A Stewardship Curriculum to Promote Financial Independence: Congregants of SBC Depend on the Church for Financial Support

This thesis project investigates the congregation of Second Baptist Church of Selma, Alabama, and their dependency upon the church for financial support. The thesis presupposes biblical illiteracy on stewardship as the hinderance for congregants of Second Baptist Church in obtaining financial independence. This project will launch a research study of the congregants of Second Baptist Church using a triangulated approach evaluating the knowledge of participants from the congregation in comparison to the stewardship curriculum. The research method includes surveys, one-on-one interviews, and small focus groups as tools to investigate the problem. This design proposes that when the curriculum is implemented it will educate the parishioners on subjects relative to stewardship and prosperity. If a curriculum on stewardship is implemented, then congregants of SBC will gain biblical literacy on stewardship, empowering them to demonstrate financial independence and prosperity in their lives

Upper Versus Lower Body Contribution to the Rowing Stroke

Purpose: This study examined energy expenditure and power output by the upper and lower body, as well as gender, and training differences, using the Concept II Model E rowing ergometer. It was hypothesized that (1) there will be greater energy expenditure and power output with the lower body as compared to the upper body, (2) there will be a significantly greater upper and lower body energy expenditure and power output for males in the rowing stroke, and (3) there will be a significantly greater lower body energy expenditure and power output for trained rowers. Methods: Subjects included 14 males (7 trained, 7 untrained) and 14 females (7 trained, 7 untrained). Test 1 had participants rowing using the full body a 1000 meter all out row was performed. Test 2 had the pull-chain from the row handle directly attached to the seat of the Concept II to isolate only lower body rowing input. Rowers then completed a 1000m row using the lower body at the same cadence of the full body row. To determine the contribution of the upper body, the results of test 2 were subtracted from test 1. Power output, energy expenditure, row time, distance per stroke, blood lactate, heart rate, and rate of perceived exertion were recorded. A repeated measures ANOVA was used to compare upper vs lower body, and independent t-tests were used to analyze gender and training effects. Results: Upper body power output (188.6 ± 60.5) was significantly greater than lower body (60.2 ± 28.5) power output (p=.001). Lower body energy expenditure (5.5 ± 4.5) was significantly greater than upper body (8.5 ± 3.8) energy expenditure (p=.043). There was a significant upper/lower by gender interaction for power, with upper body power output significantly greater in males (p=.018). There was a significant upper/lower by training interaction for both power and energy expenditure, with lower body power output (p=.008) and lower body energy expenditure (p=.021) significantly greater for trained. Conclusion: Upper versus lower body differences sho

Who is Next? Evaluating Factors that May Contribute to Heart Failure

Cardiovascular diseases are the number one causes of death globally, and for African Americans those risks are even higher. As an African American university student studying Biology, I am passionate about researching the diseases that affect my race. Current research states that behavioral factors such as obesity, tobacco use, unhealthy diet, and harmful use of alcohol should be avoided. I have chosen to research predictors of what helps patients survive if they already have heart failure. Heart failure develops gradually, where the heart becomes weaker over time and has trouble pumping blood to nourish the cells in the body. Data was collected on 299 patients with heart failure at the Faisalabad Institute of Cardiology. Is the survival rate better for patients with higher ejection percentages? Is the average serum sodium level a predictor of survival? Is there a difference in age or sex between patients who survived and died? Can anemia levels, creatinine levels, high blood pressure, platelet count, or sodium levels predict survival? Does smoking or having diabetes decrease chances of survival? My research also investigates the interrelationships of the variables predicting survival. Is the average ejection percentage lower than the normal range of 55% and above? Do patients with diabetes have a decreased ejection rate or lower platelet count? Is the average serum sodium the same for males and females? Does age play a factor in the levels of serum sodium? Is having high creatinine levels related to high blood pressure? Parametric and non-parametric hypothesis tests were used to analyze these questions. Statistical graphics, stratified box plots and scatterplots, will be used to convey the findings. Knowing the risk factors that predict survival and the interrelationships of those predictors, enables African Americans, and all people, to understand the potential benefits of reducing these factors

Designing Core/Alloy Nanoparticles by Manipulation of Interfacial Oxidation and Atomic Diffusion

Alloying presents a unique opportunity to combine the chemical and physical properties of two or more metals into one material. This phenomenon can also be used for multi-metallic nanoparticles (NPs), where in conjunction with the size effects induced by quantum confinement, new properties or phase behavior can emerge. The properties of nanoalloys are highly dependent on their composition and morphology, which are contingent upon the method in which they are synthesized. Finding ways to control, or even design, the composition and morphology of nanoalloys could potentially open the door for a standardized approach for creating nanomaterials with unique and desirable properties. In my dissertation research, I designed core/alloy NPs by manipulation of interfacial oxidation and atomic diffusion via galvanic exchange, Cabrera-Mott oxidation, and Kirkendall diffusion. A novel method for the fabrication of FeNi-M3O4 (M = Ni, Fe) heterostructures by galvanic exchange is discussed. Using α-Fe NPs as a template, galvanic exchange was shown to occur if a significant redox potential occurs between the template nanoparticle and the deposition metal. Deposition of metallic Ni or Cr onto the Fe template NP allows for effective alloying as well as control over the symmetry of the final core/alloy NP morphology. Depending on alloy shell thickness, oxidation results in Kirkendall void formation essentially allowing for control over the morphology of hollow core/alloy NP. Formation of an outer oxide shell creates a stainless steel-like interface, which results in passivation from further oxidation. Finally, I describe Mn doping into ZnSe quantum dots, where energy transfer occurs from the host semiconductor, ZnSe, to the dopant excited state, which lies within the bandgap of the host material

A novel RCC1-like protein is a crucial regulator of the intraerythrocytic cycle of the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.

Malaria is a deadly infection caused by a single celled protozoan of the Plasmodium genus. Plasmodium spp. are transmitted to humans by mosquitoes, and initially invade the liver, but the disease is caused by the blood stage of the infection. Approximately 500 million cases of malaria are documented annually and over 1 million of those result in death. Plasmodium falciparum is the most lethal of five species known to infect humans. To further compound this problem, drug-resistant parasite strains have been documented for every currently available antimalarial drug, making the need to identify new drug targets more urgent than ever. Modern genetics have found that more than 50% of the Plasmodium genome codes for proteins of unknown functions, with no significant sequence homology to any known eukaryotic genes. Recent advances in forward genetics and the use of transposable elements to manipulate the genome of P. falciparum have made tremendous contributions to discovering the functions of these unknown genes, which is critical to rapidly advance antimalarial drug development. In this study we have identified a gene of unknown function, PF3D7_1143500, that is significant for intraerythrocytic development of Plasmodium. This gene exhibits weak similarities to the human regulator of chromatin condensation 1 protein (RCC1) and appears to belong to the class of RCC1-like proteins that perform diverse functions in eukaryotes. A thorough cellular and molecular analysis of an insertional knockout mutant of PF3D7_1143500 in P. falciparum has revealed a critical role for this gene in the production of merozoites during the intraerythrocytic cycle. The insertional mutant parasite strain displays a significant delay in initiating nuclear division, which results in a 40% reduction in the number of merozoites produced at the end of the intraerythrocytic cycle, thereby severely attenuating the parasite growth rate. PF3D7_1143500 localizes to the microtubule organization centers within the nucleus during the early stages of parasite development, suggesting it functions in regulating mitosis. Since cell cycle regulatory mechanisms are largely unknown in Plasmodium, the identification of this novel RCC1-like protein promises to offer new insights into this critical biological pathway that has high potential as an antimalarial drug target

Black Diasporic Memories in the Soviet Union

This project looks into the lives of three Black Americans: W.E.B Du Bois, Paul Robeson, and Robert Robinson. In the mid twentieth century, Du Bois and Robeson were Black radicals. However, their politics were incompatible with the changing Cold War political climate. Eventually, they were ostracized and their radical legacies were undermined and transmitted through a liberal framework. As for Robert Robinson, he was a Black Subaltern whose story is not well known. He has lived in the Soviet Union for over 44 years, most of which was against his will. The purpose of this project if to uncover the silences of their lives in the context of the Cold War

Synthesis of a novel terbium(III) complex for application in metal nanoparticle surface modification

Lanthanide ions, such as terbium(III), exhibit bright luminescence when bound to organic ligands which strongly absorb light. This property has been used in creating chemical sensors or luminescent tags for microscopy. Complexes centered with terbium(III) exhibit a yellow-green luminescence upon excitation by shortwave ultraviolet light. In this work, a bifunctional ligand, 4-mercaptobenzoic acid (4mba), was chosen to selectively coordinate terbium(III) to the oxygens of the acid functional group, leaving the thiol group available for another compound. Thiol groups are effectively used in surface coordination to noble metal nanoparticles (NP). In efforts to create a novel 4mba-terbium(III)-NP system, a one pot synthetic protocol of a 4mba-terbium(III) complex is reported. NMR and FTIR spectra were used to characterize the physical structure of the compound, and UV-visible absorption and emission data were used to analyze the system’s photophysical properties. With a reliable synthesis of this terbium(III) complex and future subsequent surface modification on metal NPs, a novel system can be developed for application as a luminescent probe