Digital Commons Network^™

A Secure And Strategic Approach To Keep Iot Devices Safe From Malware Attack, Christopher Ray Murray

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Through the advances in technology, businesses can now utilize the Internet of Things (IoT) devices to improve workflow and provide better services to customers. However, without a strategy to secure these devices, Information Technology (IT) security professionals are left with vulnerable equipment. Grounded in routine activities theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to determine strategies IT security professionals used to protect IoT devices in their environment. The participants were 6 IT professionals from 2 medium to large size healthcare facilities based in the Buffalo, New York, and the Washington D.C. area, who possessed strategies to protect …

How High School Teachers In Guam Use Facebook For Instructional Purposes To Promote Interactions, Sanjay Sharma

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the popularity of Facebook amongst students and teachers for personal use, the problem is a lack of understanding of how high school teachers use Facebook for instructional purposes to promote learner-learner and learner-instructor interactions. Focusing on how and why some high school teachers incorporate Facebook in their teaching practice may broaden the range of teachers' instructional tools to use Facebook. The purpose of this case study was to explore the mastery experiences of how and why high school teachers decide to use Facebook activities for instruction. Vygotsky's social constructivism theory and Bandura's self-efficacy form the conceptual framework for types …

Therapeutic Wilderness Experiences And Empathetic Perception Of At-Risk Adolescent Youth, Sandra Short-Robbins

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Current research involving wilderness therapy (WT) programs indicates that therapeutic wilderness or outdoor interventions have increased in popularity as alternative approaches for treating at-risk or adjudicated adolescents. However, the role that empathetic perception plays in advancing the efficacy of WT intervention absent from the majority of extant literature. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to address a gap in research involving how empathetic perception may be affected by WT program participation. The conceptual framework for the project involved ecopsychology, a branch of science that addresses the connection between human beings and the natural world. Nine young adults between …

Strategies Leaders In Nonprofit Organizations Use To Expand Capacity, Reginald A. Stanley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nonprofit organizations impact the community and make substantial contributions to organizations, individuals, communities, and the environment, but many struggle to continue to grow. Supporting growing demands to provide support to communities with a reduction in available resources threatens nonprofit organizations' survivability and effectiveness. Grounded in general system theory, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies leaders of a small nonprofit organization in southern California used to grow their organization to serve a larger population. The participants comprised 3 nonprofit leaders with documented success at developing and growing their business. Data were collected from semistructured interviews …

Effects Of Group Play In Sand On Obese Women’S Self-Perceptions, Marianezoi Antares

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Obesity poses an escalating threat to public health in many countries. A better understanding of the psychological construct of obesity and alternative approaches for treating it are needed. The purpose of this study was to examine secondary data to measure the effects of a program using group play in sand on self-perceptions of obese Danish women. The framework was based on elements from the Bandura’s social learning theory and conception of self-efficacy integrated with the concept of body image perception. Participants (N = 34) were obese women in Copenhagen, Denmark, who used group play in sand as their therapy program. …

Childhood Obesity, Yvette Ledjo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractObesity in adolescents is a worldwide epidemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 17% of adolescents in the United States are obese. These statistics put pressure on public health nationally and internationally. Obesity leads to chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and arthritis. This doctor of nursing practice project was carried out in a juvenile correctional facility’s clinic, where detainees visited for treatment of acute and chronic health-related issues. Clinicians address detainees’ problems, but a gap was identified in the knowledge of these clinicians. This project focused on closing that knowledge gap by providing a …

Experiences And Perspectives Of High School Teachers Regarding Technology Integration, Tamara Turner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A local school district adopted technology initiatives with the goal of transforming pedagogy to create 21st-Century learning experiences. The problem addressed in this study was high school teachers from 1 of the district's 4 high schools did not integrate technology in ways that transformed pedagogy and enhance students’ learning experiences. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore teachers' perspectives of and experiences and challenges with integrating technology in transformational ways. Mishra and Koehler’s technological pedagogical and content knowledge framework guided this study. The research questions were designed to understand teachers’ experiences, perspectives, and challenges integrating technology in …

Sustainable Land Management And Smallholder Farmers In Zimbabwe, Owen Prince Gono

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe sustainability of smallholder farms in Southern Africa is largely dependent on farmers’ decision-making abilities regarding land management practices; however, smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe have knowledge gaps on sustainable land management practices. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to gain a deeper understanding of specific knowledge gaps among smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe to tailor sustainable land management training to their needs. To address the research problem and purpose of the study, qualitative data were collected from multiple sources of evidence, including semistructured interviews with 7 smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe, archival data, and reflective journaling notes. This study …

Female Domestic Violence Victims' Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of Protective Orders, Alisa Fant Hayes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractDomestic violence (DV) is a serious problem that has negatively affected millions of women in the United States and other countries physically, emotionally, and economically. However, little is known about the victims’ perceptions of the protective order (PO), and the results of their contact with or physical harm caused by the abuser. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the effectiveness of the PO from real-life experiences of women who are victims of DV. The survivor theory provided the framework for the study. Semistructured interviews with open-ended questions were conducted by phone with 10 African American women …

Workplace Dynamics: Exploring Views, Impressions, And Preferences Of Colleagues With Diverse Backgrounds And Attributes, Emily Harris Broadhurst

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The general purpose of this study is to better understand stigmatized views of mental health conditions in the current social climate. In order to assess changes in current stigma levels, valid measurement tools are needed to make more accurate assessments. Many existing tools used to assess stigma levels present validity issues due to reporting bias, specifically social desirability bias. Researchers suggest that purposefully omitting diagnostic labeling helps to eliminate biased answers. In order to measure stigmatizing beliefs while minimizing the threat of social desirability, this study utilized an experimental design that compared mental health conditions with medical conditions. The Adjusted …

Amphibian Vocalization: Implications Of A Novel Laryngeal Muscle In The Calling Mechanisms Of The TúNgara Frog Engystomops Pustulosus, Amy D. Lagorio

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The current functional model of the anuran larynx includes four pairs of laryngeal muscles. Their contractions do not account, however, for the behavioral control of call complexity observed in male túngara frogs (Engystomops pustulosus), which optionally add a secondary note with distinct harmonic structure to their advertisement call. Examination of the túngara frog's laryngeal morphology through dissection, microtomography, and resin histology has revealed that the m. dilatator laryngis is divided into two separate bundles (superficial and deep). The superficial bundle closely matches the typical description of the m. dilatator laryngis and is well positioned to open the glottis. …

Role Of Polymer Physicochemical Properties On In Vitro Mucoadhesion, Qing Zhang

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Polymers with mucoadhesive properties are universally used in the development of mucoadhesive drug delivery system. Their physicochemical properties as well as the mechanisms related to their adhesive actions draw great attention for the modification of mucoadhesive properties.

In this study, relationships between physicochemical properties of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) compacts and mucoadhesive performance were investigated. Different commercial grades of HPMC (K3, E3, E5, E50, K4M, E4M and K15M) were prepared into compacts, and their surface hydrophilicity and hydration behavior were characterized. The in vitro mucoadhesive performance was determined by the tension strength between the compacts and different regions of mucous membrane …

A Proteomic Analysis Of Corydoras Sterbai Secretions And Tissues, Erik Powell Wictor

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Defensive mechanisms vary widely in the animal kingdom ranging from physical defenses like spines to chemical defenses such as toxins. Toxins in these secretions and tissues can fluctuate from enzymes to lipids to uncharacterized chemicals. Next generation -omics technology and mass spectrometry are extremely important in analyzing these samples because of their ability to distinguish minute amounts of toxic substance within a complicated sample. The goal of this experiment was to look at secretions and tissues from Corydoras sterbai. All samples in this study were proteolyzed using a mixture of Trypsin and Lys-C, fractionated, and run through nanoLC-MS/MS analysis using …

Stressed Out: Life-History Strategy And The Costs Of Multiple Stressors In Gryllus Crickets, Sugjit S. Padda

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The frequency, duration, and co-occurrence of several environmental stressors are increasing globally. Multiple stressors may have compounding or interactive effects on animals, resulting in either additive or non-additive costs, but animals may mitigate these costs through various strategies of resource conservation or shifts in resource allocation. Thus, through two related factorial experiments, I measured a range of traits—from those related to life history and behavior to underlying physiology— to investigate the nature of costs (additive, non-additive, or neither additive nor non-additive), cost-mitigating strategies (resource conservation or allocation), and life-history strategy related to multiple stressors. First, I leveraged life-history strategy differences …

God Of War: Masculinity And Fatherhood Through Procedural Rhetoric, Andrew A. Morgan

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Video games and academia have a long history with one another. Academic researchers have continued to debate the extent to which video games can materialize real world effects. In this thesis, I employ procedural rhetoric and feminist scholarship to analyze the rhetorical power of God of War. I focus on the game’s immersive procedures and the performances of masculinity from Kratos, Atreus, and Baldur. These three characters all perform different masculinities, and their interactions with one another inform the game’s portrayal of masculinity and fatherhood. By engaging in violence and depicting nuanced performances of masculinity, God of War positions the …

Studies On The Size And Non-Planarity Of Aromatic Stacking Moiety On Conformation Selectivity And Thermal Stabilization Of G-Quadruplexes, Mandeep Singh

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Targeting DNA has the advantage over proteins for cancer remediation because of the fewer copies of the ligands required for the desired therapeutic effect. Traditionally, covalent DNA binders like alkylating agents have been used to induce genetic instability through the formation of DNA lesions and strand breaks, leading to cellular apoptosis. The primary drawback of this treatment is the non-specific binding that affects both cancerous and non-cancerous cells. G-quadruplexes are the DNA secondary structures that are present in abundance near the promoter regions of the oncogenes and are involved in the regulation of their activities. A ligand-mediated stabilization of G-quadruplexes …

Prevalence Of Dirofilaria Immitis In Southern California’S Invasive Aedes Species And Native Culiseta Incidens, Zaina Chaban

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Dirofilaria immitis is a mosquito-borne parasite that causes dog heartworm disease, effecting over 100,000 dogs in the United States each year (CAPC - Parasite Prevalence Maps., 2021). Increased disease reports are commonly attributed to an increase in the local mosquito vector population. Since 2013, dog heartworm disease cases have increased by approximately 21% in the United States as reported by the American Heartworm Society. During the same time, invasive mosquitoes belonging to the genus Aedes have been found in Southern California and spread to other areas. The purpose of our research was to determine the prevalence of Dirofilaria …

How Much Wood Could A Woodchuck Chuck If This Wood Was Sediment: The Effect Of Marmota Monax On The Archaeological Record, Megan Scalzo

UROP Posters

How Much Wood Could a Woodchuck Chuck if this Wood was Sediment: The Effect of Marmota monax on the Archaeological Record

Megan Scalzo, Dept. of Anthropology, with Dr. Bernard Means, Dept. of Anthropology

Geomorphology is the study of the topographic effects of different physical, chemical, biological processes occurring along and within the landscape. Biological processes can occur from different faunal influences and subsequently get called geomorphic agents. In the majority of North American woodlands, Marmota monax (common names include: groundhog, woodchuck) can be found and thus can be assumed to be geomorphic agents of these woodland areas. In this poster, …

A Game-Theoretic Model Of Monkeypox To Assess Vaccination Strategies, Sri Vibhaav Bankaru, Samuel Kossol, William Hou, Parsa Mahmoudi, Jan Rychtar

UROP Posters

A Game-Theoretic Model of Monkeypox to Assess Vaccination Strategies

Sri Vibhaav Bankaru, Depts. of Biomedical Engineering, Math, & Chemistry, Samuel Kossol, William Hou, & Parsa Mahmoudi, with Dr. Jan Rychtar, Dept. of Mathematics

Monkeypox (MPX) is a zoonotic disease similar to smallpox. Its fatality rate is about 11% and it is endemic to the Central and West African countries. In this paper, we analyze a compartmental model of MPX dynamics. Our goal is to see whether MPX can be controlled and eradicated by voluntary vaccinations. We show that there are three equilibria - disease free, fully endemic and previously neglected …

Exploration Of The Neuronal Subtype Specificity Of An Ethanol Responsive Gene: Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 Beta (Gsk3b), Dalton Huey, A Van Der Vaart, G M. Harris, M F. Miles

UROP Posters

Exploration of the Neuronal Subtype Specificity of an Ethanol Responsive Gene: Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 Beta (Gsk3b)

Dalton Huey, Depts. of Bioinformatics, Biology & Chemistry, A. van der Vaart, G. M. Harris, and M. F. Miles, with Dr. Sarah Golding, Dept. of Biology

Previous work done in our laboratory revealed that Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 Beta (Gsk3b) functions as a hub gene in a network of genes regulated by acute ethanol in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) across a mouse genetic panel. Adult mice treated with acute ethanol showed increased phosphorylation of GSK3B on the Ser9 residue in prefrontal cortex. …

A Genome-Wide Association Study Of Cocaine Use Disorder Accounting For Phenotypic Heterogeneity And Gene–Environment Interaction, Jiangwen Sun, Henry R. Kranzler, Joel Gelernter, Jinbo Bi

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Background: Phenotypic heterogeneity and complicated gene-environment interplay in etiology are among the primary factors that hinder the identification of genetic variants associated with cocaine use disorder. Methods: To detect novel genetic variants associated with cocaine use disorder, we derived disease traits with reduced phenotypic heterogeneity using cluster analysis of a study sample (n = 9965). We then used these traits in genome-wide association tests, performed separately for 2070 African Americans and 1570 European Americans, using a new mixed model that accounted for the moderating effects of 5 childhood environmental factors. We used an independent sample (918 African Americans, 1382 European …

Adherence To Dietary And Physical Activity Guidelines Among Shift Workers: Associations With Individual And Work-Related Factors, Ciara Kelly, Fiona M. Nea, Kirsty Pourshahidi, John Kearney, Victoria M O'Brien, M Barbara E Livingstone, Clare Corish

Articles

Objectives Shift work is associated with adverse effects on the health and lifestyle behaviours of employees. This study aimed to examine factors associated with adherence among shift workers to selected indicators of dietary and physical activity guidelines. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 1300 shift workers. Data were collected using a 15 minute telephone-administered questionnaire. Logistic regression methods were used for data analysis. Results Male shift workers (p

The Case For Empowering Quality Shareholders, Lawrence A. Cunningham

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Abstract Anyone can buy stock in a public company, but not all shareholders are equally committed to a company’s long-term success. In an increasingly fragmented financial world, shareholders’ attitudes toward the companies in which they invest vary widely, from time horizon to conviction. Faced with indexers, short-term traders, and activists, it is more important than ever for businesses to ensure that their shareholders are dedicated to their missions. Today’s companies need “quality shareholders,” as Warren Buffett called those who “load up and stick around,” or buy large stakes and hold for long periods. While scholars in recent years have extensively …

Graduate Level Distance Learning: Enhanced Student Experience, Significant Scalability Challenges: A Multiyear Case Study, Karen Thornton, Steven L. Schooner, Markus Speidel

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This article describes our experiences and "lessons learned" providing degree-based distance (online) education to graduate students (studying business, law, and policy related to government contracts or public procurement). Temporal note: our pilot, and the five years of experience described in this case study, predate the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic emergency distance teaching transition.

Among other things, we discuss our experiences with regard to fundamentally rethinking our pedagogical approach, "flipping the classroom," chunking, and scaffolded learning. We extol the benefits of working with, and being open to, advice from experienced instructional designers.

We conclude that embracing distance education, at least in a …

Order And Law In China, Donald C. Clarke

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

The near half-century of the post-Mao era has almost universally been called one of construction of China’s legal system. But while great changes have taken place in China’s public order and dispute resolution institutions, other things have changed little or not at all. Most commentary focuses on the changes; this article, by contrast, will look at what has not changed—the important continuities that have persisted for over four decades.

This article argues that the scholarly community has accumulated over the past four decades a number of observations about China’s order maintenance institutions that are increasingly difficult to explain using the …

Codifying The Obligations Of States Relating To The Prevention Of Atrocities, Sean D. Murphy

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Exactly what types of obligations of States fall within the realm of “prevention” of atrocities, such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity? It could generally be thought that some types of obligations are directly connected to prevention (obligations of prevention), while others are of a different nature, though bearing upon the issue of prevention (obligations relating to prevention). Based on a review of major multilateral treaties, this essay identifies six key obligations of States that relate, directly or indirectly, to the prevention of atrocities. Such obligations were deemed essential for inclusion in the International Law Commission’s 2019 articles …

Solving The Challenges To World Trade, Steve Charnovitz

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

World trade faces fundamental challenges. This essay examines six threats to the intellectual case for open trade: to wit, worries about ecology, fairness, morality, equity, security, and geopolitics. Together, these threats implicate a huge swath of international trade. One of the biggest indicators of diminishing support for trade is the moribund status of the leading institution of the trading system, the World Trade Organization (WTO). There are three branches of WTO governance and all three are in trouble: the judicial branch and its vacant Appellate Body, the executive branch and its vacant post of WTO Director-General, and the legislative branch …

Great Powers And New Risks: What Businesses And Regulators Should Know About China’S Strategic Ambitions, F. Scott Kieff, Thomas D. Grant

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

China’s geopolitical ambitions give rise to risks that government agencies and the businesses they regulate need to address. In particular, Military-Civil Fusion (MCF), a whole-of-government legal and administrative machinery created by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), aims to give China’s military, as well as China’s state championed companies, the technologies essential to strategic competitiveness in the decades ahead. In service of China’s effort to acquire technology, MCF breaks down barriers of professional responsibility and confidentiality that organizations and individuals in the West take for granted. Through both executive and legislative action, the United States has begun to address MCF. To …

The New Law Of Gender Nonconformity, Naomi Schoenbaum

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

A central tenet of sex discrimination law is the protection of gender nonconformity: unless a feature of biological sex requires it, regulated entities may not expect that individuals will conform their gender performance to the stereotypes of their sex. This doctrine is critical to promoting the anti-stereotyping aims of sex discrimination law by allowing gender nonconformers from aggressive women to caregiving fathers to challenge expectations that would limit them to the gender performance that accords with their sex. Courts have extended gender nonconformity protection to transgender persons in cases where discrimination is due to gender performance.

Notwithstanding its partial success, …

Conflicts Of Law And Transnational Data Flows, Paul S. Berman

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Phillip Jessup correctly observed sixty years ago that multinational corporate activity created new challenges for nation-states and their territorially based rules for jurisdiction, choice of law, and judgment recognition. Those challenges are exponentially more difficult in the 21st century because electronic data—everything from e-mails and text messages to Facebook and Instagram posts to Twitter pronouncements to drone warfare data to search algorithms to financial transactions to cloud data storage—travel around the globe with little relationship to physical territory. In addition, all of this data is often in the custody and control of data intermediaries.

Three important consequences flow from this …