Digital Commons Network^™

Living Color: Aesthetic Surfaces And Political Life In Brazil, Samuel E. Novacich

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is about the manipulation of appearances – of both the human body and the built environment – in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Focused on Afro-aesthetic makeup and tanning practices as well as urban renewal projects, this ethnographic study reveals how the making over of both the skin and the urban landscape shape social inequalities and contribute to productions of race, gender, and national belonging. While some of the aesthetic technologies examined herein may be characterized as “bottom up” – or as the self-fashioning tactics of marginalized Afro-Brazilians – others constitute “top down” infrastructural interventions led by the state …

Structural, Electronic And Magnetic Properties Of Vanadium Doped Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (Tmds), Qudsia Ashraf

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Magnetic semiconductors are a prerequisite for spintronic devices but their ferromagnetism disappears at room-temperature hindering application in room temperature electronic devices. Enormous research has been conducted on the room-temperature ferromagnetic order in monolayer form of bulk van der Waals materials but the few layer system has not been extensively explored.

Doping is an effective approach to modulate the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of two-dimensional (2D) Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and expand their application. The effect of vanadium dopant on structural, electronic and magnetic properties of Tungsten Diselenide (WSe₂) was studied by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Atomic Force …

Establishing A Murine Model Of Malaria-Associated Acute Kidney Injury And Demonstrating The Contribution Of Extrinsic Apoptosis To Tubular Necrosis, Johanna Bensalel-Lyampe

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Malaria-associated acute kidney injury (MAKI) is a form of severe malaria (SM), which is usually caused by Plasmodium falciparum infection. Until recently, the impact of this particular complication of SM was severely underestimated and research in this area has been neglected. There is in fact a high prevalence (40-60%) of MAKI in SM patients and the associated risk of mortality and development of comorbidities is high. Furthermore, pediatric patients that recover often develop long-term complications such as chronic kidney disease or neurocognitive defects. The need for adjunctive therapies and early diagnostic biomarkers specific to this SM complication is critical but …

Intimate Partner Violence And Negotiation During Covid-19: Stressors, Resources, And Perception, Victoria P. Diamond

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious public health concern that affects millions across the globe. The COVID-19 pandemic created unforeseen stress, and necessitated safety policies that required social isolation, often extended exposure to one’s intimate partner, and an inability to access stress-reduction resources. These factors, along with many others, lead to an abrupt increase in IPV in many couples. Using the couple-adapted family stress model (ABCX), the current study examines both previously defined (e.g., emotional dysregulation, stress, unemployment, communication issues) and COVID-19 specific risk (e.g., quarantine, unprecedented social isolation, fear of contracting COVID-19) and protective factors (e.g., meaning in …

Meconium: A Potential Means To Predicting Later-Life Cognition, Leah Duran

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Maternal perinatal stress is a commonly experienced, yet chronically undiagnosed condition (CDC, 2010). Literature has suggested that perinatal stress exposure has long lasting implications of the developing child both physically and mentally (Behrman et al., 2007; Hobel et al., 2008; Bowman et al., 2004; Polanska et al., 2017; Van de Bergh et. al, 2020). The use of meconium in the clinical setting has become one that serves a purpose of detection in medical conditions like in utero drug exposure. Using meconium as a predictor for brain behavior, however, is still an emerging concept in the literature. It is quickly gaining …

Some New Properties Of Random Groups In The Density And Few-Relator Models, Anastasiia Chorna

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation, we delve into the subjects that lie in the intersection of random group theory and first-order theory, or as traditionally referred to in the field, the first-order theory of free groups (Sela (2006) and Kharlampovich and Myasnikov (2006), among others). In particular, we establish the following two findings. First, we demonstrate that for fixed k > 2, among finitely generated groups, those without finite index subgroups of index k are prevalent in the density model (as discussed in Chapter 3). Second, we show that a first-order universal sentence in the language of groups is almost surely true in …

The Epigenetic Impact Of Dietary Choline On Growth Outcomes Of Children Exposed To Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, Ismail Kadam

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Maternal insulin resistance and hyperglycemia lead to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) which can cause fetal hyperinsulinemia, ultimately leading to excessive fetal growth associated with macrosomia and increased adiposity at birth. Increased placental macronutrient transport and epigenetic changes in growth and metabolic genes affected by GDM contribute to fetal overgrowth and can result in complications such as overweight/obesity, insulin resistance/type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease risk factors, as well as cognitive impairment later in life. Choline, an essential nutrient, participates in lipid and energy metabolism by providing methyl groups for DNA methylation and thus may overcome the hypomethylation of growth and metabolic …

The Beautiful And The Bullshit: Speaker And Listener Mental Representations Influence Bullshit Receptivity, Ryan Tracy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Bullshit is a topic that has enjoyed an explosion of attention in both cognitive and social psychological research domains. While the picture painted thus far suggests that receptivity to such statements (i.e., perceiving meaning where none exists) hinges upon an individual’s ability to engage in reflective (vs. reflexive) cognitive processing, little attention has been paid to how purveyors of bullshit influence one’s willingness to engage with the message. This is critical to explore, given the status of misinformation in today’s media climate. A critical step involved in determining characteristics of speakers that predict bullshit receptivity is to understand how people …

Multilayered Harmonic Structure In Elliott Carter’S Clarinet Quintet, Xiangyu Zhou

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation provides a comprehensive account of Elliott Carter’s Clarinet Quintet through analyzing his usage of core harmonies, derived core harmonies and aggregate completion. In this dissertation, Carter’s core harmonies are expanded from the original three, the two all-interval tetrachords, 4-Z15 (0146) and 4-Z29 (0137), and the all-trichord hexachord 6-Z17 (012478) through the addition of 6-Z43 (012568), the complementary hexachord to the all-trichord hexachord. A derived core harmony is generated by combining any of the two core harmonies into a larger set. This dissertation also suggests the expansion of derived core harmonies to include nonachords due to their important harmonic …

Response Styles In Multiscale Measures, Zebing Wu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Response style, one common aberrancy in non-cognitive assessments in psychological fields, is problematic in terms of inaccurate estimation of item and person parameters, which leads to serious reliability, validity, and fairness issues (Baumgartner & Steenkamp, 2001; Bolt & Johnson, 2009; Bolt & Newton, 2011). Response style refers to systematic individual preference or avoidance of certain response categories (Bolt & Johnson, 2009), especially in self-reported Likert-type scales. When response style occurs, the selection of response options is not only influenced by the trait(s) of interest but also affected by one’s tendency to choose specific options stylistically.

Despite the fact that the …

“Hattak Vpi Homma” Mvt Miha Nanta Fehna? What Does “Native American” Really Mean?, Alex R. Steers-Mccrum

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Indigenous identities in North America are much more complex than generally assumed. No single definition of “Native (American),” “(American) Indian,” or related terms provides a set of necessary and sufficient conditions that accurately or usefully describe all and only the right individuals and communities. I argue that understanding Native identities in the contemporary context requires examining multiple interconnected dimensions of Nativeness, articulated here as Enrollment and Recognition, Tribal Ethnicities, Native Race, Indian Panethnicity, and Indigenous Nationhood.

In the U.S., Indigenous identities are usually oversimplified as either Enrollment in a Recognized Tribe or as Native Race. While both of these aspects …

Play In The Undercommons: The Transformative Power Of Fugitive Practice In A Multiracial, International Teacher Inquiry Collective, Kushya Sugarman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Though scholars have begun to position youth’s fugitivity, refusal, and disengagement as logical responses to hostile environments, and as part of a larger legacy of Black speculative planning and action, most teachers do not. Elementary teachers, especially in urban contexts, notoriously struggle with “classroom management” and teachers across contexts cite behavior challenges, such as “disruptive” behavior, as the number one challenge facing our schools. In fact, up to 50% of novice teachers leave the profession in the first five years due to students’ behaviors. This dissertation interrogates the common trope of the wayward student who must be controlled. I consider …

Just Transitions: Critical Exploration Of Environmental Policy And Decision-Making Through The Lens Of Lived Stories, Mariya Marinova

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This research explores perspectives on just transition, what transitional policies and practices are already set in motion, the conditions necessary to achieve it, and how this knowledge can inform environmental policy. Focusing on West Virginia, it employs qualitative methodology with open-ended interviews and develops life sketches of transitions to demonstrate how deeply intertwined just transition is with the lives of the people in places marked by extractive industries. Combining guiding principles from environmental and landscape justice, energy justice, feminist energy systems framework, and place attachment theory, the findings reveal that just transitions need to be transformative, focusing on understanding how …

Misrecognition And Misrepresentation: A Critical Analysis Of The Trajectory Of Migrant Students - F1 Students, In The U.S., Domitila Dos Santos Bicudo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The influx of migrant students in the United States is reported to have increased considerably between 2022 and 2023. They are a significant asset to higher education in the U.S. and are authorized to study by the Department of Homeland Security. Despite their migratory legality, restrictions in their category as F1 students place them in a position of significant vulnerability and injustice This research analyzed how migrant students navigated and negotiated their mobility from the beginning to the end of their F1 visa status, examining their perseverance in staying on a challenging pathway toward a different migratory status or a …

Competitive And Noncompetitive Credit Assignment To Reward Cues In The Lateral Orbitofrontal Cortex, Mihwa Kang

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation investigates the mechanisms underlying variations in credit assignment to reward cues, with a focus on the lateral orbitofrontal cortex (lOFC). The lOFC has long been implicated in signaling reward expectancies, with controversy as to whether it signals the economic value of future outcomes, their sensory features to guide behavior or both. However, whether the lOFC signals the relative (competition-dependent) or absolute (contiguity-dependent) credit of cues is unknown. To address this, I employed a combination of novel behavioral assays, in-vivo electrophysiological recordings and optogenetic stimulation in rats. In Chapter 2, I tested the suitability of a self-initiating variant of …

Dante’S Volgare And The Pastoral Presence: An Analysis Of The Concept Of Language In The Divina Commedia, Paola M. Rodriguez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Dante’s conception of the Italian vernacular, the “volgare illustre”, is a central concern of his work and one which catalyses and nurtures, both overtly and covertly, his creation of the Commedia. Although Dante positions himself in his writings as the continual defender and most prolific poet of the vernacular, isolating a specific linguistic use and structure, a coherent definition of what vernacular Dante privileges or what appropriate usage he adheres to, is a difficult and often confusing task. The existence of two eclogues, the only works by Dante to have been written after the majority of the Commedia had been …

The Relationship Between Academic Burnout And Psychological Capital Among Second-Year Nursing Students, Asmaa Metwally Elhadidy Dr

Nursing

Background: The nursing students in the second year go in-depth in studying medical-surgical and critical nursing modules, which may result in growing levels of academic burnout; therefore, the need to explore psychological capital as an effective coping strategy is crucial. Aim: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between academic burnout and psychological capital among second-year nursing students at Ain Shams University. Research Question: What is the relation between academic burnout and psychological capital? Setting: The study was conducted in the faculty of nursing at Ain Shams University. Subjects: A convenient sample included 187 nursing students in the second year …

Big Data Driven Supply Chain Innovative Capability For Sustainable Competitive Advantage In The Food Supply Chain: Resource-Based View Perspective, Mukesh Kumar, Rakesh D. Raut, Sachin Kumar Mangla, Jonathan Moizer, Jonathan Lean

Plymouth Business School

The food supply chain (FSC) is becoming more sustainable as companies aim to meet demand with lower waste and emissions. Big data analytics (BDA) can help achieve sustainability goals by extracting meaningful information from past data to help create sustainable strategies. However, in the sustainability literature, BDA's role in enabling sustainable FSC innovations is not explored. Thus, this study investigates how data-driven analytics might improve FSC innovation by adopting creative tactics in every triple bottom line (TBL) component – green, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and financial – to gain a competitive edge. A resource-based view (RBV) perspective was used to …

Architectural Design For Data Security In Cloud-Based Big Data Systems, Mujeeb-Ur-Rehman Jamali, Najma Imtiaz Ali, Abdul Ghafoor Memon, Mujeeb-U-Rehman Maree, Aadil Jamali

Baghdad Science Journal

Architecture design of system is creative process after all. Non-functional requirements and software architecture have a strong relationship. Security of system is one of great concern and it is a non-functional need and requirement. The architectural style and structure chosen for a system should be based on the non-functional system requirements. Big Data technologies are used to store handles huge amounts of operational data in the public domain. Structure and behavior diagrams of the system is proposed that use a secure architectural design for a system that works over the cloud. Different components of Big Data have been investigated in …

Investigation The Effect Of Thermal Agent On Physical Properties Of Pvc-Pva Blended, Zainab J. Neamah, Shatha H. Mahdi, Kareem A. Jasim

Baghdad Science Journal

In this study, the optical characteristics of polyvinyl chloride(PVC), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and binary PVA - PVC blend films at various concentrations PVA75% + PVC25%, PVA50% + PVC50%, and PVA25% + PVC 75% are examined in relation to temperature variations 25, 120 and 140 °C for 1 hour. The binary blend films of polyvinyl chloride and polyvinyl alcohol were produced using casting techniques. UV-visible spectroscopy used to determine the optical properties of the films in the wavelength range (200-900) nm, such as transmittance, absorbance, absorption coefficient and energy gap as well as the impact of temperature on these parameters, were …

An Automated Wavelet Scattering Network Classification Using Three Stages Of Cataract Disease, Enas Hamood Al-Saadi, Ahmed Nidhal Khdiar, Lamis Hamood Al-Saadi

Baghdad Science Journal

A cataract is an eye disease that causes visual distortion and the late stage of this disease can lead to blindness. It is considered a silent disease that can occur without the appearance of symptoms. Therefore, the most effective way to detect cataracts is through accurate and timely detection to prevent hurting, expensive operations, and to stop blindness. The purpose of this paper is to propose an automated system based on the wavelet scattering network which categorizes the patients into four classes: early cataract, intermediate cataract, late cataract, and non-cataract conditions using 512 images of the ODIR dataset (212 Cataract …

Some Results About Acts Over Monoid And Bounded Linear Operators, Nadia M. J. Ibrahem, Uhood S. Al-Hussani, Muna Jasim Mohammed Ali

Baghdad Science Journal

This study delves into the properties of the associated act V over the monoid S of sinshT. It examines the relationship between faithful, finitely generated, and separated acts, as well as their connections to one-to-one and onto operators. Additionally, the correlation between acts over a monoid and modules over a ring is explored. Specifically, it is established that functions as an act over S if and only if functions as module, where T represents a nilpotent operator. Furthermore, it is proved that when T is onto operator and is finitely generated, is guaranteed to be finite-dimensional. Prove that for any …

Cluster-Wide Task Slowdown Detection In Cloud System, Feiyi Chen, Yingying Zhang, Lunting Fan, Yuxuan Liang, Guansong Pang, Qingsong Wen, Shuiguang Deng

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Slow task detection is a critical problem in cloud operation and maintenance since it is highly related to user experience and can bring substantial liquidated damages. Most anomaly detection methods detect it from a single-task aspect. However, considering millions of concurrent tasks in large-scale cloud computing clusters, it becomes impractical and inefficient. Moreover, single-task slowdowns are very common and do not necessarily indicate a malfunction of a cluster due to its violent fluctuation nature in a virtual environment. Thus, we shift our attention to cluster-wide task slowdowns by utilizing the duration time distribution of tasks across a cluster, so that …

Pias: Privacy-Preserving Incentive Announcement System Based On Blockchain For Internet Of Vehicles, Yonghua Zhan, Yang Yang, Hongju Cheng, Xiangyang Luo, Zhuangshuang Guan, Robert H. Deng

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

More vehicles are connecting to the Internet of Things (IoT), transforming Vehicle Ad hoc Networks (VANETs) into the Internet of Vehicles (IoV), providing a more environmentally friendly and safer driving experience. Vehicular announcement networks show promise in vehicular communication applications. However, two major issues arise when establishing such a system. Firstly, user privacy cannot be guaranteed when messages are forwarded anonymously, thus the reliability of these messages is in question. Secondly, users often lack interest in responding to announcements. To address these problems, we introduce a Blockchain-based incentive announcement system called PIAS. This system enables anonymous message commitment in a …

September 2024 News, Office Of Sustainability

Office of Sustainability Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Oxycodone On Placental Lineages: Evidence From The Transcriptome Profile Of Mouse Trophoblast Giant Cells, Zhen Lyua, Jessica A. Kinkadeb, Nathan J. Bivens, R. Michael Roberts, Trupti Joshi, Cheryl S. Rosenfeld

Biomedical Sciences

Pregnant women are often prescribed or abuse opioid drugs. The placenta is likely the key to understanding how opioids cause adverse pregnancy outcomes. Maternal oxycodone (OXY) exposure of pregnant mice leads to disturbances in the layer of invasive parietal trophoblast giant cells (pTGC) that forms the interface between the placenta and uterus. These cells are analogous to extravillous trophoblasts of the human placenta. They are crucial to coordinating the metabolic needs of the conceptus with those of the mother and are primary participants in the placenta–brain axis. Their large nuclear size, however, has precluded both single- cell (sc) and single- …

Strengthening Person-Centered Management Through Mentorship: Building Library Community, Angela Yon, Grace Allbaugh, Susan Franzen

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

Mentorship offers practical applications for cultivating person-centered management strategies for librarians, including a framework, assessments, and programming ideas. Evolving responsibilities due to staffing changes and technological updates have forced librarians to be agile for years. Librarians need to adapt to an environment where priorities shift quickly, coupled with challenging political and cultural polarization, mentorship offers a welcoming extra layer of support. Research indicates that effective mentorship programs allow employees the space to develop new skills and experience growth, thereby creating a more prepared pool of internal candidates to take on leadership roles. Facilitating professional fulfillment through mentoring contributes to success …

“Just Attaching A Face”: Engaging Local Refugee Communities In Preservice Teacher Education Focused On Students With Immigrant/Refugee Backgrounds, Stephanie Wessels, Theresa Catalano, Jenelle Reeves, Alison E. Leonard, Uma Ganesan, Alessia Barbici Wagner, Consuelo Gallardo

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

This arts-practice research study explores what happens when preservice high school teachers (aka teacher-learners) and local refugee communities engage in the co-creation of art together via an arts-and community-based project. Grounded in social justice teacher education, the researchers conducted a 2-week workshop in which participants included preservice high school teachers and local Yazidi community members who explored art in a museum together, spent time getting to know each other and their backgrounds, and re-created some of their stories in the form of dance. Findings reveal a variety of ways in which the workshops helped teacher-learners develop interculturality, increase understanding of …

Minimally Invasive Repair Of Pectus Excavatum Without Stabilizers Does Not Result In Increased Bar Displacement Or Other Post-Operative Complications, Meredith Elman, Seth Saylors, Ismael Elhalaby, Pablo Aguayo

Presentations

Introduction/Purpose Since the Nuss procedure was first performed in the 1990s, surgeons have adopted various modifications and techniques that vary by practice to optimize patient outcomes and minimize complications following pectus excavatum repair. Bar dislocation is a particularly dreaded complication, and as such, many Nuss bars are secured using unilateral or bilateral stabilizers. However, additional foreign body use can be associated with increased morbidity such as infection at stabilizer sites (~3% incidence), and pain attributed to stabilizer presence. Beginning in 2020, individuals in our practice did not place stabilizers in patients undergoing minimally invasive repair of pectus excavatum (MIRPE), and …

Testing Feed Is Vital For Feed Budgeting, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Animal production and livestock factsheets

A little knowledge of the nutritional value of your supplementary feeds can save you a lot of money and hassle.

In dry seasons, it is likely that farmers will need to start supplementary feeding earlier than usual. The higher requirement for supplementary feeds over dry seasons means accurate feed budgeting becomes increasingly important to minimise feed wastage, for weaner survival, and to maintain stock at the right condition score (CS) for joining.