Digital Commons Network^™

Novel Patterns For Nucleosome Positioning: From In Vitro To In Vivo, David Andrew Bates

Theses and Dissertations

The fundamental unit of chromatin is the nucleosome, which consists of a core of eight proteins wrapped by DNA. This core is composed of four pairs of histone proteins: H2A, H2B, H3, and H4. The DNA wraps around the protein core ~1.7 times, facilitating compaction of DNA length in the cell. Further, the location of nucleosomes makes genomic elements encoded in the DNA, such as promoters or enhancers, accessible or inaccessible to RNA polymerase and transcription factors. Thus, where nucleosomes are located (or positioned), can play a major role in transcription or other cellular processes. Additionally, histone proteins are frequently …

Voices From The Field: A Critical Incident Study Of Teachers' Perspectives On What Helps And Hinders The Implementation Of Behavior Intervention Plans In The Classroom, Emily Anne Cragun

Theses and Dissertations

Student problem behavior continues to be a major issue in schools for both teachers and students. Teachers often feel they are not provided with enough resources to help them manage this problem behavior. Students who engage in problem behavior tend to struggle socially and academically. When classified with an emotional disturbance, students are especially at risk due to the severity of the problem behavior they exhibit (Brauner & Stephens, 2006). This study examined how function-based interventions can help both teachers and students better manage the effects of problem behavior. There are several factors believed to hinder the effectiveness of function-based …

Principles For Using Remote Data Collection Devices And Deep Learning In Evaluating Social Impact Indicators Of Engineered Products For Global Development, Bryan J. Stringham

Theses and Dissertations

Evaluating the social impacts of engineered products, or effects products have on the daily lives of individuals, is critical to ensuring that products are having positive impacts while avoiding negative impacts and to learning how to improve product designs for a more positive social impact. One approach to quantifying a product's social impact is to use social impact indicators that combine user data in a meaningful way to give insight into the current social condition of an individual or population. However, determining social impact indicators relative to engineered products and individuals in developing countries can be difficult when there is …

A Text-Based Smoking Cessation Intervention For Sexual And Gender Minority Groups: Protocol For A Feasibility Trial, Irene Tami-Maury, Rebecca Klaff, Allison Hussin, Nathan Grant Smith, Shine Chang, Lorna Mcneill, Lorraine R Reitzel, Sanjay Shete, Lorien C Abroms

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Smoking among sexual and gender minority (SGM) groups, which include lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals, has been reported to be highly prevalent. This is attributed to several factors, including minority-specific stress and targeted tobacco marketing. Therefore, this population is at an increased risk for tobacco-related diseases. SMS text messaging programs have been found to be effective for smoking cessation and appeal to traditionally hard-to-reach populations over other interventions. It has also been suggested that targeted and tailored interventions could be more effective among SGM smokers because they can be designed to assure a safe, validating health care …

From B2b Survivor To Sap’S Swallow: Sap Ariba’S Success, John Wang, Steve Bin Zhou, Yang Li, Houda El Bouhissi

Department of Information Management and Business Analytics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Ariba Inc. and Commerce One Inc. (C1), two bellwethers with e-entrepreneurship in the e-commerce field, provided business-to-business (B2B) spend management and supply chain services. After having been wiped out by the devaluation of the stock market that followed the dot-com era, C1 is extinct today. Having faced the same market condition and serious competition, innovative Ariba had a different path and was acquired by SAP in 2012. Nowadays, SAP Ariba (formerly known as Ariba) is the largest digital B2B network on the planet. Why did Ariba survive whereas C1 collapsed? The authors explore the external (hidden costs, high-priced software, hurtful …

Fall/Winter 2022: Language-Learning Legacy Brings Tokyo Student To St. Norbert, St. Norbert College

St. Norbert College Magazine 2019-2023

Chihiro Sato’s journey to study English at St. Norbert College continues a family legacy begun by her mother, Tomoko Sato, highlighting the enduring impact of the ESL Institute’s immersive language and cultural programs over nearly three decades.

Telehealth Acceptance Among Appalachian Respondents During Covid 19: A Secondary Data Analysis, Victoria Hood-Wells, Florence M. Weierbach, Amy Wahlquist, Janet M. Keener, Manik Ahuja, Hadii M. Mamudu

ETSU Faculty Works

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between telehealth use, telehealth satisfaction, and chronic medical conditions among residents living in Appalachian and non-Appalachian communities.

Sample: A COVID-19 public health survey was distributed via social media and healthcare clinics in the tri-state region of central Appalachia. Survey responses were limited to adults aged ≥18 years who consented to participate in the survey that self-identified as an individual with one or more chronic medical conditions (n=195).

Method: Simple descriptive statistics including frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations (SDs) were calculated for variables of interest both overall and by …

The Diamond, December 9, 2022, Dordt University

Dordt Diamond

• Front Page: Paperwork Delays Cause Problems for International Students; Airband Rocks the BJ Haan; Campus Christmas Events
• News: Peepholes; Dordt's Fall Semester Ends Later Than Previous Years; Dordt Gaming Guild Tabletop War Game Event
• Feature: "Glitch" in Ticketmaster May be its End Game; Iowa Removes Praxis Requirement for Teaching Licensure; FIFA World Cup Held During Classes for the First Time; Terracotta Films; Julie Van Otterloo Returns as a Second-Year Teacher; Small Groups Watch The Chosen
• Opinion: A Perspective on Christian Education as a Requirement; Questioning the Purpose of CORE 140 and 145; What To Do Over …

Ideological Extremism, Conspiratorial Thought, And Support For Authoritarianism In The United States, Sophie N. Martino

Honors Theses

Since the nation’s founding, Americans have tended to take democracy for granted. People see democracy as a given, believing that adherence to democratic values will persist. However, in the past few election cycles, there has been a trend in support for authoritarianism in the United States – not just with political leaders and figures, but also with individuals susceptible to authoritarian values and signals. This thesis seeks to address this apparent threat of authoritarianism in the United States, delving into possible factors that play a role in the growing support for authoritarian attitudes among Americans. I believe that two phenomena …

Accepting The Monster Within: Addressing Mental Illness Through Young Adult Literature, Jenna Ellis

Honors Theses

This creative research project discusses the importance and practice of implementing a unit on mental health in young adult literature in secondary-level ELA curriculum. The first portion of this thesis is an original short story, entitled “Beneath the Surface,” which portrays a middle-schooler, Leith, whose anxiety manifests itself as a monster. “Beneath the Surface” explores mental illness through a metaphor of the ocean, utilizing water imagery to depict Leith’s experiences with and symptoms of anxiety. Following the short story is an annotated bibliography describing mental health texts for students to read in an ELA unit on mental health as well …

Efficacy Of Antimicrobial Treatments In Vitro And On Fresh Produce Against Selected Foodborne Pathogens And Microbiome Diversity Amongst Blueberry Farms, Angelica Maria Abdallah Ruiz

Theses and Dissertations

This study focused on evaluating the antimicrobial activity of chlorine dioxide (ClO₂) and different plant-based antimicrobials (carvacrol, thymol, and eugenol as bioactive compounds and muscadine extract- ME and blueberry extract- BBE as plant extracts) against selected foodborne pathogens under in vitro conditions and on produce (spinach and blueberries). In addition, bacterial microbiota associated with blueberries and blueberry farm environments from three different regions: Cundinamarca, Colombia; Mississippi, United States; and Guadalajara, Mexico, was determined. Under in vitro conditions, carvacrol and thymol were more effective (lower MICs and MBCs) than eugenol against Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli O157:H7 (MIC=MBC=0.2 mg/ml), and …

Gender Identity, Sports, And Affirmative Action: What's Title Ix Got To Do With It?, Michael E. Rosman

St. Mary's Law Journal

There is much talk these days of promoting “equity” rather than “equality.” When applied outside athletics, Title IX promotes non-discrimination, usually associated with equality. As it has been applied to sports, though, it may be our most prominent “equity” statute, making sure each sex gets its fair share.

The questions this article seeks to address are legal ones that the debate about trans females seems to bring to the fore. How did we start with a statute whose language looks very similar to every other civil rights statute—and, indeed, that acts just like every other civil rights statute outside of …

How Universities Use Twitter To Communicate About Mental Health, Sarah Elizabeth Polhill

Theses and Dissertations

From a sample of over three million tweets from universities in the US, we described the characteristics of universities' communication about mental health on Twitter, including common keywords, bigrams, linked resources, and hashtags, as well as the frequency of dialogic communication and mental health tweets over time, especially in the context of the COVID-19 Pandemic. This study uses data mining to collect tweets from official university Twitter accounts and selected accounts of university wellness and counseling programs. Relevant tweets were collected from a large sample using keywords and bigrams relevant to mental health from the Twitter accounts of IACS accredited …

Asecret Charting And Sensory Processing Disorder - A Tool For Parents And Teachers, Taylor Lerman

Honors Theses

When considering the results of research from this study, the reader should note this specifically applies to elementary school aged students but could be applicable outside of this study for the purpose of added ages. The cumulative ASECRET charts do not explicitly apply to that of a typical child and added disabilities to consider are discussed within the discussion section of research. Conditions left unmentioned should not be considered inapplicable, but for the purpose of this research, discussion points focus on sensory processing and conditions with higher rates of comorbidity to sensory processing compared to others. The purpose of this …

2 Years On: Loss And Grief Amidst The Covid-19 Pandemic, Eman H. Nabulsi

Psychology and Counseling Theses

This study sought to examine the variability and impact of different kinds of losses experienced during COVID-19 and how people reacted to and coped with those losses. The most common loss reported by individuals was the loss of social connection, while death-related losses were identified as the most impactful loss experienced. Results suggest that people responded in a myriad of ways, including increased cautiousness for health safety, refocusing their attention on important life matters, and finding alternative ways to connect with others. Furthermore, this study found that individual factors such as intolerance of uncertainty and perceived social support may play …

The Effects Of Survival, Pleasantness, And Storytelling Conditions On True And False Memory Recollection, Rachel Daniels

Honors Theses

The purpose of the present study was to analyze the extent to which various processing scenarios influenced participants' rates of true and false memory recollection. Participants were placed in one of three conditions, storytelling, survival, or pleasantness, and then studied a list of common nouns. They were then instructed to comment on the words in a specific manner depending on the condition to which they were randomly assigned. Following this, participants completed a math distractor task, and were then asked to complete a free recall test for the previously studied words. The results indicated that participants in the storytelling condition …

G-Rich Motifs Within Phosphorothioate-Based Antisense Oligonucleotides (Asos) Drive Activation Of Fxn Expression Through Indirect Effects, Feng Wang, Ezequiel Calvo-Roitberg, Julia M Rembetsy-Brown, Minggang Fang, Jacquelyn Sousa, Zachary J Kartje, Pranathi Meda Krishnamurthy, Jonathan Lee, Michael R Green, Athma A Pai, Jonathan K Watts

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Friedreich's ataxia is an incurable disease caused by frataxin (FXN) protein deficiency, which is mostly induced by GAA repeat expansion in intron 1 of the FXN gene. Here, we identified antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), complementary to two regions within the first intron of FXN pre-mRNA, which could increase FXN mRNA by ∼2-fold in patient fibroblasts. The increase in FXN mRNA was confirmed by the identification of multiple overlapping FXN-activating ASOs at each region, two independent RNA quantification assays, and normalization by multiple housekeeping genes. Experiments on cells with the ASO-binding sites deleted indicate that the ASO-induced FXN activation was driven by …

Algorithmic Solutions To Combat Online Fake News, Xinyi Zhou

Dissertations - ALL

The unprecedented growth of new information producing, distributing, and consuming every moment on the Web has fostered the rise of ``fake news.'' Because of its detrimental effect on democracy, global economies, and public health, effectively combating online fake news has become an essential and urgent task.

This dissertation starts with making typological, theoretical, and empirical efforts to promote the public's comprehension of fake news and lay the foundation for algorithmically combating fake news. As there has been no universal definition of fake news, this dissertation discusses the definition of fake news from three dimensions: veracity, intention, and news, comparing it …

Localization Of Open Educational Resources By Facilitators Of A Human Rights Course In Ghana, Emily Durham Bradshaw

Theses and Dissertations

Research on the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) often notes the potential benefits for users to revise, reuse, and remix OER to localize it for specific learners. However, a gap in the literature exists in terms of research that explores how this localization occurs in practice. This is a significant gap given the current flow of OER from higher-income countries in the Global North to lower-income countries in the Global South (King et al., 2018). This study explores how OER from one area of the world is localized when it is used in a different cultural context. As part …

An Augmented Reality Maintenance Assistant With Real-Time Quality Inspection On Handheld Mobile Devices, James Thomas Frandsen

Theses and Dissertations

With the advances of industry 4.0, augmented reality (AR) devices are being deployed across the manufacturing sector to enhance worker perception and efficiency. AR is often used to deliver spatially relevant work instructions on mobile devices for maintenance procedures on the factory floor. In these situations, workers use their mobile devices to view instructions in the form of 3D animations and annotations that directly overlay the equipment being maintained. Workers then follow the AR instructions and must ultimately rely on their own judgement and knowledge of the procedure as they progress from step to step. An AR assistant that could …

Board Of Trustees Minutes, Dec. 9 2022, Indiana State University Board Of Trustees

Board of Trustees

No abstract provided.

Board Of Trustees Agenda, Dec. 9 2022, Indiana State University Board Of Trustees

Board of Trustees

No abstract provided.

Crossing The Gender Chasm For Productive Field Engagement, Raghunandan Reddy

The Qualitative Report

The paper aims to demonstrate that while researcher’s background could be a factor in gaining access to research participants and to the organization, other elements like trustworthiness, reflexivity, and engaged participant listening help in overcoming gender barriers in interviewing the research participants. This paper is a reflexive account of field experience as a part of doctoral research aimed at establishing that not only could gender barriers to access to research participants be overcome, but also that a gender-outsider positionality offers insights into women’s workplace experiences that are shaped through the discourses and practices of managerialism. The field experience highlighted the …

Cause For Alarm: Punk Rock, Politics, Race, And The Problem Of Irony In Modern America, Colin Shea Campbell

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation traces the history of punk rock and the birth and progression of the “punk ethos,” the principles and stylistic choices that characterized punk as a subculture and lifestyle of which music was a part. It argues that the punk ethos emerged as a result of two interrelated tensions within punk – the first between an inclusive vision of punk that welcomed new people and an exclusive vision that aimed, for various reasons, to limit the genre’s appeal to a select few. The second tension that defined the punk ethos related to the question of whether punk would be …

Vegetation And Nutritional Changes Over 20 Years Of White-Tailed Deer Exclusion, Gabrielle Nicole Ripa

Theses and Dissertations

Knowledge of the impacts of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus; hereafter deer) as dominant herbivores throughout the Southeastern United States of America is lacking. To address this, three paired experimental units of exclosures and controls were constructed in 2000 on three Wildlife Management Areas across Mississippi within the ecoregions of the Upper Coastal Plain, Lower Coastal Plain, and the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Vegetation was sampled in the summers of 2000, 2005, and 2021 including vegetation structure, canopy coverage, basal area, and species composition. Additionally, in 2005 and 2021, biomass was sampled to determine potential impacts on nutritional carrying capacity. Among the …

Molecular And Phenotypic Characterization Of Escherichia Coli Isolated From Broiler Chicken Flocks In Mississippi, Priyanka Devkota

Theses and Dissertations

Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) is the causative agent of colibacillosis. APEC causes significant economic losses to the poultry industry. In this study, 66 E. coli isolates were collected from broiler flocks across Mississippi and categorized as clinical and non-clinical isolates. Genotypic and phenotypic characterization of virulence factors and antimicrobial resistance profiles of these E. coli were examined. The data disclosed a higher prevalence of virulence genes in clinical isolates than in non-clinical isolates. High differences on the genotypic and phenotypic antimicrobial resistance among clinical and non-clinical isolates were observed. Whole genome sequences of avian E. coli elaborated a diverse …

White Savior Projects: An Examination Of The Antitrafficking Social Movement, Jennifer A. Cheek

Theses and Dissertations

For this dissertation, I conduct an ethnography of three antitrafficking programs; interview 38 activists and survivors of trafficking; and analyze organizational texts, websites, and social media. I examine the history of the antitrafficking movement. Among the three organizations, activists provide housing; food, clothing, and hygiene items; medical services; mental health services and counseling; mentorship; education for survivors; a 24-hour hotline; outreach; case management and referrals; training for law enforcement; a drop-in center; and education and awareness events. I examine activists’ diagnostic, prognostic, and motivational framing of sex trafficking, and other framing tactics, such as frame alignment, frame diffusion, frame resonance, …

Agile Enterprise Simulation – A Framework For Organizational Decision-Making Analysis, John P. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

Decision-making by one or more individuals to select a course of action is predicated on the values and preferences to identify, choose options, and finally select the option that is evaluated to be the “best option.” Decision theory provides the means to model and analyze both the processes and options available to the decision-makers. This dissertation assembled in three phases: 1) An effort to collect and review existing literature relating to the concept of expanding decision analysis options to provide a model of decision-making made with time-dependent factors along with uncertainty and risk. Further, adding the concept of a decision …

A Multi-Method Exploration Of Health Disparities And Covid-19 Incidence And Mortality In The United States, S M Asger Ali

Theses and Dissertations

The 21^st century experienced several health crises, especially in the form of infectious disease outbreaks such as the SARS outbreak in 2003, the H1N1 in 2009, and Ebola outbreaks in 2013. However, none has produced a worldwide socio-economic and health impact compared to the recent pandemic, known as COVID-19. As of October 4, 2022, more than 614 million cases with 6 million deaths have been reported worldwide. The United States is currently in the leading position with more than 98 million cases and 1 million deaths. The pandemic, however, did not impact the entire region similarly, and the infections …

Practical Requirements Elicitation In Modern Product Development: A Multi-Case Study In Discontinuous Innovation, Michael King

Theses and Dissertations

Practical modern product development, specifically rapid, lean efforts to create new disrupting or specialized products, face constraints that require modified requirements elicitation (RE) techniques. Requirements elicitation conventions have not been updated to address the challenges of these approaches, and industry practitioners lack the tools to select the most efficient techniques. This study examines the RE approaches performed by three resource-limited teams conducting discontinuous new product development through a multi-case study to identify gaps between the literature and practice, with suggestions to fill them. Our findings suggest modern RE practices and challenges closely reflect those found by studies on RE in …