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Funding Arts Organizations and Social Justice
No full textThe arts and social justice are historically interconnected, but current research demonstrates how arts and culture organizations connect funding models to these practices. Funding for the arts sector has been studied as well as research about how the arts affects social justice. My research examines funding models and methods used by arts and culture organizations who embark on social justice programming. Through a review of the literature and interviews at three arts and culture organizations in the City of Philadelphia, my research uncovers common themes in the sector, specifically in regard to funding. Further, my research explores the intersecting topics associated with funding, including programming, evaluation, and communication with community members and donors. It is the intention of this paper to offer findings and recommendations for the field as we move towards increased engagement in social justice.M.S., Arts Administration -- Drexel University, 201
Real-Time Remote Soil Moisture Monitoring for Rain Garden Irrigation Efficiency with a Low-Cost Cloud-Connected Datalogger
No full textGreen stormwater infrastructure tools, such as rain gardens, combat water pollution by mimicking pre-development hydrology in urbanized areas to reduce stormwater runoff. The vegetation in rain gardens takes time to establish and initially requires irrigation to survive prolonged dry spells. In Philadelphia, public rain gardens are irrigated after four days without rain. Irrigation is applied manually and can be costly. To make these efforts more efficient, a real-time, low-cost soil moisture sensing device was developed and deployed in rain gardens across Philadelphia during the summer of 2018. The device monitors site conditions and transmits data wirelessly over the 3G cellular network to a cloud database. The device sent hourly air temperature, humidity, and soil moisture in six rain gardens. Precipitation events resulted in obvious soil moisture changes at the banks and troughs of all garden sites, but irrigation events were largely undetectable in the data. Events with greater total precipitation amounts resulted in more dramatic soil moisture increases; post-rain reductions in soil moisture were correlated with in higher average daily air temperature. If the data collected with the device were used to develop a new irrigation schedule based on real-time soil moisture values, there would have been 16 fewer irrigation events at these sites during the summer of 2018. The reduced irrigation would likely have offset the cost of required instrumentation.M.S., Environmental Engineering -- Drexel University, 201
Method of quantifying wind-driven natural ventilation flowrate and the development of systematic analysis on the relationship between the flowrate and building configuration
No full textIt is very challenging to design a building when one is trying to determine the wind-driven ventilation due to the instability of the wind. While a significant amount of research has been carried out to measure and estimate the wind-driven ventilation of buildings in the recent decade, few could systematically quantify the ventilation flowrates in different building types in different wind environments. In order to thoroughly investigate the research gap above, the thesis has been divided into four stages and covered by four related studies. the first stage of the four studies analyzed the relationship between façade opening size and wind-driven airflow rates through small openings by using CFD. Then, for the second stage, a Weibull model fitted wind characteristic study was carried out to try to represent variable wind by a mathematical model. A series of CFD simulation and wind tunnel experiments were conducted for the third stage to establish a methodology to use CFD simulation software carrying out virtual wind tunnel experiments. Finally, for the last stage, by applying the methodology created in the third stage, a series of building façade pressure coefficient simulations were conducted, and wind-driven ventilation of these buildings under historical wind conditions was estimated. To summarize the results of these four related studies, the opening size analysis showed the relationship between the airflow at the building opening, which is driven by the wind, opening size, and wind direction. The investigation revealed the airflow through the opening was mostly driven by the pressure difference, in which wind momentum energy dissipated at the building surface, even while the wind was not perpendicular to the façade. By changing the opening size, it also revealed that the primary driving force of the airflow through opening shifted from pressure to momentum while the opening size was increased. This study provided the threshold of opening size while pressure-driven airflow applied. The next step provided the mathematical model exploration of wind data, which delivered a method to represent wind characteristic data. The study illustrated the inaccuracy of using TMY3 wind data to estimate wind-driven ventilation when comparing to ASOS data. Weibull model fitted into ASOS data showed the potential of using the mathematical model to generate wind data. The thirst step demonstrates the use of a virtual wind tunnel developed to systematically obtain building facade pressure coefficient and the accompanying framework to duplicate this process to fit any building. This virtual wind tunnel analysis was validated against a real wind tunnel experiment (by FIU WoW facility) and the method and framework of acquiring pressure data under different wind conditions via the virtual wind tunnel are expected to generate high-value results for other researchers. Finally, by applying the virtual wind tunnel based data (pressure coefficients), the estimation of wind-driven ventilation rates was calculated for different building and different locations. The calculated flowrates was used in investigating the efficacy and viability of using wind-driven natural ventilation to fulfill current ventilation requirements.Ph.D., Environmental Engineering -- Drexel University, 201
Distributive Inequity: How Organizations Rise Above
No full textDistributive inequity in funding for ALAANA (Asian/South Asian, Latinx, African /Black, Arab/Middle-Eastern, Native/Indigenous Americans) arts organizations has plagued the sector for decades. Rooted in the systemic racial issues of America, a lack of collective reckoning has allowed this issue to persist. Previous research has proved the presence of this profound issue within the arts and culture sector and it hinders society from experiencing the panoply of artistic expression that ALAANA organizations bring. Studies have given suggestions to donors and funders alike, offering tips and techniques to help them reassess their own distributive tendencies and recognize areas where they have perpetuated the inequities. Yet, more research should be done to provide thoughts, concerns, and suggestions from the perspective of organizations who suffer from distributive inequity. This paper reaffirms the presence of distributive inequity in funding and gives six local organizations the space to voice their opinions. As a qualitative case study, it adds more detail from the perspective of the organizations, which has not been fully shown in previous research. It revealed that ALAANA arts organizations want donors and funders to make a concerted effort to disrupt the current nonprofit system and focus on relationship building within the nonprofit arts sector.M.S., Arts Administration -- Drexel University, 201
Mechanical Properties of Compacted Powder Mixtures with a Hygroscopic Component: General Ideas and Special Cases
No full textPharmaceutical formulations are multicomponent powder mixtures that consist of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and various excipients. There has always been a desire to understand their behavior from that of individual components to increase efficiency of R&D efforts. Prior work on this topic aimed on deriving the properties of the mixtures based on interpolation of the properties of the components. Although this is tempting, there are many mixtures that defy such simple approaches. In this work sodium chloride (NaCl) and starch were used as a model mixture, which has been shown to exhibit a mechanical strength well below the interpolated strengths of its components. The evolution of mechanical behavior of starch and sodium chloride (NaCl) mixture tablets after compaction and its interaction with moisture was studied in detail. It was shown experimentally that the strengths of NaCl-starch mixtures and NaCl tablets evolved in an opposite way after compaction. When stored at a relative humidity (RH) of 60%, NaCl tablets strengthened with time, while NaCl-starch mixtures weakened. A mechanistic understanding of this effect was validated using discrete element modeling (DEM) and a novel experimental approach was developed based on the insight from DEM simulations. This knowledge was applied on the optimization of strength of NaCl-X mixtures and it was demonstrated experimentally that the strength of various NaCl-X mixtures increases with progressively lower differences in the elastic modulus between the two components. In addition, results from a special case of NaCl-starch mixtures are presented. This mixture, due to the processing conditions, exhibited superior mechanical strengths compared to the individual components. Several characterization efforts of the microstructure of this mixture are reported despite that a full explanation of this behavior is still lacking. This thesis highlights some of the complexities that characterize the development of the properties of powder mixtures and demonstrates that mechanistic understanding of the underlying phenomena is crucial for optimization of formulations.Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering -- Drexel University, 201
Exploring Chemical Optimization Pathways for HIV-1 Env-Targeting Entry Inhibitors
No full textEntry of HIV-1 virus into human CD4 positive cells is a critical step for infection1. Preventing this entry process is key for therapeutic intervention. Despite advances in AIDS treatment, shortcomings in current Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) exist, such as emergent viral resistance and low patient compliance. To date, an anti-HIV-1 vaccine has not been attained. We have previously demonstrated that peptide triazoles (PTs) and their cyclic counterparts (cPTs) effectively compete for human CD4 and co-receptor binding, thus preventing infection2-3. Additionally, cPT derivatives irreversibly inactivate3 HIV-1 virions and are non-cytotoxic2. While previous optimization studies have been performed on lead cPT compounds2, enhancement of potency has been unable to yield IC50 values below 0.1[mu]M (100nM) thus far. In this study, the examination of two chemical routes for improvement of cPT potency against HIV-1 infection were investigated. Changes to the stereochemistry of the peptide backbone were tested in many sequences to yield information about structural tolerance to cPT stereochemistry. Previously, linear PTs were covalently linked4 to a co-receptor inhibitor (coRi) compound developed by collaborators5 to form a potent and synergistic chimera. Thus, the covalent attachment of a cPT to this coRi was attempted via microwave assisted solid phase peptide synthesis. Both pathways presented unique synthetic challenges which were overcome and gave much insight to the process of the solid phase synthesis technique. Neither chemical route resulted in a new lead compound with enhanced potency over the previous generation. Obtaining crystallographic data in future studies would help facilitate interpretation of these results to guide future experiments and syntheses.M.S., Chemistry -- Drexel University, 201
Synthesis of Two-Dimensional Transition Metal Nitrides
No full textThe family of two-dimensional (2D) materials solids with high aspect ratios and thicknesses consisting of a few atomic layers has grown far beyond graphene. 2D transition metal carbides, nitrides and carbonitrides, known as MXenes, are one of the latest additions to this family. This rapidly growing class of 2D materials finds applications in fields ranging from energy storage to electromagnetic interference shielding and transparent conductive coatings. However, while over twenty carbide MXenes have been synthesized, very few transition metal nitrides (TMNs), and no nitride MXenes, had previously been reported. Two-dimensional TMNs, including nitride MXenes, have several potential advantages over their carbide analogs. They theoretically have higher values of electrical conductivity than carbide MXenes, which has implications on outperforming carbides in electrochemical and other applications. Compared to carbides, they are superior candidates for promising plasmonic devices and spintronic devices that incorporate magnetic 2D materials. Although there are theoretically as many nitride MXenes as carbide MXenes predicted, synthesizing nitride MXenes and 2D TMNs in general faces several challenges. Synthesis methods that have produced over two dozen 2D carbides MXenes have failed to yield 2D TMNs. The major focus of this dissertation is investigating routes of synthesizing 2D TMNs including, but not limited to, selective etching of layered bulk metal nitride precursors. Three promising routes of synthesis are explored, and their electronic and magnetic properties of the synthesized materials are also characterized. Discovering how to synthesize 2D TMNs will remove the barrier between merely studying their theoretically predicted properties and finally applying these outstanding properties in devices for energy storage, spintronics and beyond.Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering -- Drexel University, 201
A Meta-Analysis of Mental Health Courts: State of the Research and Recommendations
No full textMental health courts (MHCs) were developed in 1997 and have rapidly expanded to address the overrepresentation of individuals with mental illness in the criminal justice system. MHCs seek to divert offenders living with mental illness into appropriate community treatment by using a specialized court docket with a team-based, non-adversarial court staff to promote rehabilitation and address the underlying needs that exacerbate criminogenic risk factors and, in turn, criminal behavior. This meta-analysis sought to evaluate the current state of the research on MHCs and examine their impact on both criminal and clinical outcome measures. Stringent methodological inclusion criteria were employed to restrict analyses to high-quality studies. A total of 32 eligible studies were identified and 24 were included in quantitative analyses. Results show that, on average, MHCs have a small impact on recidivism (as measured by re-arrests, reconvictions, and time to re-arrest). MHCs were found to have a moderate effect on reduction of jail days. Clinical outcome data could not be quantitatively analyzed due to heterogeneity in data and measurement; qualitative review highlights the dearth of research in this domain and presents mixed results regarding MHCs’ effects. Future research should seek to improve methodological limitations highlighted in this study and evaluate mechanisms by which MHCs impact key outcome measures.Ph.D., Psychology -- Drexel University, 201
Rumination Derails Learning about Potentially Reinforcing Cues
No full textPeople who brood about their feelings and about what is going wrong in their lives--i.e., ruminate--tend to engage in ineffective behaviors. Ineffective behaviors in turn generate stress and, in the long term, poor mental health. Yet, precisely how rumination disrupts effective behavior is mysterious. Here, we investigate a potential mechanism: impaired reinforcement learning (RL). RL refers to the suite of mechanisms that allow us to make adjustments when something goes different than we expected. RL enables adapting to our environments and altering our actions so that we can act effectively in the future. Thus, if rumination impairs RL, this could explain why it leads to diverse ineffective behaviors. We investigated if rumination interferes with RL in a task with high attentional demands. This is of interest because RL typically depends on attention, as cues in the real world are often embedded in environments that are cluttered, complex, and capacious. Rumination appears to hijack attentional networks, and thus may interfere the ability to home in on potentially reinforcing cues in such environments. We recruited participants (N = 56) with elevated depression symptoms, and had them perform the RL task in the context of experimental rumination and distraction inductions, respectively designed to induce rumination or a neutral state. Manipulation checks confirmed that only the rumination induction elevated state rumination. We compared, within-subject, how an increase in state rumination affected RL. Rumination impaired performance on the task, suggesting that it disrupts RL. This may explain why rumination is associated with diverse ineffective behaviors. When ruminating, participants also responded more quickly in the task. This is noteworthy, as speeded responding is typically associated with learning a RL task--yet, ruminating participants responded faster even as they learned less. We next used computational modeling to investigate if rumination interfered with performance through impairing specific learning, choice, or attention mechanisms. Model parameters representing these mechanisms did not have different values in the two inductions, and simulated data using these parameters could not replicate the impaired learning in rumination. This suggests that rumination did not alter performance by interfering with learning rate, choice stochasticity, or attentional breadth--the mechanisms represented by the model parameters. Next, we applied a model-derived trial-wise marker of choice difficulty that we have established in prior work. We found that, when ruminating, participants did not slow as much on difficult trials. This suggests rumination impairs learning in part by leading to more automatic responding when controlled responding is needed. We discuss the significance of our behavioral findings for theories of how rumination impedes effective behavior, future directions for experimentation and modeling to pinpoint the mechanisms underlying the behavioral and control allocation differences, and the clinical implications of our findings.Ph.D., Psychology -- Drexel University, 201
Secondary Principal Internship Preparation Program: A Qualitative Study Focused on Twenty-First Century Principal Readiness
No full textThe purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of secondary principals who participated in a large urban mid-Atlantic school district's, District Y, secondary principal preparation program. This study examined perspectives on 21st-century principalship preparation, analyzed the impact of the training and development program, and identified the key components of the program. The principal shortage continues to be a well-documented national concern, as higher turnover rates for principals serving urban public school districts have emerged. The following research questions guided this phenomenological study: (a) How do participants who are currently principals perceive that the Secondary Principal Internship Program (SPIP) has prepared them to meet the complex demands of the 21st-century pincipalship? (b) How do SPIP participants perceive the program prepared them to be instructional leaders? (c) How do the SPIP participants perceive the theoretical frameworks used in the program assisted them in being a 21st-century principal? (d) How do SPIP participants perceive the program prepared them to be transformational leaders? (e) Do the SPIP participants perceive that the program will result in greater principal retention or longevity? The research questions were explored through in-depth semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Five key themes emerged from coding and analysis of the interview data and are offered as findings in this study: (a) school administrator cohorts of learning, (b) principal preparation seminars, (c) teamwork in principal development, (d) mentorship, and (e) the practicum experience. Three recommendations for enhancing the secondary principal training and development program were identified from findings and conclusions: (a) include more research-based learning into SPIP seminars, (b) the SPIP should be a mandatory requirement for aspiring secondary principals, and (c) the practicum experience should be extended. This research can support essential understanding regarding the professional development needed for aspiring principals in the 21st century and assist with data and valuable information addressing the nationwide principal shortage.Ed.D., Higher Education -- Drexel University, 201