Digital Commons Network^™

Correlates Of Social Isolation Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Omolola E. Adepoju, Minji Chae, Lechauncy Woodard, Kendra L. Smith, Luz E. Herrera, Daikwon Han, Daniel L. Howard, Jessica Dobbins, Marcia Ory

Faculty Scholarship

The past year has severely curtailed social interactions among older adults given their high rates of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. This study examined social, behavioral, and medical correlates of social isolation among community-dwelling older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic and stratified findings to explore unique differences in two typically neglected populations, African American and Hispanic older adults.

Women’S Human Right To Healthcare Senior Project, Madison Rosol

Honors Projects

Healthcare is denied to people around the world and women experience this human rights violation more often than men (Ewerling et al., 2018). This study was designed to investigate whether this is more evident in certain systems of healthcare by conducting a cross-sectional survey of people in the United States, the Dominican Republic, and Canada. These countries were selected because each of them has a unique healthcare system. The responses from the survey were analyzed and coded for common themes and converted to quantitative data. From this data, it was concluded that Canada rated the worst in healthcare overall but …

Memetic Rhetorical Theory: An Analytic Model For The Spread Of Information Online, Carleigh J. Davis

English and Technical Communication Faculty Research & Creative Works

Modern discourse is often characterized by such extreme polarization that participants operate from entirely different sets of facts. These alternative facts represent a new line of inquiry for rhetoricians, who must determine how false facts gain credibility. This article outlines Memetic Rhetorical Theory (MRT), a model for understanding how information evolves to become credible in a given environment.

Remixed, Remastered: Investigating Organizational Adaptation In Higher Music Education, Jacob Bruce Hertzog

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Higher music education presents a unique opportunity to examine change within higher education due to the digital revolution in the music industry over the past two decades. The purpose for conducting this study was to describe, map, and explain the strategies that higher music education programs are using to adapt to the digital revolution in the music industry. This study was grounded in organizational adaptation theory, drawing upon nine well-established theories: population ecology, life cycles, strategic choice, isomorphism, symbolic action, resource dependence, cybernetics, and network theory. Critical concepts of the turbulent environment, environmental perception, and organizational adaptation strategy emerged from …

The Lumberjack, December 01-B, 2021

Cal Poly Humboldt's Student Newspaper

The student newspaper of Humboldt State University.

Primer On International Investment Treaties And Investor-State Dispute Settlement, Columbia Center On Sustainable Investment

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

What is Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)? FDI occurs when an individual or corporation in one country (“home state”) sets up or buys all or a significant part of a company that is incorporated in a different country (“host state”). Companies invest abroad to access land-based resources including mining, more affordable labour for instance in manufacturing, and new markets, among other reasons. Many countries seek to attract FDI in order to realize benefits in the form of tax revenues, technology transfer, jobs, and other economic linkages. The images below illustrate the concept of FDI, as well as some of the sectors …

Hand In Hand, Winter 2021

Hand in Hand

A newsletter published for Deaf Catholics in Milwaukee, WI

Hand in Hand Finding Aid

Isscm Newsletter, December, 2021, Raj Soin College Of Business, Wright State University

ISSCM Newsletters

A three page newsletter from the Department of Information Systems and Supply Chain Management in the Raj Soin College of Business at Wright State University.

The Relationship Between Status Motives And Social Activism, Olajuwon Olagbegi

Honors Theses

Numerous social and cultural events have resulted in increased interest and participation in social activism in the United States, stemming from mounting dissatisfaction with social inequality. Though explanations have previously included increased issue exposure and awareness due to the proliferation of digital media and increases in progressive ideology amongst the nation’s younger generation, the current study tests the hypothesis that social activism may in part be motivated by interest in status acquisition, given the evolutionary value of status for securing access to resources and mates. To test this hypothesis, participants were randomly assigned to a status versus control priming condition …

Persuading With A Collocutor’S Values, Robert D. Costigan, Kyle Brink

Open Access Publishing Support Funded Articles

The purpose of this study is to propose online pedagogical exercises instructing MBA students (MBAs) on the use of a persuasion technique. This technique calls for the framing of oral arguments with a collocutor’s values. MBAs experience this framing technique in a role play. Then, they identify opportunities to employ this technique in their workplace. Free-form surveys and ratings completed by MBAs and collocutors (i.e., role-play partners) suggest preliminary support for basing one’s conversational arguments on the values of a collocutor. Such a persuasion strategy may be an effective way of moderating the other person’s opinion.

Slices Of Life, Julia M. Franks

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In this collection we explore death, loss, joy, love, and life. “Smiles through tears has always been my favorite emotion.” (Steel Magnolias) And that’s what this is, smiles through tears. Everyone is slightly depressed, there are some happy moments in there. A lot of love, and a lot of friendship. Slices of life, little bite sized nuggets of stories I’ve used to mimic my own life.

Investigation Of Added Mass Of Heeled 2-D Sections In A Seaway Using The Patch Method In Heave, Roll, And Sway Motions, Adam N. Bacon

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the effects of the angle of heel and beam-to-draft ratio on the sectional added mass of primitive cross-sectional shapes in regular harmonic waves in the frequency domain using 2-D boundary element method for uncoupled heave, sway, and roll motion. This 2-D boundary element method uses the patch method developed by Söding (1993b) [4] to compute the added mass of asymmetric geometry. The angles of heel used varied from 0 to 90 degrees in 5-degree intervals, while the beam-to-draft ratios varied from B/T = 0.5 to B/T = 3.0 in half increments. Triangles, rectangles, and rectangles with rounded …

Microstructural And Optical Properties Of Mgal2o4 Spinel: Effects Of Mechanical Activation, Y2o3 And Graphene Additions, Nina Obradovic, William Fahrenholtz, Cole Corlett, Suzana Filipovic, Marko Nikolic, Bojan A. Marinkovic, Simone Failla, Diletta Sciti, Daniele Di Rosa, Elisa Sani

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Magnesium Aluminate and Other Alumina-Based Spinels Attract Attention Due to their High Hardness, High Mechanical Strength, and Low Dielectric Constant. MgAl₂O₄ Was Produced by a Solid-State Reaction between MgO and Α-Al₂O₃ Powders. Mechanical Activation for 30 Min in a Planetary Ball Mill Was Used to Increase the Reactivity of Powders. Yttrium Oxide and Graphene Were Added to Prevent Abnormal Grain Growth during Sintering. Samples Were Sintered by Hot Pressing under Vacuum at 1450◦C. Phase Composition and Microstructure of Sintered Specimens Were Characterized by X-Ray Powder Diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscopy. Rietveld Analysis Revealed 100% …

The Passion Of Ken Williams: The Double Life Of A Mayor, The Newspaper That Brought Him Down, And The Story Of Journalism In America, Michael Adkison

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In November 2007, a team of reporters from the Benton County Daily Record published an expose revealing that Ken Williams, the mayor of Centerton, Arkansas, had been living a double life. In his former life as Don LaRose, he was a preacher in the Northeast, who one day vanished without a trace. His wild saga includes Satanists, truth serums, and a supposed murder. The Benton County Daily Record confronted the former reverend several times before he finally confessed to his double life. The next morning, he resigned as mayor, saying that the decisions he made were for the protection of …

News Media Trust And Mistrust During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kaitlyn Seiter

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the uncertainty and growing information surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, news media consumption has increased drastically compared to pre-pandemic consumption. At the start of the pandemic, 94% of Americans reported closely following COVID-19 news, with more than half of Americans spending more than two hours consuming COVID-19 news everyday (SSRS, 2020). With the news media serving as a critical source of information through this public health crisis, the public’s reactions, behaviors, and attitudes to the pandemic stem from the level of trust they have in the news media to share COVID-19 information. Because of this, this study examines trust in …

Recalibrating Student Services: Examining Staff Perceptions Of Services During Covid-19, Justin White

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As a result of the 2019 global coronavirus pandemic, nearly every business and industry in the United States was forced to adapt its operations to accommodate the restrictions that a community health crisis necessitated. This study examined the experiences of front-line Enrollment Services staff while serving students during the pandemic at one community college in the Midwestern United States. The study focused on staff perceptions of how college policies, processes, and leadership affected the student onboarding experience that encompasses the complete path a student takes from beginning as an applicant to becoming an enrolled student in the classroom. The study …

Engineering Fluorescently Labeled Human Fibroblast Growth Factor One Mutants And Characterizing Their Photophysics Properties Towards Designing Fret Assays, Mamello Mohale

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Human fibroblast growth factor one (hFGF1) belongs to a family of 22 FGF members produced by fibroblast cells. Cell signaling during physiological processes of angiogenesis and wound healing occurs when hFGF1 binds to its receptor (FGFR). However, when heterogenous homeostasis is not maintained, fibroblast cells exhibit excessive proliferation which can lead to a myriad of cancers. smFRET is an ultrasensitive distant dependent (1-10 nm) technique capable of resolving such heterogeneity in structural dynamics and binding affinities (Kd). Therefore, we successfully designed and characterized fluorescently labeled hFGF1 tracers which span the visible light region of the electromagnetic spectrum for use in …

Synthesis Of Polyethylene Glycol-Based Hydrogels And Silver/Gold Nanostructures For Biomedical Applications, Isabelle Ishimwe Niyonshuti

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work focuses on the synthesis of biocompatible polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based hydrogels, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), and silver-gold nanocages (Ag-AuNCs) for biomedical applications. The dissertation includes two parts with Part I on the work of PEG-based hydrogel for wound healing applications and Part II on the work of Ag/Au nanostructures for antimicrobial applications. Part I studies PEG-based hydrogel for the delivery of fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) for wound healing applications, aiming to overcome the challenge of designing hydrogels capable of the sustained release of bioactive FGFs. This research develops new biocompatible anionic injectable hydrogel formulations based on Poly (Oligo Ethylene Glycol …

Cover Crop Effects On Infiltration, Aggregate Stability, And Water Retention On Loessial And Alluvial Soils Of The Lower Mississippi River Valley, Shelby G. Lebeau

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cover crops are a widely considered practice to improve soil health in the form of erosion control, organic matter additions, and improving water-holding capacity. Despite the well-documented benefits, little is known about the effect of cover crops on soils in the Lower Mississippi River Valley (LMRV), an area historically dominated by intensive cultivated agriculture, with soils prone to erosion, and unsustainable aquifer withdrawals for irrigation. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of cover crops [with cover crops (CC) and without cover crops (NCC)] on near-surface soil physical/chemical- and infiltration-related properties, aggregate stability, and water retention. …

Efficacy Of Spirulina (Arthrospira Platensis) Utilization In Broiler Diets, Garrett James Mullenix

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) is a cyanobacteria microalgae that has potential as an animal feed ingredient. Five experiments were conducted to further assess its ability to serve as a protein source in broiler diets. Experiment 1 consisted of an amino acid digestibility and apparent metabolizable energy assay. The results indicated that the standardized ileal amino acid levels of spirulina are comparable with typical soybean meal. Experiment 2 assessed the performance and processing parameters of broilers fed 10% spirulina in low crude protein diets, using published digestibility coefficients. Spirulina inclusion improved footpad quality and increased redness and yellowness of the breast, skin …

Reflective Conversations: Exploring Faculty’S Perceptions Of Reflection To Enhance Teaching Effectiveness, Jonna Lynn Myers

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this pragmatic qualitative research study is to examine the impact of a faculty development program’s reflection component on teaching effectiveness as perceived by the faculty participants. This study utilizes Schön’s (1983) reflective practice, which calls professionals to move from the technical rationality position of development and practice (theoretical and detached) into a reflective position (practical and applicable). Schön contends that this movement occurs by focusing on reflection in the forms of reflection-in-action, reflection-on-action, and reflective conversations. This study specifically examines the reflection component embedded into the inaugural class of the Excellence in Teaching Program (ETP) at pseudonymous …

Design, Synthesis, And Catalytic Application Of Crystalline Porous Nanomaterials, Zainab Abdullah Almansaf

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Chapter 1: COFs (covalent organic frameworks) are a new type of microporous crystalline polymer connected by organic units via strong covalent bonds. Due to their well-defined crystalline structures and excellent chemical and thermal stabilities, COF materials are considered promising candidates in applications such as gas adsorption, catalysis, and energy storage.Chapter 2: A new covalent organic framework (COF) based on imine bonds was assembled from 2-(4-formylphenyl)-5-formylpyridine and 1,3,6,8-tetrakis(4-aminophenyl)pyrene, which showed an interesting dual-pore structure with high crystallinity. Postmetallation of the COF with Pt occurred selectively at the N donor (imine and pyridyl) in the larger pores. The metalated COF served as …

In The Line Of Duty - A Documentary Film About Davis Duty And His Seeing Eye Dog, Paulina Sobczak

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

“In the Line of Duty” is a documentary film about Jeff Davis Duty, a man from a small town in Arkansas, who lost his sight at the age of five. He is the oldest Seeing Eye dog user in the world. At the age of 22, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship at the London School of Economics in England, as the first Fulbright Scholar with disability. Duty achieved great success in his career as a lawyer, leading a fulfilling and enjoyable life. The documentary film’s storytelling focuses on Duty’s life from his childhood to current times and presents all …

Two-Dimensional Black Phosphorus For Terahertz Emission And Near-Field Radiative Heat Transfer, Mahmudul Hasan Doha

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The main focus of this work is to investigate two potential optical and optoelectronic applications of black phosphorus (BP): the near-field radiative heat transfer in plasmonic heterostructures with graphene and terahertz emission from multi-layer BP photoconductive antennas. When the separation distance between graphene-black phosphorene is much smaller than or comparable to the thermal wavelength at different temperatures, a near-field radiation heat transfer breaks the Planck blackbody limit. The magnitude of the near-field radiation enhancement acutely depends on the gate voltage, doping, and vacuum gap of the graphene and BP pair. The strong near-field radiation heat transfer enhancement of the specific …

How Bad Do You Want It?: The Personal Motivation Of Joining A Sorority, Garry Butler

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

College campuses provide students with endless opportunities to become members of various student organizations that provide leadership, accountability, a sense of belonging, personal growth, and development. Many colleges have provided students with the opportunities to join social Greek fraternity and sorority organizations. The foundation of social fraternity and sorority organizations are built on principles such as sisterhood, brotherhood, scholarship, service, philanthropy, and leadership. Many traditional college-age women who desire to become members of a social sorority organization all participate in a formal recruitment process. There are various motivations that traditional college-age women have for joining social sororities on college campuses …

Advising Student Veterans In Higher Education, Brett Edward Rankin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Student veterans are a growing population in higher education with over 650,000 veterans using education benefits in 2018. Student veterans are enrolling in colleges of all types, and many institutions have support services designed for them specifically. In most cases these support services are limited to veteran centers where officials certify credit hours for financial benefits and do not offer services to help them fully assimilate into higher education. Student veterans bring a wide range of life experiences, culture, and work ethic to college campuses which serves to build and diversify the student body. However, veterans have reported feeling isolated …

Lgbtq+ College Students' Perceptions Of Social Presence And Self-Disclosure In Online Learning: A Single-Case Study, Scott Anthony Wright

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Social interaction among learners plays a significant role in online learning environments (Garrison, 2006; Kreijns et al., 2014; Mykota, 2017). The construct of social presence in online courses is important because it influences interaction and connectedness among learners and its effects on their learning outcomes and emotional well-being. Social presence at its essence refers to how an individual is perceived as a "real person" in an online environment (Gunawardena & Zittle, 1997). Online students must decide what aspects of their social identities they share in their interactions with their peers and instructors. Furthermore, LGBTQ+ students must negotiate what aspects of …

A Song Of The Bluff: The Phoenix Of Pine Bluff Arkansas - Documentary, Neba Evans

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Pine Bluff, Arkansas has long grappled with a reputation as a town riddled with crime and violence. Once a thriving agricultural center of the state, Arkansas residents tend to score the town’s successes as relics of the past. Economic decline, negative migration systems like white flight and brain drain, and racial disparities ties to the city’s roots has continued to take its toll on the city. Nonetheless, the community of Pine Bluff knows excellence has and continues to prosper there. A Song of the Bluff is a 15-minute documentary that seeks to flip the negative narrative by confronting these stereotypes …

Adapting Animals: Nineteenth-Century British Literature, Science, And Media, Kristen Layne Figgins

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the nineteenth century, Charles Darwin and other proponents of evolutionary theory provided a theoretical framework for discussing the question of humanity’s place in the world. These nascent theories emphasized the shared animal nature of humans and the nonhuman creatures who had once occupied a distinctly lower place on the chain of being. My dissertation addresses the question of how nineteenth-century scientific attitudes about animals were reflected in the literature of the period. By examining culture-texts from the nineteenth century, it is clear that literature was an active participant in extending scientific knowledge, often by playing with the blending categorical …

J Mich Dent Assoc December 2021

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

Every month, The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association brings news, information, and features about Michigan dentistry to our state's oral health community and the MDA's 6,200+ members. No publication reaches more Michigan dentists!

In this issue, the reader will find the following original content:

• Two cover stories presenting perspectives from both ends of the practice life continuum: “Starting Your Practice Life” and “Preparing for Retirement”.
• A feature article, “What Happened in Vegas Became ADA Policy”.
• A feature article, “An Oversight Corrected: 2020 MDA Life Members Recognized”.
• The 2021 Author/Title Index to the Journal of the Michigan Dental Association. …