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Jardín De Anjelita: Utilizing Arts-Based Methods To Inform Interculturalization In The Third Space, Amanda Jeanne Bucher

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to clarify characteristics of the intercultural classroom across three K-12 public-school sites. The relationship between intracultural conscientização and intercultural curriculum among multiracial educators was of particular interest to this study. Auto criticism methodology that housed arts-based methods was utilized in order to address the theoretical tension between multicultural absorption and post-colonial discourse of hybridity as it manifests in curriculum and ensuing classroom interaction operating as the third space. In this arts-based auto criticism, I explored the relationship between intracultural conscientização among four multiracial educators having one white parent and one parent of color and …

Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences: Science Practices And Science Identity, Alaina Buchanan

Dissertations

Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) have become more commonly incorporated in laboratory courses in undergraduate education. Because CUREs incorporate research within the context of a course, the benefits of mentored research (self-efficacy, science identity, persistence, and more) are extended to each student enrolled. CUREs are designed with five key components: discovery, relevance, iteration, collaboration, and science practices. However, the term science practices is broad and includes a diversity of student activities which can make it difficult to compare student outcomes across different CUREs. The first part of this work reviews the components and specific science practices included in all CUREs …

Frequency, Form, And Function Of Dyadic Questions In Children With Autism: A Childes Corpus Study, Rhiannon Luyster, Isabella Leiwant, Sudha Arunachalam

Emerson Authors, Researchers, & Creators

Children’s questions to their caregivers – and caregivers’ questions to their children – play an important role in child development. For children on the autism spectrum, who often experience cognitive, linguistic and social difficulties, prior research on questions has resulted in inconsistent and incomplete findings. The present study characterized the frequency, form, and function of queries posed by children on the autism spectrum (n = 12), non-spectrum peers (n =20), and parents using the Nadig ASD English Corpus in the Child Language Data Exchange System (CHILDES). Results suggested that children on the autism spectrum and their caregivers produced fewer questions …

One Step At A Time: Duquesne University’S Tenth Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, Brianna Marks, Maria Mlinarcik

Duquesne University Greenhouse Gas Inventories

The tenth greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory was conducted for fiscal year 2022 (FY22), which began on July 1, 2021, and ended on June 30, 2022. Assembled by graduate assistants Brianna Marks and Maria Mlinarcik at the Center for Environmental Research and Education (CERE), these findings were compared with those derived from the previous inventories to assess trends in Duquesne University’s GHG emissions. Furthermore, this inventory discusses options for reducing Duquesne’s carbon footprint in future years.

This inventory found that, compared to FY21, FY22 GHG emissions increased by 1.55%. FY21 experienced a 1.57% increase in total emissions when compared to …

The Ethical Domain Of The Chalcedonian Christological Confession, Jesse Gerard Alker

Yale Divinity School Theses

No abstract provided.

Sin And Sign: Reading Disability In The Gospels, Helena L. Martin

Yale Divinity School Theses

No abstract provided.

Working Memory And Language Associations In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Megan A. Goldfarb

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in social communication and interaction, with repetitive behaviors or specialized interests. A range of language abilities is seen in ASD, with some having typical abilities and others severe impairments. Working memory (WM) deficits have also been found in some children with ASD. In typically developing, as well as non-ASD children with language deficits a strong relationship has been found between WM and language abilities. Although both language and WM deficits are often seen in ASD, the relationship between these deficits has been underexplored. The objective of this study is …

A Pelican's Journey To Flight: A Louisiana National Guardsman, The Development Of The United States Army Air Service, And The Human Cost Of Military Innovation, James H. Smith

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

George E. Dicks deployed to the Mexican Punitive Expedition and World War I with the Louisiana National Guard. He recorded his experience in writing and photography, which reside in the Jackson Barracks Military Museum in Chalmette, Louisiana. His memorabilia reflect an officer’s perspective on early military aviation and parallel to the United States military’s experimentation with aviation. Through experimentation, Dicks became an aerial observer in World War I.

This thesis explores George E. Dicks’ memorabilia and how it both represents the development of the American Air Service and the human cost of military aviation with photographic evidence. By representing aviation’s …

Using Gis To Estimate The Solar Power Potential For Rooftops Within The Cleveland Park Neighborhood Of Washington, D.C., Cole Farnsworth

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

As urbanization and energy consumption increase, the need to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy has become urgent. Achieving sustainable energy consumption practices through solar energy has become an increasingly viable option in the United States (US). One of the ways to facilitate this transition at the local scale is to utilize Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to estimate the solar power potential and assess the spatial distribution of electrical power generation hot spots. At an urban residential neighborhood scale, GIS can aid the planning and location of efficient rooftop solar systems that have the ability to harvest the maximum …

Ga(Y)Zing Backward: Queer Desire In Ovid, Shakespeare, And Scaimma, Falynn Blayre Brickler

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

As Ovidian myth is a central influence on queer stories throughout time, I am interested in how the female/sapphic gaze impacts the retellings of these narratives. In this thesis, I analyze the action of the gaze as an expression of desire and discuss its multiple meanings in both text and performance. Through tracing the gaze within the queer/sapphic narratives of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire, I show that the gaze is an intersecting act through which non-normative desire is conveyed. In constructing the gaze as an ephemeral action of queer desire in practice, I …

Biochemical Characterization Of Fsa1572 From Fervidibacter Sacchari, The First Hyperthermophilic Gh50 With Β-1, 4-Glucanase Activity, Jonathan Covington

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The bacterium Fervidibacter sacchari is an aerobic hyperthermophile that catabolizes various polysaccharides and is the only cultivated member of the class Fervidibacteria within the phylum Armatimonadota. Among its glycoside hydrolase (GH) cache is an enzyme from GH family 50 (GH50), an understudied family with only 25 characterized representatives and two known activities from 1,518 predicted members in the Carbohydrate-Active EnZyme (CAZy) Database. Here, we expressed, purified, and functionally characterized an extracellular GH50 from F. sacchari called Fsa1572. Using colorimetric assays, we show it has novel β-1,4-glucanase activity and only weak agarose activity that is typical for GH50 enzymes. The purified …

Outside, Looking In: A Dissertation On Mindful Walking And How Green Exercise Affects State Mindfulness And Connectedness To Nature, Dustin Wyatt Davis

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

INTRODUCTION: Mindfulness, green exercise, and connectedness to nature are increasingly popular topics among academics and the public. These three topics overlap in the underexplored area called mindful green exercise. Mindful green exercise is a blend of mindful exercise and green exercise. Mindful exercise is physical exercise during which people pay attention on purpose without judgment to each new present moment. The person applies an accepting awareness to internal phenomena (thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations) and external phenomena (objects and events in the environment). Green exercise is exercise performed outdoors in natural environments. Despite its name, green exercise does not only …

Mena Terrorism And The West: Explaining Why Terrorist Groups From The Middle East And North Africa Target Western Democracies, Michael A. Defeo

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Terrorist groups from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region remain one of the most formidable threats to international security. While their organization and motives have been significantly different over time, a commonality is that they tend to disproportionately target Western democracies. This dissertation argues that this trend is mainly a consequence of the foreign policies that these states pursue in the region. These policies, in terms of support for Israel and interventionism, are theorized as being the precipitous causes of MENA terrorism. Likewise, it is argued that the democratic institutions and extents of globalization in these states are …

Desert Spring Prokaryotes And Benthic Macroinvertebrates: Geological And Ecological Controls, Ariel D. Friel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Desert springs are aquatic oases, being considered among the most diverse and imperiled ecosystems on Earth. Despite the ecological significance and threatened status of desert springs, few studies have surveyed the microorganisms in these systems or their interactions with other community members. The primary goal of this dissertation was to describe the major controls influencing the community ecology of prokaryotic and BMI communities in cold- and moderate-temperature desert springs of the southern hydrographic Great Basin. Chapter 1 provides a broad overview of spring ecosystems and of each chapter included in this dissertation. Chapter 2 documents the first-ever, regional-scale survey of …

Maternal Health In The Context Of Social, Political, And Economic Change Among Hadzabe Foragers Of Tanzania, Kristen Herlosky

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Many low and middle-income countries have implemented new national policy measures aimed at reducing maternal morbidity and mortality due to globalized efforts to improve women’s maternal health. One of the main goals is to move childbirth into hospital facilities and improve health access and education outreach. For Indigenous communities around the world, these measures have fallen short of their goals. Indigenous women suffer from greater social, political, and economic disparities and inequalities, have poorer health indicators overall, and worse maternal health outcomes compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts. For small-scale communities, we have limited data on reproductive health among women, specifically …

Applying Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis To Assess Air Pollution With Spanish Moss As A Bioindicator In The Low Country Of The Savannah River Basin, Christina Jiang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Savanah River Basin is an area of 9,850 square miles that stretches from the border between South Carolina and Georgia, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean near Savannah, Ga. This area is home to surrounding cities, industrial sites, and the Savanah River Site. It is well documented that traffic, industrial operations, and agriculture contribute to worsening air pollution that needs to be monitored. While Tillandsia usneoides (Spanish moss) has been used in previous studies that prove it to be an effective biomonitor for air pollution and an accumulator of heavy metals, there have been no biomonitoring studies in the …

How Animals Affect Us: Examining The Relationship Between Human-Animal Interactions And Human Well-Being, Elizabeth A. Johnson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation utilized a mixed-methods approach which illustrated the potential benefits of HAI in addressing human health concerns, focusing on specific populations within the United States. The chapters presented in this dissertation provide insight into the complex relationships between humans and animals, including the roles of companion animals in promoting human well-being. Chapter three surveys 234 Americans observing COVID-19 stay at home isolation orders and findings suggest that the presence of companion animals alleviates stress and isolation by providing attachment figures and activities on which to focus one’s energy. Chapter four explores women’s oxytocin levels after interacting with their cat …

Assistance Dog Considerations: A Lecture For Occupational Therapy Students, Kayla Kinney

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Assistance dogs can mitigate the effects of an individual’s disability. Occupational therapists consider the whole being when providing interventions through the individual’s meaningful occupations to improve health, well-being, and quality of life. Occupational therapists can make referrals or become a valuable team member for clients who wish to explore assistance dogs as an assistive technology option to improve physical, mental, and psychosocial considerations for increased independence in their clients. Few occupational therapy practitioners are educated about the benefits and disadvantages of the partnership between assistance dog and handler. Therefore, they are unable to adequately recommend assistance dogs for their clients, …

Differential Effects Of Extracellular Matrix Glycoproteins Fibronectin And Laminin-5 On Dental Pulp Stem Cell Phenotypes And Responsiveness, Hyungbin Lee

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) are mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with the potential to differentiate in a limited number of other tissue types. Some evidence has suggested the modulation of DPSC growth may be mediated, in part, by exogenous extracellular matrix (ECM) glycoproteins, including fibronectin (FN) and laminin-5 (LN5). Although preliminary research suggests that some ECM glycoproteins may work as functional biomaterials to modulate DPSC growth responses, the primary goal of this project is to determine the specific effects of FN and LN5 on DPSC growth and viability.Using an existing DPSC repository, n = 16 DPSC isolates were cultured and …

Gender Differences In Internalizing Problems And Everyday Behaviors Associated With Executive Function In Children And Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Hiroko Mullner

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Background: Many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience internalizing problems, and there was evidence suggesting that poor executive function (EF) predicted their internalizing problems. However, this association was primarily found in studies with male children with ASD. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate gender differences in internalizing problems and everyday EF in ASD children (age 5-15) and examined the associations between internalizing problems and everyday EF.Method: This study examined neuropsychological assessment data of ASD children without intellectual disability. The study consisted of two groups: 1. ASD boys (n = 44), 2. ASD girls (n = 15). The study …

Optimizing Resin Infiltration Treatment Of Post-Orthodontic White Spot Lesions By Increasing Infiltrant Penetration Duration — In Vitro Study, Hahnnah Park

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Background: This study focuses on evaluating the effect of increasing duration allowed for resin infiltrant penetration in improving the aesthetic outcome of resin infiltration treatment. Additional investigations into repeat treatment and long-term stability were also conducted. Artifically created white spot lesions were induced on one hundred extracted teeth made up of either incisors or canines. Teeth were divided into enamel and dentin groups depending on the extent of the lesion and then further subdivided into varying treatment protocol groups: 3-minute, 6-minute, and 9-minute penetration time. Teeth were thermocycled for one clinical year and then divided into a repeat treatment and …

Systemic Theoretical Instruction: Tense And Aspect In Italian A Sociocultural Study Of American Learners Of Italian, Charles Joseph Panarella, Jr.

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

University-level language and second-language classrooms typically use general rules of thumb to teach grammar without considering its conceptual aspects and cultural origins. These general rules of thumb are normally taught using a communicative approach to language teaching which typically places little emphasis on immediate corrective feedback and learner development. Most assessments are static in nature and focus on right and wrong answers rather than their origins (i.e., learner development and microgenesis). The lack of corrective feedback and lack of considering affective factors have the potential to negatively influence language acquisition in terms of motivation and self-efficacy. In addition, foreign language …

Comparing Comics And Illustrated Texts In Multimedia Learning, Jackson S. Pelzner

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this research was to examine how different forms of media, in particular science comics and illustrated texts, contribute to different patterns of learning. While the standard illustrated text seen in a textbook has been a useful tool for instruction, science comics appear to be an alternative that could be used in lieu of media that use the traditional illustrated text format. The comic format, known more for its visual appeal to readers, is consistent with the principles of the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (Mayer, 2009), though comprehension may require different mechanisms (Cohn, 2013a). It was hypothesized …

Poop! There It Is! Anti-Germinants And Biological Variables As Modulators Of Clostridioides Difficile Infection (Cdi), Jacqueline Renee Phan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is a major cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Due to its insidious nature, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has declared CDI an urgent threat. A key characteristic of C. difficile is its ability to form dormant spores that act as the infectious vehicles for disease. In the gut, spores recognize bile salts to germinate into toxin-producing cells.Dysbiosis of the gut microbiome is a key factor in allowing the C. difficile spores to germinate. Normal gut microbiota naturally protects from CDI. However, biological variables such as diet and sex have been found to modulate to …

Sight Words: Poems, Benjamin Harrison Socolofsky

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Sight Words is a collection of poems that questions the image as the central unit of meaning in poetry. Sight words is a lyric bildungsroman, that traces the process of metaphysical alienation that an individual undergoes in the postmodern world. The speaker is exposed to an overabundance of meaning that the visual world transmits and as the order of language deteriorates, meaning multiplies and falters. The language and poetics of Sight Words struggles to reconcile the disconnect between visual language and spoken language. Every missed communication points to a denial of access to the self, which the speaker apprehends as …

Exploring The Usefulness Of The Alert Program On Children With Developmental Delays Or Disabilities At Positively Kids, Ashley Cassandra Manabat Tolentino

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This quality improvement project explored the implementation of the Alert Program's (AP) first and second phases within the Foundation for Positively Kids social skills program, PK Social ETC. This study focused on three staff members' perception of the Alert Program's usefulness on their clients' self-regulation skills and occupational participation when engaged in their daily social skills group. The Alert Program was delivered through weekly education sessions for the staff, followed by two groups involving the children to provide visual demonstrations for the staff over eight weeks. Data was collected through a pre- and post-survey using a Qualtrics survey to capture …

The Effects Of Habitat Isolation On Fine-Scale Genetic And Geographic Structure Of Populations Of Two Threatened Endemic Insects In Southern Nevada, Pseudocotalpa Giulianii And Icaricia Shasta Charlestonensis, Kristen Tovar

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Assessing the role geographic isolation and ecological specialization have on phylogeographic patterns contributes to our understanding of the evolutionary history of a species and the processes that erode genetic diversity. I used mitochondrial and nuclear genomic sequences to assess whether habitat isolation has shaped the fine-scale patterns of present-day genetic structure and diversity in two threatened insect species endemic to southern Nevada. Pseudocotalpa giulianii (Coleoptera; Scarabaeidae) is a dune obligate scarab beetle endemic to only two small, isolated sand dunes in Nye County, Nevada, with a usable habitat of less than 4.2 km sq that is impacted by on-going degradation. …

Systems Dynamics Of The Anterior Cingulate Cortex And Hippocampus In Behavioral Switching, Spatial Working Memory, And Disease, Ryan Wirt

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The electrophysiological properties of the hippocampus (HC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) are the central focus of research on learning, memory, and neurological disease. Previous research has shown that HC is essential for forming new memories, spatial navigation, and temporal processing. While the function of ACC, located within the medial prefrontal cortex, remains controversial, it has a role in long-term memory recall, processing pain, monitoring current state, learning, schema updates, and information integrations. Interactions between the ACC and HC occur during social memory, spatial working memory performance, and long-term memory recall. Notably, the HC and ACC are among the first …

Assessing Illegal Shooting Of Birds Along Power Lines, Eve C. Thomason

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Birds found dead near power lines typically are assumed to have died from electrocution. However, birds die from many causes, and inaccurate diagnosis of cause of death undermines law enforcement, management, threat assessment, and mitigation. We used field and necropsy data from dead birds collected along 196 km of power lines in four western USA states in 2019 – 2022 to test the assumption that electrocution is the leading cause of death of birds on power lines. Of 175 birds with a known cause of death, 66% died from gunshot, whereas only 17% died from electrocution or by trauma. To …

Automating Pharmacokinetic Predictions In Artemisia, Celin Younan

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Pharmacokinetics (PK) is the time course of a compound in the body that is dependent on mechanisms of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion or ADME. A thorough understanding of PK is essential to predict the consequences of organisms exposed to chemicals. In medicine, predictions of PK of drugs allows us to properly prescribe drug treatments. In toxicology, PK allows us to predict the potential exposure of environmental contaminants and how they may affect organisms at the time of exposure or in the future. Chemical ecology could benefit from computational predictions of PK to better understand which plants are consumed or …