Digital Commons Network^™

Factors Impacting Treatment Decisions In Caregivers Of Autistic Children, Tiffany Harris

Dissertations

Caregivers of autistic children are not only tasked with deciding upon various treatment options for their children’s symptoms but must also navigate the initial crisis that is experienced after receiving a diagnosis of ASD for their children (Blancher, 1984; Ellis, 1989). Leventhal’s Common Sense Model of Self-Regulation (the CSM; Leventhal et al., 1980) is a theoretical framework developed to understand the self-regulatory processes involved in adapting to and managing health threats and posits that cognitive and emotional illness perceptions influence illness outcomes through coping behaviors. This is the first study to examine all major components of the CSM (i.e., cognitive …

Elucidation Of Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Tumor Necrosis Factor (Tnf) Release From Mast Cells, Tolulope Eunice Ayo

Dissertations

Mast cells are one of the major producers of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF), and mast cell-derived TNF (MC-TNF) is associated with pathological conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel diseases, and allergic asthma. However, the molecular machinery underlying TNF release from mast cells has been unclear, despite the conserved nature of exocytosis. To delineate the exocytic machinery required for TNF release from mast cells, we systematically dissected the exocytic fusion machinery (e.g., Munc13, Munc18, and VAMP families) expressed in mast cells, using a combination of CRISPR-dependent knockout, RNA interference, confocal microscopy, lentiviral rescue experiments, and cell-based assays. Out of the …

Delta-Shaped Approximation Based Homotopy Analysis Method For Nonlinear Poisson-Type Partial Differential Equations, Cyril Ocloo

Dissertations

This research aims to solve nonlinear Poisson-type partial differential equations (PDEs) by the approach of the homotopy analysis method (HAM) incorporated with approximate particular solutions (APS) using Delta-shaped basis (DSB) approximations.

With the inclusion of the h auxiliary parameters, we tackle nonlinear problems by studying the mathematical characteristics of the h curve. This is to ensure the numerical convergence of the HAM.

In the solution process, we use the homotopy analysis method to convert a nonlinear PDE into linear inhomogeneous PDEs, which are solved using the method of approximate particular solutions with DSB.

A proper value of the h is …

Adam Politzer (1835-1920): The Founder Of Clinical Otology., Emily S Cushing, Taylor L Selby, Meredith Lehoe

Medical Education Articles

Adam Politzer was a Hungarian surgeon and medical scientist, credited with describing the cochlear nucleus and otitis media, revolutionizing its treatment through his invention of "Politzerization." After receiving training from notable medical figures in Vienna and London, where he studied and trained as a surgeon respectively, he became Vienna's first professor of otology. In 1873, he established the first dedicated otology clinic in the world. His five-volume textbook, "Lehrbuch der Ohrenheilkunde," unified otologic knowledge in his time and remains a resource to this day. Politzer's contributions continue to influence modern otology, solidifying his legacy as a pioneering leader in medicine.

Impact Of Pre-Harvest Fungicide Application On The Storage Performance Of Tomato Fruits, Zhifu Lan, Jing Huang, Komivi S. Akutse, Yongwen Lin

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

To examine the impact of pre-harvest fungicide applications on the postharvest storage performance of tomato fruits, we measured the lycopene content, hardness, soluble solids content, rotting rate, and weight loss rate of the fruits, as well as conducted a sensory assessment. Protective and systematic fungicides were sprayed on tomatoes 20 days before harvest in order to prevent rotting and weight loss during storage. Our findings showed that, the fungicide-treated tomatoes had a significantly lower rotting rate of 16.00% and a weight loss rate of 3.96%. However the control group experienced 65.33% rotting rate and 6.90% weight loss rate on 12th …

Novel Emergent Phases In A Two-Dimensional Superconductor, Simrandeep Kaur, Hemanta Kumar Kundu, Sumit Kumar, Anjana Dogra, Rajesh Narayanan, Thomas Vojta, Aveek Bid

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this letter, we report our observation of an extraordinarily rich phase diagram of a LaScO₃/SrTiO₃ heterostructure. Close to the superconducting transition temperature, the system hosts a superconducting critical point of the Infinite-randomness type characterized by an effective dynamical exponent ν z that diverges logarithmically. At lower temperatures, we find the emergence of a magnetic field-tuned metallic phase that co-exists with a quantum Griffiths phase (QGP). Our study reveals a previously unobserved phenomenon in 2D superconductors—an unanticipated suppression of the QGP below a crossover temperature in this system. This concealment is accompanied by the destruction of the …

Implementation And Optimization Of A Secure, Scalable, And Robust Long-Range Low-Power Mesh Network For Enhanced Geo-Location Accuracy And Efficient Data Aggregation, Sheikh Tareq Ahmed

All Dissertations

The burgeoning realm of the Internet of Things (IoT) calls for advanced communication networks that can support an ever-increasing number of connected devices. Among these, Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWANs), specifically LoRaWAN technology, have emerged as frontrunners due to their long-range, low-power capabilities, ideally suiting IoT's expansive nature. This dissertation presents a comprehensive study on enhancing LoRaWAN technology to overcome the existing limitations in geolocation accuracy and data aggregation efficiency. The work is set against the backdrop of the technology's vulnerability to signal attenuation in obstacle-rich environments and its challenges in scaling to accommodate dense networks without performance degradation. …

School Shootings In The United States: An Analysis Of Micro And Macro Level Variables, Vineeth Vijayan

All Dissertations

In 2023, by November 2, there had been 45 school shootings resulting in fatalities and injuries (Matthews, 2023). There were 193 shooting incidents in preschools and K–12 schools during the previous school year, which is greater than an average of 49 incidents each school year since 2013 (Everytown Research & Policy, 2022). This predictive quantitative study offers a comprehensive analysis of various state-level, school-level, and individual-level variables, such as the laws related to guns, access to mental health services, economics, type of school shooting, socio-demographic indicators, school type, and timing of the incident toward informing effective preventative policies. It utilized …

Innovation And Deregulation: The Case Of Texas Electricity Companies, Millicent D. Delaney

All Dissertations

Deregulation has played an essential role in the restructuring and development of various industries. In the energy industry, deregulation has empowered consumers by offering them more provider choices, economic security, and affordability. It has reconstructed the energy transmission, distribution, and generation processes, thereby making energy more cost-effective for customers. Most studies in this area examined the impact of deregulation from consumers’ perspectives and mainly focused on European and other non-U.S. markets. There are not many studies that examined the impact of deregulation in the energy sector of the United States.

Therefore, this study is an examination of the impact of …

The Impact Of District Policy On The Efficacious Implementation Of Texas House Bill 5, Marlene Studivant- Moore

All Dissertations

Preparing students to contribute to society is essential for every high school in the nation. Texas House Bill 5 (House Bill 5, 2013) sought to create a framework for achieving college and career readiness for Texas public schools. Counselors were the frontline mentors who had essential roles in implementing House Bill 5. However, the performance of graduation and curricular changes mandated by House Bill 5 increased the responsibilities of counselors and challenged how the policy implementation affected students' college and career readiness. Numerous challenges and issues emerged within the school districts executing House Bill 5.

The success of House Bill …

Spɛktə/ - On Digital Dust, Ectoplasm And The Infinite Architecture Of The Fulldome., Mike Phillips

School of Art, Design and Architecture

The history of the fulldome is intertwingled with architectural mechanisms for viewing and representing the heavens, weaving the mythological, the divine and theological, the astronomical and astrological into the fabric of dome or spherical shaped buildings that symbolise enlightenment and power. There is something strangely compelling about the acoustic and visual properties of a dome, from the whispering gallery effect to its ability to disappear completely when gazed into. When projected into, these qualities provide an enhanced sense of immersion, especially when the projection extends through the screen and into the void beyond. It is in this space that the …

Justice Theater In The Criminal Law Curriculum, Gregory Brazeal

Cardozo Law Review

For the last half-century, law students have been required to take a criminal law course that ostensibly trains them to think critically about the justifications for criminal punishment. The same students have then gone on to serve as central actors in a system of mass incarceration that millions of Americans today view as profoundly unjust.

How did this happen?

A number of legal scholars, notably including Alice Ristroph in her 2020 Article “The Curriculum of the Carceral State,” have argued that the traditional criminal law curriculum has played a role in creating and reproducing the practices of mass incarceration. This …

The Death Of The Gid Exclusion: Williams V. Kincaid Revitalizes The Ada For Trans Litigants, Alexandra Newman

Cardozo Law Review

Kesha Williams is a transgender woman with gender dysphoria who spent six months incarcerated in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center in Virginia. When Williams first entered the facility, she was assigned to women’s housing and given the uniforms typically provided to female inmates. However, upon learning that Williams had not undergone transfeminine bottom surgery, prison deputies stripped Williams of her female undergarments and transferred her to the men’s side of the facility. There, Williams was harassed by other inmates, misgendered by prison deputies, and delayed in receiving medical treatment for her gender dysphoria. Following her release, Williams asserted several …

The U Visa: A Remedy For Vulnerable Immigrants Scammed By Unscrupulous Attorneys, Jennifer Piñeros

Cardozo Law Review

As of 2018, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) estimates that there are eleven million unauthorized immigrants† living in the United States. Due to limited resources, DHS has taken the position that it “cannot respond to all immigration violations or remove all persons unlawfully [residing] in the United States.” Congress has failed to enact comprehensive immigration reform, despite numerous attempts, since the Reagan administration. This leaves the unauthorized population in a limbo often characterized as “living in the shadows”—relegated to fading into the background so as to not draw the attention of immigration enforcement authorities. Immigration status impacts many …

Is Grammar Religious Exercise? Addressing Transgender Students And The Limits Of The Complicity Doctrine, Saul R. Thorkelson

Cardozo Law Review

May teachers reject transgender students’ names and pronouns on religious grounds? Across the United States, many schools and universities have adopted policies calling on staff to use all students’ designated first names and gender-congruent pronouns. A number of conservative Christian teachers have claimed that they cannot address transgender students in this way without violating their religious beliefs. In several cases, after unsuccessful attempts by administrators to accommodate these objections, teachers who were subject to employment consequences have brought lawsuits alleging violation of their religious liberty and free speech rights.

This Note employs two recent cases to examine courts’ reasoning on …

“Academic Publishing Is A Business Interest”: Reconciling Faculty Serials Needs And Economic Realities At A Carnegie R2 University, Rachel E. Scott, Anne Shelley, Chad E. Buckley, Cassie Thayer-Styes, Julie A. Murphy

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

Introduction: This article explores faculty conceptions of academic publishers, their willingness to circumvent paywalls and share content, and their understanding of who holds the responsibility to pay for this body of scholarly work to which they all contribute.

Methods: The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with 25 faculty at their Carnegie R2 university to explore scholars’ perspectives with respect to the costs of serials and the responsibilities of the University and library in support of scholarly publishing.

Results: Participants reported a broad spectrum of perspectives with respect to circumventing publisher paywalls and offered nuanced practices for interacting with paywalled content. They …

Archives Outside: Bringing Daylight To Storage And Storytelling, Bethany Fiechter, Carol Street

Library Faculty Publications

This poster focuses on two unusual archival initiatives undertaken by archivists at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, and the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. At DePauw, an archivist and restorer preserved and relocated two headstones found buried in the archive's backlog. At Kentucky, an undergraduate research visit to an African American cemetery powerfully contributed to student learning and created community connections.

A Hierarchical Framework For Interpretable, Safe, And Specialised Deep Reinforcement Learning, Ammar Abbas

Doctoral

Safety-critical systems, which are crucial for human safety and the environment, are difficult to control and operate. Traditional controllers need precise models of these complex systems, which is hard to develop. \acrfull{drl} offers a potential solution by learning from interactions rather than detailed models, but it faces limitations such as non-transparent decision-making and an expensive, unsafe learning process. Additionally, a key challenge in DRL is ensuring effective decision-making in rare situations.

This thesis proposes a novel approach called the \acrfull{prop_frame} that enables safe and reliable control of critical systems. SRLA combines probabilistic modelling with reinforcement learning to create an interpretable …

An Efficient Neutrosophic Approach For Evaluating Possible Industry 5.0 Enablers In Consumer Electronics: A Case Study, Mai Mohamed, Asmaa Elsayed, Bilal Arain, Jun Ye

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

With the use of cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and the Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 5.0 represents a breakthrough move towards a sustainable and human-centered industrial future. Industry 5.0 endeavors to transform industries such as consumer electronics by emphasizing sustainability and collaboration, in contrast to its predecessors, who only concentrated on automation and efficiency. Along with improved manufacturing efficiency and product innovation, this change in the consumer electronics sector also redefines the human-machine interaction. This paper proposes a novel hybrid integrating model that combines the Entropy Weight Method (EWM), Best-Worst Method (BWM), and an acronym in Portuguese …

Developing Catalysts For The Hydrolysis Of Glycosidic Bonds In Oligosaccharides Using A Spectrophotometric Screening Assay, Susanna Striegler

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

In a proof-of-concept study, a method for the empirical design of polyacrylate gel catalysts with the ability to cleave 1→4 α-glycosidic bonds in di- and trisaccharides was elaborated. The study included the synthesis of a 300-gel member library based on two different cross-linkers and 10 acrylate monomers, identification of monomodal gels by dynamic light scattering, and a 96-well plate spectrophotometric screening assay to monitor the hydrolysis of chromophore-free maltose into glucose units. The composition of the matrix of the most efficient catalysts in the library was found to enable CH−π, hydrophobic, and H-bond accepting interactions during the hydrolysis as typically …

Tool-Sensed Object Information Effectively Supports Vision For Multisensory Grasping, Ivan Camponogara, Alessandro Farnè, Robert Volcic

All Works

Tools enable humans to extend their sensing abilities beyond the natural limits of their hands, allowing them to sense objects as if they were using their hands directly. The similarities between direct hand interactions with objects (hand-based sensing) and the ability to extend sensory information processing beyond the hand (tool-mediated sensing) entail the existence of comparable processes for integrating tool- and hand-sensed information with vision, raising the question of whether tools support vision in bimanual object manipulations. Here, we investigated participants' performance while grasping objects either held with a tool or with their hand and compared these conditions with visually …

Response Surface Methodology-Based Optimization Of The Chitinolytic Activity Of Burkholderia Contaminans Strain 614 Exerting Biological Control Against Phytopathogenic Fungi, Imen Ben Slimene Debez, Hayet Houmani, Henda Mahmoudi, Khaoula Mkadmini, Pedro Garcia-Caparros, Ahmed Debez, Olfa Tabbene, Naceur Djébali, Maria Camino Urdaci

All Works

As part of the development of alternative and environmentally friendly control against phytopathogenic fungi, Burkholderia cepacia could be a useful species notably via the generation of hydrolytic enzymes like chitinases, which can act as a biological control agent. Here, a Burkholderia contaminans S614 strain exhibiting chitinase activity was isolated from a soil in southern Tunisia. Then, response surface methodology (RSM) with a central composite design (CCD) was used to assess the impact of five factors (colloidal chitin, magnesium sulfate, dipotassium phosphate, yeast extract, and ammonium sulfate) on chitinase activity. B. contaminans strain 614 growing in the optimized medium showed up …

2024 August 1 - Tennessee Weekly Drought Summary, Tennessee Climate Office, East Tennessee State University

Tennessee Climate Office Weekly Drought Summaries

No abstract provided.

New Electrochemical Platforms For The Detection Of Neurodegenerative Disease Biomarkers, Omair Adil

Dissertations

Neurodegenerative disease (ND) is a collection of progressive disorders which is marked by gradual degeneration of the central nervous system (CNS). The damage of brain and nervous system causes diminishing of brain and nerve cell which lead to body dysfunction, organ failure, paralysis and ultimately death of a patient. Neurodegenerative diseases affect millions of people worldwide. United States of America is among highest ND prevailing disease countries. Yet the number of cases is underreported because of the complexity of disease diagnosis. With the increase in aging population the rate of ND cases is also increasing. Another important concern is that …

'Crowned With The Wreath Of Immortality': Martyrdom, Death, And The Afterlife In North African Religious Discourse, Matthew William Egbert

Dissertations

This dissertation explores North Africa’s role in the development of its own religious discourse, specifically with regard to martyrdom, death, the afterlife, and other eschatological themes. Historians of early Christianity and Islam often depict the region as peripheral, but it was actually a crossroads where pre-existing traditions met new ideas to develop unique, localized versions of these religions. More often than not, these emphasized a pursuit of martyrdom and veneration of saints. This longue-durée study covers a vast timeline, spanning the pre-Christian period to the late Fatimid Caliphate. Its central focus, however, is the Donatist schism that divided North Africa …

Essays On Aging, Health, And Labor Market, Lanjie Wang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This dissertation consists of four chapters on aging, health, and labor economics.

In the first chapter, we investigate the short-term impacts of unemployment on older workers in Singapore, a setting without public unemployment insurance. Using monthly panel data, we analyze dynamic impacts on income, spending, health, and subjective well-being over two years post-unemployment. We find substantial initial earnings losses with incomplete recovery, with income remaining 46.5% below pre-unemployment levels after 24 months. Despite this persistent income gap, consumption responses are modest and comparable to countries with strong social safety nets, suggesting robust self-insurance mechanisms. We observe increased retirement among married …

Deep Representation Learning For Time Series Forecasting, Gerald Woo

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Time series forecasting has critical applications across business and scien- tific domains, such as demand forecasting, capacity planning and management, and anomaly detection. Being able to predict the future yields immense value, allowing us to make downstream decisions with more confidence. Deep learning for time series forecasting is a burgeoning area of research, moving away from simple linear models found in classical time series analysis literature, towards more expressive, data hungry neural network architectures.

In this thesis, we develop methods leveraging deep representation learning for time series forecasting, from exploring neural network architecture designs which encode inductive biases specific to …

Dispersive Shock Waves In A One-Dimensional Droplet-Bearing Environment, Sathyanarayanan Chandramouli, S. I. Mistakidis, G. C. Katsimiga, P. G. Kevrekidis

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

We demonstrate the controllable generation of distinct types of dispersive shock waves emerging in a quantum droplet bearing environment with the aid of steplike initial conditions. Dispersive regularization of the ensuing hydrodynamic singularities occurs due to the competition between mean-field repulsion and attractive quantum fluctuations. This interplay delineates the dominance of defocusing (hyperbolic) and focusing (elliptic) hydrodynamic phenomena being designated by the real and the imaginary speed of sound, respectively. Specifically, the symmetries of the extended Gross-Pitaevskii model led to a three-parameter family, encompassing two densities and a relative velocity of the underlying Riemann problem utilized herein. Surprisingly, dispersive shock …

Particle-Imbalanced Weakly Interacting Quantum Droplets In One Dimension, I. A. Englezos, P. Schmelcher, S. I. Mistakidis

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

We explore the formation of one-dimensional two-component quantum droplets with intercomponent particle imbalance using an ab initio many-body method. It is shown that for moderate particle imbalance each component maintains its droplet flat-top or Gaussian-type character depending on the intercomponent attraction. Importantly, large particle imbalance leads to a flat-top shape of the majority component with the minority exhibiting spatially localized configurations. The latter imprint modulations on the majority component which become more pronounced for increasing interspecies attraction. The same holds for larger mass or increasing repulsion of the minority species. Such structural transitions are also evident in the underlying two-body …

Dispersive Shock Waves In A One-Dimensional Droplet-Bearing Environment, Sathyanarayanan Chandramouli, S. I. Mistakidis, G. C. Katsimiga, P. G. Kevrekidis

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

We demonstrate the controllable generation of distinct types of dispersive shock waves emerging in a quantum droplet bearing environment with the aid of steplike initial conditions. Dispersive regularization of the ensuing hydrodynamic singularities occurs due to the competition between mean-field repulsion and attractive quantum fluctuations. This interplay delineates the dominance of defocusing (hyperbolic) and focusing (elliptic) hydrodynamic phenomena being designated by the real and the imaginary speed of sound, respectively. Specifically, the symmetries of the extended Gross-Pitaevskii model led to a three-parameter family, encompassing two densities and a relative velocity of the underlying Riemann problem utilized herein. Surprisingly, dispersive shock …