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Resisting Neoliberal Policy And The Intensification Of Racial Capitalism Through Fostering Critical Awareness: A Series Of Educational Workshops To Occur Within Social Justice Unions, Chloe Polentes Jan 2022

Resisting Neoliberal Policy And The Intensification Of Racial Capitalism Through Fostering Critical Awareness: A Series Of Educational Workshops To Occur Within Social Justice Unions, Chloe Polentes

West Chester University Master’s Theses

This is a master’s thesis that focuses on neoliberal policy within the education system. In this thesis I prove that neoliberal policy intensifies the current overarching framework of racial capitalism. I explore central elements of neoliberalism and racial capitalism to bridge understanding of how the two are intertwined with the goal of providing the reader an understanding of how neoliberal policy is detrimental. After an introduction to my thematic concern, an in-depth analysis of theoretical frameworks that helped shaped my understanding of my concern, and a historical and literature review focused on central elements of my concerns, I propose of …


Empowering Silenced Voices: Implementing Critical Pedagogy To Move Toward Decolonizing Music Education, Alexis Adams Jan 2022

Empowering Silenced Voices: Implementing Critical Pedagogy To Move Toward Decolonizing Music Education, Alexis Adams

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Throughout this thesis, I will delineate the historical and current issue of Eurocentrism and racism being perpetuated in K-12 music education and music teacher education programs. I will argue that music teacher education programs need to be decolonized and radically transformed so that music classrooms and curricula are anti-racist and counterhegemonic. Through utilizing theoretical frameworks, a historical review, and a literature review, I will further contextualize this problem. Lastly, I will propose a two-pronged intervention to address this over-arching issue: an undergraduate course entitled Critical Pedagogy in Music Education and a radically transformative professional development series for current music educators.


Promoting Education For Sustainability Through Place-Based Education: A Student Led After-School Program, Briana Lafratte Jan 2022

Promoting Education For Sustainability Through Place-Based Education: A Student Led After-School Program, Briana Lafratte

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Climate change is an unprecedented issue in that it is not only local, but also exists globally and impacts all of life on Earth. Without youth advocates and agents of change, the future progress of climate justice will be futile. However, before being able to become activists and allies for sustainability, students will need to understand the root causes of climate change, especially locally. This research focuses on the promotion of local sustainable resources through place-based education with the ultimate goal of engaging students firsthand in the need for critical environmental stances as well as how to become climate advocates. …


A Gis Analysis Of Potential Wetland Mitigation Opportunities In The Brandywine Creek Watershed, Chester County, Pennsylvania, Shannon Ryan Jan 2022

A Gis Analysis Of Potential Wetland Mitigation Opportunities In The Brandywine Creek Watershed, Chester County, Pennsylvania, Shannon Ryan

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Wetlands provide innumerous functions and values that are beneficial to both the natural environment and economic systems. Historically these habitats have suffered significant losses and it is crucial to preserve existing wetlands and plan for future restoration opportunities. This research examines six sub-watersheds within the Brandywine Creek watershed within Chester County, Pennsylvania to determine where potential wetland mitigation opportunities occur. Using a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analysis, three wetland characteristics including watercourse locations, existing National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) wetlands, and hydric soils were mapped throughout each of the watersheds. Areas of agricultural easements and steep slopes were used to exclude …


A Comparison Of Fruticose Ground Lichen Composition, Morphology, And Photosynthetic Properties From Open And Closed Pinus Rigida Stands In The New Jersey Pine Barrens, April Wallace Jan 2022

A Comparison Of Fruticose Ground Lichen Composition, Morphology, And Photosynthetic Properties From Open And Closed Pinus Rigida Stands In The New Jersey Pine Barrens, April Wallace

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Ground lichens colonize disturbed soils as pioneer biota, often due to plant removal, but can be replaced successionally by woody plants, like shrubs. Succession may lead to abiotic and biotic changes that impact ground lichens and facilitate their decline as ground cover through effects on morphology, photosynthetic activity, and reproduction as they are overtopped by plants. To understand how the presence of shrubs may influence the community structure of terricolous fruticose lichens in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, a field study was carried out to assess species composition and differences in microclimate abiotic variables in shrub covered and open canopy …


Development Of Hemic Neoplasia In The Soft-Shell Clam (Mya Arenaria) Along The East Coast Of The United States, Nicole B. Seitz Jan 2022

Development Of Hemic Neoplasia In The Soft-Shell Clam (Mya Arenaria) Along The East Coast Of The United States, Nicole B. Seitz

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Hemic neoplasia (HN) is a bivalve disease characterized by uncontrolled proliferation of abnormal hemocytes that invade solid tissue, similar to vertebrate leukemia, ultimately leading to death. High disease prevalence has been reported in many bivalve populations, yet disease etiology and development remain minimally understood. In this study, nine East Coast populations of soft-shell clams (Mya arenaria) were evaluated between 2011-2012 to identify environmental and health factors associated with HN. PCA analysis and statistical testing were used to compare data at and between each population based on HN status. The percentage of organisms with terminal stage 4 HN (76-100% …


Evaluation Of Oasl And Herc5’S Role In The Non-Lytic Clearance Of Influenza A Virus From Club Cells, Steve Crisafulli Jan 2022

Evaluation Of Oasl And Herc5’S Role In The Non-Lytic Clearance Of Influenza A Virus From Club Cells, Steve Crisafulli

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Influenza A virus (IAV) is a highly infectious pathogen responsible for causing severe respiratory illness and death in humans and animals worldwide. Due to highly effective strategies to negate host antiviral defenses, IAV leads to the death of nearly all infected cells. Furthermore, IAV induces high levels of genome-damaging oxidative stress within infected cells and suppresses the cellular mismatch repair (MMR) mechanism, thereby inhibiting expression of key antiviral genes, which further contributes to cell death. However, recent studies have demonstrated that a subset of respiratory epithelial cells, called club cells, are able to non-lytically clear IAV and continue to survive …


The Effect Of Ethanol On Cellular Movements And Development In C. Elegans, Caitlin N. O'Connor Jan 2022

The Effect Of Ethanol On Cellular Movements And Development In C. Elegans, Caitlin N. O'Connor

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Neural tube development, which gives rise to the central nervous system, is vital to embryonic development. Neural tube defects, like spina bifida, are serious and common congenital defects which can result in life-long medical complications. Folic acid has been used as a preventative measure for neural tube defects and has appeared to decrease the occurrences of neural tube defects. However, the mechanism behind folic acid’s role in neural tube development is unclear. Furthermore, some evidence suggests that ethanol decreases the levels of folates and folate coenzymes in the fetal brain and downregulates folic acid metabolism genes. To better understand the …


Effect Of Metal-Containing Nanoparticles On Bacterial Biofilms And On The Microbiome Of Girardia Tigrina, Azar Saikali Jan 2022

Effect Of Metal-Containing Nanoparticles On Bacterial Biofilms And On The Microbiome Of Girardia Tigrina, Azar Saikali

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Anthropogenically-produced nanoparticles are a form of nanotechnology being used in industries including food and textiles. Humans and livestock are frequently exposed to metal-containing nanoparticles (MCNPs), that have been washed into streams and rivers, have been deliberately used in food packaging as antimicrobials, preservatives or for supplementation. The animal microbiome, which consists of a diverse community of microorganisms, provides a number of benefits to the host in terms of nutrition availability, immune support, and can influence behavior. Biofilms of diverse microbes may cause detrimental effects, for instance by causing dental diseases in humans. However, the scientific community has not reached consensus …


Contents, Discovery Editors Jan 2022

Contents, Discovery Editors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.


Letter From The Faculty Editor, Beth Kegley Jan 2022

Letter From The Faculty Editor, Beth Kegley

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.


Instructions For Authors, Discovery Editors Jan 2022

Instructions For Authors, Discovery Editors

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

No abstract provided.


The Goat: Rescoring A Buster Keaton Classic, Shannon Bradley Jan 2022

The Goat: Rescoring A Buster Keaton Classic, Shannon Bradley

West Chester University Master’s Theses

This thesis examines Buster Keaton’s The Goat (1921) and provides insight into the methods used to rescore the music of this classic silent film. After a brief review of Keaton’s life and career, I will discuss each step in the process of understanding this film and determining the best methods of implementing music to enhance the film. This process includes creating detailed spotting notes for each scene, sketching most of the central musical themes using my preferred traditional composition software, Sibelius, and finally transferring this musical information into my preferred digital audio workstation, Logic, in order to sync all aspects …


Visual Arts Activities Relate To Cortisol And Observed Interest For Preschool Children, Suzanne Varnell Jan 2022

Visual Arts Activities Relate To Cortisol And Observed Interest For Preschool Children, Suzanne Varnell

West Chester University Master’s Theses

This study examined the impact of various visual arts activities on physiological stress response and observed emotion regulation. The first aim of the study was to confirm and expand on results from past investigations showing that visual arts classes relate to lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol and greater observed interest for young children facing economic hardship. This investigation expanded on these findings by examining the effects of individual visual arts activities on cortisol and observed interest in comparison to other preschool activities. Participants were 72 children, ages 3-5 years, who attended a Head Start preschool and were randomly …


Compulsory Conformity In Modern Japanese Culture: An Exploration Of Asexuality In The Works Of Murata Sayaka, Kawakami Mieko, And Kamatani Yuki, Nicholas Colecio Jan 2022

Compulsory Conformity In Modern Japanese Culture: An Exploration Of Asexuality In The Works Of Murata Sayaka, Kawakami Mieko, And Kamatani Yuki, Nicholas Colecio

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This thesis investigates the representation of asexual individuals in the works of Murata Sayaka, Kawakami Mieko, and Kamatani Yuki, all of whom are contemporary Japanese writers that portray near–suffocating social environments in their depictions of modern-day Japan. Their texts illustrate the augmented demands Japanese society places upon a cross-section of asexual and neurodivergent individuals. Despite the thematic and character–related similarities in their works, I argue that each author presents a unique interpretation of how these asexual individuals interact with—and try to integrate into—wider Japanese society and mainstream culture. Murata's texts demonstrate an unapologetically radical separatism by invoking an idealized queer …


Development Of An Hipsc-Cortical Neuron Long-Term Potentiation Model And Its Application To Alzheimer's Disease Modeling And Drug Evaluation, Kaveena Autar Jan 2022

Development Of An Hipsc-Cortical Neuron Long-Term Potentiation Model And Its Application To Alzheimer's Disease Modeling And Drug Evaluation, Kaveena Autar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is commonly characterized by a loss of cognitive function due to the deterioration of neuronal synapses from the presence of senile amyloid beta-42 (Aß42) plaques. Evaluating cognitive deficits caused by Aß42 using human cortical neurons poses a challenge due to sourcing difficulties, and the use of animal models to assess drug efficacy creates biological hurdles from lack of species translatability. Recent advances in induced-pluripotent stem cell technology have enabled the development of mature, human-based cortical neuron models. The development of an hiPSC-cortical neuron differentiation protocol facilitates the exploration of disease onset and functional analysis from a patient-derived …


Investigating Mobility Through An Oxygen Isotope Study Of The Medieval Cemetery At Kilroot, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, Hannah Pytleski Jan 2022

Investigating Mobility Through An Oxygen Isotope Study Of The Medieval Cemetery At Kilroot, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, Hannah Pytleski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Mobility is an important, multifaceted process involving complex interactions of culture, politics, and economics while also intersecting with individual identities, like religion, status, gender, and age. As such, a multitude of people from different origins can comprise a settlement or a community, which may be detectable through biogeochemical assessment. This study employs stable oxygen and carbon isotopic analysis to evaluate evidence for residential mobility within the early to late Medieval Kilroot cemetery (c. 6th to 16th centuries A.D.) at County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The site is 2.8 miles (4.5 kilometers) east of Carrickfergus Castle and the surrounding town, which was …


Spectrally-Based Color Calibration Of Microscopes For Birefringence Analysis, Olivia Feild Jan 2022

Spectrally-Based Color Calibration Of Microscopes For Birefringence Analysis, Olivia Feild

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The analysis of colors is omnipresent in forensics. While their use for macroscopic evidence such as soil sees a large amount of research, their correct handling is more challenging when observed under a microscope. Either for hairs or textile fibers, their color (from melanin, dyes or for birefringence analysis) is crucial in being able to compare between fibers found at a crime scene. Typically, color is quantified using a color space, such as RGB, XYZ, L*a*b*, and L*u*v*. Unfortunately, color is very subjective and often difficult to quantify accurately, even using digital detectors. Finding true matches of colors has been …


Fibropapillomatosis And Chelonid Herpesvirus 5 Dynamics In Juvenile Green Turtles Of The Indian River Lagoon, Florida, Usa, Jake Kelley Jan 2022

Fibropapillomatosis And Chelonid Herpesvirus 5 Dynamics In Juvenile Green Turtles Of The Indian River Lagoon, Florida, Usa, Jake Kelley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a tumor-forming sea turtle disease that mainly affects juvenile green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in coastal foraging sites. The cause of FP is unclear, but likely involves the putative pathogen chelonid herpesvirus 5 (ChHV5). The overall dynamics of this disease are poorly understood, in part due to the difficulty of inferring disease and infection statuses of turtles without evidence of FP. In this study, I investigated the FP disease system in juvenile green turtles of the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), Florida, USA, to better understand disease and pathogen dynamics. First, I developed a hierarchical model for predicting FP …


The Use Of Stable Carbon And Nitrogen Isotope Analyses To Examine Diet, Life Course, And Social Identities Among The Meroitic Elite Of Sai Island, Sudan, Rachel Lotze Jan 2022

The Use Of Stable Carbon And Nitrogen Isotope Analyses To Examine Diet, Life Course, And Social Identities Among The Meroitic Elite Of Sai Island, Sudan, Rachel Lotze

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The focus of this thesis is to learn more about the diets and lives of Nubian individuals who lived on Sai Island during the Meroitic period (250 BC to AD 250) using an approach based in life history, gender, and social identity theory. These individuals were in buried the cemetery 8-B-52.B and they were part of the elite social class. Dietary analysis was conducted by analyzing the stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes from bulk samples of human bone collagen. A total of 34 bone samples were analyzed, and 31 of those samples were determined to be well-preserved. These data were …


Analyzing Cut Mark Characteristics On Bone From Chopping/Hacking Tools: Implications For Forensic Analysis, Kelly Mcgehee Jan 2022

Analyzing Cut Mark Characteristics On Bone From Chopping/Hacking Tools: Implications For Forensic Analysis, Kelly Mcgehee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Sharp force trauma (SFT) is a mechanism of traumatic injury in which a tool with a pointed or slanted edge impacts the skin and/or bone, producing a penetrating cut mark. Current assessment of forensic and bioarchaeological contexts typically focuses on evaluating and interpreting traumatic injuries to bone due to cutting and stabbing using small, bladed tools, primarily knives and saws. Minimal research focuses on the damage inflicted by a larger class of chopping/hacking tools. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to experimentally evaluate and analyze macroscopic characteristics of chopping/hacking trauma inflicted on pig bones (Sus scrofa domesticus) to determine …


Deciphering The Role And Clinical Application Of The Fgfr4-Klb-Fgf19 Axis In Colorectal Neoplastic Progression, Michael Rohr Jan 2022

Deciphering The Role And Clinical Application Of The Fgfr4-Klb-Fgf19 Axis In Colorectal Neoplastic Progression, Michael Rohr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common and third deadliest cancer worldwide with rising incidence rates attributed to environmental risk factors like diet. Investigating how these factors impact carcinogenesis requires an understanding of how transcriptional events evolve with respect to neoplastic progression. We employed meta-transcriptomics and latent trajectory modeling to establish a compendium of profiled healthy, adenoma, and CRC samples scored by their position along a pseudotemporal axis. By interpolating a continuous scale from cross-sectional data, dynamic processes occurring throughout disease progression can be analyzed more accurately. For example, smaller pseudotimes represented pre-malignant dysplasia and was characterized by cellular …


Endless Curiosity, Ryan Price Jan 2022

Endless Curiosity, Ryan Price

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Growing up in an image-based society with television, computer screens, and a massive swell of visual media leaves me overloaded with imagery and information. I seek to find beauty in the strangeness of interconnected nostalgia of family memories, loss and grief, escapism, and video games. I process and excavate my personal history by romanticizing memories, relationships, and the passage of time. I do this with constructed visual worlds created through the physical processes of drawing, bookbinding, ceramics, printmaking, and painting. I use references and influences from 20th-century artists Paul Klee, James Ensor, and Jim Nutt to connect and interweave video …


Development Of A Computational Application To Aid With Chemometric And Forensic Analysis Of Fire Debris Samples, Michelle Corbally Jan 2022

Development Of A Computational Application To Aid With Chemometric And Forensic Analysis Of Fire Debris Samples, Michelle Corbally

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Fire debris analysis is a forensic science discipline that determines if an ignitable liquid residue is present or absent in a fire debris sample. Currently, fire debris analysis results in categorical statements based on qualitative data, not the quantitative evidentiary value of data. The purpose of this research was to develop a novel software application to aid fire debris analysts in the identification and classification of ignitable liquid residues that are found in fire debris samples. The developed application uses target factor analysis (TFA) and Pearson correlation for compound identification in gas chromatograms using mass spectral comparison and allows for …


Cholera Transmission Dynamic Model With Environmental Impacts Of Plankton Reservoirs, Sweety Sarker Jan 2022

Cholera Transmission Dynamic Model With Environmental Impacts Of Plankton Reservoirs, Sweety Sarker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Cholera is an acute disease that is a global threat to the world and can kill people within a few hours if left untreated. In the last 200 years, seven pandemics occurred, and, in some countries, it remains endemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global initiative to prevent cholera by 2030. Cholera dynamics are contributed by several environmental factors such as salinity level of water, water temperature, presence of plankton especially zooplankton such as cladocerans, rotifers, copepods, etc. Vibrio cholerae (V. cholerae) bacterium is the main reason behind the cholera disease and the growth of V. cholerae depends …


Uncovering Ophelia: The Reclamation Of Women's Madness Through Feminist Disability Studies, Amy Crawford Jan 2022

Uncovering Ophelia: The Reclamation Of Women's Madness Through Feminist Disability Studies, Amy Crawford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

In his essay "The Philosophy of Composition," Edgar Allan Poe proclaims that "the death of a beautiful woman is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world," and this sentiment remains curiously persistent within the literary world. Artists have looked towards their beautiful muses for centuries as a source of inspiration and introspection, and the faces that these muses wear were often swooning, longing, or even dead. Nineteenth-century British aesthetics solidified a gendered ideology that remains prevalent to this day; in particular, one subculture of Victorian aesthetics that emerged during this period was the Cult of Ophelia: a collection of …


Gender And Madness In Victorian Britain, Amy Milne-Smith Jan 2022

Gender And Madness In Victorian Britain, Amy Milne-Smith

History Faculty Publications

For decades, the history of gender and madness was a story about women. Individuals deemed lunatics were universally treated as passive victims of medio-legal forces beyond their control. New generations of scholars have looked beyond power binaries to interrogate the complex network of gender, class, family, and culture to place ‘the mad’ as historical actors in a complex and often contradictory story. This article reflects on some major themes in the British historiography of Victorian gender and madness since the mid-20th century. It highlights how feminist and anti-psychiatrist interdisciplinary works inspired new generations of historians to place gender at the …


Doctrine And Democratic Deconsolidation: On David Driesen’S Specter Of Dictatorship, Noah A. Rosenblum Jan 2022

Doctrine And Democratic Deconsolidation: On David Driesen’S Specter Of Dictatorship, Noah A. Rosenblum

Faculty Articles

For the last hundred years or so, Americans have been bullish on their presidents. At the turn of the 20th century, Progressive Era thinkers championed the empowered executive as the royal road to ef-ficacious and accountable government. Reformers in Congress agreed, granting the executive sweeping powers. Over subsequent decades, the office of the president accrued ever greater authority. And some are pushing for still more: respected scholars of public ad-ministration champion expanded executive empowerment today on the same good governance grounds mooted over a century ago. But it is getting harder to keep the faith. Scholars of “democratic deconsolidation” have …


God Is Not Fragile Coping With The Intensity Of Hosea’S Imagery And Life’S Most Severe Challenges, Seth N. Hord Jan 2022

God Is Not Fragile Coping With The Intensity Of Hosea’S Imagery And Life’S Most Severe Challenges, Seth N. Hord

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

The book of Hosea is not for the faint of heart. Like many of the writings of ancient Israelite prophets, it is complex and intense and deserves a focused, serious study to fully appreciate the intensity of Hosea’s message. Anything less may leave the reader somewhat confused or even scarred by what Hosea says about God. But Hosea’s message is particularly powerful in helping us deal with life’s most intense and troubling circumstances. This paper attempts to address some of the striking images of Hosea in a way that will assist religious educators with helping students navigate some of the …


Bs Biological Science, Eeob 2022-23, Arkansas State University - Jonesboro Jan 2022

Bs Biological Science, Eeob 2022-23, Arkansas State University - Jonesboro

Bachelor of Science and Education

Evolution, Ecology & Organismal Biology