Digital Commons Network^™

Effect Of Mutation And Vaccination On Spread, Severity, And Mortality Of Covid-19 Disease, Dr Hossam Zawbaa, Hasnaa Osama, Ahmed El‐Gendy, Haitham Saeed, Hadeer S. Harb, Yasmin M. Madney, Mona Abdelrahman, Marwa Mohsen, Ahmed M.A. Ali, Mina Nicola, Marwa O. Elgendy, Ihab A. Ibrahim, Mohamed E.A. Abdelrahim

Articles

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had different waves within the same country. The spread rate and severity showed different properties within the COVID-19 different waves. The present work aims to compare the spread and the severity of the different waves using the available data of confirmed COVID-19 cases and death cases. Real-data sets collected from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science were used to perform a comparative study between COVID-19 different waves in 12 countries with the highest total performed tests for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 detection in the world (Italy, Brazil, Japan, Germany, Spain, India, …

Service Learning, Sustainable Development, And The Tourism Sector In Conflict-Affected Bamyan, Afghanistan, Kelly Elizabeth Franklin

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Widespread consensus among the tourism and development studies literature suggests that higher education plays a key role in the achievement of sustainable tourism development. However, discussions on approaches to teaching sustainability in tourism at the higher education level are underdeveloped, especially in conflict-affected contexts. To address this gap, this study combines an examination of tourism stakeholders’ perceptions of inclusive and sustainable tourism development for a small tourism sector in Bamyan, Afghanistan, with an innovative approach to teaching sustainability in a tourism higher education program. Using mixed qualitative methods, this dissertation first examines tourism stakeholders’ perceptions of inclusive and sustainable tourism …

A Two-Level Information Modelling Translation Methodology And Framework To Achieve Semantic Interoperability In Constrained Geoobservational Sensor Systems, Paul Stacey

Doctoral

As geographical observational data capture, storage and sharing technologies such as in situ remote monitoring systems and spatial data infrastructures evolve, the vision of a Digital Earth, first articulated by Al Gore in 1998 is getting ever closer. However, there are still many challenges and open research questions. For example, data quality, provenance and heterogeneity remain an issue due to the complexity of geo-spatial data and information representation.

Observational data are often inadequately semantically enriched by geo-observational information systems or spatial data infrastructures and so they often do not fully capture the true meaning of the associated datasets. Furthermore, data …

Assessing The Usability Of Complex Psychosocial Interventions: The Intervention Usability Scale, Aaron R. Lyon, Michael D. Pullmann, Jedediah Jacobson, Katie Osterhage, Morhaf A. Achkar, Brenna N. Renn, Sean A. Munson, Patricia A. Arean

Psychology Faculty Research

Usability—the extent to which an intervention can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction—may be a key determinant of implementation success. However, few instruments have been developed to measure the design quality of complex health interventions (i.e., those with several interacting components). This study evaluated the structural validity of the Intervention Usability Scale (IUS), an adapted version of the well-established System Usability Scale (SUS) for digital technologies, to measure the usability of a leading complex psychosocial intervention, Motivational Interviewing (MI), for behavioral health service delivery in primary care. Prior SUS studies have found …

State Changes: Insights From The U.S. Long Term Ecological Research Network, Julie C. Zinnert, Jesse B. Nippert, Jennifer A. Rudgers, Steven C. Pennings, Grizelle González, Merryl Alber, Sara G. Baer, John M. Blair, Adrian Burd, Scott L. Collins, Christopher Craft, Daniela Di Iorio, Walter K. Dodds, Peter M. Groffman, Ellen Herbert, Christine Hladik, Fan Li, Marcy E. Litvak, Seth Newsome, John O’Donnell, William T. Pockman, John Schalles, Donald R. Young

Advanced Science Research Center

Understanding the complex and unpredictable ways ecosystems are changing and predicting the state of ecosystems and the services they will provide in the future requires coordinated, long-term research. This paper is a product of a U.S. National Science Foundation funded Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) network synthesis effort that addressed anticipated changes in future populations and communities. Each LTER site described what their site would look like in 50 or 100 yr based on long-term patterns and responses to global change drivers in each ecosystem. Common themes emerged and predictions were grouped into state change, connectivity, resilience, time lags, and …

Service Speaks 2021, Service Speaks Committee, Depaul University

Service Speaks

Service Speaks is an annual conference that demonstrates the multitude of ways DePaul students work with community partners to advance social justice causes in Chicago communities. Each academic year, over 200 courses and programs send students into the community to lift up the assets of our community partners through community-based service learning (CbSL) and project-based classes, community internships and community-based research. These connections result in mutually beneficial outcomes for the community organization and provide transformational experiences for our students.

2021 Service Speaks Annual Conference Chapbook, 2021 Service Speaks Committee

Other Research and Reports

Service Speaks is an annual conference that demonstrates the multitude of ways DePaul students work with community partners to advance social justice causes in Chicago communities. Each academic year, over 200 courses and programs send students into the community to lift up the assets of our community partners through community-based service learning (CbSL) and project-based classes, community internships and community-based research. These connections result in mutually beneficial outcomes for the community organization and provide transformational experiences for our students.

Effect Of Oxidative Breakers On Organic Matter Degradation, Contaminant Mobility And Critical Mineral Release During Shale-Fracturing Fluid Interactions In The Marcellus Shale, Shaun Donmoyer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Production of oil and gas from organic-rich shale formations has become viable through advancements in multi-stage hydraulic fracturing. The decline of shale gas production after the initial days of fracturing operations coupled with falling oil and gas prices, has pushed industry operators to use new chemical additives as an attempt to increase hydrocarbon production. The implementation of highly reactive fracturing fluids that include strong oxidizing agents, pose as a potential solution to increase well productivity. Strong oxidizing chemicals commonly known in fracturing operations as breakers, are used to improve the viscosity of gel-based fluids after the proppant is transported into …

Of The Wide-Eyed In Uncertain Times: The Education Of Girls During The Third Reich, Ingmar D. Clausing

Master's Theses

The aim of this thesis is to describe how both the state school system and the Hitler Youth educated girls during the Third Reich. Conventional theories have suggested a number of ideological suppositions regarding the overall curricular emphasis, but this study contends that such simplistic determinations do not capture the full spread of the educational experience. This thesis asks if girls in Nazi Germany were truly just indoctrinated or if schooling had legitimate academic purposes. Based on actual textbooks that were studied by girls for every subject area, at different grade levels, and in different types of schools, as well …

Effect Of Servant Leadership On Job Satisfaction In Nigerian Mortgage Banks, Adedayo Aderemi Olatunbode

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractSeveral researchers examined the relationship between servant leadership and job satisfaction in organizations and reported a significant positive correlation between the two variables. However, the generalizability of these results was limited because 97% of the studies were conducted in the West and China, and none were conducted in Nigeria or in mortgage banks. The purpose of this nonexperimental, quantitative, correlational study was to examine the relationship between servant leadership and job satisfaction in a high-power distance culture, specifically in the mortgage bank industry in Nigeria. The theoretical frameworks were the leader-member exchange theory and motivation-hygiene theory. The research questions addressed …

Multi-Scale Virtual Field Experience, Madeline S. Marshall, Melinda C. Higley

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Field experiences are a critical component of undergraduate geoscience education; however, traditional onsite field experiences are not always practical due to accessibility, and the popularity of alternative modes of learning in higher education is increasing. One way to support student access to field experiences is through virtual field trips, implemented either independently or in conjunction with in-person field trips. We created a virtual field trip (VFT) to Grand Ledge, a regionally important suite of sedimentary outcrops in central lower Michigan, USA. This VFT undertakes all stages of a field project, from question development and detailed observation through data collection to …

Biogeographic-Stratigraphic-And-Environmental-Distribution-Of-Basilosaurus-Mammalia-Cetacea-In-North-America-With-A-Review-Of-The-Late-Eocene-Shoreline-In-The-Southeastern-Coastal-Plain, Kathlyn M. Smith, Alexander K. Hastings, Ryan M. Bebej, Mark D. Uhen

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

A new specimen of Basilosaurus cetoides was discovered on the banks of the Flint River in Albany, Georgia, USA, in 2010. This fossil, which was the most complete specimen of the species from Georgia to date, consisted of five nearly complete and two partial post-thoracic vertebrae, tentatively identified as S4 through Ca6. During excavation, however, the site was looted and most of the specimen was lost to science. Nonetheless, we use this discovery as an opportunity to update the current state of knowledge on the stratigraphic, biogeographic, and environmental distribution of Basilosaurus in North America, as well as the position …

Insecticide Treated Nets And Malaria Control Strategy In Sierra Leone, Henry Nk Biayemi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractMalaria is a deadly disease and endemic in Sierra Leone. It is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality amongst children younger than five years in Sierra Leone. Insecticide treated nets (ITNs) are not used widely despite free distribution, low health risks, and proven ability to reduce malaria. The purpose of this quantitative crosssectional study was to investigate the association between a set of independent variables (parental education, parents' economic status, household size, and residence) and the use of ITNs among children under five years of age in Sierra Leone. The study used a secondary dataset from the Ministry of …

The 2009 Niger Delta Amnesty: Evaluation Of A Policy Failure, Christian Obidiche Eze

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In 2009, the federal government of Nigeria under then-President Musa Yar’adua established the Presidential Amnesty Program (PAP), which became their flagship program in combating militancy and turning repentant ex-militants into positively contributing citizens. This is a multi-dimensional problem that involves governmental ineptitude, exploitation by multinational oil companies, and lack of sustainable developmental measures as primary drivers of instability in the Niger Delta. There are arguments that the 2009 PAP Program brought about little positive change in the region. This program brought about peace initially in the region until early 2016, when there was a brief but very destructive return to …

Factors Inhibiting Implementation Of A Comprehensive Disaster Management Framework In Trinidad And Tobago, Julie Urslin Samaru

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractIdentifying and exploring the factors inhibiting implementation of a comprehensive disaster management framework to guide the operations of disaster management is a public policy imperative for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Despite the increased frequency and severity of natural and human-made disasters during the past decade, challenges continue with ensuring effective levels of preparedness for responding agencies in Trinidad and Tobago. The current study explored the lived experiences of first responding agencies that operate without a comprehensive disaster management framework. Two theoretical frameworks served as the foundation for this study: the advocacy coalition framework and the multiple streams framework, …

Living In An Oil-Polluted Region In Nigeria As A Risk Factor In Colorectal Cancer Development, Steve Nwachi Onya

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Due to differences in exposure to various risk factors, colorectal cancer (CRC) rates differ in regions of Nigeria. Although the people living in the Southsouth, an oil-producing region, are concerned that they are most affected, there is insufficient research to address these concerns. The purpose of this quantitative ecological study was to investigate whether living in the oil-polluted region in Nigeria is associated with an excess CRC incidence rate. The potential spatial autocorrelation of CRC incidence among the contiguous regions was also examined. The study was grounded in the ecosocial theoretical framework. Data were extracted from the Nigeria National System …

Three Essays On “Energy , Environment, And Developmental Economics”, Bolarinwa Ajanaku

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation examines topics related to renewable energy development and investment planning, energy markets, environment degradation and economic development. The substantial ecological costs of deforestation are well known and considered globally important due to biodiversity loss, land degradation, soil erosion, and contributions to climate change. The first essay focuses upon understanding the tradeoff between development and deforestation in Africa. In the second essay, spatial analysis and Geographic Information System (GIS) are applied to determine potential locations for wind farms development in the state of West Virginia. Lastly, the third essay examines the role of wind power penetration on wholesale electricity …

The Impact Of Unsaturated Zone Thickness On The Severity Of Saltwater Intrusion In Coastal Aquifers From Overtopping, Dennis Jesse Carpinello

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Storm-surge inundation and wave overwash, collectively overtopping, causes the land surface to be inundated with seawater, resulting in vertical infiltration of saline waters into underlying coastal aquifers, which can have severe consequences on freshwater resources. Unsaturated zone thickness plays an important role in determining the severity of saltwater contamination resulting from an overtopping event. This study uses numerical modeling to investigate vertical saltwater infiltration and salinization, and the subsequent aquifer recovery to overtopping events for coastal aquifers with different unsaturated zone thicknesses. Groundwater models were developed using the numerical code SUTRA to solve saturated-unsaturated, density-dependent groundwater flow and solute …

Highest Composition Dissimilarity Among Phytoplankton Communities At Intermediate Environmental Distances Across High-Altitude Tropical Lakes, Alonso Cartuche, Kalina M. Manoylov, Bastiaan W. Ibelings, Patrick Venail

Faculty and Staff Works

Tropical high-altitude lakes are vital freshwater ecosystems for the functioning and dynamics of tropical high-altitude wetlands called páramos, found at over 3300 m above sea level. They play a major role in the hydrogeological cycle and provide important hydrological services such as water storage, and yet they are understudied. Describing the patterns and processes of community composition in these lakes is required to better understand the consequences of their degradation by human activities. In this study we tested the geographical and environmental components of distance–decay relationships in the phytoplankton structure across 24 tropical high-altitude lakes from Southern Ecuador. Phytoplankton composition …

Protecting California’S Farmworkers During The Wildlife Crisis: The State’S Response And The Need For Reform, Maria Salinas

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

Wildfires are a normal part of California’s drought-prone landscape, but in recent years, blazes have become more deadly and destructive than ever before due to climate change, low precipitation, and forest mismanagement. To date, the wildfires in 2020 remain some of the worst in the state’s history in terms of acreage lost, loss of life, and structures destroyed. Experts suggest that “without greater investment in prevention and systematic changes to combat the effects of climate change. . . California almost certainly has more record-setting fire seasons in store.”

This is a very grim reality for all Californians, but particularly for …

A Brighter Path To Their Future: Comparing The Illinois And Kentucky Juvenile Delinquency Procedures And Proposing A New Program In Illinois, Brook L. Vandeveer

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

In 1986, Kentucky began the Court Designated Worker Program. This program operates in every county of Kentucky and assists thousands of juveniles every year. The goal of this program is to keep juveniles out of the formal court system when possible, ensuring that small mistakes do not negatively impact their future. This article addresses the differences between Kentucky’s program and the current juvenile procedures in place throughout Illinois, and proposes the adoption of a program similar to Kentucky’s throughout the state of Illinois.

The Biggest Winner: How Loss Aversion And Negativity Bias Can Increase Affective Polarization, Austin Cutler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Affective polarization is on the rise, which makes understanding the origins of it increasingly important. Some work finds that partisan sorting is associated with increased polarization, due to a lack of exposure to conflicting opinions as well as the ease of making generalizations about the opposing side (Iyengar2019-zg). Individuals with more closely aligned ideological and partisan identities are more likely to exhibit hostility towards the other party, and react more emotionally to information that threatens their party or issue stance (Mason2015). The aim of this paper is to analyze how contextual factors, specifically the partisan distribution of an area, can …

Imagining An Asian American Superhero Of North Korean Origin: A Design Fiction, Seo-Young J. Chu

Publications and Research

My talk, a thought-experimental blend of literary criticism and speculative "design fiction," will introduce you to an Asian American superhero of North Korean origin. In this science-fictional superhero, whom I have tentatively named "구름"/"☁️"/"Ku-reum," Korea's elusive realities coalesce into legible form. More specifically, they become available for narrative experience and relatable to us as an anthropomorphic character, a person with whom we might identify, come face-to-face, sympathize, interact dynamically, and have a conversation. Ku-reum is designed to reflect Korea's complex past and hopes for the future. Existing beyond division systems, Ku-reum uses the non-binary pronouns "one"/"they." Neither "South" nor "North," …

Effects Of Training Set Size On Supervised Machine-Learning Land-Cover Classification Of Large-Area High-Resolution Remotely Sensed Data, Christopher A. Ramezan, Timothy A. Warner, Aaron E. Maxwell, Bradley S. Price

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The size of the training data set is a major determinant of classification accuracy. Neverthe- less, the collection of a large training data set for supervised classifiers can be a challenge, especially for studies covering a large area, which may be typical of many real-world applied projects. This work investigates how variations in training set size, ranging from a large sample size (n = 10,000) to a very small sample size (n = 40), affect the performance of six supervised machine-learning algo- rithms applied to classify large-area high-spatial-resolution (HR) (1–5 m) remotely sensed data within the context of a geographic …

Nebraska Anthropologist, Volume 29: 2021, University Of Nebraska-Lincoln’S Anthrogroup

Nebraska Anthropologist

Table of Contents

Sex vs Gender in a Forensic Anthropological Analysis • Erik Schulz…5

China’s Three Gorges Dam: Development, Displacement, and Degredation • Trent Carney…20

Who Counts as a Citizen? Toward an Interdisciplinary Understanding of Statelessness • Cole Kovarik…28

Explanations for Brazil’s Inequality Reduction from 1989 to 2015 • José Cabrera-Schneider…44

Tourism’s Impacts on Local Populations • Morgan Glup ... 51

The Investigator: Demons of the Balkan War- A Book Review • Brianna Petersen…67

What Remains: Bringing America’s Missing Home from the Vietnam War- A Book Review • Erik Schulz…70

A Hydrologic Study Of Climate Variability In Arid Region, Abdullah Alzaydani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Climate variability is an important subject to study. It is the change of climate over a long time, which could have a positive or negative impact on humans, soil, and wildlife. Many environments, such as arid environment could be affected by climate variability. The research goal is studying and examining climate variability in arid environment. The research includes three different studies. The first study includes reviewing and understanding of climate variability over extended time through existing studies in arid environments. In addition, this study includes knowledge about climate negative or positive impact on the environment. This study will be reviewing …

Synthesis Of Intracellular And Extracellular Gold Nanoparticles With A Green Machine And Its Antifungal Activity, Nurbanu Gürsoy, Betül Yilmaz Öztürk, İlknur Dağ

Turkish Journal of Biology

Green synthesis method is being increasingly used in the development of safe, stable, and eco-friendly nanostructures with biological resources. In this study, extracellular and intracellular synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) was carried out using green algae Chlorella sorokiniana Shihira & R.W. Fresh algae were isolated and identified from Musaözü Pond located in the province of Eskişehir and then extraction process were performed. Optimization studies were studied using pH value, metal salt concentration, and time parameters for extracellular synthesis and using only time parameter for intrasellular synthesis. Since more controlled and optimum conditions can be achieved in the production of AuNPs …

The Role Of Race And Class As Predictors Of Police Violence: A Case Study Of West-Central And Eastern Florida, Matthew Viera

USF St. Petersburg campus Honors Program Theses (Undergraduate)

United States Law Enforcement has come under the watchful eye of the public in recent years due to the Ferguson Riots of 2014 as well as nation-wide protests during the summer of 2020, following the death of George Floyd, a man who died at the hands of police for the suspected use of a fake $20 bill. Given that the contemporary police force appears to be engaging in increasingly more violent interactions with the public, specifically the poor and people of color, it is critical to observe and assess the practices of police officers within cities that are becoming more …

Leaders’ Perceptions Of Innovation Processes In Public Sector Organizations, Ronald Mcgarvey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Successful innovation in the public sector has not yielded the intended results, thus the need exists for public sector leadership to foster innovation. This issue is important as the public sector represents up to 25% of a developed nation’s gross domestic product and is expected to deliver services efficiently. The purpose of this case study was to explore the skills public sector leaders need to foster innovation. The conceptual framework included organizational culture, motivation in innovative environments, implementation of innovation, and organizational relationships of Glor’s public sector organization theory, which helped consider minor or major challenges, intrinsic or extrinsic motivation, …

African American Entrepreneurial Business- Sustaining Strategies, Charles C. Johnson, Iii

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

More than 80% of small consulting businesses fail within the first five years of operation. Small consulting company owners are concerned with failing within the first five years because community economic development can be adversely impacted. Grounded in the resource-based view theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies African American consulting company owners use for longevity beyond five years. The participants comprised African American owners of three consulting businesses located in the northeast region of the United States, who successfully sustained their business beyond five years. Data collection included semistructured interviews with consulting company …