Digital Commons Network^™

The Removal Of Pharmaceuticals During Wastewater Treatment: Can It Be Predicted Accurately?, Sean Comber, Mike Gardner, Pernilla Sörme, Brian Ellor

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Measuring Fluoride In Human Saliva And Water, K Muhammad, S Mohammed, K Mohammadamin, V Kuri

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Background and objective: Fluoride is used to prevent dental caries, and it has been one of the most effective and widespread agents. Fluoride level has been shown in saliva, plaque, and oral soft tissues after use of fluoridated toothpaste that persists at potentially active concentrations for hours. This study aimed to evaluate how fluoride in toothpaste intake can affect the salivary fluoride and test fluoride in tap water in the different places of Erbil city. Methods: Forty five volunteers were examined. In the morning after overnight fasting before brushing teeth, the saliva of the subjects (healthy non-smoker adults) was taken …

The Prey Drive Model Of Sexual Violence, Tiffany Dawn Russell

Theses and Dissertations

The current project introduced prey drive theory, a new conceptualization of human violence perpetration adapted from canine training and breeding literature. As with canines, prey drive theory conceptualizes human aggression as a manifestation of genetically predisposed dominance and competitiveness. To evaluate the concept of human prey drive, the current study developed a prey drive model of sexual violence that was tested within a community sample of men (N = 662). Four latent trait clusters formed the foundation of the model: sexualized prey dominance, sexualized prey pursuit, antagonistic preparedness, and malevolent personality. A new scale, the Masculine Dominance Index, was …

Drought Management Before During And After The Drought, Edward Barrow Rayburn

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

WVU-Extension fact sheet

Understanding The Molecular And Cellular Functions Of Odd-Skipped Related 1 In Outflow Tract Development, Menglan Xiang

Theses and Dissertations

The cardiac outflow tract (OFT) is a transient conduit that connects the embryonic heart chambers to the vascular network. Transcription factor Osr1 promotes the proliferation and cell cycle progression of second heart field (SHF), an essential cell population that contribute to the developing OFT. In this study, we investigated the role of Osr1 in OFT development on cellular and molecular levels using a systems biology approach. We observed OFT rotation and elongation defects, as well as double-outlet right ventricle and overriding aorta as a result of SHF-specific deletion of Osr1. Using genetic inducible fate mapping, we showed that Osr1-expressing SHF …

Check-In/Check-Out With High School Students, Ashley Murphy

Dissertations

Check-in/Check-out (CICO) has been shown effective in reducing problem behavior (PB) and increasing academically engaged behaviors (AEB) for elementary and middle school students (Mitchell, Adamson, & McKenna, 2017); however limited research has included high school students. The current study sought to evaluate the effectiveness and social validity of CICO for four high school students in a general education setting. During the initial intervention phase, two students refused to participate in the CICO process (i.e., did not attend check-ins or check-outs despite multiple efforts); therefore, CICO was ineffective for these students. For two other students, CICO was ineffective for improving behavioral …

The Importance Of Practice: Learning To Teach Student-Centered Labs With Confidence, Linda Nix

Dissertations

This quantitative research study examined the relationship between science teachers’ science education experiences (high school, undergraduate science courses, teacher education program science methods courses, in-service teaching, and professional development) regarding exposure to student-centered labs and science teacher self-efficacy in teaching student-centered labs. This research study also examined the relationship between science teachers’ opportunity to practice teaching student-centered labs during their science teacher experiences (teacher education program science methods course, in-service teaching, and professional development) and science teaching self-efficacy in teaching student-centered labs as they relate to the social constructivist and experiential learning theories.

A modified version of the Science Teaching …

Molecular Responses To Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Contaminants In Estuarine Fish, Elizabeth Jones

Dissertations

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill resulted in the oiling of approximately 2100 km of shoreline. During that time, resident organisms had to contend with the effects of multiple contaminants and suboptimal environmental conditions. This research examines the molecular effects of DWH oil spill contaminants in estuarine fish (CyprinodonvariegatusandFundulusgrandis) across multiple life stages, contaminant concentrations, and in conjunction with environmental stressors.

Our results indicate that:

1. Oil elicits substantial transcriptional effects across life stages in C. variegatus. In adults, exposure to low concentrations of oil and dispersant results in transcriptional effects related …

Examining The Mechanisms Of Religious Ecology On Population Health And Material Well-Being, Joseph Andrew Clark

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A growing body of research has addressed the relationship between community-level religious environments and important aspects of well-being, such as mortality, crime, and social mobility. This research argues that the prevalence of specific religious traditions shapes these important outcomes through a variety of mechanisms. While there is no shortage of mechanisms proposed by authors - such as local attitudes towards public institutions, gender norms, and social networks - these mechanisms remain themselves untested. A notable critique of this literature suggests that without evidence supporting the existence of these mechanisms as described, scholars involved in this research run the risk of …

Testing Lotka’S Law And Pattern Of Author Productivity In The Scholarly Publications Of Artificial Intelligence, Muneer Ahmad, Sadik Batcha M

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Artificial intelligence has changed our day to day life in multitude ways. AI technology is rearing itself as a driving force to be reckoned with in the largest industries in the world. AI has already engulfed our educational system, our businesses and our financial establishments. The future is definite that machines with artificial intelligence will soon be captivating over trained manual work that now is mostly cared by humans. Machines can carry out human-like tasks by new inputs as artificial intelligence makes it possible for machines to learn from experience. AI data from web of science database from 2008 to …

Assessing Insect Biodiversity And Promoting Sustainable Practices Toward Pollinators On Campus, Lance A. Durden, Jose A. Sanchez-Ruiz, Debra G. Albanese, Julien M. Buchbinder

Sustainability Showcase (2014-2022)

Dr. Lance Durden, Professor, Department of Biology ($27,560.00)

Added arthropods to the vertebrate biodiversity database that was created in 2015.

Biodiversity Of Pollinators And Predators: Surveying And Increasing Appreciation Of The Bees, Ants And Wasps Of Georgia Southern University, Joshua D. Gibson Phd, Bonnie A. Cobb, Kevin J. Loope Phd

Sustainability Showcase (2014-2022)

Proposed by Drs. Joshua Gibson and Kevin Loope, and Bonnie Cobb (student) Department of Biology. ($28,000.00)

Predictors Of Zero Tolerance Policy Violations Among High School And Middle School Students, Anthony J. Roberson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study embarked on identifying social and economic variables to predict violations of zero tolerance policies. The objective of this study was to identify a set of variables that may predict circumstance that lead a student to violate zero tolerance policies. This study explored whether a set of five risk factors: (i) grade level, (ii) retention, (iii) suspension, (iv) race, and (v) gender can predict the criterion variable, zero tolerance policies violation. The research design supports the examination of the null hypothesis of no predictive relationship between the predictor variables grade level, suspension, race, and gender and the criterion variable …

Foster Youth Transitioning To Independent Living And Higher Education: A Phenomenological Study, Janet P. Harrison

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of foster youth who aged out of foster care and enrolled in higher educational programs in rural areas of southern Virginia. The theory that guided this study was Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as it applied to higher educational pursuits of foster youth who had, or were about to, age out of foster care. Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory also guided this study to identify additional barriers to higher education for foster youth. This phenomenological study used a transcendental research method. Data collection methods included face-to-face and phone interviews, focus …

Understanding Father Involvement Regarding The Academic Success Of African American Males In Urban High Schools, Temujin H. Taylor

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

There is a great deal of evidence that parental involvement is positively related to how children and adolescents perform in school (Flouri & Buchanan, 2004; McLanahan, Tach, & Schneider, 2013). Few studies (Battle & Scott, 2000; Reynolds, Howard, & Jones, 2015) have specifically looked at the influence of fathers and non-biological father figures on the educational outcomes of African American adolescents. Father involvement is crucial to the academic success of African American males. The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand the experiences of involved African American fathers regarding the academic success of their high school age sons? …

High Achieving Hispanic And Black High School Students' Experiences In Ap And Honors Courses: A Phenomenology, Kristy Simpson-Alvarez

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand high-achieving Hispanic and Black high school students’ experiences with honors and advanced placement (AP) courses in a Georgia private high school. The participants for this study were 11 high-achieving Hispanic and Black high school students as defined by a 3.0 or higher, grade point average (GPA) and enrollment in at least one advanced placement or honors course. Focus group interviews, individual participant interviews, and student journals were used as data collection methods. Data analysis followed van Kaam’s method—horizontalization, reduction and elimination, clustering and thematizing the invariant constituents, final identification of …

Mental Health Counseling: A Phenomenological Study Of Afro-Caribbean Christian's Help-Seeking Tendencies, Heather G. Lewis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to understand the help-seeking tendencies of Afro-Caribbean Christians. The use of social support systems and the impact of generational status on asking for and seeking help is the central phenomenon of the study. Study participants include 10 members selected from a Philadelphia church. The theory guiding this study is social support as it explains the relationship between social support and the use of professional mental health services. Study participants were interviewed using a semistructured interview process, transcribed interviews were analyzed in NVivo a qualitative data analysis software used for data management and analysis. …

A Historical Analysis Of Non-Normative Embodiment Through The Lens Of Frankenstein’S Creature, Ashley H. Hobson

Honors Theses

A trend to historicize the field of Disability Studies has emerged in recent years. However, little research has been done to place different societies and generations in conversation with one another. This thesis will utilize various adaptations of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in order to explore shifting anxieties concerning non-normative embodiment through the vessel of the Creature. I examine the Creature’s changing physical form next to scientific and medical literature of the period to explore connotations of disability and otherness within that society. I consider the manifestation of anxieties towards non-normative embodiment through Mary Shelley’s 1831 Frankenstein, James Whale’s 1931 …

Women’S Resistance: Patient Pathographies And Medical Authority, Anna Claire Elliott

Honors Theses

In recent years, illness narratives have risen in popularity. Women’s medical narratives in particular have gained momentum in the literary world, and they often share commonalities including the inherent theme of medical resistance and an emphasis on the power dynamic between patients and physicians. This thesis will examine two pathographies, Susanna Kaysen’s Girl, Interrupted and Porochista Khakpour’s Sick, in the contexts of gender and disability studies, as well as theories of illness narratives. I examine how each text resists medical authority, and I also closely survey the physician-patient relationships within each text. The themes of gender and disability emerge …

Stratigraphic Interpretations Of Eocene Winona And Tallahatta Formations In The Duffee Quadrangle, Ms, Sydney Kennedy

Honors Theses

Outcrops and exposures of the Winona and Tallahatta formations in the Duffee Quadrangle in Newton and Lauderdale counties were mapped and analyzed. The rock type, composition, structures, and fossils were identified at each site; unit thicknesses were measured, and stratigraphic relationships were analyzed for available exposures. Using GPS coordinates, each site was mapped on Google Earth Pro. The data collected at each site, aerial photographs, and topographic maps were used to identify each formation. The variability between previous works and this study was analyzed. The primary rock type found in the Tallahatta Formation is siliciclastic silty claystone and sandstone; some …

Microrna Identification And Target Prediction In The Whitefly (Bemisia Tabaci), Alexis Aleman

Honors Theses

RNA interference, referred to as RNAi, is a biological phenomenon whereby knock-down of gene expression can be achieved through the use of RNA molecules, including small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs). The use of miRNAs is an endogenous pathway that results in the degradation of the miRNA strand’s complementary messenger RNA (mRNA), preventing the translation of the mRNA and therefore the production of the proteins necessary for gene expression. While RNAi is a biological phenomenon that occurs naturally, it is also a method that can be used and manipulated in the laboratory to try to control the expression of …

Realistic Measurement Uncertainties For Marine Macronutrient Measurements Conducted Using Gas Segmented Flow And Lab-On-Chip Techniques, A. J. Birchill, G. Clinton-Bailey, R. Hanz, E. Mawji, T. Cariou, C. White, S. J. Ussher, P. J. Worsfold, E. P. Achterberg, M. Mowlem

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Children’S Perception Of Visual And Auditory Ambiguity And Its Link To Executive Functions And Creativity, M Taranu, Mc Wimmer, J Ross, D Farkas, Et Al

School of Psychology

The phenomenon of perceptual bistability provides insights into aspects of perceptual processing not normally accessible to everyday experience. However, most experiments have been conducted in adults, and it is not clear to what extent key aspects of perceptual switching change through development. The current research examined the ability of 6-, 8-, and 10-year-old children (N = 66) to switch between competing percepts of ambiguous visual and auditory stimuli and links between switching rate, executive functions, and creativity. The numbers of switches participants reported in two visual tasks (ambiguous figure and ambiguous structure from motion) and two auditory tasks (verbal transformation …

Analysis Of An Improved Cyanophora Paradoxa Genome Assembly, Dana C Price, Ursula W Goodenough, Robyn Roth, Jae-Hyeok Lee, Thamali Kariyawasam, Marek Mutwil, Camilla Ferrari, Fabio Facchinelli, Steven G Ball, Ugo Cenci, Cheong Xin Chan, Nicole E Wagner, Hwan Su Yoon, Andreas P M Weber, Debashish Bhattacharya

Open Access Publications

Glaucophyta are members of the Archaeplastida, the founding group of photosynthetic eukaryotes that also includes red algae (Rhodophyta), green algae, and plants (Viridiplantae). Here we present a high-quality assembly, built using long-read sequences, of the ca. 100 Mb nuclear genome of the model glaucophyte Cyanophora paradoxa. We also conducted a quick-freeze deep-etch electron microscopy (QFDEEM) analysis of C. paradoxa cells to investigate glaucophyte morphology in comparison to other organisms. Using the genome data, we generated a resolved 115-taxon eukaryotic tree of life that includes a well-supported, monophyletic Archaeplastida. Analysis of muroplast peptidoglycan (PG) ultrastructure using QFDEEM shows that PG is …

Novel Cell Adhesion/Migration Pathways Are Predictive Markers Of Hdac Inhibitor Resistance In Cutaneous T Cell Lymphoma, Jared M Andrews, Jennifer A Schmidt, Kenneth R Carson, Amy C Musiek, Neha Mehta-Shah, Jacqueline E Payton

Open Access Publications

BACKGROUND: Treatment for Cutaneous T Cell Lymphoma (CTCL) is generally not curative. Therefore, selecting therapy that is effective and tolerable is critical to clinical decision-making. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi), epigenetic modifier drugs, are commonly used but effective in only ~30% of patients. There are no predictive markers of HDACi response and the CTCL histone acetylation landscape remains unmapped. We sought to identify pre-treatment molecular markers of resistance in CTCL that progressed on HDACi therapy.

METHODS: Purified T cells from 39 pre/post-treatment peripheral blood samples and skin biopsies from 20 patients were subjected to RNA-seq and ChIP-seq for histone acetylation marks …

Measurement Repeatability Of 18 F-Fdg Pet/Ct Versus 18 F-Fdg Pet/Mri In Solid Tumors Of The Pelvis, Tyler J Fraum, Kathryn J Fowler, John P Crandall, Richard A Laforest, Amber Salter, Hongyu An, Michael A Jacobs, Perry W Grigsby, Farrokh Dehdashti, Richard L Wahl

Open Access Publications

Knowledge of the within-subject variability of

Enhance Student Learning With Simulations, April Robbs, Jason Williams, Suzan Rhoades

SIDLIT Conference

Have you considered using a learning simulation in your course? Three instructional designers introduce attendees to simulations used in Ottawa University programs and share processes for evaluating and selecting simulations, implementing them, and assessing the learning experience. We share examples for enhancing courses in biology, human resources, and nursing.

Intralesional Corticosteroids For Long-Term Control Of Primary Cutaneous Marginal Zone Lymphoma Without Systemic Involvement, Pragya Tiwari, John Hall, Anand Rajpara, Carol Stanford, Daniel Aires

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Primary cutaneous marginal zone lymphoma (PCMZL) is a B cell lymphoma with a very low metastatic rate. Radiographic monitoring for internal involvement may be indicated initially. Favored treatments include radiation and excision. Radiation has high risk of local recurrence. Excision carries risk of infection and scarring. We report successful long-term treatment of recurrent PCMZL via intralesional steroid injections into new lesions as they arose. This was preferred by the patient over her prior radiation and surgical treatments. Intralesional steroids have the advantages of being simple and well tolerated, without exposure to ionizing radiation, or to the infection and scarring associated …

Group A Streptococcus Brain Abscess In A Patient On Adalimumab Therapy, Ryan Carroll, Ahmad Abu-Hashyeh, James Gainer, Kara Willenburg, Charles Meadows

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Brain abscesses represent a group of dangerous infections typically caused by a number of classic organisms. Group A Streptococcus is a rare cause of brain abscesses and those patients that do have this particular condition will typically have a distal source of infection. We present a case of patient with a biopsy confirmed Group A Streptococcal without a distal source of infection. His only identifiable risk factor was his adalimumab therapy for ankylosing spondylitis. While adalimumab has not been linked to Streptococcal infection in the past, it has been associated with multiple atypical infections and some of the consequences of …

New Methods For Disparity Estimation, Huilin Yu

Open Access Dissertations

Health disparity is an important public health policy concern as it is related to the social inequalities in population health, not only for the persons experiencing them, but also for the entire population in the society. People experiencing poorer health status will negatively impact the overall health of the nation and this inequality is costly as well as burdensome to healthcare system. Health disparities studies allow us to identify and understand disparities, eventually design intervention strategies that could be more effective in reducing disparities. This thesis is mainly focused on building new statistical models for disparity studies in response to …