Digital Commons Network^™

Development Of Bayesian And Non-Bayesian Melphalan Pharmacokinetic Model From Literature-Generated Data, Enoch Cobbina

Open Access Master's Theses

Published articles constitute a huge repository of population pharmacokinetic (Pop PK) models that can be repurposed to answer dose-related questions. We present a Simulation-Informed-Statistically-Aided (SISA) method that can be used to select population pharmacokinetic models from literature for repurposing.

Seven published melphalan PK models, and 1 reference model from FDA NDA submission documents were selected. A 30 minute IV infusion of 140 mg/m² of melphalan was simulated using each of the 7 models. The predictive performance of each of the models were evaluated using a proposed method called modified standard normal deviate (mSND). Five models, M1, M3, M4, M5 …

Nanostructured Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Sensor For Marine Pollutants, Timo Küster

Open Access Master's Theses

Excess concentrations of nitrate and phosphate in seawater can lead to harmful algae blooms that damage coastal ecosystems, pose health risks and adversely impact commercial activity. Early in situ detection of over-nutrification is necessary for rapid response and mitigation plans. Commercial nitrate and phosphate sensors utilize UV-Vis spectroscopy methods. Those sensors show interference with ions present in seawater and are prone to biofouling, necessitating new approaches for in situ monitoring. Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a technique theoretically capable of single molecule detection, and therefore may be a promising approach for nitrate and phosphate detection. However, there are clear …

Data Analytics For Wearable Iot-Based Telemedicine, Rassoul Diouf

Open Access Master's Theses

Parkinson’s disease (PD, Parkinson’s) is a common neurodegenerative disease affecting over 10 million individuals worldwide. Its main marker is the loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra, an area of the midbrain. The root cause of PD is currently unknown. Besides, the disease is progressive, and the symptoms worsen as the ones affected grow older. Motor symptoms such as tremors, slowness of movement, and muscular rigidity, along with other non-motor ones, such as trouble with sleep, may occur. The current solutions for PD are medication and, in cases when the disease does not respond to it as much as …

Evaluation Of Ifqs In The Pacific Halibut Fishery In Alaska: Were The Management Safeguards Successful?, Jessica Menges

Open Access Master's Theses

Alaskan fisheries are steeped in centuries of tradition and decades of innovative management. The Pacific halibut fishery is the oldest fishery in the United States managed under an individual fishing quota (IFQ) system. As such, the Pacific halibut fishery serves as an ideal system to study the long-term impacts of an IFQ system. A frenzy of research focused on the system after its implementation in 1995, which created an excellent baseline. However, interest in the halibut fishery faded as other IFQ programs began popping up around the world.

Over two decades later, the Pacific halibut fishery remains understudied in its …

Wiki-Based Collaborative Writing In Esl Classrooms: A Study On Teachers And Students Perspectives And Attitudes., Mirella Gomes Da Silva

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Computer-mediated collaborative writing has drawn attention from second language researchers and instructors for a few decades, and due to recent developments in Web 2.0 technologies, the possibilities of wikis for collaborative writing have increased enormously. However, few studies have explored the nature of wiki collaboration and interaction, especially with small group writing activities using wikis. This study investigated how intermediate-level international ESL students at an urban U.S. Mid-South university interacted within the wiki-based collaborative writing platform Pbworks.com. Students and instructors perspectives toward the integration of wikis in writing assignments addressed. Sixty-four students, grouped into twenty-five groups of three, were asked …

The Effects Of Self-Leadership On The Job Satisfaction And Job Performance Of Online Instructors, John Hall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

AbstractHall, John R. Ed. D. The University of Memphis. July 2019. The Effects of Self-leadership on the Job Satisfaction and Job Performance of Online Instructors. Major Professor: Dr. Wendy Griswold.Innovations in technology and media have led to changes in the way that higher education is experienced. Today, the convenience, accessibility and flexibility of online learning are embraced by students across the globe. In response to these progressive advancements along with increasing competition for enrollment growth and budgetary concerns, many college and university leaders are framing online education as key element of their strategies for the future. Rising demands for online …

Pregnancy And The Voice: Surveying Effects From The Singer's Perspective, Sarah Elizabeth Harper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Hormonal challenges and physical encumbrances tax a womans body during pregnancy. If that woman is a vocalist, these changes will affect her ability to sing. Assumptions exist about what can happen to a womans voice during pregnancy, but these assumptions are based on theoretical predictions of what happens to the voice during pregnancy. This investigation aimed to gain information on what women were told about the effects of pregnancy on the voice in comparison to what they actually experienced. An anonymous mixed-method survey was distributed to 321 professional women singers; results will be discussed.

The Black Experience And Responses To Anti-Black Racism, Samaiyah Jahaan Jones Scott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

In this dissertation, I focus on aspects of the Black experience concerning African American responses to anti-Black racism in the United States. The ideas I examine allow me to further the dialogue concerning quintessential questions pertaining to anti-Black racism that arise from the Black experience in America that are now reformulated to help African Americans respond to current forms of anti-Black racism. Have Black intellectuals historically accepted shared responsibility for racism? Do contemporary shared responsibility models hold African Americans responsible for anti-Black racism? Is national minority status a viable response to anti-Black racism? In each chapter, I enter the respective …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Associate Degree Program Preadmission Grade Point Average (Gpa), American College Test (Act) Scores And Degree Completion And Success On The National Council Licensure Examination-Registered Nurses (Nclex-Rn), Anthony Jouvenas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

AbstractAN EXAMINATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ASSOCIATE DEGREE PROGRAM PREADMISSION GRADE POINT AVERAGE (GPA), AMERICAN COLLEGE TEST (ACT) SCORES AND DEGREE COMPLETION AND SUCCESS ON THE NATIONAL COUNCIL LICENSURE EXAMINATION-REGISTERED NURSES (NCLEX-RN).Associate Degree Nursing programs in Alabama have more applicants than available spots, making them highly competitive programs to gain entry. The community colleges that offer these programs are facing many challenges including performance-based funding, open-enrollment policies, and high attrition rates. Given these conditions, program directors institute an application grading process in an effort to select applicants whom the programs believe is most likely to graduate and to be successful …

The Effects Of Intergroup Contact On Intergroup Anxiety And Transgender Prejudice: An Examination Using Structural Equation Modeling, Yasuko Kanamori

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Background: Evidence suggests that transgender individuals face high levels of prejudice, discrimination, and violence. Despite the known negative impact of transgender prejudice, research is lacking on interventions to reduce transgender prejudice. One possible solution might be found in the intergroup contact theory, which has substantial empirical support as an effective strategy to reduce prejudice across diverse populations and situations. Aims: The present study sought to apply the intergroup contact theory to the study of transgender prejudice. First, the study developed and pilot tested the performance of the Transgender Affect Misattribution Procedure (Transgender AMP), a measure of implicit transgender prejudice. Second, …

An Analysis Of School Administrators Perceptions Of The Role Of School Counselors And The Relationship Between Tvaas Scores And The Student To Counselor Ratio, Ann Keyl

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of current school administrators on the roles of the school counselor and the impact it had on TVAAS scores and student-to-school-counselor ratios. The participants were chosen from a survey administered by the Tennessee Department of Education in the spring of 2016. This research was a quantitative correlational study. The researcher implemented an index called the Administrators Perception Index to give value to survey responses to analyze through a linear regression model any correlational data. The research showed that there was no significance with the Index score and student-to-counselor ratio and …

Exposure To Health Warning Labels On Waterpipe Tobacco Packages: An Application Of The Modified Extended Parallel Process Model On Quitting Behavior From Three Waves Of The Path Study, Jayaprakash Kumar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The prevalence of waterpipe (WP) smoking has increased steadily in the United States despite growing evidence of its serious health consequences and addictive potential. Although, health warning labels (HWLs) on cigarette packages are effective in preventing initiation and cessation of smoking, the effect of HWLs on WP tobacco packages have seldom been studied. This study modified the extended parallel process model (EPPM) by adding motivation as a mediating construct and applied to examine if it predicts the effect of health warning label on waterpipe tobacco packages on quitting behavior. Data from the three waves of the Population Assessment of Tobacco …

Laughing Revolutions: The Popular Culture Of Modern Aesthetic Manifestos, Stephen Everett Leet

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

During the first quarter of the twentieth century, a veritable manifesto-craze in the arts swept across Europe and the Americas. Inaugurated by F.T. Marinettis Founding and Manifesto of Futurism (1909), this phenomenon saw the publication of thousands of manifesto texts and parodic manifestos announcing new aesthetic theories and movements in the form of bombastic and often incredulous rhetoric. This dissertation intervenes in the extant body of literary criticism on the subject of this phenomenon. It argues that, contrary to current analytic trends, these manifestos were irreducible to their generic antecedents in the realm of politics. Rather than seeking legitimacy for …

Influences Of Parent Physical Activity Support And Physical Activity Modeling On Adolescent Physical Activity Engagement And Weight Status, Cardella Lashay Leak

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Childhood obesity rates continue to rise with adolescents (12-19 years old) having the highest prevalence (20.6%) across all age groups. Previous studies have indicated the importance of physical activity (PA) to assist with reducing obesity rates among adolescents. Parents influence their adolescents PA as they are typically adolescents first exposure and gatekeepers to both direct and indirect PA behaviors through their support and modeling of PA. This dissertation used parent-adolescent dyads from the Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating (FLASHE) study to examine the associations between parent PA support and PA modeling and adolescent moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) engagement …

Deep Learning-Based Visual Crack Detection Using Google Street View Images, Mohsen Maniat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The need for developing an economical and efficient quality assessment system for pave-ment motivates this study to take advantage of available new technologies and provide a novel approach to address this need. In this study, the utility of using Google Street View (GSV) for evaluating the quality of pavement is investigated. GSV is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides interactive panoramas along many streets throughout the world. This technology provides a large data set of pavement images that can be used for pavement evaluation. Advanced deep learning algorithms are utilized to automate the pavement assessment …

The Role Of Executive Function In Supporting Reading Fluency In Students With Dyslexia: A Latent Growth Curve Analysis, Ashley Mayhew

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to examine the role of executive function (EF) skills (i.e., working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibition) in supporting the development of reading fluency in elementary school students with dyslexia. Participants were 47 students (i.e., second to sixth grade) attending a private school in the Mid-South region of the United States that provides an intensive day-treatment program for students diagnosed with dyslexia. Latent Growth Curve Modeling (LGCM) was used to explore the concurrent and predictive relation between EF and oral reading fluency across a school year. Overall, results from the study indicated that executive function …

Multiaxial Fatigue Behavior Of Additive Manufactured Metals: Experiments And Modeling, Reza Molaei

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Additive manufacturing (AM) technology has gained significant attention in recent years due to several important advantages. However, design of critical load carrying parts using this technique is still at its infancy, partly due to the inferior performance and lack of sufficient understanding of fatigue behavior of AM metals as compared to their wrought counterparts. Similar to most other components in different industries, AM parts typically undergo cyclic loadings through their service life, therefore, fatigue performance is a key performance criterion. In addition, biaxial and multiaxial stresses are common for many components, even under nominal uniaxial loading conditions where the stress …

Physical Disabilities And Theatre: We Discover What It Is To Be Human And What Is Possible For Humans To Be., Jennifer Annette Nettleton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

This dissertation examines the portrayal of physically disabled characters in dramatic literature over the course of the late nineteenth through the twentieth into the twenty-first century. My core argument is that performance art, sideshows, and theatre are safe means by which people have been able to look fixedly at those who are different. Additionally, this project will address the historical context of certain plays productions and how our evolving understanding of, representations of, and conceptions about those who are different change over time. Theatre allows individuals to be seen and to see; thus, by utilizing the core concepts and ideas …

Assessing The Factor Structure And Classification Accuracy Of The College Alcohol Problems Scale Using A Population Of Students With Disabilities, Kristi L. Nobbman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Alcohol use on college campuses is an issue of public health. Sixty percent of college students consume alcohol on a monthly basis. Identifying students risk of alcohol related problems is compounded when working with academically at-risk students. Students with disabilities (SWD) are considered an at-risk group and make up 11% of student population on college campuses. The College Alcohol Problems Scale (CAPS) is widely used on college campuses and has shown versatility with African American students, deaf and hard of hearing students, and Spanish speaking students. The purpose of this study was to determine if the two-factor model of CAPS …

Pap Testing Screening Experiences Of Hiv-Positive Women, Siri Alicia Ogg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted disease, and is known to cause genital warts, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), and cervical cancer. HIV-positive women are at greater risk of contracting HPV, experiencing CIN, having more advanced-grade CIN, and developing cervical cancer due to their compromised immune status. Since becoming an essential part of womens preventive healthcare, the Papanicolaou test, commonly known as the Pap smear, has helped to reduce cervical cancer incidence and mortality; however, many HIV-positive women do not meet recommended Pap test screening guidelines. This study addressed the following research question: What psychosocial, cultural, contextual, …

Ambient Awareness On A Sidewalk For Visually Impaired, Faruk Ahmed

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Safe navigation by avoiding obstacles is vital for visually impaired while walking on a sidewalk. There are both static and dynamic obstacles to avoid. Detection, monitoring, and estimating the threat posed by obstacles remain challenging. Also, it is imperative that the design of the system must be energy efficient and low cost. An additional challenge in designing an interactive system capable of providing useful feedback is to minimize users' cognitive load. We started the development of the prototype system through classifying obstacles and providing feedback. To overcome the limitations of the classification-based system, we adopted the image annotation framework in …

A Mechanism Design For Crowdsourcing Multi-Objective Recommendation System, Eiman Aldahari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Crowdsourcing is an approach whereby requesters call for workers with different capabilities to process a task for monetary reward. The emergence of crowdsourcing has drawn increasing attention in recent years as a revolutionary phenomenon. Although crowdsourcing is still considered a developing approach, early signs expectations are promising. The advantage of crowdsourcing resides in its ability to facilitate access to diverse skilled workers to process the outsourced tasks at reduced time and cost. Moreover, crowdsourcing helps reduce unemployment by offering on-demand employment opportunities. With the vast amount of tasks posted every day, satisfying the workers, requesters, and service providers who are …

Investigating Sequential Vocabulary Learning Strategies As A Means Of Improving L2 Vocabulary Acquisition, Adel Marzouq Alharbi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

One of the key aspects to learning a language is building good vocabulary knowledge. However, building vocabulary is considered to be as hard a process as developing the language itself in the long term. In second language acquisition (SLA), the larger vocabulary size has been connected to intelligence and as a major determinant of successful language use. With the constant use of vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs), language learners have reported successful growth of their language learning. The current study investigated SpanishEnglish bilingual speakers beliefs and practices about sequential VLS processes as a means of improving second language vocabulary acquisition. The …

Professors And Students Perceptions About English As An International Language (Eil) In Speaking Instruction In Saudi Arabia, Shatha Ahmed Alkhalaf

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

AbstractAlkhalaf, Shatha. Ph.D. The University of Memphis. May 2018. Professors and Students Perceptions about English as an International Language (EIL) in Speaking Instruction in Saudi Arabia. Major Professor: Emily Thrush, Ph.D.Driven by the critical period hypothesis (CPH), Kachrus (1985) World Englishes paradigm, and Krashens (1982) theory of second language acquisition (SLA), this study examined instructors and learners attitudes toward English as an International Language (EIL) speaking instruction in Saudi Arabia and whether exposure to EIL speaking instruction influenced participants beliefs. Participants consisted of 23 professors teaching in the Department of English at Qassim University and 30 Saudi undergraduate students majoring …

Saudi Esl/Efl Learners Metacognitive Online Reading Strategies In Arabic And English, Hamad Mohammed Alluhaydan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Historically, Saudi readers have demonstrated poor metacognitive reading skills and literacy practices. This study investigates what online metacognitive reading strategies ESL and EFL Saudi learners believed they used more frequently in Arabic and English. It also shows perceived differences between Saudi male and female ESL/EFL learners in their strategy use while reading online texts. The lack of practice reading in Arabic or English affects comprehension skills; less than 25% of participants felt they could answer reading comprehension questions in class. Male and female participants did not differ in their use of global, support, and problem-solving metacognitive online reading strategies when …

The Impact Of School Profiles With The Competing Values Framework (Cvf) On The Decision Of Educators To Leave The Profession Entirely, Erika M. Ashford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between the perceived ways in which 248 Tennessee high schools address the organizational tensions, trade-offs, and conflicts (Cameron, Quinn, DeGraff, & Thakor, 2006, p. 50) embodied in the Competing Values Framework (CVF) and the percent of educators at those schools intending to leave education entirely. To this purpose, item-, scale, and quadrant-level responses aligned with the CVF were selected from data derived from the 2013 administration of the Teaching, Empowering, Leading, and Learning survey in Tennessee (TELL Tennessee). To control for school characteristics that might confound the aforementioned relationships, …

Becoming A Science Teacher Together: Course Creation And Exploration Through Participatory Action Research, Rachel Diane Askew

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

States across the nation are reporting a shortage in teachers, with science being a particular area of need (Sutcher, Darling-Hammond, & Carver-Thomas, 2016). Research has been done, and is still taking place, centered around elementary school teachers and their beliefs on science teaching (Avraamidou, 2014; 2016), due in part to a noticeable trend in low science teaching self-efficacy, which can impact students beliefs in science (Bergman & Morphew, 2015; Krajcik, Czerniak, & Berger, 2003; Menon & Sadler, 2016; Ramsey & Howe 1969;).Studies on science teacher identity are not often representative of elementary education teachers (Mensah, 2016); nor do they approach …

Sovereign Justice: Royal Prerogative And Justice In The Works Of Spenser, Shakespeare, And Milton, Melissa Haickel Bagaglio

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

My dissertation joins a vibrant conversation in the intersection of literature and law to investigate the changing attitude towards the royal prerogative as it relates to law, mercy, and equity in the English early modern period. The royal prerogative, the sovereigns rights and privileges under English law, has long been a contentious aspect of the British legal system with many attempts over the centuries to limit the use of these powers. During Tudor times, royal prerogative was closely associated with the courts of Chancery and Star Chamber, which were highly regarded courts of equity. However, the same courts became associated …

Southeast U.S. Severe Thunderstorm Climatology And 1932 Tornado Outbreak, Bradley Wayne Baker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

There is a poor understanding of severe thunderstorm variability over the Southeast U.S. due to the lack of a reliable, homogeneous, long-term observational records. A potential avenue to address severe thunderstorm variability involves computing environmental indices derived from reanalysis datasets and use those as proxies for severe thunderstorm days. Unfortunately, reanalysis datasets have known issues with inhomogeneity that are not related to climatology. Thus, this research first sought to reconstruct a climatology of severe thunderstorm days back to 1925 from the Twentieth Century Reanalysis (20CR) dataset, while developing methods that potentially minimize non-climatic inhomogeneities. Severe thunderstorm day proxies were reconstructed …

Building A Case For Culturally Responsive Practices Used With Response To Intervention Models To Reduce Disproportionate Representation Among African Americans In Special Education, Sonia Perry Barber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The federal law, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which was enacted to provide funds to states to support special education programs and to ensure that children and parents rights are protected, has been reauthorized several times. Yet, despite the multiple amendments to improve the law, there remains a disproportionate representation of minority students in special education. Such disparity creates a plethora of problems for African-American students. This study extends a previous case study in relation to using culturally responsive practices to reduce disproportionate representation among African Americans in special education. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent …