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Novel Electrolytes For Use In New And Improved Batteries: An Nmr Study, Marc B. Berman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis focuses on the use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in order to study materials for use as electrolytes in batteries. The details of four projects are described in this thesis as well as a brief theoretical background of NMR. Structural and dynamics properties were determined using several NMR techniques such as static, MAS, PFG diffusion, and relaxation to understand microscopic and macroscopic properties of the materials described within. Nuclei investigate were 1H, 2H, 7Li, 13C, 19F, 23Na, and 27Al. The first project focuses on an exciting new material to be used as a solid electrolyte membrane. T. …

Coalescence Of Research: Urban Advantage As A Learning Organization Structured To Support A Culture Of Inquiry, Marianne Williams

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is a mixed methods study of the Urban Advantage Program- a Middle School Science Initiative formed by the New York City Department of Education and the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in collaboration with New York City’s science culturally rich institutions – the Bronx Zoo, the Staten Island Zoo, the Hall of Science, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Queens Botanical Garden, the New York Botanical Garden, and the New York Aquarium. Unprecedented in size and scope, UA brings together the largest school system in the largest city in the United States in a partnership with eight large …

Millets From The Margins: Value, Knowledge And The Subaltern Practice Of Biodiversity In Uttarakhand, India, Priya R. Chandrasekaran

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Millets from the Margins: Value, Knowledge and the Subaltern Practice of Biodiversity in Uttarakhand, India analyzes what is at stake for small-scale, predominantly women, farmers as local varieties of rainfed food grains such as finger millet are being newly commodified and valued as a biodiversity resource. With support from a Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant from the National Science Foundation, I conducted seventeen months of ethnographic research with farmers, activists, scientists, NGO leaders, government officials, transnational functionaries and agribusiness representatives in segregated yet interconnected realms ranging from a village in the Himalayan foothills to transnational institutions in Rome.

This work demonstrates …

Effect Of Temporal Onset Of Mechanical Loading On Tendon To Bone Healing, Determined With A Novel In-Vivo Device, Mark E. Stasiak

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background: Exposure to tensile loading has been shown to maintain tendon/ligament homeostasis, with the tensile modulus of the tissue increasing in response to greater loading frequency, and even decreasing in the absence of load. However after injury or surgical repair the effect of tensile load is controversial, with many studies implicating mechanical loading with impaired healing. It is currently unknown when the tensile loading imparted during rehabilitation exercise, can be safely reintroduced after surgical tendon repair or ligament reconstruction, and at what time point it can most benefit the remodeling process. To investigate the effect of tensile loading protocols on …

Psychological Perspectives On The Under-Representation Of African Americans And Females In Entrepreneurship: The Relationship Between Perceptions Of Fit And Intentions To Leave, Rachel Pascall-Gonzalez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Advisor: Professor Charles Scherbaum

Entrepreneurship is widely recognized as a vehicle for economic growth (Ireland & Webb, 2007), and recent years have shown growing multi-disciplinary interest among entrepreneurship scholars. The primary focus of this study was to identify psychological and contextual variables that explain African American and females’ intent to quit entrepreneurship. Specifically, using Heilman’s (1983) lack-of-fit model as a theoretical lens, it tested the proposal that the intent to quit entrepreneurship could be explained by the extent of African American and females’ perceptions of fit and identification with the role. Data were collected via survey methodology from a sample …

Madison Vanguard: A Novel, Berni Moestafa

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This capstone project takes the form of a popular fiction novel that introduces parts of the academic discussion on capitalism to a wider audience through storytelling. Using a fictional fiscal crisis in New York as its setting, the novel discusses the relationship between capitalism and democracy. It therefore aims to address the underrepresentation of the debate on capitalism in popular entertainment and raise awareness about some of the debate’s key issues.

Popular culture be that music, film, books, media, videogames or advertisement surround our lives and expose us to a plethora of messages that help shape our understanding of the …

Re-Examining The Bilingual Advantage On Interference-Control And Task-Switching Tasks: A Meta-Analysis, Seamus Donnelly

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A much-debated topic in psycholinguistics is whether lifelong bilingualism enhances executive functions (EF), the set of higher-order cognitive processes involved in the control of thought and action. Several researchers have predicted bilingual advantages on various EF tasks, especially interference-control and task-switching tasks. Many studies have tested these predictions, but results have proven unreliable. As a complementary approach to recent quantitative syntheses on this topic, the present dissertation tests whether the bilingual advantage is moderated by a number of theoretically significant variables: dependent variable (DV), task, age, age of L2 acquisition and lab.

Two meta-analyses were conducted. Study 1 considered interference-control …

The Dream Defaulted: Foreclosure, Crisis, And Hope In Baltimore, Maryland, And Detroit, Michigan, Heidi M. Rafferty-Reijm

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the United States, the late 2000s were a time of crisis that tested many urban decision-makers. The recession that started in 2007 was defined by a severe crash in the housing market and the proliferation of mortgage foreclosures across the country. Foreclosures occurred in urban, suburban, and rural communities, but had a particularly devastating impact on larger, older cities and their low and moderate-income neighborhoods. These cities had been dealing with economic and population decline for half a century. In many of their urban neighborhoods, foreclosures affected as many as one in four households and added yet another challenge …

Animal Performance In Big-Time Vaudeville, Catherine M. Young

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Animal vaudevillians have been neglected by academic accounts of vaudeville. Drawing on the rapidly proliferating and highly interdisciplinary field of animal studies, this dissertation combines archival research and cultural theory to fill an important gap in our understanding of how animal bodies and images circulated during the vaudeville era. Taking up Nicole Shukin’s notion of animal capital as both animal “signs and substances” circulating in cultures of capital, I argue that vaudeville animal acts theatricalized animal capital for US citizen-consumers and often circulated animalized capital via racist ideologies and performance modes.

Theatre bookers balanced their reliance on animal acts …

Design Rules For The Nucleation, Growth, And Encapsulation Of Gold Nanoparticles With Applications To Cancer Imaging, Matthew A. Wall

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) nanoparticles are exciting candidates for high-precision cancer imaging due to their highly specific spectral signature (Raman “fingerprint”) and propensity for passive targeting of cancerous tissues. However, the signal intensity of currently available SERS nanoparticles is insufficient for cancer imaging via passive targeting in most solid tumors. The overarching aim of this body of work is to develop a new generation of SERS nanoparticles with sufficiently low limits of detection to enable robust detection of various solid tumors in vivo.

The complexity of SERS nanoparticles requires significant advances to the theoretical and experimental understanding of metal …

Epistemic Considerations On Extensive-Form Games, Cagil Tasdemir

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this thesis, we study several topics in extensive-form games. First, we consider perfect information games with belief revision with players who are tolerant of each other’s hypothetical errors. We bound the number of hypothetical non-rational moves of a player that will be tolerated by other players without revising the belief on that player’s rationality on future moves, and investigate which games yield the backward induction solution.

Second, we consider players who have no way of assigning probabilities to various possible outcomes, and define players as conservative, moderate and aggressive depending on the way they choose, and show that all …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Segmented Fluorescent Conjugated Polymers Via Acyclic Diene Metathesis (Admet), Gagandeep Singh

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This doctoral thesis is focused on the novel and facile synthesis and characterization of segmented conjugated polymers featuring various electro-optically active segments, with or without heteroatom linkages. The polymers were synthesized, via acyclic diene metathesis (ADMET) using ruthenium-based Grubbs-type catalysts. All products are soluble, and have a well-defined all-trans microstructure without defects. Some of the polymers were also synthesized via Suzuki polycondensation for comparison purposes. All monomers utilized were designed and synthesized in the laboratory.

Segmented conjugated polymers have received a great deal of attention in organic electronics, such as organic light emitting-diodes, organic field-effect transistors and organic solar …

Zncdmgse As A Materials Platform For Advanced Photonic Devices: Broadband Quantum Cascade Detectors And Green Semiconductor Disk Lasers, Joel De Jesus

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The ZnCdMgSe family of II-VI materials has unique and promising characteristics that may be useful in practical applications. For example they can be grown lattice matched to InP substrates with lattice matched bandgaps that span from 2.1 to 3.5 eV, they can be successfully doped n-type, have a large conduction band offset (CBO) with no intervalley scattering present when strained, they have lower average phonon energies, and the InP lattice constant lies in the middle of the ZnSe and CdSe binaries compounds giving room to experiment with tensile and compressive stress. However they have not been studied in detail for …

Synthesis Of Novel Aporphine-Inspired Neuroreceptor Ligands, Nirav R. Kapadia

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Aporphines are a group of tetracyclic alkaloids that belong to the ubiquitous tetrahydroisoquinoline family. The aporphine template is known to be associated with a range of biological activities. Aporphines have been explored as antioxidants, anti-tuberculosis, antimicrobial and anticancer agents. Within the Central Nervous Systems (CNS), aporphine alkaloids are known to possess high affinity for several clinically valuable targets including dopamine receptors (predominantly D₁ and D₂), serotonin receptors (5-HT_1A and 5-HT₇) and α adrenergic receptors. Aporphines are also inhibitors of the acetylcholinesterase enzyme – a clinical target for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Considering the …

Metabolic Disorders, Drug Development, Drug Design And Biomarkers, Gjumrakch Aliev, Ramon Cacabelos, V. Prakash Reddy

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Targeting Antioxidant Pathways With Ferrocenylated N-Heterocyclic Carbene Supported Gold(I) Complexes In A549 Lung Cancer Cells, Jonathan Arambula, Rebecca Mccall, K, J, Sidoran, Darren Magda, Nicholas Mitchell, Christopher W. Bielawski, Vincent M. Lynch, Jonathan L. Sessler, Kuppuswamy Arumugam

Chemistry: Faculty Publications (1990-2023)

Ferrocene containing N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligated gold(I) complexes of the type [Au(NHC)2]+ were prepared and found to be capable of regulating the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) via multiple mechanisms. Single crystal X-ray analysis of bis(1-(ferrocenylmethyl)-3-mesitylimidazol-2-ylidene)-gold(I) chloride (5) and bis(1,3-di(ferrocenylmethyl)imidazol-2-ylidene)-gold(I) chloride (6) revealed a quasi-linear geometry around the gold(I) centers (i.e., the C–Au–C bond angle were measured to be ∼177° and all the Au–Ccarbene bonds distances were in the range of 2.00 (7)–2.03 (1) Å). A series of cell studies indicated that cell proliferation inhibition and ROS generation were directly proportional to the amount of ferrocene contained within the …

A Priori Skepticism, Conventionalism And Contextualism, Sherif Mohamed Gamal Salem

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis we propose a skeptical scenario about a priori knowledge. The scenario is composed of three main arguments: the a priori brain-in-a-vat argument, the problem of deduction, and the rule–following paradox. We propose a solution for a priori skepticism that is based on two philosophical schools: conventionalism and contextualism. Finally, we provide a sufficient condition – although hard to satisfy – for relieving a priori skepticism.

Introducing Entrepreneurship Into The Public University Scheme In Egypt, Ahmed Abbas

Theses and Dissertations

The overall study of available literature regarding entrepreneurship in Egypt reveals several gaps and barriers in the ecosystem. Human Capital represented in: education institutions, availability of skilled labor, and culture norms come at the forefront. Absence of entrepreneurship in the educational curricula in schools and most universities is a contributing factor of t the lagging entrepreneurship activities. This research investigates, explains and analyzes the existing situation of entrepreneurship, specifically social entrepreneurship in colleges of commerce in Egyptian public universities. Colleges of commerce are chosen for being the natural home of entrepreneurship education. Description and evaluation of the status quo are …

An Exploratory Study Of Teachers’ Beliefs And Practices Regarding The Class Opening By Teachers Of Arabic To Speakers Of Other Languages (Tasol), Ghada Abdalla Ibrahim Abdelrehim

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the beliefs of teachers of Arabic to speakers of other languages (TASOL) about class openings and the interplay between such beliefs and teacher’s in-class practices regarding class opening as the first introductory part of a lesson. A questionnaire of three parts was given to two groups of TASOL: the first group comprised 63 randomly selected teachers, to provide their beliefs in general about class opening. Observations and interviews were administered to the second group of teachers (30 observations and 10 interviews were conducted) to highlight the mentioned interplay. The investigated beliefs were inspired by similar studies and …

Fuzzy Logic Traffic Signal Controller Enhancement Based On Aggressive Driver Behavior Classification, Shaimaa Mohammed Hegazy

Theses and Dissertations

The rise in population worldwide and especially in Egypt, together with the increase in the number of vehicles present serious complications regarding traffic congestion and road safety. The elementary solution towards improving congestion is to expand road capacities by building new lanes. This, however, requires time and effort and therefore new methodologies are being implemented. Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) try to approach traffic congestion through the application of computational and engineering techniques. Traffic signal control is a branch of intelligent transportation systems which focuses on improving traffic signal conditions. A traffic signal controllers’ main objective is to improve this assignment …

A Sustainable Complex Fenestration System Using Recycled Plastics, Islam Ayman Mashaly

Theses and Dissertations

Daylighting in built spaces has several benefits. It helps in reaching satisfactory levels of energy consumption by reducing the usage of artificial lighting. Furthermore, daylighting is also a major contributor in altering the visual comfort of occupants. Consequently, it boosts occupants’ concentration and productivity, which affects their performance in work tasks. However, an inadequately designed daylighting scheme leads to excessive solar heat gain, especially in hot and arid climates, increasing the temperature of interior spaces. In addition, due to the high solar altitudes in summer, the direct sunlight may fall right beneath the fenestration system and will not reach the …

Optimizing Rehabilitation And Maintenance Of Hospitals, Mohamed Ahmed

Theses and Dissertations

Hospitals are one of the core elements of a health care system that provide medical service to the patients. Hospital facility management is a complex issue as it involves the management of several complex systems that have a direct impact on the delivery of health care issues. This research focuses on two vital aspects of hospital facility management, (1) level of service provided by the hospital and (2) technical aspects of mission critical hospital subsystems. This study proposes two models in order to maintain and improve the level of service delivered to the patients. The first model operates at the …

Primary Education Reforms Targeting Marginalized Groups: The Role Of Local Non-Governmental Organizations In Slum Areas In Cairo, Faiza Alaraji

Theses and Dissertations

The Egyptian government has implemented different educational programs targeting marginalized groups in Egypt over the years. Primary education reform plans are a priority for decision makers in both developed and developing countries. Many governments paid serious attention to implement successful strategies targeting marginalized groups in their societies. The study examined in depth educational reforms strategies in the selected developed and developing countries. Special attention was devoted to examining the role of NGOs in many developing countries like Ghana, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Civil organizations have added valuable contribution and rich experience to the field of education, especially through informal education programs …

Development Of Vertical Diffusion Solar Stills Utilizing Folded Sheets Technology, Amr Seleem

Theses and Dissertations

Fresh water shortage is now a global problem the world is facing, and solar stills address a sustainable solution towards such crisis. This study entails the importance of desalination, specifically solar distillation. Diffusion stills have been effective in water desalination. This work presents a model of the distillation process using vertical single-effect diffusion stills. In the provided models, two geometry patterns have been utilized: the flat sheets and the folded sheets. This study aims to evaluate the applicability of utilizing folded sheets on the performance of the still using wick and without wick. A semi-analytical model utilizing the flat sheet …

Multiaxial Fatigue In Drill Pipes Under Non-Proportional Loading, Nahla Helmy

Theses and Dissertations

The scope of this research is to estimate the fatigue life of drill pipes subjected to multiaxial state of stress. Several approaches that model and estimate fatigue life under non-proportional multiaxial loading were investigated. The critical plane approach was chosen with Fatemi and Socie numerical model. A software program (Elrond) was constructed to estimate the fatigue life for non-proportional loading. The code was validated using previous researchers experimental fatigue data sets. The developed software was then applied to a real life drilling problem. The “Build and Hold” drilling job condition was analyzed using the developed software. Results were compared with …

Using Design Thinking To Enhance Construction Site Problem Solving, Ehab Mokhtar

Theses and Dissertations

Problem solving is one of the most important issues in Construction Management (CM), it influences the outcome of the project due to the amount of decisions and problems that the Construction Manager faces in each project. Construction Management is a vital subject that has been in the spotlight of academic research for decades, which led to its emerging by going through the cycles of developing and evolution. The criteria of decision-making and problem solving have also evolved from focusing on the technical and objective aspects of construction to the soft and subjective ones. (Bakht, El Diraby 2015). Nevertheless, the last …

Environmental Education In Egypt: A Preliminary Assessment, Nouran Assyed Fadl Faragallah

Theses and Dissertations

Giving that Egypt is facing serious environmental issues, Egypt needs to raise the public environmental awareness. Effective environmental education is needed to provide students with what is needed for achieving sustainability. This study aims to assess environmental education in formal education in Egypt through two approaches. The first approach is by assessing students' knowledge and attitudes towards environmental concepts. The second approach is by assessing the contribution of environmental policies to implementing environmental education. The study samples were selected from three public schools located in three different cities and villages. The research used qualitative methodology as the investigation was conducted …

Computational Fluid Dynamics (Cfd) Study Of Patients Suffering Coarctation Of The Aorta (Coa) For Pre And Post-Operative, Omar Abozaid

Theses and Dissertations

Coarctation of the aorta (CoA) is a widespread anomaly that occurs a lot in infants. CoA affects the human health. It causes hypertension, decrease in the amount of blood flow and heart failure. CoA is related to abnormal hemodynamics and certain blood flow patterns are noticed. Different surgical techniques are implemented in order to increase the amount of blood flow such resection end-to-end anastomosis, resection end-to-side anastomosis…etc. This research aims at identifying the effect of CoA on the flow pattern and quantification of the improvement after surgery through utilizing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to solve flow fields in the aorta. …

Impact Of Elevated Temperature, Chemical And Workmanship On Performance Of Beams With Near Surface Mounted Frp Bars, Mahmoud Mohamed

Theses and Dissertations

Near surface mounted (NSM) is growing exponentially into the strengthening and repair of concrete structures over the past decades worldwide. CFRP NSM offers a superior strength over conventional steel reinforcement as well as a good durability in various environmental service conditions. However, the effect of elevated temperature, adhesiveness and chemicals has not been sufficiently studied. This study aims at assessing the impact of elevated temperatures, adhesives, and chemicals on beams exposed to flexural loading. To meet this objective, a set of 60 beams were prepared with locally available NSM and exposed to temperatures of 70, 120 and 180 °C for …

Resurrecting Eden: Inaugural British Narration And Policy Of Iraq, Timothy Kennett

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines Britain's use of technology in developing Mesopotamia. British imaginations of Mesopotamia as Eden or El Dorado, reified by a multiplicity of travel literature,archaeological digs, and geographic societies, formed the first half of a violent dialectic that granted divine right and responsibility to the British. Instead, colonialists claimed that Mesopotamia's inhabitants squandered its primordial potential through neglect and mismanagement. These justifications fueled British attempts to develop Mesopotamia, irrigation engineers designing floodgates for the Tigris and Euphrates while agriculturalists created new strains of wheat that would flourish in its climate. But technology was more than development. It formed the …