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Clinical Outcomes Of Primary Anterior Esthetic Crowns In Pediatric Dentistry, Jenan Alahmad

Theses and Dissertations

Clinical Outcomes of Primary Anterior Esthetic Crowns in Pediatric Dentistry - A Prospective Cohort Study

By: Jenan Alahmad, BDS

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Dentistry at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Virginia Commonwealth University, 2024

Thesis Advisor: Parthasarathy Madurantakam, DDS, MDS, PhD

Department of Pediatric Dentistry

BODY

Purpose: This prospective cohort study aimed to compare the effectiveness of restoring maxillary anterior teeth in children (aged 3-6 years) with three different materials: Zirconia Crowns (ZC), Resin Composite Crowns (RC), and Pre-veneered Stainless-Steel Crowns (PVSSC). The study aims to assess the Oral …

Tchu Tcha Tcha: The Transformative Role Of Funk, Adriane De Souza

Theses and Dissertations

Cultural disconnection and homesickness are part of expatriate life. My research investigates the transformative power of Brazilian funk, which, for me, evokes restorative memories of home and life in Rio de Janeiro.

Originating in North America, funk made an exciting leap and found a new home in Brazil, particularly in Rio de Janeiro. Over time, it has become firmly established and thoroughly Brazilianized, infused with local instruments and influences, leading to the emergence of a new genre of music known as Brazilian funk.

Transplanted again, to Qatar, this work celebrates the migration of funk through a combination of still images, …

Supervisor-Subordinate Communication In The Contemporary Audit Environment, Devon P. Jefferson

Theses and Dissertations

Just five years ago I was working as an Audit Manager in person (in the office or at the client site), amongst each of my subordinates, which made common work practices like knowledge sharing, responding to questions, and building team morale easy. Since then, remote work has become the new norm, which has significantly changed the communication dynamics between supervisors and subordinates. This dissertation is my personal pursuit to understanding how supervisor and subordinate auditors are currently interacting to achieve desired work outcomes, and identifying specific areas where challenges may exist. I accomplish this objective through four papers, including a …

Capiz Reborn: Preserving And Enhancing Traditional Philippine Shellcraft, Destarte A. Prieto

Theses and Dissertations

The capiz shell is a thin, translucent exoskeleton of a mollusk found in the Philippine Sea. Traditionally, capiz shells were made into window panes and home decor, used so widely they became an iconic part of Philippine identity. Today, the influx of cheap, mass-produced merchandise threatens the capiz shell industry. To encourage renewed interest and sustainable revival of this long-standing industry, my research demonstrates new possibilities for the capiz shell.

In reconstituting cast-off bits and shell trimmings to form a new capiz biomaterial, my work is informed by the three traditional techniques used by Philippine capiz artisans—sewing, welding and bonding. …

Call For Me When You Get There: I'Ll Be Among The Crows, Jessica O. Tifase

Theses and Dissertations

I've always been intrigued by the ways in which the notion of flight has been used to describe the movement of Black people, both literally and figuratively. In many instances, flight performs as a double entendre, embodying multiple meanings: to escape or to transcend. The fluidity of its definition prompts a reflection I’ve been wrestling with as I move through the world: Are Black people in a perpetual state of flight?

In my thesis exhibition, Call for Me When You Get There, I use the precarious state of flight as a means to explore the complicated choreography necessary for navigating …

Fear Of God: Exploring Transformative Potential, Misunderstanding, Systemic Challenges, And The Future., Jermaine Ollivierre

Theses and Dissertations

This personal journey is a testament to the transformative power of play within my practice. It is a love story between me and the institution, sparked by my fervor for communal creativity in a graduate school environment. Through creative endeavors like public art installations and silent artist talks, I confront racial dynamics and institutional reluctance to engage with complex issues like Black Lives Matter. My personal experiences of alienation are woven into the broader themes of community building, communication, and systemic change. I navigate the complexities of group mentality and exclusion by deliberately using unconventional forms of expression, such as …

Mental Health Help-Seeking Behaviors And Service Utilization Of Black College Students, Troy J. Keys

Theses and Dissertations

Black college students are less likely to seek mental health services compared to other students. While previous research has identified barriers and facilitators contributing to Black college students’ help-seeking behaviors, the current political and social climate and pandemic have negatively impacted their mental health thus warranting the exploration of these factors again. This study aimed to identify the mental health help-seeking behaviors and attitudes of Black college students, the barriers and supports for help-seeking behaviors, their preferred service utilization providers, and their thoughts about promoting mental health help-seeking among their peers. Black college students (n = 21) enrolled at an …

Mindfulness, Moral Outrage, And The Climate Crisis: A Novel Approach Toward Motivating Pro-Environmental Behaviors, Erika Blair

Theses and Dissertations

The consequences of anthropogenic climate change are severe, continuously accelerating, and pose serious threats to the human and natural world. It is imperative to address the climate crisis from a psychosocial perspective and incite lasting, individual-level behavioral change. Various theoretical models have been adapted or developed to explain pro-environmental behaviors. However, the predictive powers of the most commonly used models have proven to be limited, and the underlying psychological processes of pro-environmental behavior constitute a significant gap in the literature. The present study identifies two psychological processes that show significant promise in motivating pro-environmental behaviors: moral outrage and mindfulness. Moral …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Section 1983 Filings By Incarcerated Plaintiffs, Hollie Macdonald

Theses and Dissertations

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was a “watershed moment" in human history, transcending its role as a mere health crisis to reveal deeper fissures within societies. The present retrospective longitudinal study examined COVID-19 as an “era” of complexity utilizing it as an intermediate construct that delineates “pre-COVID” and “post-COVID.” In order to understand the impact of the COVID-19 era, the design of the study and hypotheses stem from an assumption of the interconnectedness of issues related to health, social justice, racial justice, politics, and information dissemination.

This study utilized both manifest and latent content analysis to explore the most …

Who Is Responsible For Corporate Social Responsibility? Investigating Employees’ Roles As Agents Of Csr, Leah Alley

Theses and Dissertations

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be thought of as involving an interaction between two parties: one party who performs the socially good deed (i.e., the “agents” of CSR), and another party who is to receive its benefits (i.e., the “intended beneficiary” of CSR). Research on employee reactions to CSR largely focuses on employees’ reactions to CSR in general, which makes it impossible to assess how employees’ roles as agents and beneficiaries of CSR influence subsequent attitudes and behaviors. Theories of justice suggest that employee perceptions of CSR change when they are and are not the agents and beneficiaries of CSR, …

Enhancing Chemotherapeutic Efficacy Of Doxorubicin Through Combination Therapy With Rapamycin And Sildenafil, While Providing Cardioprotection In Breast Cancer Models, Rebecca Mathew

Theses and Dissertations

Doxorubicin (DOX) is a common chemo-drug for breast cancer, but it causes severe cardiotoxicity. This study explores combining Sildenafil (Sild) and Rapamycin (Rapa), which inhibit phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) and mTOR, respectively, to boost DOX’s anticancer, but provide cardioprotection. Triple negative human (MDA-MB-231) and murine (4T1) breast cancer cells were treated with DOX (1 µM) with/without Rapa (100 nM) and Sild (10 µM) for 24-72 hours to analyze cell death, cell viability assays and protein expression. Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive breast cancer (SKBr3) spheroids were treated with the same concentrations of DOX and/or AG825 (5µM) with/without Rapa and/or Sild for …

The Regulation Of Laryngeal Cancer Cell Phenotype And Proliferation By 24r,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 Is Correlated With Erα Isoform Expression, Cydney Dennis

Theses and Dissertations

Laryngeal cancer is the most common type of head and neck cancer and is associated with poor prognosis due to common delayed diagnoses. The sex disparities associated with laryngeal cancer are constantly growing, as the risk of malignancy in males is continually increasing compared to women. Due to the high chance of late-stage diagnosis requiring aggressive treatments, there is a high demand for less aggressive treatment options and early-stage diagnostic markers. The apparent sex disposition of the larynx, the correlation between sex hormones, and the risk of malignancy in aging men suggest that estrogen may play a role in laryngeal …

Energy Efficient Spintronic Devices For Non-Volatile Memory And Hardware Ai, Walid Al Misba

Theses and Dissertations

Nanomagnetic devices have emerged as a promising alternative to conventional complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) devices due to their low energy dissipation and inherent non-volatility. However, the widespread adoption of these devices requires high-density, high-speed, reliable, scalable, and energy-efficient technologies. This thesis investigates the use of nanomagnetic memory devices as both conventional Boolean memory and multistate memory for hardware AI applications.

Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) are nanomagnetic memory devices that can be switched reliably and energy-efficiently using stress-mediated switching. However, realistic material inhomogeneity and scalability pose challenges for stress-mediated switching of MTJs scaled to lateral dimensions below 50 nm. We demonstrate that …

The Many Impacts Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Latinx College Students’ Mental Health: Exploring The Role Of Sleep, Social Support, And Familismo, Mayra S. Ramos

Theses and Dissertations

College students experienced a multitude of disruptions to their daily life, and changes to their physical (i.e., sleep quality) and mental health (e.g., anxiety and depressive symptoms) because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Though the field has identified the factors that have contributed to negative physical and mental health changes, there remains much to be known about social and cultural protective factors that could buffer the negative role of the COVID-19 pandemic on Latinx college students. The current study contributed to the literature on the mental health outcomes of Latinx college students by identifying a possible mediator and moderators between the …

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury In Yucatan Minipigs: Assessing Changes In Approachability And Mechanical Nociception Following Diffuse Central Fluid Percussion Injury, Mark D. Pavlichenko

Theses and Dissertations

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major healthcare concern affecting millions. Symptoms of TBI include sensory sensitivity and social changes that may persist long-term. Due to similarities in cytoarchitecture, metabolism, and inflammation, higher order minipig models are advantageous for translational TBI research, however, there remains a shortage of information regarding their behavioral and sensory sequelae following injury. Therefore, in this study, we assessed changes in sociability and somatosensation in adult male and female Yucatan minipigs for up to one-week following a sham or central fluid percussion injury (cFPI). Specifically, the voluntary human approach task (VHAT) and the forced human approach …

T Cell Polarization Regulates The Inflammatory Response And Tissue Regeneration At The Peri-Implant Interface, Derek Avery

Theses and Dissertations

Unresolved healing and localized chronic inflammation are common occurrences after biomaterial implantation, resulting in unfavorable clinical outcomes such as implant failure or fibrous encapsulation. T cells are adaptive immune cells found in lymph nodes, thymus, spleen, bone marrow, and around biomaterials, significantly impacting the degree of inflammation and wound healing. T cells are vital for inflammatory cytokine production and modulation of innate immune cells, including neutrophils and macrophages. T cells can be differentiated into two primary subsets, CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells, playing distinctive roles in various pathologies and disease states. While T cells have been characterized well …

Using Asset-Based Community Development To Increase Student Engagement And Improve Student Experience In Schools, Jacqueline Hopkins

Theses and Dissertations

The following is a dissertation in the three-paper dissertation format. The first section will give background information on the issue of alienation in schools and how asset-based community development (ABCD) could be an effective tool for educators to combat alienation and disengagement, especially with students with marginalized identities. This first section will also show the significance of the three papers as a whole and how they connect to one another. The first paper is the conceptual literature review, the second paper is an empirical study of the ABCD model in schools, and the dissertation will end with a practitioner's article …

How Ebony Transcends In The Ivory Tower: Unveiling Transformational Black Women Forging Leadership Paths In Historically White Institutions, Lauren N. Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

Considerable literature has amplified the perceived challenges and deficits of Black women as they advance in their careers within historically white institutions (HWI). As a result, there is a notable absence of anti-deficit explorations of the inherent abilities and strengths that contribute to Black women’s professional mobility. Grounded in anti-deficit achievement framework and Black feminist leadership, this study aimed to illuminate the assets and factors that influence the professional ascension of seven, current/former senior-level Black women in a HWI within the Southeastern region of the U.S. By adopting a qualitative, phenomenological framework, this study provides in-depth insights into the participants’ …

Bridging The Gap In Epsilon-Near-Zero Nonlinear Materials, Adam R. Ball

Theses and Dissertations

Studying how light and matter interact has been of interest to humans for thousands of years. From the invention of the first mirror, burning ants with a magnifying glass, to optical fiber communication, light has been central to mankind. Researchers have sought to take this to the extreme with nonlinear optics where intense laser light interacts with materials. The study of this thesis is to understand a new generation of materials that has come to light. Epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) materials have shown promise for ultrafast light manipulation in tandem with modern day CMOS compatible electronics. Here, I seek to bridge the …

Title: I: L1-Norm Matrix Completion For Recommender Systems Ii: Conjecturing-Based Classification, Fatemeh Valizadeh Gamchi

Theses and Dissertations

Recommendation systems are essential for providing personalized user experiences, but their performance can be affected by outliers especially in traditional collaborative filtering methods that use the L2-norm. To address this challenge, we developed two new algorithms, SharpEl1rs and SharpEl1rs-Impute, based on the L1-norm to improve resistance against extreme values and effectively handle missing data. Our experimental setting was designed to compare these proposed methods with existing techniques. Then our algorithms are applied to real datasets to assess their performance, with findings indicating that our proposed models offer improved accuracy in some cases and solid performance in others for industrial-scale recommendation …

Examining Parent Behavior And Adolescent Outcomes In A Pediatric Obesity Intervention, Madison W. Weinstock

Theses and Dissertations

Pediatric obesity is a major public health concern that affects over 14.4 million children and adolescents in the United States. Multiple short- and long-term health complications are associated with obesity. Therefore, effective treatment methods are needed in order to ameliorate the effects of said complications, particularly among adolescents. This dissertation investigated potential associations between parent eating behaviors and the outcomes of adolescents enrolled in a pediatric weight loss trial (TEENS+; PI: Bean, R21HD084930). The TEENS+ intervention offered a comprehensive behavioral weight intervention for parent-adolescent dyads. Given the well-established importance of parents in the development of an adolescent’s health behavior, this …

Enhancing Accessibility : A Pilot Study For Context-Aware Image-Caption To American Sign Language (Asl) Translation, Oluwafolahanmi Adedamola Aluko

Theses

Since the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the explosion of Generative AI, much work has been done around image captioning, providing wildly accurate captions from still images, and more recently videos [3]. Alt-Text has improved dramatically with efforts to enhance context and sentiment captured during automated captioning. This thesis attempts to expand on a section on Natural Language Processing (NLP) and its relevance to promoting accessibility and context-awareness in the premise of the American Sign Language (ASL) application. This thesis explores what it means to give full context about a caption or image to the end user, including sentiments, …

Audiovisual Translation: A Case Study Of What We Wanted, Evren Barut, M.Cem Odacıoğlu, Fadimə Çoban

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This study examines the English and Turkish subtitles of the German Netflix film Was Wir Wollten based on its dubbed version. In the film, main characters Alice and Niklas speak Standard High German (Hochdeutsch), while Christl communicates in South Tyrolean German, a distinct dialect, with her husband Romed and their children. To highlight cultural contrasts between the families, Saran Digital Studios, responsible for the Turkish subtitles and dubbing, made a notable localization decision: they replaced South Tyrolean German with Aegean Turkish in the dubbed version. According to interviews with Saran Digital Studios and Netflix officials, various Turkish dialects, including the …

Correlates Of Coffee And Energy Drink Use Among Individuals With Severe Alcohol Use Disorder, Enkelejda Ngjelina

Theses and Dissertations

Research on caffeine consumption among college students and young adults has primarily focused on caffeinated energy drinks (EDs) and their combination with alcohol, demonstrating a strong association with heavy and problematic alcohol use. However, little attention has been directed toward older adults. Furthermore, studies have shown that regular ED consumers are more likely to meet the criteria for alcohol dependence compared to their peers. Despite this association, little is known about ED consumption among individuals with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), particularly those undergoing treatment, and even less is understood about other caffeine sources such as coffee. This study aimed to …

Systemic Contributors To Health Equity: A Conceptual Framework And Moderation Analysis, Rachel Regal

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a line of research exploring systemic factors that influence health and health equity across the lifespan. A linking document prefaces two-manuscripts as follows. Manuscript 1, A Model for Enhanced Trauma-Informed Care: An Asset-Based, Transdisciplinary Approach to Health Equity, presents a synthesis of literature on multisystem resilience, social determinants of health, and adverse / positive childhood experiences to build an alternative framework to promote healing and health equity using an asset-based approach within enhanced trauma-informed systems of care and educational models. By adopting this enhanced framework, the counseling field and others can be responsive to emerging trends and …

Roleplaying Builds Character: Avatar Performance In Dungeons & Dragons As An Art-Form For Self-Development., Maria F. Pagola Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the impact of the performance and embodiment of Dungeons & Dragons characters on their player’s self-development and self-confidence. Focusing on the game’s 5th edition, this narrative inquiry study is concerned with the applications of D&D as an artistic tool to build both community in formal and informal spaces of art education and individual players’ self-development through the avatars being portrayed during game time.

Ten adult participants ranging from age 23-28 were selected using a mix of direct recruitment and voluntary response. They filled out a digital survey introducing themselves and their main D&D characters, then a 45-minute …

Is Cognitive Fatigue Pushing Peripheral Group Members Towards Extreme Attitudes?, James E. Robinson

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Both cognitive fatigue and group membership impact how individuals respond to persuasive messaging. Cognitively demanding tasks cause mental fatigue, lessening the ability to effortfully consider persuasive messaging and increasing the likelihood of making automatic decisions based on heuristics (Schmeichel et al., 2003). Additionally, self-perception of prototypicality (i.e., level of group membership) impacts motivation to identify with and engage in group normative behavior (Hohman et al., 2017). This research project aimed to further the understanding of how prototypicality and cognitive fatigue interact and come to impact attitude and the effortful elaboration of persuasive messaging.

Molecular Characterization Of Bla Oxa-51 Gene Among Acinetobacter Baumannii Isolates In Babylon Province, Huda H. Al-Hasnawy, Alya A. Rahi, Baraa H. Hadi

Hilla University College Journal For Medical Science

Background: Acinetobacter baumannii, identified as an ESKAPE pathogen, is part of a group of bacteria known for their high antibiotic resistance and significant role in nosocomial infections. Objectives: The objective of the current study is to investigate the genetic sequences of the blaOXA-51 gene in A. baumannii isolates. Materials and Methods: 600 specimens were collected during the period from September 2022 to December 2022 from three hospitals in Babylon Province/ Iraq. Results: In the present study, 20 (3.33%) out of 600 isolates from (urine, Burn, blood and wound)in percentage 6(30%), 5(25%), 5(25%), and 4(20%) respectively. The identification …

Formulation And Characterization Of Poloxamer-Based Mucoadhesive Vaginal In Situ Gelling System Of Miconazole Nitrate, Omar Mohammed Alwan, Iman Sabah Jafar

Hilla University College Journal For Medical Science

Background: Vaginal candidiasis is the most prevalent illness among women and is mostly caused by Candida albicans, which causes most clinic visits. Objectives: The present study aimed to formulate and improve miconazole nitrate-containing thermosensitive bioadhesive gel for vaginal drug delivery to achieve better therapeutic effectiveness and patient compliance in the management of vaginal candidiasis. Materials and Methods: Miconazole nitrate (MN) was prepared as a (2%) vaginal gel by using 18% poloxamer (PLX) 407, 2% PLX 188 as thermoresponsive polymers, and Carbopol (CP) 934 and CP 940 as bioadhesive polymers. The prepared formulations were assessed for parameters such as gelation …

Contrast-Associated Nephropathy: A Comprehensive Review, Karam Akram Al- Akkam, Mufeed Jalil Ewadh, Shukry Faez Al-Saad

Hilla University College Journal For Medical Science

Acute renal failure can be attributed to Contrast-Associated Nephropathy (CAN), which remains a threat due to population variation and the increasing use of contrast media in various techniques. Thus, this review aims to discuss the pathophysiology, factors and risk factors for CAN, measures for prevention, and approaches to its management. The pathophysiology of CAN is extensive and encompasses various factors. Vasoconstriction and medullary hypoxia in the renovascular bed area are crucial in the pathogenesis of CAN. Several contrast media can provoke the formation of free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS), leading to oxidative stress, an inflammatory response, and enhancing …