Digital Commons Network^™

Sedation Services Offered At Pediatric Dental Offices In The United States As Reported On Publicly Available Practice Websites, Stefanie Curtis, Jane Witt, Brenda S. Bohaty, Robin Onikul, Amy Burleson, Jenna Sparks, Neena Patel

Posters

Background: As early childhood caries impacts children throughout the United States, restorative dental procedures are often needed. The literature indicates that due to a variety of factors, parents may research their child’s dental condition and try to find options for care that they perceive as least traumatic for their children. These options frequently include sedation and general anesthesia. This background research is typically completed via the internet on public websites. Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was to identify if information regarding specific types of sedation/anesthesia services offered by pediatric dental providers are available on practice websites and to determine …

Better Leveraging Of Processies And Internal Procedures For Public Forms Used By Planning Departments, William J. Munson

City and Regional Planning

A survey was sent to 517 planning and community development departments across California inquiring about how they use interactive PDF files for forms and applications. 139 cities and counties responded, providing invaluable feedback, with 98% stating that their online forms and applications are in PDF format, 62% confirmed that some or all their PDF's are interactive, and over 72% retype the information in the completed PDF forms they receive in a database or spreadsheet program. Why retype data that has already been typed into an interactive PDF in order to enter it into their tracking systems?

Based on the survey …

Gamification Of Education And Learning: Heuristic Elements, Player Types, And Learning Outcomes For Art History Games, James L. Hutson Jr.

Theses

The technology of virtual reality (VR) and the gamification of education and learning has had proven educational benefits, especially in secondary education. However, there remains little to no research on the heuristic elements and mechanics that contribute to learning at the postsecondary level of education. Most research conducted has been refined to science programs, but even in these instances, a study of the effects and interests of different demographics has yet to be considered. Given the visual nature of how the discipline of art history has traditionally been taught, there are a number of virtual reality (VR) applications to assist …

Accurate Or Aspirational? A Rhetorical Analysis Of One University's Representation Of Student Diversity, Kristen Coady Spaeth

English Theses - Archive

When approaching diversity within higher education, colleges and universities champion diversity initiatives as significant goals. Prospective students may choose colleges based on the aspirational role model, which inspires individuals who see themselves in visual representations (Allen & Collison, 2020). A 2013 Journal of Marketing for Higher Education study analyzed how 165 higher education institutions each portrayed racial and ethnic diversity of their student population. The study found that a majority of institutions presents inflated images of diversity to prospective students who were significantly different from the current student body (Pippert et al., 2013). This data is representative of findings from …

Identifying The Distinct Adaptive And Plastic Gene Expression Patterns And Microbial Indicators That Mediate Coral Disease Resistance, Nicholas James Macknight

Biology Dissertations - Archive

Infectious diseases are an increasing threat to coral reefs, resulting in altered community structure and hindering the functional contributions of disease susceptible species. While forecasting disease outbreaks based on environmental factors has progressed, we still lack a comparative understanding of susceptibility among coral species that would help predict disease impacts on coral communities. This dissertation compared the phenotypic, microbial, and coral host gene expression responses of seven diverse Caribbean coral species after exposure to white plague disease. Disease incidence and lesion progression rates were evaluated over a seven-day exposure. Coral microbiomes and RNA were sampled after lesion appearance or at …

Quantitative Non-Destructive Evaluation Of Rebar Corrosion In Concrete, Khadiza Binte Jalal

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

ABSTRACT: Corrosion of rebar is considered the leading cause of deterioration in concrete structures. When steel rust, it occupies larger volume and creates pressure on the concrete, leading to cracking and spalling. As the cross-section is being compromised, the structural capacity of the reinforced concrete structure is reduced. Corrosion is a slow natural electrochemical process that affects the long-term performance. However, sometimes premature catastrophic failure occurs due to corrosion, especially in chloride environments. Moreover, the cost of repair and replacement of deteriorated structures has become a major liability for management agencies. Consequently, it is important to determine the level of …

The Timing Of Insider Trading And Management Forecast Credibility, Xiaozhe Gu

Accounting Dissertations - Archive

In this paper, I study how past insider trading patterns affect management forecast credibility. I first hypothesize and find that, due to litigation concerns, executives are unlikely to use a “pump-and-dump” strategy to maximize trading profits. Instead, they issue more accurate and conservative management earnings forecasts before insider sales. I then document that insider sales after forecasts have signaling content. Specifically, firms where a higher fraction of insider sales occurs shortly after the forecast enjoy higher forecast credibility in the future. This effect is more pronounced when firms are difficult to value and less pronounced when firms show traces of …

Pearl Chase And Thomas More Storke: Two Community Builders In Twentieth Century Santa Barbara, California, Jacqueline M. Zeledon

History Dissertations - Archive

Pearl Chase (1888-1979) and Thomas More Storke (1876-1971) are the main protagonists in this dissertation which analyzes Santa Barbara, California, and its twentieth- century development. These two individuals dedicated their lives to improving, maintaining, and preserving their unique city, as they supported—and often led—many architectural, civic, educational, environmental, and infrastructural projects. Chase and Storke were selected to headline this dissertation because they were excellent examples of community builders whose prolific endeavors resulted in many achievements. Some of these accomplishments have become Santa Barbara icons for which the city is known, such as its picturesque architectural style and a University of …

Biomechanical Properties Of Porcine Neonatal Epidermis From Forelimb Tissue In The Longitudinal And Circumferential Directions, Neaz Almir

2022 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

In adult humans, it is common to replace damaged tissues and epidermal tissues of smooth muscles on internal organs with porcine xenografts during a surgical procedure. However, there is little research on the usage of neonatal porcine tissues because of the difficulty in performing mechanical testing and obtaining samples from neonatal pigs due to the delicate property of the tissues. By performing mechanical testing on tissues obtained from stillborn pigs, we can calculate the amount of stress and strain these tissues undergo and how these tissues can be used to replace epidermal tissues in limbs of human infants. Using a …

Scalable And Reliable Sparse Data Computation On Emergent High Performance Computing Systems, Zheng Miao

All Dissertations

Heterogeneous systems with both CPUs and GPUs have become important system architectures in emergent High Performance Computing (HPC) systems. Heterogeneous systems must address both performance-scalability and power-scalability in the presence of failures. Aggressive power reduction pushes hardware to its operating limit and increases the failure rate. Resilience allows programs to progress when subjected to faults and is an integral component of large-scale systems, but incurs significant time and energy overhead. The future exascale systems are expected to have higher power consumption with higher fault rates. Sparse data computation is the fundamental kernel in many scientific applications. It is suitable for …

Selected Interdiction Games With Uncertain, Risk-Averse, And Simultaneous Play Considerations, Di H. Nguyen

All Dissertations

This dissertation examines two network interdiction problems: a shortest-path interdiction problem under uncertainty and a network interdiction problem in a simultaneous game. Both problems happen in two stages over a directed network, and involve a leader and a follower who have opposing interests.

In the first problem, the leader acts first to lengthen a subset of arcs, and a follower acts second to select a shortest path across the network. The cost for a follower’s arc consists of a base cost if the arc is not interdicted, plus an additional cost that is incurred if the arc is interdicted. The …

Policy Complementarities Between And Within Jurisdictions: The Case Of Alcohol Consumption And Driving, Tabitha Knott

All Dissertations

Federalism allows multiple levels of government, such as counties, states, and nations, to control the same territory. The result is often differentiated policies across smaller jurisdictions, which inevitably create spillovers when goods can be purchased in one locality and not in another. The first chapter discusses how each of the subsequent chapters are related using this context.

The second chapter investigates how one jurisdiction's policy may diffuse across neighboring jurisdictions to mitigate spillover effects using evidence from Texas. Texas is one of 34 states that allow local jurisdictions to determine alcohol policies and regulations via local option referenda. A force …

Reactive Thin Film Polymers And Thin Film Composite Membranes For The Rapid Screening Of Uranium Isotopes, Abenazer W. Darge

All Dissertations

Traditional radiochemistry approaches for the detection of trace-level alpha-emitting radioisotopes in water require lengthy offsite sample preparations and do not lend themselves to rapid quantification. Therefore, a novel platform is needed that combines onsite purification, concentration, and isotopic screening with a fieldable detection system. My dissertation research objective was to develop novel reactive thin polymer films and thin film composite membranes for the selective separation of uranium from environmental water followed by direct isotopic analysis by alpha spectroscopy. Chapter 1 reviews progress made on uranium separation from aqueous matrices and discusses methods used for the determination of isotopic composition.

Chapter …

An Investigation Into The Roles Of Aldose Reductase And Acetate Kinase In The Metabolism Of Entamoeba Histolytica, Matthew B. Angel

All Dissertations

Entamoeba histolytica is an amoebic parasite that infects an estimated 90 million people worldwide and causes approximately 100,000 deaths per year. As the causative agent of amoebic dysentery, this food- and water-borne pathogen represents a significant public health burden worldwide, particularly in areas with poor sanitation. While treatments for amoebiasis exist, they are often limited in their effectiveness. Thus, efforts to better understand the biology and physiology of this organism are vital to the development of novel treatments for this disease.

E. histolytica lacks the enzymes for many common metabolic pathways such as the citric acid cycle and oxidative phosphorylation …

Light Harvesting And Electrically Conducting Metal-Organic Frameworks, Monica Gordillo Varela

All Dissertations

Composed of metal clusters nodes and organic linkers, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have emerged as versatile platforms with unparalleled chemical and structural tunability, synthetic facility, permanent porosity, and size-selective guest encapsulation capability. These features make them potential candidates for a variety of applications such as gas storage,drug delivery, catalysis,and sensing. In recent years, the introduction of redox- and photoactive components have yielded stimuli-responsive electronic and photonic MOFs and expanded their utility in molecular electronics and energy storage devices/technologies.

Chapter one describes the light-harvesting ability of a porphyrin-based MOF. Herein, we have demonstrated spontaneous solvothermal growth of [100]-oriented uniform pillared-porphyrin framework-11 (PPF-11) …

Design And Analysis Of Efficient Freight Transportation Networks In A Collaborative Logistics Environment, Vishal Badyal

All Dissertations

The increase in total freight volumes, reducing volume per freight unit, and delivery deadlines have increased the burden on freight transportation systems of today. With the evolution of freight demand trends, there also needs to be an evolution in the freight distribution processes. Today's freight transportation processes have a lot of inefficiencies that could be streamlined, thus preventing concerns like increased operational costs, road congestion, and environmental degradation. Collaborative logistics is one of the approaches where supply chain partners collaborate horizontally or/and vertically to create a centralized network that is more efficient and serves towards a common goal or objective. …

Essays On Nonparametric Benchmarking Of Energy Firms And Natural Gas Market Integration, Matthew Cronin

All Dissertations

My dissertation focuses on issues related to the technical efficiency of energy firms as well as the integration of U.S. natural gas markets during the era of shale gas expansion of the early 2000s. In the first chapter, I use nonparametric methods to estimate changes in efficiency and productivity of natural gas pipelines in the U.S. during the period of shale gas expansion during 2007--2018. This period, known as the Shale Revolution, saw an increase in shale gas production from less that 5 billion cubic feet per day (BCF/d) in 2007 to over 60 BCF/d in 2018. This increase in …

Evaluation Of Kappa Opioid Receptor Specific Compounds And Their Effect On Ptsd-Like Behavioral Activity, Daniel Murnock

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a complex and multifaceted neurological disorder that is characterized by intrusive thoughts, avoidance behaviors, alterations in cognition and mood, and alterations in arousal and reactivity. Current studies utilize stress paradigms to mimic behavioral symptoms and neurobiological changes associated with PTSD. The project aims to instead utilize the kappa opioid system and three distinct Kappa Opioid Receptorspecific compounds (Salvinorin A, U50,488, and nor-BNI) to induce these changes. Pharmacokinetic analysis of Salvinorin A and U50,488 revealed a time of peak plasma concentration (Tmax) of 0.25 hours in both groups. 3-Chamber Social Novelty testing revealed a significant …

Suppression Of Microrna 124–3p And Microrna 340–5p Ameliorates Retinoic Acid-Induced Cleft Palate In Mice, Hiroki Yoshioka, Akiko Suzuki, Chihiro Iwaya, Junichi Iwata

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The etiology of cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P), a common congenital birth defect, is complex, with genetic and epigenetic, as well as environmental, contributing factors. Recent studies suggest that fetal development is affected by maternal conditions through microRNAs (miRNAs), a group of short noncoding RNAs. Here, we show that miR-129-5p and miR-340-5p suppress cell proliferation in both primary mouse embryonic palatal mesenchymal cells and O9-1 cells, a neural crest cell line, through the regulation of Sox5 and Trp53 by miR-129-5p, and the regulation of Chd7, Fign and Tgfbr1 by miR-340-5p. Notably, miR-340-5p, but not miR-129-5p, was upregulated …

Does Proactivity Drive Use? Understanding Growth In Chat Reference Services, David A. Hurley, Adrienne Warner

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Libraries that implement trigger-initiated proactive chat reference services see substantial increases in the number and complexity of reference transactions. However, it is not clear if this growth is a result of something inherent to proactivity, or other factors such as increased awareness of the service. To investigate this, we compare usage during periods with and without proactivity in databases in which our chat reference service is established. Steep and immediate increases when proactivity is enabled and sharp declines when it is disabled suggests that proactivity itself is driving the changes. We recommend human computer interaction (HCI) and user experience (UX) …

Innovadores Guaymíes: Un Estudio De Caso De Emprendedores En Una Sociedad De Menor Complejidad Socioeconómica., Milton R.A. Machuca-Gálvez Phd, Mlis, John R. Bort Phd

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Traducción al castellano de la disertación doctoral Guaymí Innovators: A Case Study of Entrepreneurs in a Small Scale Society de John R. Bort, presentada al Departamento de Antropología y la Escuela de Postgrado de la Universidad de Oregón, junio de 1976. Traducción de Milton Machuca-Gálvez, PhD, MLIS.

Se enfoca en el cambio socioeconómico en los indígenas guaymí del occidente de Panamá. Principalmente en cómo los guaymíes reaccionan a las cambiantes circunstancias económicas de su entorno. La mayor parte de los datos utilizados se obtuvieron mediante observación participante junto con materiales del censo que sirvieron para complementar el trabajo de campo. …

Techno-Economic Feasibility Analysis Of A Fully Mobile Radiation Oncology System Using Monte Carlo Simulation, Alex T. Price, Casey I. Canfield, Geoffrey D. Hugo, James A. Kavanaugh, Lauren E. Henke, Eric Laugeman, Pamela Samson, Clair Reynolds-Kueny, Elizabeth A. Cudney

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

PURPOSEDisparities in radiation oncology (RO) can be attributed to geographic location, socioeconomic status, race, sex, and other societal factors. One potential solution is to implement a fully mobile (FM) RO system to bring radiotherapy to rural areas and reduce barriers to access. We use Monte Carlo simulation to quantify techno-economic feasibility with uncertainty, using two rural Missouri scenarios.METHODSRecently, a semimobile RO system has been developed by building an o-ring linear accelerator (linac) into a mobile coach that is used for temporary care, months at a time. Transitioning to a more FM-RO system, which changes location within a given day, presents …

Study Of Gas Holdup Distribution In Cylindrical Split Airlift Reactor By Using Gamma-Ray Densitometry (Grd), Abbas J. Sultan, Laith S. Sabri, Hasan Shakir Majdi, Shadha K. Jebur, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The local gas holdup details and behaviors in the cylindrical split airlift column by using an unconventional gamma-ray densitometry (GRD) measurement in non-invasive manner technique was investigated for the first time in this work for such kind of airlift column. With different gas velocities, 1, 2, and 3 cm/s, at three various axial planes (different levels) in z = 3, 60, and 110 cm were studied for local distribution in radial gas holdup profiles. The distribution in gas–liquid phases (air-water system) in the entire split reactor column, in the rising and descending sides, including their behavior in the upper and …

Process Evaluation And Kinetic Analysis Of 3d-Printed Monoliths Comprised Of Cao And Cr/H-Zsm-5 In Combined Co2 Capture-C2h6 Oxidative Dehydrogenation To C2h4, Khaled Baamran, Shane Lawson, Ali A. Rownaghi, Fateme Rezaei

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this study, dual-function materials (DFMs) comprised of CaO and Cr/H-ZSM-5 were formulated in 3D-printed monolithic structures and investigated in a combined process for capture and utilization of CO₂ in oxidative dehydrogenation of C₂H₆ to C₂H₄ (CO₂-ODHE). Various formulation strategies were employed to fabricate these DFM structures. Two bed designs were considered: i) a layered-bed in which adsorbent (CaO) and catalyst were printed separately and stacked on top of each other, and ii) a single-layer bed where the adsorbent-catalyst materials were 3D-printed into a singular monolith and loaded into the bed …

Integration Of Dynamic Growth Modeling And Hydrodynamics In An Internal-Loop Split Photobioreactor, Laith S. Sabri, Aastha Ojha, Abbas J. Sultan, Muthanna H. Aldahhan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this study, new high-quality experimental data for culturing green microalgae Scenedesmus in tubular and cylindrical split airlift photobioreactors were obtained under different operating conditions. The obtained experimental data of culturing microalgae Scenedesmus in a tubular photobioreactor were used for determining the kinetic parameters of the photosynthetic reaction. On the other hand, the culturing of green microalgae in a split airlift photobioreactor was used to measure the microalgae cell trajectory using an advanced radioactive particle tracking (RPT) technique. The obtained results in terms of kinetic parameters of the photosynthetic reaction and microalgae cell trajectory were integrated for the first time …

Random Trilobe Packing Using Rigid Body Approach And Local Gas-Liquid Hydrodynamics Simulation Through Cfd With Experimental Validation, Binbin Qi, Sebastián Uribe, Omar Farid, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

It is quite difficult to measure the local information of the gas/liquid flow inside random packed extrudate catalyst beds in a large scale. Obtaining the local information through computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations in such system is also difficult due to the complexity of random particle packing and two-phase flow simulation. An efficient packing scheme was implemented to randomly pack 2917 trilobe particles (10 cm in height) in a 2-inch column to represent the trickle bed reactor (TBR) based on the rigid body approach. The generated geometry was used to define the computational domain for the two-phase hydrodynamics simulation based …

Hydration Of High-Alumina Calcium Aluminate Cements With Carbonate And Sulfate Additives, Jonathan Lapeyre, Sai Akshay Ponduru, Monday Uchenna Okoronkwo, Hongyan Ma, Aditya Kumar

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study investigated the influence of limestone (LS) and calcium sulfate (C$) mineral additives on the hydration kinetics of high-α-Al₂O₃ calcium aluminate cement (CAC) utilizing experimental techniques and thermodynamic simulations. Increasing the replacement level of limestone or calcium sulfate increased the cumulative heat of the hydration reaction. The limestone exhibited limited acceleratory effects to the CAC hydration kinetics due to the coarseness of the powder. The coarse particle size distribution limited any heterogenous nucleation that would have occurred with a finer particle size as well as the intrinsic insolubility kinetically limits the formation of monocarboaluminate phases. Conversely, …

Liquid And Solids Phase Backmixing In A Bubble And Slurry Bubble Column Using A Virtual Tracer Response Methodology Based On The Trajectory Data Of The Radioactive Particle Tracking (Rpt) Technique, Lu Han, Premkumar Kamalanathan, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Virtual tracer response methodology developed based on the trajectory data of the computer aided radioactive particle tracking (CARPT) technique was demonstrated. The demonstrated virtual tracer technique has advantages of non-invasiveness, near perfect injection/sampling, and flexibility in choosing the sampling/injection boundaries in a specific spatial pattern. With the developed virtual tracer technique, liquid and solids back mixing was investigated at the conditions mimicking Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. Experiments were conducted at different pressure, solids loading, and superficial gas velocity. The axial dispersion model (ADM) and recirculation and cross flow dispersion (RCFD) models were used to model the liquid mixing. Transient sedimentation dispersion model …

Review Of Biomechanical Studies And Finite Element Modeling Of Sternal Closure Using Bio-Active Adhesives, Amatulraheem Al-Abassi, Marcello Papini, Mark R. Towler

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The most common complication of median sternotomy surgery is sternum re-separation after sternal fixation, which leads to high rates of morbidity and mortality. The adhered sternal fixation technique comprises the wiring fixation technique and the use of bio-adhesives. Adhered sternal fixation techniques have not been extensively studied using finite element analysis, so mechanical testing studies and finite element analysis of sternal fixation will be presented in this review to find the optimum techniques for simulating sternal fixation with adhesives. The optimal wiring technique should enhance bone stability and limit sternal displacement. Bio-adhesives have been proposed to support sternal fixation, as …

Awakening To Beauty, Volume Viii, University Of Dayton. University Honors Program, Angela Ann Zukowski

Chaminade Scholars: Awakening to Beauty

Images and reflections of the members of the 2023 cohort of Chaminade Scholars. Published in May 2022.