Digital Commons Network^™

Revisiting The Revolving Door Of Rural Superintendent Turnover, Barry Kamrath

The Rural Educator

This qualitative multiple case study is a follow-up to a study completed in 2007 that examined characteristics of rural school districts experiencing a high rate of superintendent turnover. The original study design incorporated extensive interviews with participants across four rural school districts; triangulating interview results with information found in school board minutes and published media articles. The four case districts had employed a total of 19 superintendents in the ten-year period leading up to the original study. However, since then, three of the districts have experienced a drastic change in their turnover trend. This study revisits the four rural districts …

The Impacts Of School Closure On Rural Communities In Canada: A Review, Michael Haynes

The Rural Educator

In rural Canada the issue of school closures and consolidations due to low enrollment and heightened fiscal constraints has become a contentious and highly-charged issue for citizens and communities. This literature review synthesizes the major effects of school closure on rural communities, identifying economic impacts, social impacts, and implications for students. The historical context of Canadian rural schools, notions of rurality, urbanormativity and local complexity, along with considerations of urban-centred educational policy, are overarching themes identified in the rural school literature. These concepts were found to subsequently perpetuate the economic, social, and student-centred impacts reported. A relative dearth of research …

In-The-Moment Experiences Of Rural School Principals In The Covid-19 Pandemic, Simone White, Hobart Harmon, Jerry Johnson, Brian O'Neill

The Rural Educator

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the many existing inequalities in education systems across the world. Not all children have easy access to educational online resources or digital technologies, a situation more amplified in rural contexts where access, connectivity and affordability play a significant factor. This qualitative account reveals examples of how rural school leaders were able to find innovative ways early in the COVID-19 pandemic to address the remote learning needs of their students and families. This paper shares in-the-moment experiences of rural principals, and those who supported them, in quickly transitioning to address student needs when school buildings closed. …

Literacy In Place: Creating Community By Reading And Writing Rural Stories, Chea L. Parton

The Rural Educator

No abstract provided.

Sino Realty Inc. V. Wai Wah Yung

All Decisions

No abstract provided.

Kessler V. Carbone

All Decisions

ERAP case.

Future Location For Odu's Institute For Coastal Adaptation And Resilience Will Foster Research And Experiential Learning, Jonah Grinkewitz

News Items

No abstract provided.

Untethering The “Other”: Creating Spaces For Black Autonomy And Community, Kaylyn Webster

Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Papers

By complicating viewers’ relationships to my painted figures through the application of the gaze, my work analyzes how America’s colonial past affects our current landscape to find ways to break the cycle, and to make space for Black autonomy. Blackness should be free to exist without being tethered in a position of inferiority to Whiteness. Radical defiance, resiliency, and expressions of agency have been used by Black people for centuries, and their employment must continue to combat systems of oppression. Our history has been one of division, but mutual respect and cooperation are needed for our communities to stand against …

Active Testing Of Executive Functions: Toward More Efficient And Equitable Individual Behavioral Modeling, Mariluz Rojo Domingo

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Inferences about executive functions are commonly drawn through serial administration of various individual assessments that often take a long time to complete and cannot capture complex trends across multiple variables. In an attempt to improve upon current methods used to estimate latent brain constructs, this thesis makes two primary contributions to the field of behavioral modeling. First, it brings attention to sequential designs for more efficient diagnostic testing of fluctuations in executive functions with respect to a baseline level. It was shown that a sequential framework was successfully capable of detecting significant differences in cognitive performance more rapidly than conventional …

Anti-Amyloid Chimeric Antigen Receptor Macrophages For Alzheimer's Disease Immunotherapy, Qiuyun Pan

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia. None of the available drugs can cure the disease. Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) macrophages, because of their phagocytic activity, have potential as a cellular treatment for amyloid aggregation. In this study, we generated an anti-amyloid CAR hematopoietic progenitor cell line. By inducing the progenitor cell line to differentiate into macrophages, we show that the anti-amyloid CAR-Macrophage has enhanced specific phagocytic activity towards amyloid in in vitro experiments. In addition, in ex vivo experiments, anti-amyloid CAR significantly reduces the plaque load on brain slice from APP/PS1 mice when compared to a non-targeted …

Three New Academic Programs Added For 2022-23, Julia Perez

News and Events (Discontinued Series)

No abstract provided.

Oncologic Outcomes With And Without Amniotic Membranes In Robotic-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy: A Propensity Score Matched Analysis, Jonathan Noël, Daniel Stirt, Marcio Covas Moschovas, Sunil Reddy, Abdel Rahman Jaber, Marco Sandri, Seetharam Bhat, Travis Rogers, Subuhee Ahmed, Anya Mascarenhas, Ela Patel, Vipul Patel

Student Publications

Objective

Placement of human placenta derived grafts during robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) hastens the return of continence and potency. The long-term impact on the oncologic outcomes remains to be investigated. Our objective was to determine the oncologic outcomes of patients with dehydrated human amnion chorion membrane (dHACM) at RARP compared to a matched cohort.

Methods

In a referral centre, from August 2013 to October 2019, 599 patients used dHACM in bilateral nerve spare RARP. We excluded patients with less than 12 months follow-up, simple prostatectomy, and unilateral nerve spare. Patients with dHACM (amnio group) were 529, and were propensity score …

Cataloging Conundrums: Challenging Items That Have Crossed Our Desks, Rebecca A. Wiederhold, Sharolyn Swenson, Kjerste Christensen, Jessie Louise Christensen

Faculty Publications

Some of the most interesting items that cross the cataloger’s desk present difficult cataloging challenges. When cataloging a collection of suspected forgeries, how do you determine the “publication” date for faked documents? Which cataloging workform do you use for a LEGO model of the Salt Lake Temple? Is it a kit? A game? A sculpture? In this session, we will share examples of unique items we’ve cataloged and demonstrate how to effectively solve the questions that come up when trying to help patrons discover exactly what they’re looking for.

Measurement Error Affecting Web- And Paper-Based Dietary Assessment Instruments: Insights From The Multi-Cohort Eating And Activity Study For Understanding Reporting Error, Sharon I Kirkpatrick, Yikyung Park, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Few biomarker-based validation studies have examined error in online self-report dietary assessment instruments, and food records (FRs) have been considered less than food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) and 24-hour recalls (24HRs). We investigated measurement error in online and paper-based FFQs, online 24HRs, and paper-based FRs in 3 samples drawn primarily from 3 cohorts, comprising 1,393 women and 1,455 men aged 45-86 years. Data collection occurred from January 2011 to October 2013. Attenuation factors and correlation coefficients between reported and true usual intake for energy, protein, sodium, potassium, and respective densities were estimated using recovery biomarkers. Across studies, average attenuation factors for …

Straining Forward To What Lies Ahead: Models Of Patristic Contemplation, Joshua Vanderhyde

Master of Sacred Theology Thesis

Vanderhyde, Joshua S. “Straining Forward to What Lies Ahead: Models of Patristic Contemplation.” Thesis, Concordia Seminary, 2022. 111 pp.

As secularization sharpens the contrast between Christian belief and western culture, many Christians are looking for ways to take a more active and intentional approach to the struggle to be conformed to Christ. The Church Fathers offer a unified theory of Christian spirituality, grounded and structured by the concept of contemplation—a theory of perception widely held in the ancient world and integral to diverse systems of thought, including Neoplatonism. In this thesis, the concept of contemplation is elucidated as a theory …

Impaired Gate16-Mediated Exocytosis In Exocrine Tissues Causes Sjögren’S Syndrome-Like Exocrinopathy

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Sjögren's syndrome (SjS) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by immune cell infiltration of the exocrine glands, mainly the salivary and lacrimal glands. Despite recent advances in the clinical and mechanistic characterization of the disease, its etiology remains largely unknown. Here, we report that mice with a deficiency for either Atg7 or Atg3, which are enzymes involved in the ubiquitin modification pathway, in the salivary glands exhibit a SjS-like phenotype, characterized by immune cell infiltration with autoantibody detection, acinar cell death, and dry mouth. Prior to the onset of the SjS-like phenotype in these null mice, we detected an accumulation …

Investing Green To Become More Green: An Analysis Of Whether S&P 100 Companies Are Decreasing Their Carbon Footprint Proportional To Their Liquidity, Ashley Hendler, Ethan Hunter

Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses

Global warming may have ignited the flame in corporations to invest in the changing business and environmental climate. The importance of a broader stakeholder value perspective has grown as firms have impacted the global environment. The S&P 100 firms are at the forefront of the public’s attention in maximizing shareholder and stakeholder value. With the worldwide expectation for corporate social responsibility, these top firms are not in question of whether they are investing in sustainability initiatives but to what extent. We seek to decipher if these top corporations are reducing their carbon footprint proportional to their excess available funds. Since …

College Of Public Heath News, Georgia Southern University

College of Public Health: News & Publications

• Georgia Southern Graduate Credits Independent Study and Mentor for Success in Public Health

The Role Of Intellectuals In Shaping Hegemony,Consent, And Political Emotion, Oliver Dueza, Gerlie Ogatis, Anna Josa Ortiz

Mabini Review

This paper aims to expose the underlying forces which shaped the hegemonic character of the Philippine civil society. The ideas of Gramsci written in his prison notebooks remained relevant even at present, especially in understanding the capitalists’ control of social and political affairs. The state of the Filipino society today mirrors Gramsci’s conception of capitalism and its influences on the political and social affairs. Despite Karl Marx’s prediction of its death, the capitalist class managed to evolve, and it even survived with ethical measures involved. It is here where Gramsci believed that there is a need for the intellectuals to …

Kagamitan Ng Eupemismong Meranawat Tungkuling Panlipunan Nito (The Use Of Meranaw Euphemisms And Their Social Functions), Edna Alon

Mabini Review

Ang pag-aaral na ito ay tungkol sa Kagamitan ng Eupemismong Meranaw at Tungkuling Panlipunan nito. Ito ay dinesenyuhan ng diskriptibong uri ng pananaliksik na gamit ang Politeness at Sex and Politeness bilang teorya. Layunin ng pag-aaral na ito na makalap ang mga eupemismong ginagamit ng mga Meranaw; matukoy ang mga kagamitang taglay ng eupemismong Meranaw; malaman ang tungkuling panlipunan ng mga eupemismong Meranaw; at mailahad ang implikasyon ng eupemismong Meranaw sa pang- araw-araw na pakikipagkomunikasyon sa lipunan. Ang paggamit ng mga eupemismo ay nag-uugnay sa kagamitan at tungkulin nito sa lipunan. At ang mga kagamitan na ito ay maaring sa …

Disrupting Liberal Democracy:The Phenomenal Rise Of Duterte, Artchil Fernandez

Mabini Review

The paper offers an explanation why Duterte won the election in 2016 and how his phenomenal rise can be accounted. Some scholars on Philippine politics attribute the rise of Duterte to the failure of liberal democracy. On the other hand, this paper argues that “failure of liberal democracy” explanation merely scratches the surface of the question and does not address the source of the failure. Gramsci’s notion of passive revolution this paper maintains point to the root of the failures of the liberal democratic regimes established after EDSA People Power revolt in 1986. The main contention of the paper is …

Filipino Branding Sa Ika-21 Siglo: Pagsusurisa Mga Estratehiya Ng Pandayan Bookshop (Filipino Branding In The 21st Century: Analysis Of Pandayan Bookshop's Strategies), Ma. Janella Gillian Sayson, Marife Villalon, Analiza Resurreccion

Mabini Review

This paper discusses the Filipino identity and how it is promoted through the branding of Pandayan Bookshop, a locally owned company and has been operating stores selling school and office supplies, books, magazines, posters, charts, and artwork. Using Porter’s value chain model and Rumelt’s principles of business strategy evaluation as underpinnings, the researchers analyzed the processes or activities the company undertakes that include incoming logistics, operations, outgoing logistics, marketing and sales, services, and human resource management. The data revealed that the branding of Pandayan Bookshop marked by its use of the Filipino language reflects Filipinos’ good character, camaraderie, and humanity. …

Detection Of Some Virulence Factors Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Isolated From Burns And Wounds, Shaimaa Ms. Zainulabdeen, Khawlah Jebur Khalaf

Muthanna Medical Journal

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a pathogenic microbe that has a wide variety of opportunistic infections, including surgical site, urinary tract, pneumonia and bloodstream, wounds and burns, ear, nose, and throat infections, as nosocomial infections in the hospital intensive care units (ICUs). Nineteen isolates of P. aeruginosa from burns and wounds were collected. All isolates also were subjected to the cultural, biochemical tests as well as vitek 2 system. Moreover, these isolates had been tested for susceptibility to (10) antibiotic discs and also detection of some virulence factors included hemolysin, pyocyanin, swarming motility, and biofilm formation. Most isolates were resistant to tetracycline, …

Lyme Disease: Risk Prediction And Vaccine Deployment Model Development, Rebecca M. Bingham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Features related to Lyme disease throughout the United States on different scales was analyzed over 17 years of reported Lyme disease cases obtained from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. Results showed overall risk being in the eastern United States, more concentrated in the upper Midwest and Northeast which coincides with previous research. Models produced from this study using stratified random sampling were unsuccessful in predicting areas where people are at high risk of contracting the pathogens that cause this disease. When using equal samples among groups the models were able to correctly classify some high-risk areas, but it …

Online Teaching Self-Efficacy: An Explanatory Case Study, Lady Moran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Data reveals growth in online learning enrollment; additionally, university strategic initiatives and emergency response efforts include reliance on online education. However, the literature indicates that many who teach in post-secondary institutions are reluctant to adopt online education. There is a need to reduce existing barriers regarding online education and build instructor online teaching self-efficacy. A suggestion for increasing online instructor self-efficacy exists within the bounds of professional development. A qualitative explanatory case study was used to determine how the completion of the Quality Matters Applying the Quality Matters Rubric (APPQMR) workshop, a training rooted in best practices of course design, …

County Level 4-H Agents’ Perceived Organizational Support: A Predictive Correlational Study, Laura Brumbaugh Robertson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The cooperative extension service (CES) is facing a county-level 4-H agent retention problem. Over the last decade, national retention rates of county-level extension agents have decreased at an alarming rate. CES organizations nationwide have identified retention of 4-H agents as a problem because turnover costs to extension organizations are high. County 4-H program productivity is interrupted, and program sustainability is uncertain. Retaining county-level 4-H agents helps sustain local educational programming for 4-H youth and their families. The lack of CES research exacerbates this problem in identifying specific strategies to keep county-level 4-H agents from the view of the Southern region, …

A Review Of Current Construction Guidelines To Inform The Design Of Rammed Earth Houses In Seismically Active Zones, David Thompson, Charles Augarde, Juan Pablo Osorio

Articles

Sustainability in the materials we use for construction is a prime concern, focusing on reducing the embodied energy and carbon footprints of the materials used. The cement used in concrete products is responsible for a significant proportion of Man's CO2 emissions and its production requires substantial energy input, as do fired clay products. For this reason, products formed from unfired earthen materials are of increasing interest and the current challenges include devising means of robust design for strength and to address durability concerns. One form of earthen construction that employs an in-situ method is rammed earth, and it is a …

Application Of Neural Networks To Predict Patient-Specific Cellular Parameters In Computational Cardiac Models, Chang Hi Lee

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Sudden cardiac death(SCD) is a significant cause of death that accounts for more than 180,000 deaths in the US and 4 million deaths worldwide annually. SCDs are mainly caused by irregular heartbeats called arrhythmias, which are caused by abnormal electrical activity within the heart. Precision medicine, in the form of personalized computational cardiac models of a patient’s heart, can suggest optimal therapies for cardiac arrhythmias. Prior work has used finite element meshes derived from cardiac MRIs to simulate cardiac electrical activity. In this study, I sought to augment this approach by developing a neural network to learn the parameters that …

Design Of An Offner-Chrisp Imaging Spectrometer For A Planetary Fluorescence Instrument, Tristan Wells Carlson

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Spectrometers have been an integral part of space exploration in the late 20th and 21st centuries and will continue to provide quantitative measurements to answer exciting questions like, “Is or was there life on other planets?” PERISCOPE, Probe for Exploring Regolith and Ice by Subsurface Classification of Organics, Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and Elements, is a next generation spectrometer designed to explore icy worlds like Europa. It uses time-resolved ultraviolet (UV) fluorescence spectroscopy, a technique that identifies organic molecules, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and rare earth elements (REE). Photon wavelength discrimination is very important for this technique and is accomplished by …

The Wizard's Alphabet Book: Illustration As Counter-Environment To The Digital World, Stephen Barany

MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture

This thesis essay accompanies a built installation of twenty-six densely drawn illustrations, each consisting of numerous creatures and objects whose names all begin with the same letter. Thus, each illustration represents a different letter of the alphabet. Printed on cloud-shaped substrates and suspended as a group in a 10”x10” ring, the array of illustrations form a small space where viewers can immerse themselves in the act of free and careful looking. This essay elaborates on the ideas that propelled the design and construction of this illustrated installation.

This essay explores the potential for illustration to create a space for looking …