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Effect Of Cash Transfer On Household Fertility Choice And Children's Human Capital Accumulation In Uganda, Shaila Ahmed

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This analysis examines the effects of conditional and unconditional cash transfer on household fertility decisions and other indicators of human capital accumulation. To test my hypotheses, I rely on the UCT and CCT sub-arms of the Cash-Plus Program recently implemented in Uganda. The design of the Cash-Plus Program follows randomized control trials for intervention. My empirical findings show that the Cash-Plus Program have no discernible impact on beneficiary households' pregnancy incidence. The only effect on the primary outcomes of interest is a marginally significant effect for household heads aged 25 to 49, who received unconditional treatments. The results also show …

Transgenerational Effects Of Chronic Preconception Stress On Developmental And Health Outcomes In Prairie Vole Offspring: Potential Mediation By Parental Emotionality, Mother-Father Bond, Or Parental Care Quality, W. Tang Watanasriyakul

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Background: A positive rearing environment is important for the health and well-being of growing offspring. Chronic parental stress can create a toxic rearing environment, which may impair developmental and sociobehavioral outcomes of the offspring. Specifically, parental stress is linked to unstable parental emotionality, tension between mother and father, and poor parenting quality, although the inter-relatedness of these factors and the mechanisms through which they contribute to the outcomes of the offspring need further investigation. The current study investigated developmental and sociobehavioral outcomes in prairie vole offspring exposed to chronic preconception stress, with parental emotionality, strength of mother-father bond, and parental …

Changing The Narrative Of Disengagement: Exploring Academic Identity Formation For Non-Ethno-European Students, Luis E. Lopez

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic and the changing demographics of the American identity have drawn attention to the necessity of reforming the Ethno-European education system to meet the needs of a diverse student population. If the educational landscape is to be transformed to meet the needs of a growing non-Ethno-European student population, more research is needed to explore factors that increase non-Ethno-European students’ academic engagement. This research attempted to identify individual and systemic factors contributing to non-Ethno-European students’ academic engagement during secondary education. This exploration began by outlining the role a cohesive identity continuum has on education engagement for non-Ethno-European students. Antecedent …

Active To Reserves, Patrick Potter

Mighty Pen Project Anthology & Archive

An army veteran decides to return to the military via the reserves. He finds that things are quite different than he expected.

Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in the Mighty Pen Project. The program, developed by author David L. Robbins, and in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, offers veterans and their family members a customized twelve-week writing class, free of charge. The program encourages, supports, and assists participants in sharing their stories and experiences of military experience so both writer and audience may benefit.

Design And Fabrication Of A Small-Sized Omni-Directional Spherical Robot, Aayush P. Patel

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

As we have witnessed through an unprecedented pandemic crisis, a lack of or decreased level of social interactions could have a negative impact on people's mental health. Ample evidence indicates that similar phenomena take place in rodents as socially isolated rodents display a high level of stress and cognitive declination. While spherical robots have recently drawn significant interest in many areas such as education, entertainment, and surveillance due to their ability to move instantaneously in any direction, the objective of this thesis is to design and fabricate a small-sized, self-locomotive omnidirectional robot to provide those animals with physical interactions as …

Monitoring Plants Growth In Indoor Vertical Farms Using Computer Vision And Ai Techniques, Bhama Krishna Pillutla

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Climatic conditions like temperature, drought, and heavy metals disturb plant cell structures and, ultimately, plant growth that significantly affects crop production. Due to increasing climate change, maize crop yields are projected to decline by 24% by the end of century. With the increase in food demands and decrease in agricultural land and water resources, the space for effective farming is left much desired. Though limited to a few crops at this moment, Indoor Vertical Farming is one technique that requires much less land space, water, soil, and sunlight when compared to traditional farming. Vertical farming allows artificial control of temperature, …

Development Of Phase Change Thermal Storage Medium: Cooking With More Power And Versatility, Martin Osei

Masters Theses

With an Insulated Solar Electric Cooker (ISEC), a 100 W solar panel directly cooks food while providing 5W off-grid electricity access; but it cooks slowly. Storing the day’s energy with phase change thermal storage allows ISEC to cook more rapidly as well as cook after sunset. The ISEC is made by sticking a 3ohm resistive to an aluminum pot (inner phase change assembly PCA) where another cooking pot fits. The resistive heater is surrounded by a bigger pot (outer PCA) that contains the PCM and is tightly sealed. The solar panel is connected to the resistive heater with a thermal …

David Lindsay's A Voyage To Arcturus: An Anti-Fantasy, Bryan Wysopal

Masters Theses

This is a study of David Lindsay’s A Voyage to Arcturus (1920) in which I argue that the novel is an anti-fantasy, that is, a fantasy that negates certain tropes common to the genre as part of the author’s wider intentions for writing. I contextualize Lindsay by comparing him to several authors of his time who also worked in the mode of fantasy, then explain how the generic traits of the novel are handled unconventionally to promote Lindsay’s personal philosophy. I explore Lindsay’s treatment of the basic generic traits of the hero and his quest, the imaginary world, and …

Beetle Diversity In Temperate Deciduous Forests With Different Management History In Central Illinois, Syue Ru Chien

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Identification And Cloning Of Transcripts From Triterpenoid-Induced Neuronal Outgrowth In Neuro-2a Cells From Mus Musculus, Meshael Alrashidi

Masters Theses

Neurodegenerative diseases severely reduce quality of life and are often responsible for the death of those suffering from them. In addition to the societal toll these diseases inflict on populations, the health care costs are estimated to be hundreds of billions of dollars annually for the U.S. alone. Unfortunately, direct pharmacological treatment for some of the most common of these diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, remains elusive. Traditional medicine in China and India have recommended a variety of plants for preventing and treating these diseases. For example, Centella asiatica (L.) Urban, also knows as Gotu Kola, is believed to treat and …

Structural Basis Of Bacterial Flagellin For Naip5 Binding And Nlrc4 Inflammasome Activation And The Mechanism Of Flagellin Induced Release Of Cytokines In Vivo, Jian Cui

Theses and Dissertations--Chemistry

The bacterial flagellum is a whip-like structure that protrudes from the cell membrane and is one of the most complex and dynamic biological molecular machines that propels bacteria to swim toward beneficial environments and the sites of infection. It is composed of a basal body, a hook, and a long filament. The flagellar filament contains thousands of copies of the protein flagellin (FliC) monomer arranged helically and ending with a filament cap composed of oligomer protein FliD. The overall structure of the filament core is preserved across bacterial species, while the outer domains exhibit high variability, and in some cases …

Mechanism Of Antibiotic Permeability Through The Gram-Negative Bacterial Envelope, Olaniyi Alegun

Theses and Dissertations--Chemistry

The outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria (GN) makes them distinct among superbugs that are associated with the development of antibiotic resistance. The outer membrane, and inner membrane, separated by the periplasm, form a double-membrane barrier to the entry of antibiotics into the cell. Several studies have been conducted to examine the role of outer membrane modifications such as porins, lipopolysaccharides, and efflux pumps on antibiotic resistance. However, there is a paucity of knowledge on how antibiotics behave in the periplasm, to gain access into their target region. My thesis focuses on understanding the mechanism of antibiotic permeability through the cellular …

Antibiotic Permeation In Gram-Negative Bacteria And Contribution Of Inflammasome Activation And Pyroptosis In Pathogenesis Of Salmonella Systemic Infection, Ankit Pandeya

Theses and Dissertations--Chemistry

Antibiotic resistance is one of the major global issues in the field of public health and medicine. Good antibiotic candidates need to be selectively toxic, inhibit cellular target, and effectively penetrate and accumulate in bacterial cells. The last factor is a formidable barrier in the development of antimicrobials effective in Gram-negative bacteria, due to the presence of two layers of cell envelope. The first half of my thesis focuses on understanding the permeation of small molecules through this formidable cell envelope, distribution inside the cell of Gram-negative bacteria, and design of novel methods to make small molecules effectively cross the …

Nicotine And Cotinine: Microbial Modulators Of The Immune Response, Jourdan Lakes

Theses and Dissertations--Chemistry

The consumption of tobacco products is a known contributor to a variety of health conditions and disease pathologies including cardiovascular and lung diseases. In addition to these well-known pathological effects of tobacco use, it has been established recently that tobacco consumption as well as nicotine consumption alone results in distinct, dysbiotic perturbations to the enteric microflora of the gastrointestinal tract. Previous research into the intestinal microbiome has demonstrated that these microbes are active contributors to the maintenance of a homeostatic and tolerogenic environment within the host. In fact, the presence of our enteric microflora is necessary for the proper development …

Good Morning Covid Nation, Gillian Rolfe

The Art of Medicine

No abstract provided.

Art Of Medicine - 2022

The Art of Medicine

No abstract provided.

Developments In Gold(Iii) Scaffolds For Protein Bioconjugation And Enhanced Anticancer Activity, Sailajah Gukathasan

Theses and Dissertations--Chemistry

Site-selective modifications of target proteins using specially designed small molecules is a powerful tool that has been extensively utilized in biomedicine. Small molecules can modify proteins either covalently or non-covalently depending on their structures and intrinsic chemical reactivity. Covalent chemical modification presents a more stable and often irreversible interaction with target proteins; unlike non-covalent binders, which form weak, reversible interactions with protein. Therefore, covalent modifiers represent an effective class of therapeutics due to their stability and irreversibility once bound to target proteins of interest. I hypothesized that tuning biocompatible, high-valent gold(III) complexes toward nucleophile-induced reductive elimination will lead to covalent …

Cell-Engineered Vesicles For Therapeutic Delivery And Immunomodulatory Applications, Khaga Neupane

Theses and Dissertations--Chemistry

Development of a new kind of drug delivery system (DDS) that could efficiently deliver therapeutics to the cell of interest would allow us to accomplish cell-specific drug delivery while eliminating systemic toxicity. Although nanocarriers including endogenously released extracellular vesicles (EEVs), liposomes, and small molecules seem to be promising drug delivery systems, biological challenges persist for their use in clinical applications. Here, we demonstrate nanovesicles engineered by fragmenting cellular membranes can be exploited as versatile DDSs for therapeutics delivery as well as immunomodulatory functions. Cell-engineered vesicles were produced by cavitating cells using nitrogen gas at high pressure followed by serial centrifugation. …

Determining The Impact Of Corn Source On Nutrient Availability And Pig Performance, And Improving Boar Performance During Heat Stress, Jordan Jansen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The quality and effectiveness of the feedstuffs included in diets of production livestock directly impact yield efficiency and performance characteristics desired by producers. This thesis focuses on the performance and digestibility of corn from different countries in pig diets and how different feed additives can be supplemented to improve boar reproductive performance during heat stress. Corn is the largest energy source in common pig diets. The physical characteristics of corn such as broken kernels, foreign material, and excessive dust are said to negatively impact the quality of the grain for pig diets by being less digestible and a worsened nutrient …

The Bulletin: Sidney Kimmel Medical College At Thomas Jefferson University, Volume 71, Issue 1, Winter 2022

The Bulletin (formerly the Jefferson Medical College Alumni Bulletin)

This issue includes:

• 5 - Dean's Column
• 6 - Time Capsule - The No Limits Klasko Era
• 14 - ICYMI (In Case You Missed It)
• 19 - A Message from Elizabeth A. Dale
• 20 - Discovery - University’s Global Reach Will Soon Extend into Space
• 21 - First Class of Med Students Completes JeffMD Curriculum
• 26 - Student Profile - Ryan Emoff
• 28 - Faculty Profile - Marc Altshuler, MD ‘01
• 30 - Reimagine
• 36 - Class Notes
• 38 - Alumni Weekend 2021
• 44 - Class Agent
• 46 - In Memoriam
• 48 - By the Numbers - SKMC Class of …

Anti-Grp-R Monoclonal Antibody Antitumor Therapy Against Neuroblastoma, Jingbo Qiao, Junquan Liu, Jillian C Jacobson, Rachael A Clark, Sora Lee, Li Liu, Zhiqiang An, Ningyan Zhang, Dai H Chung

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Standard treatment for patients with high-risk neuroblastoma remains multimodal therapy including chemoradiation, surgical resection, and autologous stem cell rescue. Immunotherapy has demonstrated success in treating many types of cancers; however, its use in pediatric solid tumors has been limited by low tumor mutation burdens. Gastrin-releasing peptide receptor (GRP-R) is overexpressed in numerous malignancies, including poorly-differentiated neuroblastoma. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to GRP-R have yet to be developed but could serve as a potential novel immunotherapy. This preclinical study aims to evaluate the efficacy of a novel GRP-R mAb immunotherapy against neuroblastoma. We established four candidate anti-GRP-R mAbs by screening a single-chain …

Course Portfolio For Bioc934: Genome Dynamics And Gene Expression, Nicole R. Buan

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

A graduate degree in Biochemistry or any molecular life science field requires a strong foundation in molecular biology. BIOC934 Genome Dynamics and Gene Expression is a course designed to challenge graduate students whose research interests lie in the areas of biochemistry, molecular biology, synthetic biology, bioinformatics, and systems biology of prokaryote and eukaryote systems. Graduate students in these disciplines require a rigorous and thorough examination of core concepts in addition to practice applying theory to new observations while traversing unfamiliar disciplinary terrain. This portfolio describes the design of BIOC934, its implementation, and observed outcomes to identify strengths of the course …

An Energy System Evaluation Of Rural Electrification Of Barangay Puray, Rodriguez, Rizal, Philippines, Joselito Olalo, Catherine Joy Dela Cruz, Krizzia Generoso

Physics Faculty Publications

Rural electrification in the Philippines is one of the main problems in the country. In this study, the possible electrification of Barangay Puray using three alternatives, namely, solar power, generator set and Meralco connection was analyzed. The stakeholders in this study were the people of the barangay, the local government of Rizal and the Meralco Corporation. Some assumptions are made, one of which is that the local government of Rizal will pay the capital costs for solar power and generator set, while the residents of the barangay will pay the government within 25-year period of the study. Here, two cases …

Missing And Murdered: Finding A Solution To Address The Epidemic Of Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women In Canada And Classifying It As A “Canadian Genocide”, Melanie Mcgruder

American Indian Law Review

No abstract provided.

Departments, Schools, Divisions, And Colleges: Organization Of Academic Units In Public Master’S Institutions In The United States, Brent Graves, Brian Cherry

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Church–State Entanglements In Southern Baptist Post-War Juvenile Delinquency Programs, Alan Willis

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

American Marten (Martes Americana) And Northern Goshawk (Accipiter Gentilis) Simultaneously Attack Gray Squirrel (Sciurus Carolinensis), Brent Graves, Suzanne M. Petschke

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

The Roof Rat, Rattus Rattus, In Virginia, Ralph P. Eckerlin, Paige Berends, Cassidy Downing, Kurt E. Galbreath

Journal Articles

We collected a single specimen of Rattus rattus (Roof Rat) in Highland County, VA, a previously unknown locality for the species. We collected ecto- and endoparasites, including the louse Polyplax spinulosa, the tick Dermacentor variabilis (American Dog Tick), and the nematode Aspicularis americana. which we archived along with the host voucher specimen. Sequencing of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene confirmed the rodent species identification based on comparisons to R. rattus sequences available in the GenBank database. Herein we review specimen records of Roof Rats and Rattus norvegicus (Brown Rat). Both species have a deep history in Virginia, but Roof Rats …

Masked Meanings: Covid-19 And The Subversion Of Stasis Hierarchy, Ben Wetherbee

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Personal Volcanoes And The Pedagogy Of People: Perspectives On Navigating Turbulent Times, Kristen M. Platt, Lydia Strattan, Colleen Bodnar, April Hatcher

Pedagogicon Conference Proceedings

The year 2020 brought about more unexpected turbulent times than anyone could have imagined in the years prior. At the University level, students and faculty were sent home from campus as rates of COVID-19 soared around the world. This turbulent, life-changing eruption disturbed the status quo for everyone on the planet in ways not anticipated, and the effects will linger for years to come. This manuscript discusses four perspectives on navigating the pandemic that can translate to future preparedness plans for students and faculty alike.