of mental health problems (Taylor, 2000; Taylor, Bagby, & Parker, 1997), and may characterize more severe clinical presentations (e.g., Frewen, Dozois, Neufeld, & Lanius, 2008). In addition, alexithymia seems to be related to adverse treatment outcomes (Kosten, Krystal, Giller, Frank, & Dan, 1992; Ogrodniczuk, Piper, & Joyce, 2011). This study adds to the current literature by examining the effect of alexithymia and emotion regulation (i.e., emotion suppression; emotion acceptance) on variables associated with trauma memory …

Unsc Legitimacy As A Tool For Misdirection, Medha Monjaury

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

In the months leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration made clear to the American people that the United States was prepared to go to war if Iraq failed to comply with Resolution 1441 and disarm. However, during the process of drafting and passing Resolution 1441, the U.S. expended considerable time and energy maintaining to the United Nations Security Council that it would not use the resolution as a pretext to strike Iraq. Moreover, it appears that the Security Council was convinced of the U.S.’ stated intentions when it passed Resolution 1441 unanimously in November 2002, …

The Effects Of Using A Mobile Digital Assistive Tutor For Circuit Analysis On Students’ Academic Achievement, Problem-Solving And Self-Efficacy, Kenie Moses

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This experimental research study examined the effects of using a mobile learning environment (MLE) that provided scaffolded assistive tutoring on student achievement in a Circuit Analysis (Network Theory) course. It also aimed to examine the relationships between students’ user learning analytics and their learning outcomes. The design and development of the mobile app was based on the Model of Contingent Instruction and Metacognitive Support which critically applies scaffolding as its operative in transferring domain knowledge in expert to novice problem-solving.

This experimental research study collected data from eighty-three undergraduate college students who were randomly assigned into one of three groups …

The Role Of Sensory And Affective Systems In The Semantic Processing Of Abstract Concepts, Jane Elizabeth Neal

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The role of modal, or embodied, systems in the semantic representation of abstract concepts, which are by nature not experienced by the senses, remains unclear. The experiments presented in this dissertation investigated the extent to which the activation of visual or affective systems may be modulated by context. Experiment 1 examined whether a verbal or visual memory load interfered with the semantic processing of abstract concepts paired with either a low or highly imageable adjective, and whether processing was similarly affected for concrete concepts. While the cognitive loads were effectively maintained, neither load type affected processing times for either concept …

The Hero Never Leaves The Tavern: Complicating Narrative In Dungeons & Dragons, Christopher Nelson

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This thesis aims to explore how Dungeons & Dragons complicates storytelling elements such as the role of narrator and audience and the structure of the hero’s journey. Using the Game Trailers Archive’s Tabletop Adventures series as a case study, I analyze over 50 hours of gameplay along with studying Dungeons & Dragons’s history and what influenced its creation and narrative style. This study is meant as an examination of the role of audience and narrator in Dungeons & Dragons and the game’s narrative elements using the lenses of Wayne Booth’s theories on the narrator as stated in his book The …

First-Generation, Underrepresented Community College Graduates And The Accrual Of Social Capital, Jorge Nieto

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Social capital contributes to the ability of individuals to navigate formal and informal systems and organizational structures. This qualitative research study features the perspectives of twenty first-generation community college graduates of color who completed their associate degrees in arts or science. This study describes the navigation of these graduates through the structure and systems of the community college, and the sources of social capital that were helpful to them in completing their associate degree as a part of their academic journey.

Microbiome And Metagenome Of An Anthropogenic Hyperalkaline Slag-Fill Waterway In South Chicago, Illinois, Usa, Jan Ingemar Ohlsson

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The aquifers and waterways around the Lake Calumet area of south Chicago, IL, USA have been affected by a century of intensive industrial waste dumping. Steel slag in particular was used as infilling to claim most of the Calumet Wetlands for industrial and residential development. Since the prohibition and cessation of these disposal activities, a growing body of research has recorded the environmental and health effects of the infill, particularly where interactions between slag minerals and rainwater produces extremely alkaline groundwater (pH ≥13). Atmospheric carbon dioxide interacting with these calcium hydroxide-rich slag fluids produces massive precipitation of a loose, white …

A Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis Of The Aerodynamic Performance Of Wind Turbine, Ashkan Ostovari

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Renewable energy resources are likely to be a future energy solution. Among them, the wind has gained a lot of interest. Despite the theoretical limitation in wind energy harnessing efficiency, it is, still, one of the most promising renewable resources with utilizing turbines to extract this energy. Wind turbines, based on their axis of rotation are categorized into vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) and horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT), which HAWT’s have shown relatively higher efficiency than VAWT’s. The aim of this thesis is first to develop a scaled-down model of a wind turbine in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) environment …

Cognitive Bias Modification For Negative Sexual Assault Disclosure Experiences: Examining A Mechanism For Improving Post-Disclosure Well-Being, Caitlin Mary Mcnamara Pinciotti

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Following a sexual assault, many survivors choose to disclose the experience to others. More commonly, these conversations occur between friends, family members, or significant others, but survivors may also disclose to professionals, such as law enforcement and medical professionals. Unfortunately, support providers often do not respond supportively to disclosing survivors, and unsupportive acknowledgement and turning-against reactions are common. Extant literature has overwhelmingly indicated that these negative reactions have lasting detrimental effects on survivors, including leading to increased symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other adverse outcomes. Although social support and PTSD theories converge to suggest that negative disclosure experiences …

Seabird Threats On Land And At Sea: Measuring Nearshore Response To Invasive Predator Eradications And Storm Petrel Diet Response To Fishing Expansion, Lyndsay L. Rankin

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Seabirds are crucial components of many marine and island ecosystems, and yet they are the world’s most threatened group of birds. They spend most of their lives at sea, where they face numerous threats including climate change, pollution, and fisheries. When they return to land to breed, they are threatened by human disturbance and invasive species. This research examines seabird response to threats on land and at sea using stable isotope analysis. Seabirds provide multiple ecosystem services, such as depositing rich marine-derived nutrients into the islands where they nest. Invasive predators disrupt this bottom-up control by decimating seabird populations. Successful …

Exploring The Relationship Between Facets Of Mindfulness And Emotion Regulatory Flexibility, Anthony Nicholas Reffi

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Emotion dysregulation can often be attributed to an inability to employ a range of regulatory strategies across varying stressful situations (i.e., regulatory flexibility). Therefore, it remains clinically relevant to determine the mechanisms that facilitate regulatory flexibility. Although mindfulness and regulatory flexibility have been linked, relations between mindfulness facets and regulatory flexibility have not yet been considered. This study aimed to determine which facets of self-reported trait mindfulness are related to regulatory choice flexibility. Using a previously validated performance-based emotion regulation choice paradigm, undergraduates (N = 78; 62.8% female; Mage = 19.82, SD = 2.03) chose to use either reappraisal or …

A Multimethod Investigation Of Emotional Labor And Sleep Quality: Can Perceptions Of Sleep Quality Influence Health And Emotion Regulation?, Arielle P. Rogers

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Sleep and emotional labor (i.e., emotion regulation at work) are integral to health and job performance. Poor sleep quality has been linked to decreased emotional labor; however, no study has examined the reason for this relationship. This study draws from models of self-regulation to suggest that perceptions of good sleep quality can increase employees’ motivation to exert emotional labor in the absence of display rules (i.e., “display autonomy”), resulting in better emotion performance (i.e., coded affective displays) and health (i.e., decreased emotional exhaustion). College students (N = 205) were randomly assigned to a “display rules” or “display autonomy” condition and …

The Study Of Scandate Cathode And Its Characterization Under Various Stages Of Processing, Xiaomeng Zhang

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Scandate cathode under various processing stages: scandia nano-powder, tungsten scandia mix powder, sintered and impregnated pellets, were characterized with techniques that included electron microscopy, EDS, XPS, and work function measurements. The size and shape uniformity of nano-scale scandia particles changed from round to square and polyhedron during heat treatment. Reduction in size and improvement in size uniformity as heat treating temperature increased were observed. When determining the highest Sc coverage, three assessment methods were used and with their combined results, it was concluded that set VII had the highest Sc at%. In the sintered pellets, it was observed with SEM …

Synthesis, Functionalization, And Application Of Nanofiltration And Composite Membranes For Selective Separations, Andrew Steven Colburn

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Future nanofiltration (NF) membranes used for selective separations of ions and small organic molecules must maintain performance in environments where high concentrations of total dissolved solvents or foulants are present. These challenges can be addressed through the development of composite membranes, as well as the engineering of enhanced surface properties and operating conditions for existing commercial membranes.

In this work, ion transport through commercial thin film composite (TFC) polyamide NF membranes were studied in both lab-prepared salt solutions and industrial wastewater. The dependence of several variables on ion rejection was investigated, including ion radius, ion charge, ionic strength, and temperature. …

Towards The Rational Design And Application Of Polymers For Gene Therapy: Internalization And Intracellular Fate, Landon Alexander Mott

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Gene therapy is an approach for the treatment of acquired cancers, infectious disease, degenerative disease, and inherited genetic indications. Developments in the fields of immunotherapies and CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing are revitalizing the efforts to move gene therapy to the forefront of modern medicine. However, slow progress and poor clinical outcomes have plagued the field due to regulatory and safety concerns associated with the flagship delivery vector, the recombinant virus. Immunogenicity and poor transduction in certain cell types severely limits the utility of viruses as a delivery agent of nucleic acids. As a result, significant efforts are being made to develop …

Synthesis, Characterization And Applications Of Reduced Graphene Oxide And Composite Membranes For Selective Separations And Removal Of Organic Contaminants, Ashish Aher

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Among the next generation materials being investigated for membrane development, partially reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO) has received increasing attention from the membrane community. rGO-based nanofiltration membranes have shown promising results in applications such as partial desalination, organic contaminant removal, gas-phase separations, and separations from solvent media. rGO offers a unique platform compared to common polymeric membranes since it can be used for separation applications in both aqueous and organic solvent media. An rGO-based platform could also be utilized to synthesize reactive membranes, giving rGO membranes the additional capability of reactively removing organic contaminants. This research focuses on the synthesis of …

Nanoharvesting And Delivery Of Bioactive Materials Using Engineered Silica Nanoparticles, Md Arif Khan

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNPs) possess large surface areas and ample pore space that can be readily modified with specific functional groups for targeted binding of bioactive materials to be transported through cellular barriers. Engineered silica nanoparticles (ESNP) have been used extensively to deliver bio-active materials to target intracellular sites, including as non-viral vectors for nucleic acid (DNA/RNA) delivery such as for siRNA induced interference. The reverse process guided by the same principles is called “nanoharvesting”, where valuable biomolecules are carried out and separated from living and functioning organisms using nano-carriers. This dissertation focuses on ESNP design principles for both applications. …