Racial Socialization: Relationship Between Black Identity, Perceptions Of Discrimination, And Academic Outcomes

Racial tension in the academic environment has been prevalent in American society since Brown v. The Board of Education. Racial socialization serves as a practice utilized by Black American parents to provide their children with a cultural orientation as to what it means to be Black in America. Educators’ ability to create and maintain meaningful relationships across cultural differences impacts students’ perceptions on how they are being treated. Because perceived discrimination is associated with depressive symptomatology, it is critical to understand how Black American adolescents make racial meaning of themselves, particularly in the learning environment. The researcher utilized a quantitative, correlational study design to discover the relationship between participants’ racially socialized experiences, perceptions of discrimination and academic outcomes in a Midwestern, suburban secondary institution. The researcher also utilized academic outcome indicators such as school attachment and academic engagement as precursors to academic achievement. The results indicated that there was no statistically significant relationship between racially socialized experiences, perceived discrimination, and grade point average; however, there was a statistically significant correlation between students’ perceptions of discrimination and school attachment. Additionally, the relationship between racial socialization experiences and perceptions of discrimination was statistically significant

Development of Solution Blow Spun Nanofibers as Electrical and Whole Cell Biosensing Interfaces

Infectious pathogens place a huge burden on the US economy with more than $120 billion spent annually for direct and indirect costs for the treatment of infectious diseases. Rapid detection schemes continue to evolve in order to meet the demand of early diagnosis. In chronic wound infections, bacterial load is capable of impeding the healing process. Additionally, bacterial virulence production works coherently with bacterial load to produce toxins and molecules that prolongs the healing cycle. This work examines the use of nonwoven polymeric conductive and non-conductive nanofiber mats as synthetic biosensor scaffolds, drug delivery and biosensor interface constructs. A custom-made nanofiber platform was built to produce solution blow spun nanofibers of various polymer loading. Antimicrobial nanofiber mats were made with the use of an in-situ silver chemical reduction method. Ceria nanoparticles were incorporated to provide an additional antioxidative property. Conductivity properties were examined by using silver and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) as a filler material. SBS parameters were adjusted to analyze electrical conductivity properties. Nanofiber mats were used to detect bacteria concentrations in vitro. Protein adhesion to conductive nanofibers was studied using fluorescent antibodies and BCA assay. Anti-rabbit and streptavidin Alexa Flour 594 was used to examine the adsorption properties of SBS nanofiber mats. Enhancements were made to further improve interface design for specificity. SBS nanofiber electrodes were fabricated to serve as scaffold and detection site for spike protein detection. Bacteria virulence production was examined by the detection of pyocyanin and quorum sensing molecules. The opportunistic pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a nosocomial iii pathogen found in immunocompromised patients with such as those with chronic wounds and cystic fibrosis. Pyocyanin is one of four quorum sensing molecules that the pathogen produces which can be detected electrochemically due to its inherent redox-active activity. SBS has been used to develop a sensing scheme to detect pyocyanin. This work also examines the use of a synthetic biosensor with a LasR based system capable of detecting homoserine lactone produced by P. aeruginosa and other common gram-negative pathogens. Genetic modifications were made to biosensor in order to replace a green, fluorescent reporter with a chromoprotein based reporter system for visual readout. Additionally, work related to community service and outreach regarding the encouragement of middle school students to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) was conducted. Results from outreach program showed an increase in the STEM interest among a group of middle school students. There was a general trend with STEM career knowledge, STEM self-efficacy and the level of interest in STEM careers and activities. Military research was also done with the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) to develop several assays for the detection of several highly infectious viruses and bacteria. Due to confidentiality, the work cannot be published in this manuscript

THE EFFECT OF OLIVE BY PRODUCTS AND THEIR EXTRACTS ON ANTIOXIDATIVE STATUS OF LAYING HENS AND OXIDATIVE STABILITY OF EGGS ENRICHED WITH N-3 FATTY ACIDS

The aim of the study was to assess the effects olive leaves, pulp and their extract supplementation on performance, antioxidant status and oxidative stability of eggs. Oxidative stress was induced by the addition of 6% linseed oil in the feed. 94 individually caged laying hens, 40 weeks old, were included in the study. Animals were divided into 6 groups. The feed of each group was composed of a basic feed, supplemented with: group Cont - no supplement, Vit E - 150 IU of α-tocopherol acetate /kg, Olive L - 1% of olive leaves, Olive Ex - extract from olive leaves, the Pulp group - 1% of dried and ground pulp and Pulp Ex - extract from pulp. Based on the results we found out that supplementation of vitamin E, olive leaves, pulp and their extracts had no effect on the performance of hens and showed neither a lymphocyte DNA damage preventive activity nor influence malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration in plasma. The results suggest that α-tocopherol acetate and olive leaves supplementation had significant effect on the MDA content of the stored eggs. Supplements, except vitamin E had neither influence on antioxidant activity (ACL) in eggs nor on n-3 PUFA in fresh and 40 days stored eggs

“Pick up Your Feet, Play Your Part; Drive, Drive, Drive": An African American Male Music Educator Successfully Teaching African American Males in Urban Secondary Schools

This study focused on African American male urban music educators and their acts of teaching that lead to academic success in African American boys. Through narrative inquiry, this study restoried the experiences of Glenn, an urban band director at a secondary school. I used semi-structured interviews and observations with one African American male urban band director to interpret personal and professional acts leading to success in African American boys in all three commonplaces, temporality, sociality, and place. The narratives in this scholarship offered multiple viewpoints: my own as the principal investigator, accompanied with personally relevant experiences to enhance the research and the perspective of Glenn, along with the perspectives of others. Several themes emerged after critical analysis of the data. The findings from this study indicate that Glenn believed his personal experiences influences how he perceives African American boys; music should be used as a medium to educate African American boys; urban music educators should utilize a culturally relevant teaching approach when teaching African American boys; and urban music educators should aim to understand African American boys. The main conclusions that emerged from this study is that mentors added significant value to his development as an urban music educator and urban music educators can successfully teach African American boys through a culturally relevant teaching approach. This study recommends that district and site-based administrators as well as band directors and other teachers engage in professional development that shares how urban male band directors can impact the learning of African American boys. Lastly, that parents, community leaders and other stakeholders engage in informational sessions centered on the impact of urban male band directors on African American boys

Web-based platform for dataflow processing

This Thesis presents the design and implementation of a web-based general-purpose data processing platform. The platform consists of a storage system, processing system, and an application server with an exposed RESTful interface. Through this interface clients, such as web browser applications, can access and control data processing as well as view the results of it. The processing system is inspired by dataflow processing, defining each process as a black box with inputs and outputs. Connecting the outputs to inputs of other processes enables data to flow between processes and allows for creation of processing pipelines. Triggers – conditions under which a process can begin work on available input data – enable automation of the processing pipelines. Such a system allows users who lack programming expertise to easily create and run complex dataflow operations