Digital Commons Network^™

Developing A Contemplative Classroom. Are There Other Approaches That Usefully Extend Angelo Caranfa?, Rosemary Laoulach

Theses

This study will explore the literature on silence and contemplation in order to develop an approach for a contemplative classroom. It will examine Angelo Caranfa’s ideas on silence in education and a contemplative curriculum. The research will highlight some of the influences on his work, critiquing them and pointing out what can be further developed by outlining what a contemplative classroom might look like.

Contemplative practices will be defined broadly as silence, attentiveness, reflection, humility, attentive listening, and mindfulness. I will provide a theoretical and practical account of these to inform educators towards a holistic approach to teaching and learning …

Participation Of Tanzanian Nurses And Midwives In The Implementation Of Millennium Development Goals 4 (Reduction Of Child Mortality) And 5 (Improvement Of Maternal Health): A Case Study, Peter Taratara

Theses

In 2000, the United Nations (UN) developed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as an international framework to address poverty, promote sustainable development, and improve global health. The framework was translated into 8 goals with goals 4 and 5 targeting the reduction of child mortality and the improvement of maternal health. The UN and the World Health Organization (WHO) encouraged nurses and midwives to participate in the implementation process of the MDGs, and each country had the responsibility of formulating its own implementation policies and plans. The encouragement to participate was from the understanding that nurses and midwives are the backbone …

Assess, Address, Progress: An Online Approach To Evaluate And Develop Teacher Education Students’ Numeracy Capability, Kate Hartup

Theses

For as long as numeracy has been assessed as a major domain in Australia (since 2003), Australian school students’ numeracy levels have been declining (Thomson et al., 2019). This decline is evident despite it being a national requirement for teachers to teach numeracy skills across all subject areas at all year levels (Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority (ACARA), n.d.). Although there are several definitions of numeracy, fundamentally it is the application of mathematics and the ability to interpret and utilise mathematical information (Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), 2017). Given that teachers’ mathematical knowledge has been shown to affect their …

Community Development Supporting Ecological Conversion, As Identified In Laudato Si’: On Care For Our Common Home, Anne Jennings

Theses

In this extraordinary time of multiple, intersecting crises with compounded costs in social, economic, and environmental degradation, calls for transformative change are emerging from all levels of humanity – global to local. Within that setting, my study concentrated on investigating change at a local level to address the research question ’How can community development theory and practice contribute to ecological conversion, as identified in Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home?’

Since its release, Laudato Si’ has provoked considerable academic/theological and scientific/environmental debate that does not necessarily contain local people’s views and everyday lived experiences, given their often-limited access …

Reinterpreting The Villain: Changing The Pattern Of The Fairy Tale Through Sleeping Beauty’S Maleficent, Mackenzie Waldon

Theses

Recent filmic representations of the fairy tale villain can offer powerful counter-narratives to archetypal fairy tale stories. This thesis examines how certain contemporary representations of fairy tales have reinterpreted the traditional ‘villain’ archetype, revealing a greater diversity of perspectives. Using John Stephens’ and Peter Stockwell’s cognitive poetics theory on schema and scripts as a theoretical framework, this thesis closely analyses the known Disney fairy tale villain, Sleeping Beauty’s (1959) Maleficent, as she is portrayed in the live-action films Maleficent (2014) and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019), as well as Disney’s Descendants (2015, 2017, 2019) films. By analysing the patterns and …

A Comparative Analysis Of Monte Carlo And Collapsed Cone Dose Calculation Algorithms For Monaco 3d Treatment Plans, Shakeel Pereira

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

The Monaco treatment planning system offers three different dose calculation algorithms for use in calculating 3D treatment plans. These include Monte Carlo (MC), Collapsed Cone (CC) and the pencil beam algorithms. The aim of this study is an in-depth analysis of Monte Carlo and Collapsed Cone dose calculation methods to find the optimal parameters for clinical use for both algorithms. An end-to-end phantom with inhomogeneities was scanned and the DICOM images were imported into Monaco for contouring and planning. Treatment plans were then created in Monaco for both MC and CC using different permutations of variables for approximately 400 plans. …

A Probabilistic Checking Model For Effective Explainability Based On Personality Traits, Mohammed N. Alharbi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

It is becoming increasingly important for an autonomous system to be able to explain its actions to humans in order to improve trust and enhance human-machine collaboration. However, providing the most appropriate kind of explanations – in terms of length, format, and presentation mode of explanations at the proper time – is critical to enhancing their effectiveness. Explanation entails costs, such as the time it takes to explain and for humans to comprehend and respond. Therefore, the actual improvement in human-system tasks from explanations (if any) is not always obvious, particularly given various forms of uncertainty in knowledge about humans. …

Advanced Data Science And Physics-Based Modeling For Dynamic Systems, Ali Hashemi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

This dissertation focuses on the development of data-driven and physics-based modeling for two distinct significant structural engineering applications: time-varying response variables estimation and unwanted lateral vibration control. In the first part, I propose a machine learning (ML)-based surrogate modeling to directly predict dynamic responses over an entire mechanical system during operations. Any mechanical system design, as well as structural health monitoring systems, require transient vibration analysis. However, traditional methods and modeling calculations are time- and resource-consuming. The use of ML approaches is particularly promising in scientific and engineering challenges containing processes that are not completely understood, or where it is …

An Algorithm To Determine Imrt Optimization Parameters Within The Elekta Monaco® Treatment Planning System That Increases Dose Homogeneity And Dose Conformity In The Planning Target Volume, David Gregorisch

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

An algorithm to determine IMRT optimization parameters within the Elekta Monaco® treatment planning system that increases dose homogeneity and dose conformity in the planning target volume was developed. This algorithm determines IMRT optimization parameters by calculating the difference between two pairs of dose points along the target volume’s dose volume histogram: Dmax – Dmin, and D2 – D98. The algorithm was tested on the Elekta Monaco® Treatment Planning System at GenesisCare of Coconut Creek, Florida using CT data from 10 anonymized patients with non-small cell lung cancer of various tumor sizes and locations. Nine iterations of parameters were tested on …

Ceo Charitable Inclination And Corporate Tax Avoidance, Lin Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Many CEOs are philanthropists and express their passion for social welfare through service to various charities and foundations. However, it is unclear whether these behaviors are driven by intrinsic motivations, such as prosocial value and altruism, or by extrinsic and egoistic motivations like reputation and social network building. To understand the underlying motivations and consequences of these behaviors, I build on the self-determination theory and investigate how CEO charitable inclination, defined as CEO sitting on charity boards, affects corporate tax avoidance. I further examine how CEO charitable inclination impacts firm value through corporate tax policies. I find that CEO charitable …

Ceo Social Capital And Stock Price Informativeness: Us And International Perspectives, Artem Malinin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

In Essay 1, I investigate the association between CEOs’ social capital and stock price informativeness in a sample of US firms. After accounting for the fact that larger networks attract more analysts following, I find that firms with larger CEO social capital exhibit higher private information incorporation and hence more informative stock prices. Results are consistent for five different proxies for stock price informativeness. Furthermore, the positive association between social capital and informativeness is driven by more diverse networks, as measured by gender, nationality, education, or professional diversity. Overall, results suggest that private information existing in networks may result in …

Chicks In Bowls: Roller Skaters’ Gender Maneuvering In The Skatepark, Alessandra Thompson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Gender is a primary frame used in social interaction. Using this primary frame guides our relations with another person or a group of people because it is a basic cultural tool that allows for the basic framing of who one is. Our gender ideologies, or our notions of gender, are shaped by varying other aspects of our identities and material realities. Gender strategies draw upon this to solve a specific problem (Hochschild 1989, Wade and Ferree 2019). The skatepark is a masculinist space, overrun with men and boys who consider themselves the “kings of the park” (Pomerantz et al 2004). …

Cultural Context Of The Bangladeshi Immigrant Experience In South Florida, Evana Ahmed

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Immigrants from Bangladesh who have lived in South Florida for years are the subject matter of this qualitative study, which examines their experiences in the United States. I aimed to gain a better understanding of the cultural experiences and obstacles faced by Bangladeshi immigrants in south Florida, as well as their adaptation and acculturation to American culture, using data collected from participant observation and interviews with informants. In-depth interviews allow participants to share their thoughts and feelings about their lives. This study has examined the cultural experience of Bangladeshi immigrants through food, language, religion, cultural practices, and gender roles. This …

Data-Driven Identification And Control Of Turbulent Structures Using Deep Neural Networks, Eric Jagodinski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Wall-bounded turbulent flows are pervasive in numerous physics and engineering applications. Such flows tend to have a strong impact on the design of ships, airplanes and rockets, industrial chemical mixing, wind and hydrokinetic energy, utility infrastructure and innumerable other fields. Understanding and controlling wall bounded turbulence has been a long-pursued endeavor yielding plentiful scientific and engineering discoveries, but there is much that remains unexplained from a fundamental viewpoint. One unexplained phenomenon is the formation and impact of coherent structures like the ejections of slow near-wall fluid into faster moving ow which have been shown to correlate with increases in friction …

Deciphering Tom Disalvo: A First-Generation Artist Between Sicily And South Florida, Domenica Santomaggio Diraviam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

This dissertation aims to contextualize the self-taught Sicilian born artist, Tom DiSalvo (1947-2011) among contemporary artists of Italian extraction. It investigates a selection of his corpus of over 300 works of art spanning four decades as an integral contribution to Italian diasporic scholarship. The primarily large-scale paintings, enhanced with underlying textual layers and semiotic translations of famous works of art, reveal distinct ties to American, Italian and hybrid patterns of ethnicity. Much of his work remains unknown in scholarly and public circles, due in part to the limited canon of Italian diasporic visual art (with the exception of film) and …

Development Of A Microfluidic Device For Exosome Isolation In Point-Of-Care Settings, Natasha Ramnauth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Exosomes have gained recognition in cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. Most exosome isolation methods are time-consuming, costly and require bulky equipment, rendering them unsuitable for point-of-care (POC) settings. Microfluidics can be the key to solving these challenges. Here, we employ the development of a double filtration microfluidic device that can rapidly isolate exosomes in POC settings. The device can efficiently isolate exosomes from just 100 uL of plasma within 50 minutes. The device was compared against Polyethylene glycol (PEG) based precipitation, and findings show that both methods yield comparable exosome sizes and purity, but the device can detect exosomal miRNA earlier …

Effect Of Amyloid Beta On Nutrient Uptake And Atp In The Brain Cells, William To

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Unintentional weight loss in older adults often precedes Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Positron emission tomography (PET) scan reveals that AD patients exhibit reduced uptake of fluorodeoxyglucose into brain cells, defined as ‘hypometabolism’. However, cellular mechanisms underlying weight loss and hypometabolism have not received much attention. The primary goal of the study was to test the hypothesis that cells become starved in confrontation with amyloid beta proteins (Aβ), which are increasingly aggregated in the AD brain. Cellular ATP is known as a biomarker indicating for cell starvation. We found that Aβ caused a dose-dependent reduction in ATP of astrocytes. This effect was …

Efficacy Of The Virtual Cone Method Using Fixed Small Multi-Leaf Collimator Field For Stereotactic Radiosurgery, Taindra Neupane

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2020 - Present

Dosimetric uncertainty in very small (< 2 x 2 cm2) photon fields is notably higher that has created research questions when using small-field virtual cone with variable multileaf collimator (MLC) fields. We evaluate the efficacy of the virtual cone with a fixed MLC field for stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) of small targets such as trigeminal neuralgia. We employed a virtual cone technique with a fixed field geometry, called fixed virtual cone (fVC), for small target radiosurgery using the EDGE (Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, CA) linac. The fVC is characterized by 0.5 cm x 0.5 cm high-definition MLC field of 10 MV flattening filter-free (FFF) beam defined at 100 cm SAD, while jaws are positioned at 1.5 cm x 1.5 cm. A spherical dose distribution equivalent to 5 mm cone was generated by using 10–14 non-coplanar partial arcs. The dosimetric accuracy of this technique was validated using the SRS MapCHECK (Sun Nuclear Corporation, FL) and the EBT3 (Ashland Inc., NJ) film based on absolute dose measurements. For the quality assurance (QA), 10 treatment plans for trigeminal neuralgia consisting of various arc fields at different collimator angles were analyzed retrospectively using 6 MV and 10 MV FFF beams, including the field-by-field study (n = 130 fields). Dose outputs were compared between the SRS MapCHECK measurements and Eclipse treatment planning system (TPS) with Acuros XB algorithm (version 16.1). In addition, important clinical parameters of 15 cases treated for trigeminal neuralgia were evaluated for the clinical performance. Moreover, dosimetric (field output factors, dose/MU) uncertainties considering a minute (± 0.5–1.0 mm) leaf shift in the field defining fVC, were examined from the TPS, SRS diode (PTW 60018) measurements, and Monte Carlo (MC) simulations.

Mental Health Interventions For International Seafarers During The Covid-19 Pandemic : A Pilot Study, Sanley Abila, Lijun Tang, Momoko Kitada, Serafin Malecosio, Rhea Subong

Reports

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the key role that seafarers play in the global supply chain. As the pandemic took hold in early 2020 a significant crew change crisis unfolded globally due to border closures, strict quarantine requirements and a faltering vaccination rollout. In normal times the mental health of seafarers has been recognised as crucial to their wellbeing and safety at sea. Stranded aboard their vessels and with an unclear pathway out of the pandemic the mental health of seafarers deteriorated significantly driving some to suicide.

With 400,000 seafarers stranded at sea at one point, the issue was framed …

Climate Change And Sustainability In Asean Countries, David K. Ding, Sarah E. Beh

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The ASEAN region is one of the most susceptible regions to climate change, with three of its countries—Myanmar, the Philippines, and Thailand—among those that have suffered the greatest fatalities and economic losses because of climate-related disasters. This paper reveals that the ASEAN’s environmental performance is sorely lagging other regions despite evidence of its cohesive and comprehensive efforts to mitigate emissions and build up adaptive capacity to climate-related disasters. Within the ASEAN, there exist gaps in environmental performance between each country. This suggests that increased cooperation between individual ASEAN countries is pertinent for the region to collectively combat climate change. In …

Conflict Positioning In Crisis Communication: Impact Of Antecedent Conditions On Negotiation, Pang, A., Glen T. Cameron

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Organizations need to position themselves favorably in times of crisis. The conflict positioning conceptualization offers a framework for organizations to do so by integrating insights of crisis communication with negotiation through the following steps. First, understanding the factors that will affect an organization's ability to handle the crisis. Second, based on the influence of these factors, examine the stance the organization will adopt. Third, examine the strategies the organization will embrace. Four, the strategies adopted will impact the conflict property it aims to resolve which will in turn influence the negotiation approach and the relationship dynamics between the organization and …

Future-Proofing Students In Higher Education With Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Technology: A Knowledge Management Case Study, Thomas Menkhoff, Siew Ning Kan, Eugene K. B. Tan, Shaohui Foong

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In this paper we report experiences in implementing a new course ‘Understanding Drone & Robotics Technology – History, Usage, Ethics & Legal Issues’ at the Singapore Management University framed as a strategic knowledge management (KM) initiative in an institution of higher learning aimed at capturing, sharing and creating new knowledge about disruptive technologies such as unmanned aerial vehicles. We posit the new course as a knowledge innovation initiative (similar to a KM-enabled business case in a corporate setting) in support of the university’s mission and vision so as to deliver new value to students and to stay ahead of the …

Value And Purpose Of Management Education: Looking Back And Thinking Forward In Global Focus, Eric Cornuel, Howard Thomas, Matthew Wood

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Without a doubt, business schools have been a success story in higher education over the last 50 years (the period of EFMD’s existence). Even so, they have come under scrutiny, and attack, over their academic legitimacy and value proposition for business and society. In this book, drawn from a special issue of Global Focus, the EFMD has selected around 25 of the best, most thoughtful short papers published in Global Focus to examine the role and purpose of EFMD in the evolution of management education. Each of the chapters interpret current strategic debates about the evolution of business schools and …

Parametric Study On Environmental Friendly Blast Wall Systems, Mariam Ehab, Aya Elhozayen

Civil Engineering

Protecting people and structures against blast loading that can happen due to several reasons such as wars, terrorism or even accidental explosions, has become of great concern during the last decade. Blast walls is considered as one of the most effective ways to protect important structures against such hazards. However, limitation in technology of construction using high –technology blast wall systems are a huge obstacle specially in developed countries. Moreover, using high-technology materials in construction industry are very polluting process along with the high expenses during construction phase. As a result, designers tend to propose solutions with readily available materials …

Open Air Natural History Museums Transformation: From Static To Interactive, Khloud Khalid Eldamshiry

Architectural Engineering

Open air natural history museums act as a distinct type of museum that exhibits its collections out of doors aiming to record earlier life forms, ways of life, cultural customs and habits. Nowadays, museums including the Natural History Museums, look forward to increase the number of visitors and revisited visitors, throughout transforming museum visitors from passive consumers in a collection focused ‘static exhibition’ to active participants in a visitor centered ‘interactive technology exhibition’ by making the museum collection easier for the general public to use, more technically and technologically displayed. Therefore, display techniques became a main key within the visitors …

Assessment Of Design Quality And Developing A Methodological Model For Open Air Museums: A Study Of Wadi El-Hitan Protected Area, Khloud Khalid Eldamshiry

Architectural Engineering

Open air natural history museums acts as a distinct type of museum exhibiting its collections out of doors aiming to document earlier forms of life, ways of living, cultural habits and folk costumes. “Natural history Museums and cultural organizations have been recognized as a value for the vitality and character of cities which can be used as a tool for “urban regeneration”, that includes the challenge to achieve longterm, strategic reshaping of cities by using a powerful and unified technological system “spreadsheet based decision support system:” to plan for a future vision of the museum as an urban space that …

Faces Of Pain In Dementia: Learnings From A Real-World Study Using A Technology-Enabled Pain Assessment Tool, Mustafa Atee, Kreshnik Hoti, Paola Chivers, Jeffery D. Hughes

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Pain is common in people living with dementia (PLWD), including those with limited verbal skills. Facial expressions are key behavioral indicators of the pain experience in this group. However, there is a lack of real-world studies to report the prevalence and associations of pain-relevant facial micro-expressions in PLWD. In this observational retrospective study, pain-related facial features were studied in a sample of 3,144 PLWD [mean age 83.3 years (SD = 9.0); 59.0% female] using the Face domain of PainChek®, a point-of-care medical device application. Pain assessments were completed by 389 users from two national dementia-specific care programs and 34 Australian …

Colloquium: Subversive Lawyering: Foreword, Bennett Capers, Bruce A. Green

Fordham Law Review

Is there such a thing as subversive lawyering? And if so, what is it? These are the questions that motivate this colloquium issue. To be sure, other, similar terms exist and have been explicated. Movement lawyering. Rebellious lawyering. Resistance lawyering. Indeed,we were particularly inspired by Daniel Farbman’s article Resistance Lawyering, in which he uncovers the stories of abolitionist lawyers who, confronting the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, “employed every means at their disposal to frustrate, delay, and dismantle the system within which they were practicing.” But still, we wondered if subversive lawyering might be something different. Something akin to resistance …

Policy By The People, For The People:Designing Responsiveregulation And Buildingdemocratic Power, Scott L. Cummings, Doug Smith

Fordham Law Review

Policymaking in American democracy is often a process that happens to people rather than by them. This is especially the case with respect to policy that affects people with less power in low-income communities and communities of color. Urban policy, in particular, has historically been driven by business elites and white homeowners’ interests, which have shaped exclusionary policies, such as redlining and single-family zoning— etching racial and economic segregation into the fabric of city space. Even when outsider interest groups and social movement organizations gain enough power to shape the policy agenda, give input into the content of policy, and …

Small Gestures And Unexpectedconsequences: Textualist Interpretationsof State Antidiscrimination Lawafter Bostock V. Clayton County, Anastasia E. Lacina

Fordham Law Review

The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Bostock v. Clayton County expanded Title VII’s coverage of victims of sex discrimination in employment by interpreting the statute to also protect LGBTQ+ employees who were discriminated against because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Although Bostock only applies precedentially to Title VII, the long and interwoven history of state antidiscrimination statutes shows that the ruling may reach beyond federal law. This Note examines state court cases that have considered whether to apply Bostock’s reasoning to the interpretation of state antidiscrimination statutes. Furthermore, this Note argues in favor of a path …