Digital Commons Network^™

Association Of Non-Communicable Diseases With Severe Covid-19 Among People Living With And Without Diagnosed Hiv/Aids In New York State, Ravi Kumar Balu

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Background: People living with diagnosed HIV (PLWDH) have a higher chance of co-infections and co-morbidities than the general population. When SARS-CoV-2 was first reported in China in December 2019 and later declared a pandemic, it was speculated that PLWDH might be more prone to SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe disease outcomes given their increased vulnerability to other respiratory infections like influenza, pneumococcal pneumonia and tuberculosis. However, several facets of COVID-19 disease in PLWDH are incompletely understood, including whether non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are strong risk factors for severe disease outcomes and death as they are in the general population.

Methods: The data …

Complex Missing Data Problems In Education Surveys, Thomas Wesley Robertson

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Missing data are a nearly universal problem in human subjects research, including in education. However, reporting and addressing missing data is an issue, despite guidelines from the APA style guide and the What Works Clearinghouse, as well as guidance from prominent statisticians on the best methods to use. Prior research conducted in 2004 and 2014 found that in the field of education, most studies do not report or address missing data. In addition, no study has looked specifically at how missing data are reported and addressed in complex surveys. The current study has two main objectives: first, to determine if …

Jedi Mind: Student And Teacher Perceptions Of Justice, Equity, Diversity, And Inclusion, Jessica W Coles Gray

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This study uses the Panorama Equity and Inclusion Survey as a measurement tool to examine the perceptions of equity and inclusion among teachers and students in a K-12 educational setting. Grounded in critical race theory, this research employs a QUANT-CRIT mixed methods approach to illuminate systemic inequities and amplify the voices of historically marginalized groups. A review of the existing literature reveals persistent disparities in educational experiences and outcomes for students and teachers of color, underscoring the need for a dual focus on both quantitative patterns and qualitative narratives. The study addressed two primary research questions: (1) What are teachers’ …

The Rights Of Nature Meaning-Making Experiments In Ecuador: A Pragmatist Inquiry, Lourdes Aguas Gonzalez

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Ecuador is the first and only country in the world to recognize nature as a subject of rights in its national Constitution, with the most court cases to date, and with a vibrant moral imagination regarding the more-than-human world. Building on the pragmatist tradition, my research examines three questions: What are the rights of nature in Ecuador? How is nature politically represented in Ecuadorian legal forums? And how can collective problem-solving experiments around the rights of nature in Ecuador inform moral inquiry? To answer these questions, I bring sociology in conversation with philosophy. My theoretical and methodological tools as a …

"Assessment Of The Likelihood To Stay Below 2 Degree Celsius Warming: Combining Modeling And Scenario Uncertainty.", Peter M. Booker

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

ABSTRACT

Uncertainty in how much the Earth will warm in response to rising atmospheric CO₂ concentrations remains a major challenge for climate science and policy. In particular, estimates of equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) and transient climate response (TCR) directly affect projections of global mean surface temperature (GMST) and the allowable carbon budget for limiting warming to 2°C by 2100.

This study assesses the performance of a two-layer energy balance model (EBM) in reproducing TCR and ECS values under CMIP6 forcing scenarios, with a focus on SSP2-4.5. EBM outputs are compared against General Circulation Models (GCMs), and agreement is evaluated using …

The Psychological Impacts Of Homeland Havoc Among First-Generation Raised Americans: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, Raneem Kurzum

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

The current study explored the psychological experiences of first-generation raised U.S. citizens whose ancestral homelands are affected by ongoing or recent havoc. First-generation raised Americans are defined as the first-generation to be born in the U.S. or those who immigrated to the U.S. during infancy (less than two years of age). While research on trauma, resilience, and identity has previously addressed collective and intergenerational responses within culturally homogenous groups, few studies have examined the cross-cultural psychological impact of homeland turmoil among diverse diasporic populations living in the U.S.

Using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), this qualitative study employed semi-structured individual interviews …

The Role Of The Nasal Migratory Mass In Olfactory Bulb Formation And Fertility, Charisse Martin

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

The olfactory migratory mass plays an essential role in the development of the olfactory bulb by facilitating the migration of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons from the olfactory placode to the pre-optic hypothalamic area in the brain. In mammals, the migration of GnRH neurons is critical for establishing the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis (HPG axis), which regulates reproductive function through the production and secretion of gonadotropins. Luteinizing hormone (LH) and Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) instruct the gonads to function appropriately, ensuring sexual maturation and fertility. Disruptions in this migratory pathway have been linked with Kallmann syndrome, a condition characterized by low levels of GnRH, …

Food Rescue, Food Waste, And Policy In New York: A Mixed-Methods Study Of Food System Impacts, Mariana Torres Arroyo

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This dissertation investigates how food donation policies in New York State influence the recovery, redistribution, and waste of surplus fresh produce, with a focus on fruits and vegetables. Using an interdisciplinary, systems-based approach that integrates system dynamics modeling with qualitative, community-engaged research, the study analyzes the effectiveness and unintended consequences of three major policies: Nourish New York, the Farm to Food Bank tax credit, and the Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Law.

Chapter 2 uses simulation modeling to examine how the tax credit and waste ban affect produce recovery and redistribution. Results show that while both policies can boost …

Comparison Of Methane Emission Quantification Methods At Landfills In New York State, Alexandra M. Catena

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission increases are a consequence of global population rise and economic growth. It is well known that carbon dioxide is the dominant GHG by mass, but methane has received increasing attention recently due to its high warming potential and relatively short lifetime of about a decade. Methane has several different types of both natural and anthropogenic sources including wetlands, waste management, energy, agriculture and farming, and wildfires, which makes tracking and reducing methane emissions a complex problem. The emission rates of each of these sources are highly uncertain due to differing emission estimation methods, which can be …

Clinical Experiences In Conducting Empirically Supported Treatments For Insomnia, Sondra S. Tiab

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Controlled research shows that cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for insomnia, yet clinician experiences with applying CBT in routine settings has received limited attention. This study replicated and extended upon the Two-Way Bridge initiative (Goldfried et al., 2014), which aimed to establish a dialogue between researchers and clinicians on the identification of variables that promote and interfere with the effectiveness of evidence-based therapies. This survey study asked clinicians to identify variables they have encountered that make it challenging to implement CBT and related interventions for insomnia. N = 182 clinicians completed an online survey on typical assessment practices, …

Safeguard Cyberspace In Ransomware Era: Risk Analysis & Cyber Insurance, Li Huang

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

The increasing frequency and severity of ransomware attacks pose significant challenges for organizational cybersecurity. Fragmentation across disciplines in cyber defense has created practical gaps in the development of the necessary capabilities needed to address rapidly evolving cyber threats. This study explores the impact of ransomware attacks and the evolving role of cyber insurance as a proactive cybersecurity partner. Bridging the gap between actuarial science and cyber risk management, it proposes an interdisciplinary framework that quantifies the impact of ransomware and integrates cyber insurance into cybersecurity strategies.

The primary contribution of this study is methodology. We present a framework that remains …

Street Outreach And Reentry: The Role Of Community Violence Intervention In The Reintegration Of Returning Citizens, Hilary Jackl

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Amidst ongoing efforts to reduce the nation’s prison population, as well as calls to defund the police and invest in civilianized public safety strategies following the murder of George Floyd, community-based violence intervention (CVI) strategies have been increasingly recognized as a critical means by which to ameliorate the United States’ enduring gun violence problem without exacerbating the harms of overpolicing and mass incarceration. However, most contemporary CVI research has assessed program impacts on neighborhood rates of gun violence and has produced conflicting findings, leading scholars to call for the need to examine a wider range of program-related functions and outcomes. …

Essays On Robust Inference Under Multiway Clustering, Jiahao Lin

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

The first chapter studies wild bootstrap-based inference for regression models with multiway clustering. Our proposed methods are multiway counterparts to the (one-way) wild cluster bootstrap approach introduced by Cameron et al. (2008). We establish the validity of our methods for studentized statistics. Theoretical results are provided, accommodating arbitrary serial dependence in the common time effects – an aspect excluded by existing two-way bootstrap-based approaches. Simulation experiments document the potential for enhanced inference with our novel approaches. We illustrate the effectiveness of the methods by revisiting an empirical study involving multiway clustered and serially correlated data.

The second chapter studies jackknife …

Exploring Identity And Belonging Through Housing Pathways: Resettlement Experiences Of Female Ukrainian Refugees, Stephanie M. Duncan

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Background: This dissertation examines the resettlement experiences of female Ukrainian refugees in Germany following the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, which displaced over 8.5 million Ukrainians, including 1.2 million to Germany by April 2024. Focusing on Munich, the study explores the interplay of housing pathways, identity, and belonging, emphasizing gendered challenges faced by women, particularly single mothers and caregivers, navigating trauma, systemic barriers, and cultural adaptation. Organized into three articles, this work employs a social justice lens to address structural barriers, such as discriminatory housing markets, economic exclusion, and limited access to resources, which disproportionately impact marginalized women, …

Development Of Group Iii-V Quantum Confinement-Enabled Detectors: Bias-Tunable Quantum Well Infrared Photodetector (Qwip) And Quantum Dot Scintillation Detector (Qdsd), Gyana R. Biswal

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This dissertation discloses the physics, fabrication, characterization, and analysis of two novel types of group III-V semiconductor detectors relying on quantum confinement of carriers, namely voltage-tunable quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIP) and a high-yield ultrafast quantum dot scintillation detector (QDSD). Both QWIP and QDSD heterostructures presented here were grown on 3” GaAs (001) substrates using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE).

A major part of the dissertation focuses on development of the voltage-tunable QWIPs targeting detection in the mid-wave infrared region (MWIR) (3μm -5μm) and long-wave infrared region (LWIR) (8μm -12μm) with control of sensitivity by the applied bias. The QWIPs utilize …

Postnatal Programming Of Infant Temperament At 12-Months: A Test Of Lactation Programming Theory, Lydia Bierce

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

The current study examined how maternal cortisol and breastfeeding duration across the first six months postpartum might relate to infant temperament profile membership at 12 months in 322 low-income Mexican American mother-infant dyads (46.3% male). Results revealed that maternal postnatal cortisol levels were significantly moderated by breastfeeding duration to predict infant temperament profile (β = 0.14, p = .030) such that more maternal cortisol was linked to higher likelihood of belonging to a high positive affect, well-regulated profile when mothers breastfed for above average durations. This suggests that while maternal cortisol in breastmilk might initially shape infant negative temperament, …

Nat10 Stabilizes Immune Response Factors Aiding With Cellular Immune Response To Zika Virus Infection, Shawn Gianola

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Zika virus (ZIKV) remains a significant public health concern due to major gaps in our understanding of its infection mechanisms and immune evasion strategies. Despite its link to severe complications such as microcephaly and Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), no vaccine or targeted antiviral therapies exist. Compounding this concern is the expanding habitat of ZIKV-carrying mosquito vectors, driven by climate change, which increases the risk of future outbreaks in previously unaffected regions.

One promising area of investigation involves post-transcriptional modifications (PTMs) chemical alterations to RNA that influence its stability, translation, and function. Although over 170 PTMs have been identified, their roles remain …

Author-Centered Approaches In Ela Instruction: A Multiple Case Study Of Secondary English Teachers, Jennifer M. Lockhart Mchugh

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Literary authors are often neglected in secondary ELA (English Language Arts) literary instruction. Teachers are unsure how to teach about the author and how much time to spend on establishing the context for the text when the goal is to “cover” a variety of literary texts as part of a planned curriculum during the school year. Acknowledging the role of authors’ intentions as well as their experiences and aesthetic decisions in the production of literature may provide new entry points into literary texts for students. This multiple-case study of secondary English teachers and their high school students in a “bounded …

Investigating Rna Dysfunction Of Inherited Neuromuscular And Neurodevelopmental Disease, Jacob H. Schroader

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

ITPase deficiency is a rare but fatal, autosomal recessive enzyme deficiency involving encephalopathy, microcephaly, congenital cataracts, hypotonia, developmental delay, and dilated cardiomyopathy. Within a decade since the original description of the severe form in humans, there are huge gaps in the field regarding the underlying molecular mechanisms driving pathogenesis resulting from ITPase deficiency. Past studies have focused on characterization of the organism level ITPase-deficient phenotype, but the molecular and cellular characterization remains to be fully described. Due to the biochemical function and established biological role of the ITPase enzyme, investigation into the consequences of inosine accumulation and misincorporation into RNA …

Photoswitchable Inhibitors Of Eaat3, Karly Suhr

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Azobenzene is a photoswitchable molecule known for its high conversion yield and repeatability. The inclusion of an azobenzene moiety with a known inhibitor of your target of interest allows for greater study of function as well as potential therapies. Three derivatives were designed from azobenzene and known inhibitor of EAATs, TBOA, to synthesize photoswitchable inhibitors of EAATs. Further investigation into the function of EAATs and development of a specific inhibitor for EAAT3, an important glutamate transporter in the brain required for proper function, can then be conducted. Photoisomerization studies on the derivatives were conducted using UV/vis spectroscopy and NMR spectroscopy. …

Investigating The Perceived Masculinity And Femininity Of Nonbinary Individuals, Dante D. Sasso Jr.

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Nonbinary individuals identify outside of the typical gender binary of men and women. Existing research has not investigated how nonbinary people are perceived in terms of masculinity and femininity. We hypothesized that nonbinary individuals would be perceived as less masculine than men and less feminine than women, while also being perceived as overall more feminine than masculine. Participants viewed a researcher-generated social media profile. The primary experimental manipulation involved varying the pronouns listed in the profile biography, denoting a man (he/him), woman (she/her), or nonbinary person (they/them). Participants rated how masculine and feminine they perceived the target person to be, …

Differences In Mental Health Care Use Between Urban And Rural Populations In New York State, 2017-2022, Anna J. Papa

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Objective

This study aimed to determine whether rural New York State residents receive mental health care at the same rate as urban residents, how poverty rates in New York State relate to rurality and mental health care use, and how pre-pandemic mental health care use rates compare to 2022 use rates. The goal was not to estimate the burden of disease, nor to estimate the number of patients engaged in care in each zip code, but to highlight the potential differences in service use between urban and rural New York State Office of Mental Health clients.

Methods

A secondary analysis …

Rethinking Rural Identity: Reimagining Rural Politics, Matthew B. Kirk

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This work chiefly consists of a genealogical critique of rural identity. Tracing the development and deployment of the concepts of rurality and rural consciousness, I argue that our current depictions of rurality as “spatial other,” replete with its harmful stereotypes, stem from a misconception about the nature of power. Political theorists’ and political scientists’ appraisals of rurality suggest that the set of actions that define rural politics are a product of their relative powerlessness. Rural locales’ removal from the center of power in urban spheres means that rural politics is reduced to reactionary, violent, and conservative political thought and engagement. …

Essays On Technological Change And Scientific Research, Max Mayca

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

The primary objective of economic science has long been to understand and promote growth, as it contributes to a more prosperous civilization and improves individual well-being. The core drivers of growth—capital accumulation, human capital development, and technological progress—are well-established. While capital deepening enables scaling of production, and human capital enhances labor productivity, technological and scientific advancements remain the most critical, as they continually redefine the efficiency frontier. Given this centrality, it is essential to understand how technological progress affects labor markets, how research resources should be allocated, and how technology relates to human capital formation.

The first part of this …

Stress And Resilience In Higher Education Administrators: Exploring The Role Of Mindfulness, Michael Baumgardner

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This dissertation explores stressors experienced by higher education administrators (HEAs) and examines the role of mindfulness practices in mitigating stress and fostering resilience and job satisfaction. HEAs manage essential institutional functions yet face intensifying pressures from volatile funding streams, shifting demographics, changing public perceptions, political and cultural challenges, technological disruptions, and pandemic-related change. Despite HEAs central role in sustaining higher education, limited research examines how these professionals experience stress, and even less has considered mindfulness as a potential resource for coping and resilience.

Guided by a qualitative methodological approach, this study draws on semi-structured, thick description interviews with 18 HEAs …

Essays On Health Economics, Yiran Han

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

The first chapter examines relationships between physicians exposed to new drugs’ clinical trials and prescribing. Clinical trials benefit patients directly by providing novel treatments, but little is known about the indirect effects of clinical trials on physician prescribing through localized knowledge spillover. This study examines whether exposure to a clinical trial of a new drug in a physician’s local geographic area affects the physician’s propensity to prescribe the drug, i.e. a localized knowledge spillover from clinical trial sites to physician. Utilizing the Medicare Part D prescribing patterns of more than 10,000 physicians across 29 new cancer drugs approved by the …

Backgrounds And Efficiencies For Low-Energy Searches, And Improved Calibration Techniques In The Lux-Zeplin Dark Matter Experiment, Gregory M. Blockinger

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

The full understanding of dark matter has eluded physicists for many years. While there is abundant astrophysical evidence across many scales, the exact nature of this matter, which comprises about 25% of the Universe’s energy density, remains unknown. Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) are one of the leading theoretical candidates, and numerous ex- periments have searched for their interactions. In recent decades, dual-phase Time Projection Chambers (TPCs) have become the leading technology in this search. The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) detector is one such xenon-based experiment, operating nearly a mile underground in the Black Hills of South Dakota at the Sanford Underground …

Y’All Means All: Pro-Choice Abortion Activism In West Texas Post-Dobbs, Hannah S. Noblewolf

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

In the spring of 2021, a six-week abortion ban passed by popular vote in the city of Westerburg, Texas. It had a civil enforcement mechanism, allowing someone to collect a reward of $2,000 if they successfully sued someone they reported for “aiding and abetting” abortion. The ban, called the Westerburg Sanctuary City ordinance, was referred to as “bounty hunting.” When the ban passed it became the template for the state-level Texas Heartbeat Act, which provides a greater financial reward for a successful civil suit, with a minimum of $10,000 plus legal fees. In the face of this ban, pro-choice activists …

How Do Young Adults With Drug Use Disorder (Dud) Utilize Treatment? Exploring And Examining Lived Experiences Towards Treatment Completion In Indonesia, Dewi Kartikawatiningsih

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

In Indonesia which has the highest rate of drug addiction in Southeast Asia, there is currently little knowledge about how young adults perceive the barriers faced when completing treatment or how treatment providers' perspectives influence their treatment completion. Understanding and identifying barriers to treatment completion is essential to making drug treatment more effective. The purpose of this study is to explore the perspectives and live experiences of young adults with DUD and their addiction counselors to develop a deeper understanding of treatment needs. This study interviewed 33 clients and 15 counselors from the rehabilitation center of the Badan Nasional Narkotika …

Boundary Conditions, Symmetries, And Bootstrap In 2d Conformal Field Theory, Yucong Cai

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This dissertation contains two parts of study on the Friedan states and on the conformal bootstrap with symmetries.

The Friedan states are potential physical boundary states of the free boson. However, they exhibited a continuous spectrum in the open string sector, in contrast to more standard examples. The explicit expressions for the density of states of the Friedan states is obtained. Some pathologies and possible contradictions of these states are explored. The $g$ functions of the Friedan states are shown to be infinite, suggesting an infinite number of degrees of freedom in the theory.

The modular conformal bootstrap using the …