Digital Commons Network^™

Investigation Of Human N-Acetyltransferases (Nat1 And Nat2) Genetic Polymorphisms In Susceptibility To Aromatic Amine And Alkylaniline Genotoxicity., Mariam Habil

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Arylamine N-acetyltransferases, NAT1 and NAT2, catalyze the detoxification and/or activation of carcinogens. Single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs result in different human NAT1 and NAT2 genotypes. We hypothesize that different NATs alleles will impact levels of N-acetylation, HPRT mutations, DNA damage and oxidative stress induced by carcinogens. NER-deficient Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells transfected with human CYP1A2 and NAT1*4, NAT1*14B, NAT2*4, NAT2*5B or NAT2*7B have been used to investigate N-acetylation of benzidine, β-naphthylamine (BNA), and 4, 4’-methylene bis (2-chloroaniline) (MOCA) as aromatic amines and 3,4-dimethylaniline (3,4-DMA) as one of alkylanilines and their associated toxicity. Our …

A New Direction For Public Understanding Of Science: Toward A Participant-Centered Model Of Science Engagement., Christopher Rickels

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Engaging the public with science is not an easy task. When presented, scientific findings, public health recommendations, and other scientific information filter through the personal values, beliefs, and biases of members of the public. Science communicators must contend with these differences in order to be effective in cultivating a public understanding of science. Given the importance of scientific understanding for living well in a complex world, increasing science understanding through science engagement is imperative. The field of public engagement with science is dichotomized by a public information deficit approach and a contextualist approach. The deficit approach prizes the factual content …

Metabolic Foundations Of Exercise-Induced Cardiac Growth., Kyle Fulghum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Regular aerobic exercise promotes physiological cardiac growth, which is an adaptive response thought to enable the heart to meet higher physical demands. Cardiac growth involves coordination of catabolic and anabolic activities to support ATP generation, macromolecule biosynthesis, and myocyte hypertrophy. Although previous studies suggest that exercise-induced reductions in cardiac glycolysis are critical for physiological myocyte hypertrophy, it remains unclear how exercise influences the many interlinked pathways of metabolism that support adaptive remodeling of the heart. In this thesis project, we tested the general hypothesis that aerobic exercise promotes physiological cardiac growth by coordinating myocardial metabolism to promote glucose-supported anabolic pathway …

The Impact Of Pegylation On Cellular Uptake And In Vivo Biodistribution Of Gold Nanoparticle Mri Contrast Agents., Nagwa El-Baz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have become a pivotal platform for the delivery of pharmaceutical and diagnostic agents as well as for general therapeutic purposes. Despite their potential for use in biomedicine, their interaction with serum proteins is crucial as it could change their biological profile due to the formation of a protein corona, which can affect their delivery to target tissues in the body. Grafting the GNPs with polyethylene glycol (PEG) is widely used in research to decrease opsonization of the particles by serum proteins and decrease the uptake by the reticuloendothelial system. Here in this dissertation, we have developed a …

Age-Related Differences In The Relationship Between Activity Familiarity And Well-Being., S. Kelly Shryock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background and Objectives: This study explored age-related differences in the relationship between activity novelty/familiarity and well-being, conceptualized within theories including Selection, Optimization, and Compensation (SOC), Self-Determination Theory (SDT), and Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (SST). For all ages, participation in activities has been shown to enhance well-being. Known mediators of this relationship include psychological, physical, and psychosocial benefits. It is less clear what types of experiences are optimal across the lifespan. Research Design and Methods: A online cross-sectional, correlational study (N= 200) was conducted. Measures included demographic data, ratings of three self-identified recent activities, three activity choices of familiar or …

Wet Chemical Synthesis And Properties Of Argyrodite Sulfide Solid Electrolytes For Solid State Lithium Batteries., William Arnold

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The commercialization of the lithium-ion battery (LIB) in 1991 was responsible for the explosion in portable electronic technologies that has been seen over the past 30 years. With the advent of electric vehicles and other high-powered technologies, there is tremendous demand for LIBs with higher energy density and high safety. To achieve this, new electrode materials must be explored. The obvious choice of anode material would be pure metal lithium, which has a theoretical specific capacity of 3860 mAh g^-1 . Unfortunately, metal lithium anodes have not been widely commercialized due to their tendency to react violently with the …

Teachers' Perceptions Of Professional Development And Pedagogical Practice: A Study Of A Kentucky Suburban School District., Rachelle Bramlage-Schomburg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Professional development supports teacher growth and enhances pedagogical practice. Teachers in Kentucky must complete annual professional development hours and districts must develop a professional development plan tied to research that supports high-quality professional development. This qualitative case study takes place in a rural district, Bullitt County, where I investigated the teachers’ perception of a customized professional development, Thinking Focus Cohort (TFC), and its impact on their pedagogical practice. While a body of research exists on high quality professional development, there is a lack of research on the effectiveness of it, in particular a year-long cohort model with curriculum centered around …

A Mixed Methods Assessment Of Menstrual Hygiene Management And School Attendance Among Schoolgirls In Edo State, Nigeria., Madeline Tomlinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Menstrual hygiene in lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) is limited and has been linked to many health, educational and social effects. However, the prevalence, details, and impact of menstrual hygiene management have not been well characterized in rural and peri-urban settings across Nigeria. The overall purpose of this research was to investigate menstrual hygiene management (MHM) among adolescent schoolgirls in peri-urban areas of Edo State, Nigeria; and to determine the educational consequences associated with poor MHM. MHM was measured using previously validated questions that were adapted after a formative assessment of MHM within the Edo State community. We used a mixed methods …

Investigating The Income Academic Achievement Gap: An Exploration Of The Roles Of Mindfulness And Self-Concept Clarity In Low-Income College Students., Natalie Burke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to examine whether linguistic patterns previously associated with trait mindfulness and self-concept clarity in low-income college students’ application essays are associated with academic performance and psychosocial variables. The aims of the study were as follows: 1) Explore relations between linguistic markers that have been previously associated with higher mindfulness/self-concept clarity and GPA and 2) Explore relations between linguistic markers that have been previously associated with higher mindfulness/self-concept clarity and anxiety/depression. Participants were 54 undergraduate students in the Cardinal Covenant program (a scholarship program for students from low-income families) who began college in the …

Self-Regulation In Young School-Aged Children With Williams Syndrome., Holley Arnold

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation included two manuscripts which broadly focused on the self-regulation abilities of young school-aged children with Williams syndrome (WS), a rare neurodevelopmental disorder. Children with WS often exhibit mild to moderate intellectual disability (Kozel et al., 2021), impairments in behavioral and emotional regulation (Greiner de Magalhães et al., 2022), low effortful control (Leyfer et al., 2012), and deficits in adaptive skills (Brawn & Porter, 2018). In the first manuscript, the performance of children with WS on a gift-wrap delay of gratification task was characterized. In the second manuscript, the concurrent effects of the ability to regulate emotions, the ability …

Defining The Impact Of Clinically Modeled Hindlimb Stretching, Exercise, & Inactivity On Functional Recovery After Spinal Cord Injury., Greta Cesarz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating, life altering event that affects approximately 282,000 Americans. The most obvious side effect of SCI is paralysis due to damage to the spinal cord that disrupts ascending and descending pathways as well as central pattern generating circuitry. In addition to paralysis, patients suffer from other debilitating side effects including altered cardiovascular function, autonomic dysreflexia, neuropathic pain, spasticity, and contractures. In contrast to humans, rodents display spontaneous locomotor recovery following incomplete SCI due to in-cage activity/training. Previously, our laboratory has studied the effect of lack of in-cage training by utilizing custom designed rodent wheelchairs. …

Cadence And Range Of Motion Modulate Pedal Force In A Rat Model Of Motorized Cycling After Spinal Cord Injury., Gregory States

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Motorized cycling (MC) can be utilized post-spinal cord injury (SCI) in patients who lack the strength and/or stability to participate in traditional physical exercise interventions. MC has been applied with the goal of improving locomotor function or cardiovascular health in both human and animal models of SCI. However, a discrepancy exists between the results of human and animal studies of MC, particularly regarding cardiovascular outcomes. Despite the abundance of studies in both humans and animals, the mechanism behind the improvements in cardiovascular function following MC are poorly understood. We posited that increased venous return during MC is likely due to …

Iot In Smart Communities, Technologies And Applications., Muhammad Zaigham Abbas Shah Syed

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Internet of Things is a system that integrates different devices and technologies, removing the necessity of human intervention. This enables the capacity of having smart (or smarter) cities around the world. By hosting different technologies and allowing interactions between them, the internet of things has spearheaded the development of smart city systems for sustainable living, increased comfort and productivity for citizens. The Internet of Things (IoT) for Smart Cities has many different domains and draws upon various underlying systems for its operation, in this work, we provide a holistic coverage of the Internet of Things in Smart Cities by discussing …

Language Ideologies And Racialization Of Language: Multilingual Learners' Experiences In The First Year In A Community College., Yohimar Sivira Gonzalez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Community colleges have become key sites for preparing diverse and immigrant students for the transition to the workforce and four-year institutions. Yet, despite the recent growths of Multilingual Learners in community colleges, few studies focus on how students experience the first year in college after completing their ESL programs and their relations with instructors and how instructors perceive and interact with students institutionally classified as English as a Second Language (ESL) students. I use theories of language ideologies and racialization of language to understand multilingual learners’ experiences in the first year of college and how interaction with instructors shaped those …

Stigma Described By Attempt Survivors With Diverse Gender And Sexual Identities In Their Suicide Stories: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Dissertation., Sara Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Suicide is a profoundly impactful issue across societies. Gender and sexually diverse (GSD) populations exhibit rates of suicidal ideation and behavior far greater than those of cisgender heterosexual populations. Stigma impacts health outcomes among GSD populations through stress exposure and response processes. Compound stigma is experienced when individuals occupy positions in multiple stigmatized identity groups and can have multiplicative effects on adverse outcomes. Further, opportunities for positive social support and resilience building may be limited due to the narrow convergence of stigmatized identity groups. Stigma among GSD suicide attempt survivors (GSDAS) is an important phenomenon to explore in order to …

Changing Public Perception Of Dementia: The Effect And Credibility Of Three Informational Models., Diana Hedrick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Since the 1970s, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia have been portrayed in a medicalized, symptom-focused manner to help spread awareness, improve diagnosis, and push for treatment research. In recent decades, there has been movement towards a biopsychosocial, person-centered approach that considers social and psychological factors that interact with biological diseases processes. Common biopsychosocial approaches retain an emphasis on deficits and symptoms. New research has integrated positive psychology constructs and dementia. This integration of positive psychology principles and dementia care and research has the potential to more accurately capture the experience of having dementia. Objectives: This dissertation tested how the portrayal …

Re-Engineering Cardio-Oncology Testing Using Biomimetic Heart Slice Cultures., Jessica Miller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

28% of drug withdrawal from the market are due to unforeseen disruptions in cardiomyocyte contractility and electrophysiology. The most commonly used platforms for drug testing are in vivo animal models and in vitro cell culture models. While both have been of paramount importance for the discovery and detection of many cardiotoxicities and mechanisms of action, they lack the ability to model an intact human myocardium. This work aims to establish cardiac tissue slices, which are 300-micron thin tissue sections taken from the left ventricular myocardium, as an alternative platform for cardio-oncology studies, specifically cardiotoxicity testing. Additionally, this work aims to …

Alpha, Beta-Unsaturated Aldehydes: The Underrepresented Markers Of Disease., Saurin Sutaria

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The peroxidation of unsaturated fatty acids is a widely recognized metabolic process that creates a complex mixture of volatile organic compounds including aldehydes. Elevated levels of reactive oxygen species in cancer cells promote random lipid peroxidation, which leads to an increase in a variety of aldehydes. Many of these volatile aldehydes are exhaled and are of interest as potential markers of disease. Chapter 1 presents a review of reported aldehydes in the exhaled breath of lung cancer patients. alpha,beta-Unsaturated aldehydes, detected primarily when derivatized during exhaled breath preconcentration, are underreported in the reviewed articles. Chapter 1 concludes with our hypothesis …

Mejorar La Raza: Measuring The Implicit Anti-Black Racial Bias Of Multiracial Individuals., Katalina Traxler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation sought to examine if there are implicit anti-Black racial bias differences across multiracial people who identify as Black/White compared to multiracial people who do not identify as Black/White, accounting for age, citizenship, and education level. It was also determined if age, citizenship status, and education level moderate the relationship between multiracial identity and implicit anti-Black racial bias. The theories guiding this dissertation were: Heider’s Balance Theory, Multiracial Identity Development, and White Identity Development. The data were collected from Project Implicit, a non-profit organization and international collaborative of researchers who are interested in implicit social cognition. The data analysis …

Smartphone Detector, Ryan Coldiron

Electrical Engineering

There is a wide variety of times when it is unacceptable to be using a smartphone, and this device could help to minimize when people are using their devices. People have become more and more reliant on their various pieces of technology such as their smartphones, and are often using them when they should be paying attention in class, attending an important meeting, watching a movie, or should just be present to their other surroundings. A device that could detect the use of smartphones at these inopportune times would be something that would benefit a wide variety of people.

The …

Battery Energy Storage System, Carlos Gonzalez, Philip Tafoya, Mariely Caraballo, William Hoang

Electrical Engineering

The Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project consists of bringing an existing photovoltaic battery energy storage system into service within Cal Poly’s Energy Conversion Lab. Information regarding the BESS is limited to the existing manuals as the original equipment manufacturer has ceased supporting the product in the United States. Results from previous projects on the BESS speculated that a DC input may be required to enable the system’s to be fully operational. The goal of the project is to provide a DC input into BESS and test the system’s functionality. Initially, a Photovoltaic Thevenin Equivalent was expected to be utilized …

Diy Cell Incubator, Hayden James Jeanor

Electrical Engineering

The purpose of creating a cell Incubator is for the development of cell and tissue production in laboratory settings. Large scale research projects and the medical community grow cells for various reasons, including experiments and creating tissue for patients. However, they cannot simply depend on growing cells in a petri dish that sit on a rack at room temperature. To grow heathy cells in the fastest way possible, they use cell incubators. Cell incubators create an atmosphere within the incubation bay that is designed to promote cell growth. The three main components that need to be constantly regulated, using a …

Fridge/Freezer Temperature And Power Wireless Alert System, Peter M. Nelson

Electrical Engineering

In this document is a design, build, and application of a new system to help reduce the problem of lost or tainted samples and experiments held in fridges and freezers.

Guitar Note Analyzer - Picking Patterns & Scales, Tamara Lynn Houalla

Electrical Engineering

The Guitar Note Analyzer helps beginner-to-intermediate guitar players advance their playing skills. The project detects the successive picks of guitar strings in real time at a rate of two notes per second. The device detects the frequency of notes played within the range of 50Hz – 1.5KHz. The hardware – microphone sensor, amplification circuitry, and microcontroller - is secured inside the sound hole of the user’s guitar. The hardware extends out of the guitar and connects to the user’s laptop via a USB cable. This allows relevant information to be displayed live to the user on their monitor, and to …

Cardozo Students Hold Clinic For Asylum-Seeking Families, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo News 2022

Students and faculty from the Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic stepped in to help newly arrived migrants who were bused to New York City from Texas at a local high school in midtown Manhattan on November 18.

Systematic Review Of A Ramsar Wetland And Unesco Biosphere Reserve In A Climate Change Hotspot (Ichkeul Lake, Tunisia), Sabrine Sahbani, Béchir Béjaoui, Sihem Benabdalla, Rachid Toujani, Afef Fathalli, Noureddine Zaaboub, Jalel Aouissi, Zeineb Kassouk, Nabil Hamdi, Nabiha Ben Mbarek, Hechmi Missaoui, Leila Basti, Reginald Blake, Hamidreza Norouzi

Publications and Research

Tunisia's Ichkeul Lake is among the most productive ecosystems in the Mediterranean, with a great regional value thanks to its diversity of habitats. It is an important overwintering area for waterfowl species. It is a RAMSAR wetland, a National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage, and a Biosphere Reserve. This review paper provides a broad overview of the climatic, hydraulic, biogeochemical features, bio-resources, and bio-productivity of the Lake. The interconnectivity between the different environmental components of the lake is presented, highlighting the main characteristics of this vital ecosystem. Its ecosystem consists of a permanent lake bordered by temporary marshes. It is …

Business Information Security Officer (Biso) Responsibilities And Role Development, Kaung Myat Thu, Hudda Siddique

Publications and Research

In today's interconnected world, the success of enterprises heavily relies on network connectivity and technology. To safeguard sensitive information from cyber threats and ensure business success, the role of Information Security has become critical. This research project focuses on the Business Information Security Officer (BISO) role, studying their responsibilities, strategies, and how they handle threats. We explore the knowledge and skills required for BISOs, including certifications such as ISC² CISSP, ISACA CRISC, CISM, and CompTIA Security+. By contributing to the maturity of the BISO role, this study aims to enhance information security in organizations.

The Production And Destiny Of Public Space In An American City: Examining The Emergence And Disruption Of Brooklyn City Hall Square, Jason Montgomery

Publications and Research

Urban form should reflect collective value for place in communities. Urban squares in particular have the potential to serve as the nucleus of communities, urban artefacts that link place to memory and heritage while serving basic needs for everyday life in the city. Civic squares, those linked to governmental institutions, have further potential to facilitate community gatherings for memorialisation, commemoration, celebration and political action. Despite these important functions and potential, the incremental planning of Brooklyn in the early nineteenth century placed little emphasis on squares of any kind, despite the community’s expressed desires. Brooklyn’s first civic square, here referred to …

"The Lady Took Me To The End Of The World!": The Life Of Mrs. N.A. Courtright., Marcus Walker

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Nellie Almee Courtright was the first female to earn a law degree from the University of Louisville School of Law, but she had an accomplished career before -- and even after -- she stepped foot into a law classroom. This is the account of a woman who made her own way in the world, and made life better for hundreds in doing so.

Liability For Public Deception: Linking Fossil Fuel Disinformation To Climate Damages, Jessica A. Wentz, Benjamin Franta

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Over two dozen U.S. states and municipalities have filed lawsuits against fossil fuel companies, seeking abatement orders and compensation for climate damages based on theories such as public nuisance, negligence, and failure to warn, and alleging these companies knew about the dangers of their products, intentionally concealed those dangers, created doubt about climate science, and undermined public support for climate action. This Article examines how tort plaintiffs can establish a causal nexus between public deception and damages, drawing from past litigation, particularly claims filed against manufacturers for misleading the public about the risks of tobacco, lead paint, and opioids. A …