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The Political Ecology Of Death: Chinese Religion And The Affective Tensions Of Secularised Burial Rituals In Singapore, Quan Gao, Orlando Woods, Lily Kong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper explores the political ecology of death and the affective tensions of secularised burial rituals in Singapore. Although scholars have recently acknowledged the roles of biopower and affect in shaping environmental politics, religion and death as socio-affective forces have not been substantively engaged with by political ecologists. We argue that death is inherently both a spiritual and ecological phenomenon, as it exposes not only the spiritual geographies that structure how people see the natural world, but also the affective tensions and struggles over what counts as a “proper” form of burial in relation to religion and nature. First, we …

School Improvement Tool, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

School and system improvement

Research shows the powerful impact that school leadership teams can have in improving the quality of teaching and learning. Effective leaders create cultures of high expectations, provide clarity about what teachers are to teach and students are to learn, establish strong professional learning communities, and lead ongoing school-wide efforts to improve teaching practices. The School Improvement Tool describes the practices of highly effective schools and school leaders. The SIT assists schools to review and reflect on their strategies to improve the quality of classroom teaching and learning. It supports school-wide conversations – including with families, school governing bodies, local communities, …

Reform Challenges In School Education, Geoff N. Masters

School and system improvement

The central thesis of this paper has been that the challenges now confronting schools globally will require fundamental reforms of the external frameworks within which schools work. Today’s challenges to better prepare young people for the future and to ensure that every student learns successfully will not be met by simply expecting teachers to change what they do or by making minor adjustments to current curricula, assessment, examination, reporting and credentialling arrangements. Today’s challenges require deep reforms and a willingness to reimagine—in other words, to ‘transform’ existing learning systems. This is essential because the external frameworks within which teachers and …

Data Visualization In 10-K Filings, Theodore E. Christensen, Karson E. Fronk, Joshua A. Lee, Karen K. Nelson

Faculty Publications

The Securities and Exchange Commission encourages the presentation of information or data in graphical form to improve users’ ability to understand financial disclosures. We find a dramatic increase in the disclosure of both qualitative and quantitative infographics in 10-K filings over time and substantial cross-sectional variation in firms’ choices regarding image types, data content, and the placement of infographics within 10-Ks. We provide evidence on factors associated with firms’ use of infographics and explore the persistence with which they are disclosed over time. Finally, we investigate the relation between the use of infographics and uncertainty in capital markets.

The Outsider Within: The Experiences Of Black Francophone African Students In Higer Education, Safietou Sagna

Open Access Dissertations

The research focuses on Black Francophone African international (BFAI) students in the United States. Research on international students is dominated by studies focused on Asian international students. Moreover, the participants in several major studies related to African international students are primarily from Anglophone countries. As a result, the educational experiences of BFAI students are not adequately represented in the bigger narrative about African international students. This multiple case study centers the voices of four BFAI students (3 men and one woman) to gain a better understanding of the factors that positively and negatively affect their educational journeys. The results of …

How Does The Built Environment Impact Small Business Growth? A Case Study In East Greenwich, Rhode Island, Steven Anthony Campo

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to identify practices that ensure decisions about soft infrastructure investments in downtown districts of small-medium sized cities in America have their desired impact on the economy and the community. Many American cities and towns recognize the need to successfully revitalize downtown centers. While there is evidence that soft infrastructure like landscaping, pedestrian walkways, benches, and lighting can impact businesses in downtown districts, investments in soft infrastructure in downtown districts do not always have the desired economic impact. One possible reason for the mixed results is small and medium sized cities may not have formal …

Testing The Efficacy Of Behavioral Nudges For Reducing Plastic Bag Use And Perception Of Levy-Based Policy Among Retail Customers In Bangladesh, Md Tahsin Hasan

Open Access Dissertations

Over the last five decades, plastics have penetrated our lives slowly yet with such certainty that we cannot imagine a day without plastic products. From bottled water to injection syringes, we are submerged in plastics. Plastics have significantly improved human lifestyles and reduced living costs by providing cheap household items. However, it is also evident now that plastics threaten the natural environment and animal and human health. Specifically, single-use plastics are the most ubiquitous nuisance to the environment. Food packaging, pet bottles, and single-use plastic bags are the most found plastic items in household garbage. According to statistics from the …

Signature Of Energetic Materials Under Pyrolysis And Ambient Conditions, Athina Kominia

Open Access Dissertations

Law enforcement and military personnel must be prepared to deal with explosives, unidentified chemicals, and even chemical warfare agents. This is a vast problem space. The included studies examine issues with characterization, mitigation, and disposal of energetic materials.

Among oxidizers those containing the ammonium cation have the potential of self-oxidization, making them of special hazard. We have examined ammonium nitrite and ammonium chlorate, two ionic compounds with well-known hazard potential, and compare their explosive performance with related materials. A novel protocol for assessment of explosivity on the gram-scale was employed.

Law enforcement and military personnel must deal with scenarios where …

Associations Between Oyster Consumption And Iron, Zinc, And Cadmium Concentrations In Ghanaian Women, Alyssa Abreu

Open Access Dissertations

Background: Oysters are an excellent source of iron and zinc but may be contaminated by heavy metals such as cadmium. The micronutrient and metal content of smoked, dried oysters as well as the impact of oyster consumption on iron, zinc, and cadmium concentrations in Ghana is unknown.

Objectives: Our objectives were to 1) determine the micronutrient and metal content and health risk of dried, smoked oysters, 2) determine the associations between dietary iron intake with hemoglobin or ferritin concentrations and anemia, 3) determine the associations between oyster consumption and iron, zinc and cadmium concentrations in Ghanaian women living near the …

Valuing The Impact Of Wind Turbines On Housing Prices, Luran Dong

Open Access Dissertations

In Chapter 1, I evaluate the impact of offshore wind turbines on housing prices using the Block Island Wind Farm (BIWF) as an example. Using properties from the mainland, I estimate difference-in-differences hedonic valuation models with treatment defined by views of BIWF. Across many specifications and samples, I find no evidence of negative impacts to property values. Coefficient estimates are both negative and positive, but none are statistically distinguishable from zero. I additionally estimate hedonic models using properties on Block Island, which is only 4.8 km from the BIWF, meaning the BIWF is more of a visually dominant feature there …

Understanding The Impact Of Hydroclimatic Variables In Forecasting Geospatial Diarrheal Disease Risk, Farah Nusrat

Open Access Dissertations

Over 2 billion people globally are living in water-stressed regions. With population increase, poor management of natural resources, and a changing climate, water scarcity has become a widespread phenomenon in today’s world. As a result, waterborne diseases remain a major global health problem due to a lack of safe water supply and sanitation facilities. A large part of the global population is still at risk of having waterborne and water-related diarrheal diseases despite many scientific advancements. Meanwhile, Climate Change is exacerbating waterborne disease patterns and trends, as seen by the large increase in diarrheal cases globally. It is thus imperative …

How Does Practicing Mindfulness Relate To Consumer Willingness To Attend Events Post-Pandemic?, Gillian N. Palmer

Open Access Dissertations

A TWO ESSAY DISSERTATION EXAMINING MINDFULNESS IN THE EVENTS INDUSTRY

The restrictions and social concerns that limited social interaction during the first eighteen months of the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the multi-trillion-dollar event industry, which includes large hallmark events like festivals and concerts and business events like trade shows. In addition to the impact made to the events industry, there was a social and mental wellness impact on consumers as they learned how to live a "new norm" lifestyle. As vaccines and reductions in social distancing guidelines opened a path to return to physical, in-person events, event …

Cranberry Vine And Its Effects On The Periparturient Ovine And Her Offspring, Delaney Smith

Open Access Dissertations

Gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) are a major health concern globally, particularly for small ruminant producers. The most deadly of these GIN is an anemia-inducing parasite called Haemonchus contortus. Infections of H. contortus are most severe during what's known as the periparturient period (PPP), which is the last 6 weeks of gestation and first 8 weeks of lactation in maternal animals. Widespread genetic resistance of H. contortus to the traditionally used chemical dewormers have led producers and researchers alike to turn to the plant kingdom for answers. Plant based compounds have been used as bioactive compounds for centuries to cure a …

Underlying Mechanisms Of Ubiquitin Specific Peptidase 2 Isoforms Regulation In Hepatocellular Carcinoma By The Farnesoid X Receptor Signaling Pathway, Winifer M. Ali

Open Access Dissertations

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), or liver cancer, is the sixth most common cancer worldwide, and the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths. In 2023, an estimated 41,210 new HCC cases and 29,380 deaths have been reported in the United States with an overall 5-year relative survival rate of 20.8%. It has been predicted that by 2025, there will be more than one million cases of HCC globally. Unfortunately, there are limited effective treatments and current treatment options available are invasive and burdensome. HCC patients are usually diagnosed at the late stages of liver cancer when the only viable treatment options are …

Children’S Outcomes And Maternal Opioid Exposures During Pregnancy, Shuang Wang

Open Access Dissertations

Opioid use among pregnant women has markedly escalated in the United States in recent decades. Alarmingly, one-fifth of these women fill one or more prescriptions for opioids despite concerns about perinatal safety. Consequently, the prevalence of opioid use disorder (OUD) in pregnancy and adverse outcomes in offspring has increased in parallel. In this dissertation, we explored the potential mediating roles of adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes residing in pathways between prenatal opioid exposure and neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) in children. Additionally, we assessed the potential synergistic effect of opioid and antidepressant use in pregnancy on NDDs in offspring and the potential …

The Effects Of Nudges In Acquiring New Clients In A Wealth Management Firm, Howard J. Holmes

Open Access Dissertations

Financial Advisors typically have strong backgrounds in finance, investments, and financial planning, but not marketing. Financial Advisors often need help in acquiring new clients and investment assets. To meet this need, businesses have evolved in lead generation and digital marketing, but they fail because they do not relate to the psychological needs of the investor. It is estimated that only 29% (Dickler, 2019; Godbout, 2021) of all investors have a Financial Advisor. This study researches two issues: the psychological impediments to an investor not seeking a Financial Advisor and Behavioral Economic tools such as Nudge to measure the impact of …

Elucidating The Mechanisms Of Stress Tolerance In Reef-Building Coral Holobionts, Emma Strand

Open Access Dissertations

Coral reefs worldwide are threatened by climate change effects like increasing ocean warming and ocean acidification. These increased pressures cause a dysbiosis between the coral host, algal endosymbionts, and associated coral microbiome that results in the coral host expelling algal endosymbionts, leaving the coral host with a stark white ‘bleached’ appearance. Without their endosymbionts, coral hosts are forced to sustain themselves energetically with heterotrophy instead of relying on the autotrophic carbon and energy sources that once came from the algal endosymbionts. When this response, termed ‘coral bleaching’, happens reef-wide during an extreme wave of increased ocean temperatures, this is called …

Community Bank Stress Testing: Why Banks Stress Test And The Impact Of Stress Testing On Bank Capital And Profitability, Kristin Carvalho

Open Access Dissertations

Stress testing uses objective data to support various risk assessments of conditions within a bank's loan portfolio. Risk assessments include an analysis of both credit losses and capital adequacy, in addition to other related risk assessments. The purpose of this mixed method research study is to develop an understanding of stress testing of commercial real estate loan assets of community banks and of bank balance sheets. This understanding includes the impact of stress testing on both community bank financial performance and capital ratios, which is the quantitative component of this study with related hypotheses using multiple quantitative methods. The qualitative …

Race And Sex Assigned At Birth As Moderators Of Harm Reduction Pharmacobehavioral Treatment Outcomes For Alcohol Use Disorder Among People Experiencing Homelessness, Silvi C. Goldstein

Open Access Dissertations

Among populations experiencing homelessness, alcohol use disorder (AUD) precipitates high rates of alcohol-related mortality and morbidity. Within this population, minoritized race, ethnicity, and sex assigned at birth populations experience disproportionate alcohol-related harm. A four-arm randomized control trial (RCT) of Harm Reduction Treatment with Pharmacotherapy (HaRP) tested the efficacy of harm reduction treatment with extended-release naltrexone (XR-NTX; VIVITROL®) among urban-dwelling adults experiencing homelessness and AUD. The HaRP study included three treatment arms (harm reduction counseling [HRC], XR-NTX + HRC, Placebo + HRC) and a services-as-usual control group. The present secondary study 1) used a mixed methods approach to assess perceptions and …

Executive Functioning Interventions For Individuals With Adhd: A Systematic Review, Lauren Thompson

Open Access Dissertations

Ongoing research regarding interventions for executive functions (EFs), the top-down cognitive processes that guide planning and decision-making behaviors, aims to determine whether intervention programs result in significant improvements in EFs for both neurotypical and neurodivergent populations (Diamond & Ling, 2016). EFs are critical because they predict performance in other daily living domains, including physical health, quality of life, and job performance (Cristofori et al., 2019; Diamond, 2013). Research has found that individuals with a variety of mental health disorders as well as neurodegenerative disease often perform poorly on EF tasks. Particular attention has been devoted to the study of EF …

Did Gasb 67 And 68 Impact Public Pension Risk Taking?, Michael B. Forte Jr.

Open Access Dissertations

This study sought to extend the methods used by Mohan & Zhang (2014) to the period after the adoption of GASB 67 & 68 to see if those pronouncements had an effect on pension investment risk at different funded ratio levels. The main measure used by Mohan & Zhang (2014) was the comparison of two measure of risk, equity allocation and a calculated pension asset beta, with the funded ratio of plans contained in the Public Plans Database at Boston College. The method of comparison was the same as was used by Mohan & Zhang (2014), fixed effects regression with …

Defining The Essential Genome Of Haemophilus Parainfluenzae And Conditionally Essential Genes Required For Its Survival In Biofilms And Serum Complement, Thaís Harder De Palma

Open Access Dissertations

Haemophilus parainfluenzae (Hp), a Gram-negative bacterium is found in different niches of the mouth, and it is very abundant in the supragingival plaque. While considered a commensal in the mouth, Hp is also a HACEK microorganism associated with endocarditis and considered an opportunistic pathogenic species. However, Hp remains a subject of limited investigation. Specifically, the genes necessary for Hp's survival and those that are conditionally essential for thriving under various environmental conditions are yet to be identified. This research addresses those questions using transposon sequencing (TnSeq) to identify the essential genome and the core essential genome in …

The Impact Of Peer Specialists On Client Outcomes: An Examination Of Mediational Factors, Esther Maria Quiroz Santos

Open Access Dissertations

Research demonstrates a positive impact of Peer Based Recovery Support Services (PBRSS) facilitated by peer leaders with lived experience of a Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and/or mental health problems, and who are in stable recovery. The purpose of this study was to investigate PBRSS, their impact on client outcomes (e.g., substance use, health), and the factors (e.g., self-efficacy, perceived relationship with and helpfulness of peer leader) which mediate the relationship between these services and outcomes while controlling for important socio-demographic information (e.g., age). Data were collected across 58 sites within 25 agencies that provide PBRSS delivered by certified peer leaders …

A Group Respite Intervention For Family Caregivers Of Children Living With Special Needs, Christine Mcgrane

Open Access Dissertations

Family caregiver stress is a growing healthcare concern as more and more families are providing a large portion of care at home. As a family caregiver, parents of children living with special needs are taking on this role as a lifelong journey with their child. Due to the provision of continuous caregiving, these parents are at higher risk for exhaustion, stress, and social isolation, and the challenges can impact both the child and family’s physical and emotional well-being. The demands of caregiving can impact their physical, mental, social, and financial health. As a society, the importance of caring for the …

Development Of Localized Drug Delivery Strategies For The Treatment Of Cancers And Infectious Diseases, Weizhou Yue

Open Access Dissertations

Difficult-to-treat human diseases and disorders such as brain cancer and posterior segment eye diseases greatly threaten human health and quality of life. However, the presence of physiological barriers such as the blood-brain barrier (BBB), cornea, and the blood-retinal barrier, renders these organs highly impervious to most therapeutics. As a result, most therapeutics administered systemically have low therapeutic efficacy even with high doses and are often associated with systemic side effects and/or toxicity. Localized drug delivery strategies such as injectables/implants, or locally-acting dosage forms, can circumvent physiological barriers and directly introduce therapeutics to the site of action to improve bioavailability, and …

Measuring The Needle In The Haystack: Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (Sers) Detection Of Anionic Environmental Pollutants, Timo Küster

Open Access Dissertations

Detection of anionic environmental pollutants such as nitrate in seawater is essential to monitoring and maintaining water quality in coastal ecosystems. Current on-site methods for nutrient detection often require extensive sample preparation and have detection limits above concentration thresholds associated with nutrient limited conditions where small variations in concentration can lead to sudden ecological events, such as toxic algae blooms.

Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) is based on the enhancement of otherwise weak Raman scattering in the presence of nanostructured metal surfaces where analytes are within approximately 2 nm of the surface. For in situ measurements in an aqueous phase, …

Choosing Wisely In Prophylactic Neurokinin-1 Receptor Antagonist Use Among Women With Breast Cancer: A Retrospective Cohort Study, Shweta Kamat

Open Access Dissertations

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women in the United States (US) with 297,790 new cases expected in 2023. Survival rates for breast cancer have significantly improved over the past decade due to effective screening, diagnosis, and advancement in multimodal therapy, including surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. In the US, the treatment cost for breast cancer increased substantially from $16.5 billion in 2010 to $23.8 billion in 2020. Moreover, in the US, female breast cancer contributes to 14% of all cancer treatment costs.

Unnecessary use of certain oncology services increases the cost of cancer care without improving the …

Sickle Cell Disease Self-Management Among Late Adolescents And Their Families In Saudi Arabia: A Mixed-Method Study, Ebtesam Mohd Abdulshakoor

Open Access Dissertations

Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a hereditary blood disorder that affects millions globally. In Saudi Arabia, it manifests in severe or moderate forms, affecting 24 of 10,000 children and adolescents. This places a substantial burden on families, necessitating intricate care. While existing literature has primarily focused on medical management and quality of life, there is a gap in understanding Saudi adolescents’ experiences living with SCD and their self-management behaviors. Given the cultural emphasis on family in Saudi Arabia, this study was guided by the Individual and Family Self-management Theory (IFSMT), emphasizing collaborative efforts involving individuals and their families. …

Development And Applications Of An Electrochemical Method, Nanoemulsion-Integrated Single-Entity Electrochemistry, Hiranya Malshani Madawala

Open Access Dissertations

The present study explores the development and practical utilization of a new electroanalytical methodology, nanoemulsion-integrated single-entity electrochemistry (NI-SEE) to fundamentally elucidate the intriguing nanoemulsion (NE) system and sense/quantify biomedical or environmental toxicants at ultra-trace level. SEE is a modern electrochemical technique, where one can measure the change in the current or the potential upon the individual collision of a nano object on to the nano or the micro sized electrode at a time. We performed in situ and real-time study by uniquely employing SEE to investigate a physicochemical property, e.g., a partition coefficient (P) at intact individual NEs, …

Study Of The Factor Structure Of Commonly Used Measures Of Adhd, Anxiety, And Depression Among College Students, Emily Shepard

Open Access Dissertations

The present study aimed to examine the factor structure of three commonly used assessment methods, the ADHD Rating Scale (ADHD-RS), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), among a sample of college students with and without ADHD with the goal of identifying a potential common inattention factor among the three measures. Additionally, the influences of race and sex on the factor structure was assessed. Participants were recruited from nine different universities in the eastern United States study (N = 456, n_ADHD =228). Each measure was analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis with comparison across ADHD …