Hope Works: Student Use of Education Tax Credits

Surveys University of California students on their use of Hope Scholarship and Lifetime Learning tax credit programs. Explores the debate over whether federal aid should emphasize incentives to attend college or relief to those already planning to attend

The Long Horizon

The idea for my thesis stemmed from a braided essay I wrote for a creative writing class. I didn’t initially plan on expanding my class essay into a memoir, but I have discovered that oftentimes the story finds us rather than the other way around. Using the memoir form allowed me to bridge quite naturally the subjects of grief and landscape by giving me space to reflect on a turbulent period in my life and arrive at some sort of conclusion. While I could see the importance of the natural world in my life, I didn’t realize at first how it helped me work through the grief, depression, and anxiety I experienced after my mother passed away. Writing about that period of my life helped me see the direct connections between landscape and healing. Grief itself can feel circular or like a whirlpool with no escape. Healing, on the other hand, transpires more linearly. For that reason, I decided to use geology as a metaphor to demonstrate how I worked through the emotional landscape of grief toward acceptance and healing after tragedy

Representation and underrepresentation: a phenomenological study of barriers facing female leaders in the contract management profession

Theoretical literature and empirical research confirmed the contracting profession is male dominated. Although there has been progression in the total representation, women remain critically underrepresented in leadership roles, specifically, executive management within the contracting profession. The number of women holding C-suite titles such as, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Operations Officer (COO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), and Executive Vice President remain low. A democratic leadership view ceases to exist if there is a lack in representation, despite gender. An equitable distribution of organizational power between genders is imperative. The primary focus of this qualitative study is to understand barriers faced by women in the contracting profession and how these barriers impact underrepresentation of women in leadership. A phenomenological approach was used to interview participants, which allowed the researcher to capture real life experiences to infer similarities and differences. In-depth interviews were conducted with 19 female professionals in the field of contract management who were employed in Government, Nonprofit and Private sectors. Participants in this study varied from different states, career backgrounds and organizational culture. Several themes emerged during the interviews concerning current representation, obstacles, strategies, best practices and recommendations. This study is a representation of today’s contracting environment and best practices employed by todays contracting professionals. Understanding the obstacles women face and strategies used to influence career advancement will help women prepare for challenges. Many women spoke about experienced biases in the sense of pre-conceived ideas or knowledge that resulted in unfair treatment. Conclusions of this study reveal there has been progression in the contracting profession as findings reveal there is now equal representation of genders in leadership. The findings of this study cannot be generalized to a larger population but results conclude there are initiatives in place for diversity, equity and inclusion within the field

Design and Synthesis of Solid State Materials Constructed from Transition Metals and Diphosphonate or Organoarsonate Ligands

This work encompasses detailed investigations of the synthesis and structures of transition metal complexes which contain xylyldiphosphonate or organoarsonate ligands. The xylyldiphosphonate families of materials which were examined were the metal(II) series of Cu, Ni, Co, Mn, Cd and Zn, with an addition of an organo-nitrogen chelate. With success in these families of materials, a secondary metal of vanadium or molybdenum was added to these metal(II) systems to increase the complexity of the structure produced. For the organoarsonate series of compounds, the chemistry of the Mo/metal(II)/organoarsonate/organo-nitrogen chelate family of materials was expanded upon and preliminary studies were conducted into the V/metal(II)/organoarsonate/organo-nitrogen chelate group of materials. The analysis of a number of structural determinants in the xylyldiphosphonate family of compounds aims to expand upon the current knowledge of metal-diphosphonate chemistry. We have focused on variables such as the xylyldiphosphonate ligand used- whether 1,4-, 1,3- or 1,2-xylyldiphosphonate. Furthermore, we have varied the denticity and size of the organo-nitrogen co-ligand. We have also investigated the incorporation of fluoride into the vanadium and molybdenum series of compounds. Through our examination of these systems we have discovered that all possible dimensionalities are represented in the xylyldiphosphonate series of compounds; we postulate that the unique flexibility of the xylyldiphosphonate ligands allows a number of unique structures to be produced. In expanding upon the organoarsonate family of materials we have discovered the preferences for molecular structures in the Mo/metal(II)/organoarsonate/organo-nitrogen chelate family of materials. In our preliminary studies of the vanadium group of materials, a one-dimensional chain was produced and with a minor change in reaction conditions we saw a drastic structural change which yielded a mixed-dimensional structure consisting of clusters and chains. We conclude that minor changes in reaction conditions can lead to large structural changes with the use of hydrothermal synthesis

Reflective Practice, Collaboration, and Stakeholder Communication: Where Does the Field of Evaluation Stand?

The current study provides insight into the state of the field of evaluation regarding practitioners’ understanding and application of reflective practice (RP), one of six essential competencies in program evaluation identified and discussed by Stevahn, King, Ghere, and Minnema (2005). Specifically, the purpose of this study was to determine how professional evaluators view RP, the extent and manner in which they engage in RP behaviors, and how evaluators conceptualize whether RP efforts affect, if at all, the evaluation process. Through a snowball sample, nineteen highly experienced evaluators took part in an hour long interview. These interviews with evaluators who have been practicing evaluation for ten or more years offered a broader understanding of where professionals in the discipline stand with regard to RP in evaluation. Overall, participants conceptualized RP as both an intuitive and purposeful learning process that includes thinking, questioning, self-awareness, and multiple perspectives. Participants reported using RP for communicating and sharing with others or with the evaluation community, for thinking about their work personally, for evaluation of their work, and through the use of professional guidelines. Participants reported that RP is not specific to any part of the evaluation process but is instead a process that continues throughout the evaluation as well as after the fact. With regard to collaboration, participants discussed involving stakeholders and evaluation clients, evaluation team members, and colleagues in the process of RP, both formally and informally. Typically they collaborated for the purpose of feedback or learning and for thinking through the evaluation together. Limitations of the study are addressed, and implications for practice and recommendations for future research are provided

Synthesis and Characterisation of Cycloaurated Gold(III) Complexes with Bidentate (O,O), (N,S) and (S,S) Chelating Ligands

The reaction of C,N-coordinated gold(III) dihalides; BpAuCl₂ (Bp = 2 benzylpyridyl), AnpAuCl₂ (Anp = 2 anilinopyridyl) and TypAuCl₂ (Typ = 2 tolylpyridyl) with catecholate ligands in hot methanol and trimethylamine produced metallacycles with structural isomers of the general formula (C,N)Au{O,O}. Similarly, BpAuCl₂ and AnpAuCl₂ were reacted with thiourea ligands to form complexes giving high yield and good purity with the general formula (C,N)Au{PhNCSNR₂}+, by means of the addition of BPh₄- for precipitation. X-ray crystal structures of the compounds [AnpAu{PhNCSNMe₂}]BPh₄ and [AnpAu{PhNCSNCy₂}]BPh₄ confirmed the coordination of the thiourea to the gold centre through the N and S atoms. In both cases the geometry around the gold atom is square-planar with complex [AnpAu{PhNCSNCy₂}]BPh₄ showing a slightly more puckered conformation than [AnpAu{PhNCSNMe₂}]BPh₄ due to the sterically bulky cyclohexyl groups attached. Some thiourea derivatives were tested against P388 murine leukaemia cells with complex [AnpAu{PhNCSNHPh}]BPh₄ showing promising anti-tumour activity. When thiourea ligands were replaced by dithiophosphinate and dithiophosphate ligands the reaction proceeded at room temperature without the need for the presence of a base. Relatively low yields of impure metallacycles with the general formula (C,N)Au{S₂PR₂}+ were obtained on the addition of BPh₄- or BF₄-. Attempts to improve purity by varying batches of starting materials, anion and solvents used were unsuccessful. X-ray crystal data from a single crystal of [(C,N)Au{S₂PPh₂}]BPh₄ shows the reduction of gold(III) to gold(I) forming a known polymeric gold(I) dithiophosphinate complex. In order to extend this study the synthesis of complexes with the general formula R₂PS₂AuCl₂ was attempted, but no new compounds were characterised. Where possible, all new compounds reported in this thesis were characterised by ES-MS, IR, NMR, melting point and micro-elemental analysis

2021: Tiffany Taylor Smith

During Women’s History Month, the Women’s Center coordinates, as an experiential learning opportunity for students, an annual exhibit highlighting the contributions women have made at the University of Dayton. The 2021 theme, Leading with Character and Resilience, captures what it means to work in the midst of a pandemic, social and political unrest and economic uncertainty. Each honoree displayed resilience, drive, character and tenacity and created inspiring ways to move forward.https://ecommons.udayton.edu/women_of_ud/1060/thumbnail.jp

My Formative Years

Slides trace Tiffany Taylor Smith\u27s growing up in Dayton, showing how her experience shaped her professional life. Her neighborhood in Dayton was vibrant and forward-looking. She credits and her parents and siblings, and by the time she went off to graduate school in New York, her fundamental values about what it means to be human had been formed. She is passionate about creating a diverse and inclusive community for all

Generating obligate heterodimeric transcription activator-like effector nucleases to inactive hepatitis B viral replication

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Medicine Johannesburg, 2018.The hepatitis B virus (HBV) remains a global health concern as chronic infection can lead to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Current therapies are only partially effective and do not target the HBV covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA). cccDNA serves as a replication intermediate for the transcription of viral RNA, resulting in the persistence of infection. Several designer nucleases have therefore been developed to target cccDNA. Their mutagenic effect is mediated by causing double-strand breaks at target sites, consequently disrupting translation of viral proteins. Previous studies observed successful inhibition of HBV, with the use of homodimeric transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs). TALENs are designed in pairs (left and right monomers) to cleave complementary strands of targeted DNA. They consist of a DNA-binding domain which is attached to the wildtype nuclease domain of FokI. TALENs have exhibited considerable predictable interaction with their target sites and have shown diminished toxicity in vitro and in vivo. Despite this success, TALENs containing wildtype FokI nuclease domains may be prone to off-target effects as two of the same domains (two left or two right) in close proximity on opposite strands of DNA can result in cleavage at unintended sites. To establish a more clinically applicable therapy, obligate heterodimeric TALENs targeted against the core (C) and surface (S) open reading frames (ORFs) of cccDNA were generated and referred to as C or S Variant TALENs. Variant TALENs contain mutant FokI nuclease domains. This allows for cleavage only when two different domains (one left and one right) are in close proximity on opposite strands of DNA thus reducing off-target effects. Overall the variant TALENs demonstrated significant knockdown of the HBV replication marker, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Additionally variant TALEN-mediated targeted disruption occurred in ≥5.7% of total HBV DNA in vitro and ≥13% of total HBV DNA in vivo. Finally variant TALEN-treated mice also demonstrated significant knockdown of pregenomic RNA and surface mRNA levels as well as markedly reduced circulating viral particle equivalents. Together these results show that obligate heterodimeric TALENs are capable of HBV knockdown and serve as an advanced gene editing tool against chronic HBV infection.LG201