Digital Commons Network^™

The Space Between, Alexander Dixon

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The Space Between investigates the intricate relationship between perception and reality. By integrating graphic design principles with the optical qualities of glass, the exhibition creates visual distortions that challenge and redefine our understanding of the world. The pervasive use of black throughout the exhibition signifies the vectorized image, a vital element of graphic design and the technological abyss prevalent within our society. The fundamental geometric shapes, coupled with minimalist sculptural forms, employ a graphic approach to highlight visual communication's influence on perception.

Graphic design has a history of shaping public perception. The basis of graphic design is the act of …

We Resist, We Heal, We Transform: Exploring Youth Of Color Journeys Towards Healing Justice In A Grassroots Organization In Urban Boston, Rhyann Leslie Robinson

Graduate Masters Theses

While many would say otherwise, the current system is not a broken one (Kaba, 2021). The colonial systems, frameworks, and theories we have in place are working exactly how they are supposed to: in favor of and in tandem with systems that seek to oppress marginalized communities. This realization calls for a shift, including shifts in research in ways that builds from below (Atallah & Dutta, 2021; Fernández, 2018; Tang-Yan, 2022). The current study aims to explicitly interrogate coloniality and colonial violence in a United States socio historical context, exploring youth of color development in conditions of adversity, looking at …

Chemistry Instructors’ Perspectives On Incorporating Climate Change Instruction In Undergraduate Chemistry Courses, Patrick Wilson

Dissertations

Education plays an important role in preparing current and future generations for the challenges ahead caused by climate change. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the educational influence textbooks and undergraduate instructors have on their students. Three studies were carried out to explore these influences on climate change instruction. The first study looked at the extent, type, and location of climate change topics across 24 undergraduate general chemistry textbooks. Gas chemistry concepts were the most prevalent topic connected to climate change. However, the distribution of climate change related material varied considerably across books. The majority of climate change …

“Just Go For The Lie”: A Critical Autoethenographic Study Of A White Female Elementary School Principal, Christie Michelle Toliver

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to analyze my own leadership experiences as a White cisgender female elementary school principal and how my white privilege contributed to maintaining white supremacy and systemic racism. The purpose was also to explore the impact of the evolution of my white racial frame and intentionally break my silence about white supremacy and systemic racism over the 2018–2019 school year. Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Critical White Studies (CWS) provided the framework of analysis using a narrative structure to develop four critical vignettes at the micro level of education. Qualitative data were drawn from personal …

Establishing Guidelines For Achieving Optimal Individual Posture In Hornists, Daniel Alan Nebel

Dissertations

Potentially debilitating performance-related pain (PRP) is common among professional and aspiring instrumentalists, can lead to significant loss of income, and sometimes end a career. Postural misalignments that lead to PRP can develop early in students’ training and is often successfully addressed by a music teacher recommending a change in technique. The nature of a musician’s PRP is dependent on how their instrument is held; there has never been an in-depth study of PRP specifically for hornists. This dissertation summarizes the current relevant research of PRP in musicians and hornists, conducts and analyzes a comprehensive hornist-specific health survey, seeks to identify …

Resiliency In Families Of Children With Low Vision, Deborah Lynn Mendoza

Dissertations

Resiliency is comprised of a complex interplay of risk and protective factors that change and develop over time. In the past, research focused on characteristics that allowed individuals to remain untouched by negative events around them; however, over time, this has morphed into investigating not only the characteristics individuals possess but those present within families as well. Families of children who have either a congenital or an acquired disability could face a unique set of risk factors over time that might require different protective factors to ensure they emerged from their adversity positively changed. As professionals, we have a responsibility …

Case Report: Durable Response Of Gliomatosis Cerebri With Concurrent Tumor-Treating Fields (Ttfields) And Chemoradiotherapy Treatment, Alex M. Desjarlais, Ryan C. Miller, Ayesha S. Ali, Muneeb Z. Niazi, Louis Cappelli, Jon Glass, Christopher J. Farrell, Wenyin Shi

Department of Radiation Oncology Faculty Papers

Background: Gliomatosis cerebri (GC) is a rare and aggressive form of widely disseminated glioma infiltrating at least 3 lobes of the brain. It is a diffuse pattern of growth seen in glioma rather than a distinct pathological diagnosis based on new Word Health Organization (WHO) classification. Despite this, it is associated with worse prognosis than equally graded gliomas. Tumor treating fields (TTFields) treatment is a more recent advancement in glioma treatment delivered through low energy, intermediate frequency (200 kHz) electromagnetic fields, with multi-modal mechanisms of action. It is Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for newly diagnosed and recurrent glioblastoma …

Rare Tumors: Opportunities And Challenges From The Children's Oncology Group Perspective., Kris Ann P. Schultz, Murali Chintagumpala, Jin Piao, Kenneth S. Chen, Rachana Shah, Robyn D. Gartrell, Emily Christison-Lagay, Farzana Pashnakar, Jesse L. Berry, Allison F. O'Neill, Lauren M. Vasta, Ashley Flynn, Sarah G. Mitchell, Brittani Kn Seynnaeve, Jeremy Rosenblum, Samara L. Potter, Junne Kamihara, Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, Douglas S. Hawkins, Theodore W. Laetsch

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

While all childhood cancers are rare, tumors that are particularly infrequent or underrepresented within pediatrics are studied under the umbrella of the Children's Oncology Group Rare Tumor committee, divided into the Retinoblastoma and Infrequent Tumor subcommittees. The Infrequent Tumor subcommittee has traditionally included an emphasis on globally rare tumors such as adrenocortical carcinoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, or those tumors that are rare in young children, despite being common in adolescents and young adults, such as colorectal carcinoma, thyroid carcinoma, and melanoma. Pleuropulmonary blastoma, gonadal stromal tumors, pancreatic tumors including pancreatoblastoma, gastrointestinal stromal tumor, nonmelanoma skin cancers, neuroendocrine tumors, and desmoplastic small …

"My Gut Feeling Is…": An Ethnographic Study Exploring Interprofessional Communication About Children And Adolescents With Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain In Paediatric Rheumatology., Rebecca R. Lee, Janet E. Mcdonagh, Tim Rapley, Albert Farre, Mark Connelly, Tonya M. Palermo, Karine Toupin-April, Emily Wakefield, Sarah Peters, Lis Cordingley

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Interprofessional communication about inflammatory and non-inflammatory musculoskeletal conditions is an important component of assessment and management in paediatric rheumatology. Chronic pain is a feature of some of these conditions which likely influences the extent and type of communication about pain. Research investigating interprofessional communication about paediatric pain is limited but has found that communication is inclusive of the biopsychosocial context of children/adolescents as well as their families. The aim of this ethnographic study was to explore interprofessional communication about children and adolescents with chronic musculoskeletal pain in paediatric rheumatology. We observed forty-five healthcare professionals recruited from 3 UK paediatric rheumatology …

The Power Of An Effective Safety Culture, Justin B. Negley

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

Workplace injuries and illnesses have continued to decrease significantly through increased regulations, awareness, and technological advances. These enhancements are not enough to continue to drive these rates lower. A robust safety culture within an organization is required to truly affect change that will continue to diminish the occurrence of injuries and illnesses within the workplace. This project seeks to define the key aspects and elements that are fundamental to a culture of safety as a top priority amongst competing demands. The foundations of a robust safety culture were identified through a systematic literature review, a site comparison example of safety …

Nurse Initiated Standing Orders: A Process Improvement At An Emergency Department In Interior Alaska, Justin D. Melberg

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

Emergency Departments (EDs) are a valuable and limited public health resource. In addition to treating acute medical emergencies, EDs bridge the gaps in urgent care and primary care accessibility, operating twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, providing care regardless of an individual’s ability to pay. EDs across the country operate at or above capacity regularly, and overcrowding is projected to increase due to decreased facilities and available inpatient beds. Innovative measures are necessary to increase patient throughput and decrease length of stay while maintaining quality care. Nurse initiated standing orders, also known as nurse driven protocols, standing orders, …

Associations Between Long Covid And Healthcare Access: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Of The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (Brfss) 2022, Tiffany Elliott

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

Objective. To evaluate the association of healthcare access with Long COVID and clinical and sociodemographic factors.

Methods. Data were from the CDC's 2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) surveys regarding four measures of healthcare access and Long COVID. There were 25,549 respondents who reported Long COVID and 95,830 respondents who did not report Long COIVD.

Results. 25,549 (22.0%) of respondents reported Long COVID. Significant associations were found in respondents with public health insurance and delayed medical care due to cost. Those with chronic health conditions were more likely to report Long COVID. Women, certain racial/ethnic groups, …

Tech Supremacy: The New Arms Race Between China And The United States, Xuan-Thao Nguyen

Articles

In the brewing tech war between the United States and China, the quest for tech supremacy is in full force. Through enacting a series of laws and policies, China aims to reach its goal of tech supremacy. If China succeeds, U.S. corporations will face a daunting task in competing against Chinese products and services in core industries and in sectors where artificial intelligence and technological breakthroughs reign. This Article is the first to identify and analyze China’s 2022 Law on Science and Technology Progress, Personal Information Protection Law, Made in China 2025, National Intellectual Property Strategies, and digital currency e-CNY; …

Investigation Of Breeding Objectives And Indexes-In-Retrospect, Hunter F. Valasek

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis presents two projects that investigate the impacts of breeding objectives and indexes-in-retrospect within the beef cattle industry. The first project synthesized how changes due to planning horizon, breeding system, and sale endpoint in the economic breeding goal of cattle influence the relative emphasis of traits as well as the re-ranking of selection candidates. A total of three breeding systems that represent straightbred and crossbred cattle were used along with six planning horizons (2, 5, 10, 20, 30, and 50 yrs.) for both a weaning and slaughter point of sale. The combination of these different breeding objective attributes resulted …

Being A Trafficked Teacher: An Asiancrit Autoethnography Exploring The Exploitation Of Filipino Migrant Teachers In Louisiana, Christopher R. Jose

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this autoethnographic study is to critically explore the lived curriculum of Filipino migrant teachers trafficked by a Louisiana school district using the theoretical lens of AsianCrit. Using the different tenets of AsianCrit, this study wrestles with the injustices of this lived curriculum as connected to a broader set of hegemonic curricular experiences and demonstrates the ways such injustice still permeates the lived curriculum of migrant teachers. It explores its discussion on critical race theory in education, migrant teachers and human trafficking in the United States. This study shares the effects of human trafficking of teachers and the …

Chemical Investigation Of Dichloromethane Extract Of Aloe Vera Peels: An Agricultural Waste, Nazmul Huda

Theses and Dissertations

Aloe barbadensis Miller, commonly called Aloe Vera, is a widely popular succulent plant species cultivated across subtropical regions worldwide from India to the Tex-Mex border. Besides its historical uses, Aloe juice has garnered attention as a potential remedy for various ailments, particularly in treating various skin conditions and facilitating wound recovery, including obesity, diabetes, hepatitis, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis. Regrettably, the agricultural practice following sap extraction involves discarding Aloe vera peels, constituting agricultural waste. As part of our continuous research on extraction, isolation, separation, and spectral characterization of value-added chemicals present in waste botanicals herein, …

Age-Related Oligodendrocyte Lineage And Learning Abnormalities Driven By Nf1 Mutation In Mice, Saul Lopez

Theses and Dissertations

Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) is an autosomal dominant disease caused by mutations in the NF1 gene, on chromosome 17. NF1 patients suffer from a number of neurological issues including learning deficits and increased risk of age-related dementia. Additionally, NF1 patients present with multiple white matter and myelin abnormalities. Whether and how myelin abnormalities impact learning in NF1 is not known; therefore, we aimed to gain insights on potential links between Nf1 mutation and learning issues Unpublished data indicate that NF1 female-but not male- mice with Nf1+/- germline mutation show defects in a myelin-regulated learning/memory test (the complex wheel; CW) at …

Human-Centric Smart Cities: A Digital Twin-Oriented Design Of Interactive Autonomous Vehicles, Oscar G. De Leon-Vazquez

Theses and Dissertations

Autonomous vehicle (AV) technology is introduced as a solution to improve transportation safety by eliminating traffic accidents caused by human error, which is the leading cause of 90% of accidents. One key feature of AVs is sensing and perceiving their surrounding environment through processing observations collected from the environment. The perception system is essential for an AV to make informed decisions and safely navigate the environment. This study presents an image semantic segmentation algorithm developed in the area of computer vision to improve AV perception. The U-Net-based algorithm is trained and validated using a synthetically generated dataset in a simulation …

Back To The Future Of “Biopower”: Foucalt’S Prescriptions And The Regulation Of Commercial Order And Discordance In Outer Space, Gbenga Oduntan

Journal of Space Law

No abstract provided.

Factors Affecting Forage Quality And The Subsequent Response In Production And Energy Metabolism In Lactating Jersey Cows, Kassidy Kate Buse

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Forage quality is the potential of a forage to produce a production response in animals. Because of how essential they are in dairy cattle rations, forages can have major influence on the behavior and production of dairy cattle. In experiment 1, the effect of forage fragility on the rumen environment and digestibility was evaluated. Increasing the inclusion of a less fragile forage led to greater rumen retention time, which resulted in lower rumen pH and greater NDF digestibility. Experiment 2 evaluated the effects of diets high in either corn silage or alfalfa haylage supplemented with either corn- or soybased protein …

Occurrence Of Emerging Contaminants In Greater Houston Watersheds, Risk Assessment, And Toxicological Effects, Sekinat Oluwakemi Atobiloye

Dissertations (2016-Present)

Rapid industrialization and urbanization within the Greater Houston area have driven a surge in anthropogenic activities that affects the burgeoning population. This region stands as one of the most densely inhabited metropolises in the United States, experiencing a substantial population growth of 9.8% from 2010 to 2020, with the population expanding from 5.92 million to 7.14 million. This population boom has been accompanied by an increased reliance on modern conveniences, leading to escalated production and utilization of chemicals such as personal care products, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and heavy metals, all of which pose potential threats to the environment. Although these products …

The Predictability Of Body Types, Socio-Demographics And Attitudes Toward Body Factors On The Self-Esteem Of College Students, Pantea Mohammadi

Dissertations (2016-Present)

Objective of the Study The purpose of this empirical investigation will be to determine the predictable relationship between body types of factors, socio-demographic factors, attitudes toward body factors and the self-esteem scores of undergraduate freshmen college students. More specifically, the study will be concerned with predictability of body types, socio-demographic, and attitudes toward body factors of body image, body appreciation, gender, age, physical attractiveness, and satisfaction with physical features of the body on the self-esteem scores among undergraduate freshmen college students. Answers to the following questions will be sought: 1. Do body type factors (body image and body appreciation) have …

Environmental Justice And Low-Income Residents Of Houston Texas: The Inequities Of Catastrophic Weather Event Recovery Left Out And Expendable - Again, Carmen Danielle Reed

Dissertations (2016-Present)

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Coastal Management, from 2017-2021, the United States has averaged 17.2 annual climate/weather disasters. In 2021 alone, the U.S. experienced 20 billion-dollar disasters and since 1980, the U.S. has experienced 341 climate/weather disasters which in toto, resulted in $2.155 trillion in losses. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is authorized under The Stafford Act, to be the lead federal agency tasked to help people after disasters specifically floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and forest fires. In anticipation of increased climate driven disaster, for FY 2021, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee allocated to FEMA $25.89 …

The Impact Of “Wellness Factors” And “Psychological Factors” On Perceived Stress Among Licensed Professional Counselors, Chase Allen Walding

Dissertations (2016-Present)

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between “wellness factors” and “psychological factors” on perceived stress among Licensed Professional Counselors. This study was concerned with the predictability of “wellness factors”, specifically self-care, other-care, and “psychological factors,” including self-esteem, anxiety, and resilience on counselor perceived stress. Counselors in this study are defined as Licensed Professional Counselors, Licensed Professional Counselor Associates (LPC-Associates), and Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisors (LPC-S). The population of this investigation consisted of counselors at various licensure status’ including LPCs, LPC-Ss, and LPC-As that are current and active members of the Texas Counseling Association, Texas School Counseling …

Discovery Of Novel Hit Molecules Targeting Parp1 Using Structure-Based Design, Shahrazad Polk

Dissertations (2016-Present)

In the United States of America alone, cancer is the second highest cause of death. While there have been many remarkable breakthroughs in cancer research, there is still a need for the development of new therapies that target the different mechanisms of cancer cells. Therefore, the focus of our research is identifying novel hit molecules targeting Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1. Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) is an enzyme that has many distinct functions in the body. PARP1 has four domains: zinc fingers also known as the DNA binding domain, BRCT domain, WGR domain, and the ART catalytic domain. Its most …

Fair Canonical Correlation Analysis, Zhuoping Zhou, Davoud Ataee Tarzanagh, Bojian Hou, Boning Tong, Jia Xu, Yanbo Feng, Qi Long, Li Shen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This paper investigates fairness and bias in Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA), a widely used statistical technique for examining the relationship between two sets of variables. We present a framework that alleviates unfairness by minimizing the correlation disparity error associated with protected attributes. Our approach enables CCA to learn global projection matrices from all data points while ensuring that these matrices yield comparable correlation levels to group-specific projection matrices. Experimental evaluation on both synthetic and real-world datasets demonstrates the efficacy of our method in reducing correlation disparity error without compromising CCA accuracy.

Hyperoxidized Prdx3 As A Specific Ferroptosis Marker, Yuelong Yan, Boyi Gan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The lack of a reliable and specific marker for ferroptosis has hindered the advancement of treatments related to this cell death mechanism toward clinical application. A recent study published in Molecular Cell has identified hyperoxidized peroxiredoxin 3 (PRDX3) as a promising marker for ferroptosis, opening up new avenues for monitoring and targeting ferroptosis in disease treatment.

Pathomic Features Reveal Immune And Molecular Evolution From Lung Preneoplasia To Invasive Adenocarcinoma, Pingjun Chen, Frank R Rojas, Xin Hu, Alejandra Serrano, Bo Zhu, Hong Chen, Lingzhi Hong, Rukhmini Bandyoyadhyay, Muhammad Aminu, Neda Kalhor, J Jack Lee, Siba El Hussein, Joseph D Khoury, Harvey I Pass, Andre L Moreira, Vamsidhar Velcheti, Daniel H Sterman, Junya Fukuoka, Kazuhiro Tabata, Dan Su, Lisha Ying, Don L Gibbons, John V Heymach, Ignacio I Wistuba, Junya Fujimoto, Luisa M Solis Soto, Jianjun Zhang, Jia Wu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Recent statistics on lung cancer, including the steady decline of advanced diseases and the dramatically increasing detection of early-stage diseases and indeterminate pulmonary nodules, mark the significance of a comprehensive understanding of early lung carcinogenesis. Lung adenocarcinoma (ADC) is the most common histologic subtype of lung cancer, and atypical adenomatous hyperplasia is the only recognized preneoplasia to ADC, which may progress to adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS) and minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA) and eventually to invasive ADC. Although molecular evolution during early lung carcinogenesis has been explored in recent years, the progress has been significantly hindered, largely due to insufficient materials …

Atm Mutations Associate With Distinct Co-Mutational Patterns And Therapeutic Vulnerabilities In Nsclc, Natalie I Vokes, Ana Galan Cobo, Margarita Fernandez-Chas, David Molkentine, Santiago Treviño, Vitaly Druker, Yu Qian, Sonia Patel, Stephanie Schmidt, Lingzhi Hong, Jeff Lewis, Waree Rinsurongkawong, Vadeerat Rinsurongkawong, J Jack Lee, Marcelo V Negrao, Don L Gibbons, Ara Vaporciyan, Xiuning Le, Jia Wu, Jianjun Zhang, Una Rigney, Sonia Iyer, Emma Dean, John V Heymach

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) is the most frequently mutated DNA damage repair gene in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the molecular correlates of ATM mutations and their clinical implications have not been fully elucidated.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Clinicopathologic and genomic data from 26,587 patients with NSCLC from MD Anderson, public databases, and a de-identified nationwide (US-based) NSCLC clinicogenomic database (CGDB) were used to assess the co-mutation landscape, protein expression, and mutational processes in ATM-mutant tumors. We used the CGDB to evaluate ATM-associated outcomes in patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) with or without chemotherapy, and assessed the effect of …

Biomechanical Evaluation Of Mitral Valve Repair: Virtual Chordal Transposition To Restore Anterior Leaflet Prolapse, Soohwan Jeong, Seong-Min Kim, Woojae Hong, Minsung Ko, David D Mcpherson, Hyunggun Kim

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Surgical management of an anterior leaflet prolapse remains comparatively challenging and has led to the lack of any firmly established standard repair techniques, as seen in cases of posterior leaflet prolapse. Chordal transposition repair is widely acknowledged as a remarkably durable technique that utilizes the patient's native chordae. This study aims to evaluate and predict the biomechanical and functional characteristics of a normal mitral valve (MV) model and a pathological MV model featuring anterior ruptured mitral chordae tendineae (RMCT), and to assess the effectiveness of the chordal transposition repair in the pathological MV model.

Methods: There are four stages …