Digital Commons Network^™

Evaluating The Effects Of Medications For Opioid Use Disorder On Hiv Risk Behaviors Among A Network Of People Who Inject Drugs, Joseph Puleo

Open Access Master's Theses

People who inject drugs (PWID) are a population with increased HIV risk due in part to sharing drug injection equipment. In networks of people connected through risk behavior, individuals can exert influence on each other. Evidence suggests that receiving medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) can reduce HIV risk behaviors. However, limited studies have been conducted to determine if there are direct effects (among the participants treated) or disseminated effects (among participants who were not treated themselves, but shared connections with those treated) of MOUD among networks of PWID.

The main goal of this thesis is to evaluate if receiving …

Friction Compensation Using Linear Control Methods, Florian Meiners

Open Access Master's Theses

Friction is one of the most frequently appearing sources of problems in mechanical systems. While several controller designs exist that successfully mitigate or compensate the friction effects in an application, they usually rely on a thoroughly identified model. The focus of this work is on verifying the suitability of a linear dual-loop controller for friction compensation in an arbitrary system. It does not require detailed estimation of a friction model for the design. The controller is complemented by a Luenberger observer, to improve the quality of state feedback.

Based on different model reduction approaches, the control architecture is effectively applied …

Fundamental Understanding And Applications Of Nanoemulsions For Ultrasensitive Electrochemical Analysis, Shashika Gunathilaka Sabaragamuwe Jayasundarakorale

Open Access Master's Theses

We demonstrate a new electroanalytical approach for the ultrasensitive electrochemical analysis using nanoemulsions (NEs) uniquely combined with single entity electrochemistry (SEE). First, we investigate the relationship between the structure and relevant electrochemical activity of NEs. We employ SEE to elucidate the interfacial structure of NEs and their corresponding electrochemical activities, which cannot be unequivocally defined by general microscopic techniques. Throughout this work on nanostructural effect of NEs, we could optimize the most suitable composition of NEs, showing facile electron transfer kinetics across the NE interface as well as a high monodispersity. Particularly, the application of SEE for optimized NEs allowed …

A Blockchain-Based Auditable And Secure Voting System, Madhukara Kekulandara

Open Access Master's Theses

Improving electronic voting systems to provide election security and integrity while controlling cost has been an area of active research for decades. As a result, many technological improvements are incorporated into the voting systems used today. The introduction of technology, however, has not been without issues and has raised new concerns. One is the possibility of inaccurate election outcomes due to technical failures of the equipment. Another is the problem of election security and the possibility of malicious alteration of election results. Yet another concern is the capability to conduct post-election audits to validate and provide confidence in election results. …

Taxonomic Profiling Of Metagenomic Reads Using Deep Learning, Cecile Cres

Open Access Master's Theses

The field of metagenomics studies microbes from environmental samples in a process generating millions of short DNA sequences called reads. The final outcome is to discover the diversity as well as the function of complex microbial communities using computational tools. The general idea adopted by most taxonomic classifiers, which aim to assign taxonomic groups to individual reads, is to compare the target DNA sequences to a reference database and identify the taxon of the best match. This method has many disadvantages including the necessity for large computing resources in order to process large sequence databases. The current project aims to …

Using Transactional Distance Theory To Explore The Experiences Of Community College Students In Online Developmental Courses, Brian Gerber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The number of community college students taking online courses has steadily increased, which includes students enrolling in online developmental courses. Community colleges have largely embraced online learning in order to improve student access, but many difficulties (e.g. low passing rates, high withdrawal rates) have been discovered in the area of online learning. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of community college students in online developmental courses. The research question that guided this study was: 1.Using Transactional Distance Theory, what is the experience of community college students in online developmental courses?Data was collected using phenomenological …

Religious Studies Teachers Perceptions Of The Role Of Religious Literacy In Students' Civic Preparation, John Grant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of teachers of religion courses who use the study of religion to prepare students for the pluralistic society awaiting them. The primary questions addressed in this study were focused on perceptions of religious studies teachers regarding their definition of religious literacy, the content of a religiously literate person, the civic consequences of an education that ignores religious literacy, and how religious literacy might inculcate civic values. The participants of this study included five purposefully selected religious studies teachers from five different school types (i.e., Christian, Islamic, Jewish, nonsectarian, public). These …

Towards Zero Response Time Modified Sensors: Synthesis, Characterization, And Deposition Of Edot-Decorated Porous Nanocapsules And Simulations Of Mass Transport In Polymeric Films On Sensor Surfaces, Bradley Hambly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The response time of chemical sensors is a critical performance characteristic that may determine their utility in a variety of applications. The rate-determining step, which controls the response time, can be either mass transport or the rate of a chemical/electrochemical reaction. To optimize the response of membrane-based sensors, we developed voltammetric methods for the determination of diffusion coefficients in polymeric membranes and demonstrated the influence of water and ion transport on the short- and long-term behavior of solid contact ion-selective electrodes (SC-ISEs). SC-ISEs are multi-layer systems with a conductive polymer (CP) film sandwiched between an ion-selective membrane and a base …

On Transcribing Richard Wagners Siegfried Idyll For 21st-Century Wind Ensemble Instrumentation, Brian Edward Hodge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

This project contains a transcription of Wagners Siegfried Idyll for wind band. The dissertation project includes documentation as to the transcription process, as well as historical references for Richard Wagner and for two previously transcribed contrasting approaches with Lucien Cailliets Elsas Procession to the Cathedral and Micheal Votta/John Byrds adaptation of Trauermusik. A detailed theoretical analysis of the original work is presented to contextualize the transcription process.

Walks And Games On Graphs, Rebekah Herrman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Herrman, Rebekah Ph.D. The University of Memphis, May 2020. Walks and Games on Graphs. Major Professor: B\'ela Bollob\'as, Ph.D.Chapter 1 is joint work with Dr. Travis Humble and appears in the journal Physical Review A. In this work, we consider continuous-time quantum walks on dynamic graphs. Continuous-time quantum walks have been well studied on graphs that do not change as a function of time. We offer a mathematical formulation for how to express continuous-time quantum walks on graphs that can change in time, find a universal set of walks that can perform any operation, and use them to simulate basic …

Sing It First: The Pedagogy Of Wycliffe Gordon, Thomas Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

ABSTRACTJohnson Jr., Thomas E., DMA. The University of Memphis. August 2020. Sing It First: The Pedagogy of Wycliffe Gordon. Major Professor: John Mueller, DMA.This document presents the pedagogical techniques and materials recommended by trombonist Wycliffe Gordon. Gordon is an internationally renowned performer, composer, arranger, and educator. He has recorded twenty-one albums as a leader and eight albums as a co-leader. Gordon has received numerous awards including Trombonist of the Year and Best Trombone from the Jazz Journalists Association and Downbeat Magazine respectively. Gordon is a veteran member of the Wynton Marsalis Septet and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. He is …

First Destination Survey 2020: For Degrees Awarded December 2019-August 2020, Hart Career Center, Illinois Wesleyan University

First Destination Survey

No abstract provided.

Extremal Graph Theory And Dimension Theory For Partial Orders, David Lewis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

This dissertation analyses several problems in extremal combinatorics.In Part I, we study the following problem proposed by Barrus, Ferrara, Vandenbussche, and Wenger. Given a graph H and an integer t, what is the minimum number of coloured edges in a t-edge-coloured graph G on n vertices such that G does not contain a rainbow copy of H, but adding a new edge to G in any colour creates a rainbow copy of H? We determine the growth rates of these numbers for almost all graphs H and all t e(H).In Part II, we study dimension theory for finite partial orders. …

Machine Learning Approaches For Biomarker Identification And Subgroup Discovery For Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Liangqun Lu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder caused by environmental and genetic factors resulting from alterations in genetic variation, epigenetic changes and neuroimaging characteristics. There is a pressing need to identify reliable molecular and physiological biomarkers for accurate diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment, as well to deepen the understanding of PTSD pathophysiology. Machine learning methods are widely used to infer patterns from biological data, identify biomarkers, and make predictions. The objective of this research is to apply machine learning methods for the accurate classification of human diseases from genome-scale datasets, focusing primarily on PTSD.The DoD-funded Systems Biology of PTSD Consortium …

Determining Journal Article Impact In The School Psychology Literature Through Bibliometric Analyses, Patrick Mcnicholas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Bibliometric analyses have been the primary form of examining and evaluating literature within a field of study. By focusing on citation count and source, researchers have been able to identify journal articles considered to be high impact in reach and relevance, branding them citation classics in a field (Garfield, 1977, 1979). As time progresses, technology, methods, and metrics for conducting these analyses have improved, and although there have been several studies designed to identify citation classics and patterns of citations supporting them in school psychology literature (e.g., Liu & Oakland, 2016; Price, Floyd, Fagan, & Smithson, 2011), none have done …

How Preschool Teachers Use Book Sharing Strategies To Build Academic Language Skills, Lorraine Ann Meiners-Lovel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

AbstractMeiners-Lovel, Lorraine A. PhD. The University of Memphis. Preschool Teachers Use of Book Sharing Strategies to Build Academic Language Skills. May, 2020. Emily Thrush, PhD. ArrayIt is essential to understand the role of preschool teachers in the linguistic preparation of young children for kindergarten and elementary school. This understanding becomes even more important as more American preschoolers attend group care and public universal pre-kindergarten becomes more common. Children must master the variety of language known as the academic register, academic language, or school language in order to be academically successful. Preschool teachers need to understand the features of academic language …

Research In Emerging Financial Technologies, Jonathan Lee Miller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

In chapter one we investigate the price clustering of non-fiat cryptocurrency exchange rates or the pricing of items in cryptocurrency such as bitcoin, which has been accepted as payment at a growing list of companies. For litecoin, a non-fiat currency, priced in terms of satoshi, one hundred millionth of a bitcoin, over 35% are priced at 100 satoshi increments, providing support for the negotiation hypothesis. There is also strategic pricing at 1 satoshi below or above the 100 satoshi increments. At the transaction level, we find that prices are mainly formed due to negotiations and strategic trading, instead of based …

Transactional Distance In Middle And High School Online Learning Environments: An Empirical Study, Silas Njoroge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Understanding the communication gap due to the separation of teachers-students and students-students in online learning environments can have a profound impact on improving online learning. Moores Transactional Distance Theory (TDT) is an important pedagogical theory in distance learning that can be used to gain a better understanding of K-12 distance education practices. This study sought to empirically verify the theory by investigating the relationship of dialogue, structure, learner autonomy, and transactional distance (TD) perceived by students in K-12 Online Learning Environments (OLE). The study also investigated the effect of environmental and demographic factors on TD. Participants were selected from online …

Approaches For Analyzing Multivariate Mixed Endpoints With High-Dimensional Covariates., Yunusa Olufadi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

In clinical trials and observational studies, clinicians often observe measurements on multiple causes of clinical progression or synthesize information from various sources. These measurements are collected because a single outcome is usually inadequate to describe the disease complexities or because the primary outcomes of interest are abstract constructs (e.g., quality of life, disease conditions) that cannot be measured directly. It is usually necessary to collect multiple endpoints in order to fully understand the true associations that exist among several clinical outcomes and how they jointly affect the primary outcomes. In addition, such datasets are often useful for characterizing treatment effectiveness, …

Development Of Forecasting And Scheduling Methods And Data Analytics Based Controls For Smart Loads In Residential Buildings., S M Mahfuz Alam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

A smart building is the one that is equipped with automated systems such as lighting, shading, heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC), etc., for fulfilling consumers demand. An efficient load forecasting system helps the building energy management system (BEMS) schedule the loads, operate the energy sources and energy storage systems effectively during peak hours to reduce cost of energy and remove burden on the grids. Furthermore, the load scheduling is a key element for demand side management (DSM) system to actively participate in demand response program. Researchers have been investigating on improved and effective load forecasting and load scheduling methods over …

Multivariate Modeling Of Cognitive Performance And Categorical Perception From Neuroimaging Data, Rakib Al-Fahad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

State-of-the-art cognitive-neuroscience mainly uses hypothesis-driven statistical testing to characterize and model neural disorders and diseases. While such techniques have proven to be powerful in understanding diseases and disorders, they are inadequate in explaining causal relationships as well as individuality and variations. In this study, we proposed multivariate data-driven approaches for predictive modeling of cognitive events and disorders. We developed network descriptions of both structural and functional connectivities that are critical in multivariate modeling of cognitive performance (i.e., fluency, attention, and working memory) and categorical perceptions (i.e., emotion, speech perception). We also performed dynamic network analysis on brain connectivity measures to …

Performance Beyond Ability: Exploring The Relationship Between Motivation And Mathematics Achievement At Community Colleges, Ezell Wesley Allen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Mathematics achievement, both in high school and early in college, is one of the strongest predictors of college completion. Research has shown that math interest, utility, engagement, self-efficacy, and identity are related to mathematics achievement. Hence, this study uses structural equation modeling to evaluate Fords (2017) empirical model linking mathematics beliefs and achievement, which expanded on Eccles model of achievement-related choices (2005) and Middletons model of mathematics achievement (2013). This study also moves beyond the Allen (2019) limitations by exploring institutions that are different in geographic locations. With the new expanded scope, this study adds to the growing body of …

Administrators' Benevolent And Corrective Humor And Suspensions Of African American School Age Females, Roslyn E. Bacon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

African American female students suspension rates are rising and outpacing those of all categories of students, including African American males. This is due, in part, to an administrators over-reliance on zero-tolerance disciplinary policies, as well as a teachers negative perception of African American female students. Soaring rates of suspension contribute to school disengagement, high dropout rates, and a formidable risk of involvement in the school to prison pipeline. In addition to the toll these risks take on human lives, society loses the benefit of human productivity, taxable wages, and stable, thriving communities. As attention to the rising rate of suspension …

Engaging Critical Reflection And Authenticity In Higher Education: A Narrative Inquiry Into The Roles Of Educators In Architecture Education, Jennifer Barker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

In the 1980s, Donald Schn put forth his ideas on reflective practice that involved the architectural studio, and in particular, the tutorial interaction, as a model for knowing-in-action, reflection-in-action, and reflection-on-action. Schn (1984) noted, however, that the faculty involved appeared not to reflect on this reflective practice. With a history of apprenticeship, architectural education is dominated by the studio and while many architectural educators appreciate the attention Schns work has brought to the pedagogical model, others feel that more is demanded to shift it from a historically teacher-centered model, to one that is learner-centered (Webster, 2004, 2008; Mewburn, 2011). Calls …

A Closer Look At Eighth Grade Special Education Students Performance On High Stakes Testing: Examining The Compounding Effects Of Socioeconomic Status And Mobility Rate On Test Scores, Mary Brewer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Despite the fact that the US spends millions of dollars on testing and instructional resources for students with exceptionalities (SWE) to participate on state tests, performance continues to be significantly below their general education peers. In an effort to determine if any additional factors may play a role in the performance discrepancy, two other factors, socio-economic status (SES) and mobility rate, were analyzed. Data from the Florida State Department of Education was used because of the public availability, the proposed generalizability of such a diverse state, and Florida being one of three states with the largest population of public education …

Identifying A Customer Centered Approach For Urban Planning: Defining A Framework And Evaluating Potential In A Livability Context, Golnaz Sarram

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

In transportation planning, public engagement is an essential requirement forinformed decision-making. This is especially true for assessing abstract concepts such aslivability, where it is challenging to define objective measures and to obtain input that canbe used to gauge performance of communities. This dissertation focuses on advancing adata-driven decision-making approach for the transportation planning domain in thecontext of livability. First, a conceptual model for a customer-centric framework fortransportation planning is designed integrating insight from multiple disciplines (chapter1), then a data-mining approach to extracting features important for defining customersatisfaction in a livability context is described (chapter 2), and finally an appraisal of …

Algorithmic Methods For Large-Scale Genomic And Metagenomic Data Analysis, Quang Tran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

DNA sequencing technologies have advanced into the realm of big data due to frequent and rapid developments in biologic medicine. This has caused a surge in the necessity of efficient and highly scalable algorithms.This dissertation focuses on central work in read-to-reference alignments, resequencing studies, and metagenomics that were designed with these principles as the guiding reason for their construction.First, consider the computing intensive task of read-to-reference alignments, where the difficulty of aligning reads to a genome is directly related their complexity. We investigated three different formulations of sequence complexity as viable tools for measuring genome complexity along with how they …

Writing Instruction For Students With Learning Disabilities: Examining Teacher Practice, Preparedness, And Self-Efficacy, Alycia M. Taylor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

ABSTRACT Writing is critical for high school students academic, social, and professional success. However, developing writing skills is a challenging process, particularly for students with learning disabilities (LDs). To produce high quality writing, substantial support from teachers is needed. Yet, many teachers are uninformed of how to assist students with LDs. Grounded in social cognitive and socio-cultural theories, the aim of this quantitative study was to expand the fields of writing instruction and LDs by comparing data from general and special education teachers. This study was designed to survey this population about their writing instruction, including the use of evidence-based …

Validity Evidence Related To The Internal Structure Of The High School Longitudinal Study Mathematics Attitude And Belief Scales, Jessica Webb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Research has examined whether mathematics attitudes and beliefs are related to achievement and persistence in mathematics (e.g., Gottlieb, 2018; Kaspersen, Pepin, & Sikko, 2017a; Lauermann, Tsai, & Eccles, 2017; Lent, et al., 2018; Meyer, Fleckenstein, & Kller, 2019; Middleton, 2013; Peters, 2013; Sahin, Waxman, & Ekmekci, 2017; Wang, 2012; Wang, 2013; Yu & Singh, 2018). If attitudes and beliefs influence achievement and persistence and if they are malleable, educators can foster positive attitudes and beliefs as a way of positioning students for positive outcomes in mathematics. In order to study mathematics attitudes and beliefs and their relationship to desired outcomes, …

Childhood Obesity In California: The Impact Of School Lunch Options And Physical Education Standards In Public Elementary Schools, Audrey Connell

Scripps Senior Theses

Obesity is a biosocial phenomenon in that it is shaped by both biological and social processes. On the biological level, excess body fat increases one’s risk of placing the body in a non-homeostatic state that can weaken the immune response. On the social level, social inequalities are linked to obesity in the United States where racial and ethnic minority communities with low education and high poverty rates bear the largest burden of obesity. In various institutions, multiple actors such as food marketers, public health officials, policy makers, and school administrators dictate the opportunities available to children for them to reach …