Digital Commons Network^™

Musical Portrayals Of Death In Mussorgsky’S Songs And Dances Of Death, Graham Michael Anduri

Dissertations

Musorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death presents a set of unique portrayals of death in art song literature. Aside from the obvious challenge of the Russian language and Cyrillic alphabet which are unfamiliar to most Western performers, the unique musical style, historical context, and complex psychological implications of Songs and Dances of Death require a good deal of study before one can fully grasp the profundity and importance of this cycle.

Musorgsky’s views on music and life, the Zeitgeist in which these songs were composed, a historical analysis of the medieval Dance of Death tradition and its influence on the …

Investigations Of The Photocatalytic Activity And Self-Cleaning Properties Of Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane (Poss) Containing Titania Thiol-Ene Films, Lacrissia Unsonta Jefferson

Dissertations

In this document the film composition, self-cleaning aspect, photocatalytic efficiency, and methods employed to analyze a novel photocatalytic titania-containing thin film was evaluated. A primary objective of this research project was to assess the conditions required to achieve a stable titania dispersion for the photocatalytic coating and to determine the extent to which the presence of additives contributes to this process. Modified titania dispersions were prepared and characterized via dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Characterization details of the previous focus on the influence of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) …

A Measure Of Soft Skill Gains Acquisition With Engagement In Baccalaureate Nursing Programs, Wendy J. Williams-Buenzli

Dissertations

This dissertation examined soft skill acquisition from engagement in baccalaureate nursing programs. Baccalaureate nursing programs prepare nurses to be the future leaders of nursing practice. Soft skills include critical thinking, interpersonal communications, and ethical decision-making. To explore the acquisition of soft skills, this research study analyzed data from the National Survey of Student Engagement to explore for gains in critical thinking, ethical decision-making, and critical thinking. After gains scores were identified, then correlations were run to identify key engagement indicators. The findings of the study found gains in soft skill behaviors from freshman year to senior year of baccalaureate education. …

Phylogenetic Relationships Of Samydaceae And Taxonomic Revision Of The Species Of Casearia In South-Central Asia, Tharangamala Samarakoon

Dissertations

The flowering plant family Samydaceae was recently reinstated to include 14 genera and about 256 species of tropical trees and shrubs. Preliminary analyses of relationships in the family, however, indicated that the largest genus in the family, Casearia, is not monophyletic and that several smaller groups are probably misplaced. In order to affirm or refute those hypotheses, additional DNA sequence data with broader taxon sampling from the Old World were gathered for phylogenetic analysis. In particular, rapidly evolving plastid (matK, ndhF, psbA-trnH, trnL, and trnL-F) and nuclear (EMB2765 and GBSSI) DNA …

Improved Monitoring Of The Changjiang River Plume In The East China Sea During The Monsoon Season Using Satellite Borne L-Band Radiometers, Bumjun Kil

Dissertations

Measurement of sea surface salinity (SSS) from Satellite borne L-band (1.4 GHz, 21cm) radiometers (NASA Aquarius/SAC-D and ESA SMOS) in the East China Sea (ECS) is challenging due to the uncertainty of SSS caused by land thermal emissions in the antenna side lobes and because of strong radio frequency interference (RFI) due to illegally emitted man-made sources. RFI contamination in the ECS has gradually decreased because of the on-going international efforts to eliminate broadcasts in the protected L-band radio-astronomy frequency band. The present dissertation focuses on carefully eliminating the remaining RFI contamination in retrieved SSS, and masking out regions close …

Looking Back At The Media's Future: A Mixed Method Analysis Of Race And Gender Bias During The 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary Season, Tim Vance

Dissertations

Political knowledge has been defined as the individual’s ability to recall candidate names, personal characteristics, and qualifications. Furthermore, it is the ability to identify election issues, current campaign developments, and recognize connections between candidates and issue positions (C. Atkin & Heald, 1976). I posit that political knowledge has become much more…and much less.

I have introduced, in this paper, a number of sources for political learning: ads, newspapers, YouTube, and television news. All hold some interest for investigation as political knowledge sources, but methodology cannot be standardized across all sources. As such, the focus of the qualitative part of this …

An Evaluation Of The Attitudes, Beliefs, And Mental Health Literacy Of Young African American College Graduates, Marshae Antoinette Mcneal

Dissertations

The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between the attitudes, beliefs, and mental health literacy of young college-educated African Americans as compared to their Caucasian counterparts. Previous research indicates these two populations differ when receiving services for mental illness. The goal of this study was to see if this difference is due to their mental health literacy level, attitudes toward seeking help, as well as their attitudes and beliefs toward mental illness. A quantitative analysis was conducted using elements of the MacArthur Mental Health Module and the Attitudes toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale-Short Form (ATSPPHS-SF) to …

Relationships Of Parental Homeschooling Approaches Including Technology Integration, Letitia Annette Walters

Dissertations

This study examined the factors influencing parental selection of homeschooling approaches for their children and the utilization of technology integrated. Factors explored were parental motivators for selecting homeschooling approaches, parental reasons for choosing to homeschooling, technology device usage, and instructional technology integration. The population consisted of parents with at least one year or more of experience in teaching homeschooling and the primary educator being involved in answering the survey. Participants in this study responded to items from a researcher-adapted questionnaire using. The majority of the participants were from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Kentucky. A Bachelor's degree was reported as the highest …

The Relationship Between Teacher Collaboration And Teachers' Level Of Knowledge, Implementation, And Confidence Related To Common Core State Standards For Literacy In History/Social Studies, Science And Technical Subject Areas, Talia Shaunte' Lock

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between elements of teacher collaboration and teachers’ level of knowledge, level of implementation, and level of confidence related to CCSS for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subject Areas in grades 6-12. The study included an extensive literature that included an introduction, pertinent literature and research regarding literacy in the 21^st century, CCSS, cross curriculum, teacher collaboration, the role of leadership, and the theoretical framework. The study also included the methodology, research results, the conclusions, recommendations for policymakers and practitioners, and recommendations for further research.

It was discovered …

Leadership Practices Among Undergraduate Nursing Instructors, Melissa Martin Bryant

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to identify leadership practices of nursing instructors in the southern U.S.; and to determine if instructor leadership practices differ from the ‘norm’ leadership practices reported by the LPI instrument (Posner 2008), or from the practices observed by their matched students (observer version). Further, the purpose is to determine the relationship between instructors self-reported leadership practices (self-version) and student observed practices based on institution type, and instructor education level. The consisted of a group of instructors and students that were primarily Caucasian and female. The demographics for the instructors and students were similar to the …

Moving College Students To A Better Understanding Of Substrate Specificity Of Enzymes Through Utilizing Multimedia Pre-Training And An Interactive Enzyme Model, Mounir R. Saleh

Dissertations

Scientists’ progress in understanding enzyme specificity uncovered a complex natural phenomenon. However, not all of the currently available biology textbooks seem to be up to date on this progress. Students’ understanding of how enzymes work is a core requirement in biochemistry and biology tertiary education. Nevertheless, current pre-college science education does not provide students with enough biochemical background to enable them to understand complex material such as this. To bridge this gap, a multimedia pre-training presentation was prepared to fuel the learner’s prior knowledge with discrete facts necessary to understand the presented concept. This treatment is also known to manage …

Cognitive Function And The Administration Of A Writing Strategy Compendium Incorporating Autobiographical Recall And Art, Jonnie Sue Cleveland

Dissertations

The ability to write is vital in many academic areas (U.S. Department of Education, 2011). Roughly 70 percent of U. S. students in a representative sampling during 2010 (grades 8 and 12) scored only at the Basic (fractional grasp of prerequisite information and abilities) level and below (U.S. Department of Education, 2011).

Fifty-four percent of students in the eighth grade and 52 percent of students in the twelfth grade in the United States scored at the Basic level. Another 20 percent of students in the eight grade and 21percent of students in the twelfth grade scored below the Basic level. …

Preferences For Intrinsic And Extrinsic Sport Motivators Of Mississippi's Public Sschool Teachers, Jason Hugh Rayborn

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if Mississippi’s teachers teach for the same motivational reasons that athletes practice their sport. Certified teachers (N=380) from Mississippi were asked to complete a modified version of the Sport Motivation Scale-II (SMS-II) survey. This modified version of the instrument, the SMS-II-ED, included 18 questions from 6 different extrinsic, intrinsic, and a-motivational subgroups and one qualitative question for a total of 19 questions. Preliminary demographic items included teacher’s grade level taught (K-5, 6-8, 9-12), years’ experience (1-10, 11-19, 20+), and previous high school or collegiate sport participation (yes or no).

Descriptive statistics were …

Use Of Dietary And Herbal Supplements In Older Adults With Osteoarthritis, Sharon Denise Mcdonald

Dissertations

Over the past several decades, older adults with Osteoarthritis (OA) have increasingly used more natural products in an effort to manage chronic pain. The theoretical framework for this study was the Lazarus and Folkman transactional theory of stress and coping. This framework was chosen based on the belief that older adults with OA are taking natural products as an active problem solving coping strategy to manage the pain, disability, and alterations they experience in their health related quality life including functional status, physical symptoms, emotional health, and social functioning. Older adults also take prescription medications for Osteoarthritis and a variety …

Shakespeare And Boyhood: Early Modern Representations And Contemporary Appropriations, Marvin Tyler Sasser

Dissertations

This dissertation demonstrates that Shakespearean boyhood, both in early modern plays and contemporary reimaginings for young readers, critiques patriarchal and hegemonic ideals through the rhetoric and behavior of boy characters. Although critics have called Shakespeare’s boy characters indistinguishable, I find that they provide Shakespeare a unique resource to offer persuasive skepticism about heroic conventions, education, and political instability. This project begins by examining the lexical network of boy in order to chart its uses in early modern England. The subsequent three chapters establish how Shakespeare uses boys to comment on a range of ideal manhoods, such as the chivalrous …

Novel Bioinformatic Approaches For Analyzing Next-Generation Sequencing Data, Yan Peng

Dissertations

In general, DNA reconstruction is deemed as the key of molecular biology since it makes people realize how genotype affects phenotypes. The DNA sequencing technology emerged exactly towards this and has greatly promoted molecular biology’s development. The traditional method, "Sanger," is effective but extremely expensive on a cost-per-base basis. This shortcoming of Sanger method leads to the rapid development of next-generation sequencing technologies. The NGS technologies are widely used by virtue of their low-cost, high-throughput, and fast nature. However, they still face major drawbacks such as huge amounts of data as well as relatively short read length compared with traditional …

Efficacy Of Behavioral Interventions In African-Americans With Type Ii Diabetes: A Comparative Effectiveness Analysis, Tangela Nicole Hales

Dissertations

Context: The efficiency and effectiveness of the healthcare system are prime foci for nursing research.

Objective:The purpose of this study was to review and critically appraise the current state of the evidence in the treatment of African American adults with type II diabetes. To address this objective, a systematic review was undertaken that investigated the comparative effectiveness of behavioral interventions in improving glycemic control.

Methods: Robust methodological approaches to comparative effectiveness research (CER) serve to improve the transparency, consistency, and scientific rigor of the research. The methods for this systematic review of literature followed those recommended in the Agency …

Rebel Yale: Yale Graduates And Progressive Ideals At The University Of Mississippi Law School, 1946-1970, Jennifer Paul Anderson

Dissertations

The University of Mississippi School of Law (Ole Miss Law) was the fourth public law school founded in the United States. The school was established to prevent men from leaving the state for legal education due to fears that they were being indoctrinated by eastern schools where ideologies were not consistent with those of Mississippi. One hundred years after her founding, Ole Miss Law entered into a period of turbulence as race and politics clashed on campus. From the time of the Brown decision through the Civil Rights Era, the deans and law professors at the law school were subjected …

Perceived Attributes And Factors Influencing Instructors’ Using E-Textbooks In Higher Education, Sirui Wang

Dissertations

As digital content, e-Textbooks display text on the screen, integrate multimedia within textual components, and allow reading on portable devices; which make learning highly interactive, flexible, and immediately accessible, increase students’ engagements in learning, and make learning content portable, transferrable, and searchable. Those advanced features did not bring prosperity in using e-Textbooks in education. The adoption of using e-Textbooks in higher education is still far from its confirmation stage. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the perceived attributes of using e-Textbooks by instructors and their actual use of e-Textbooks in higher educational settings, to discuss …

A Mixed Method Study Of The Effectiveness Of Gaining Early Awareness And Readiness For Undergraduate Programs (Gear Up) Federal Incentive Program In Southern Mississippi Public Secondary Schools, David Micah Maxwell

Dissertations

The Gaining Early Awareness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) incentive program has been in place since the late 1990s nationally. This grant, which covers a time span of six years and offers up to eighteen million dollars in federal funds, is designed to increase college readiness and decrease dropout rate among high school students. This study examines the effectiveness of this grant in southern Mississippi for the graduating class of 2014. Utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methods to determine the effectiveness of this grant, this study draws some conclusions and recommendations for this incentive program.

The Perceptions Of Mississippi Secondary School Counselors And School Administrators Regarding The Role Of School Counselors In Dropout Prevention, Sherrell Chollottie Gilmore

Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to investigate the perceptions of high school administrators and professional high school counselors regarding the primary role of professional school counselors in dropout prevention and the most appropriate way to assess professional school counselors’ effectiveness in dropout prevention. The modified Counselor Role Survey instrument was used to survey high school administrators and professional high school counselors. The study used a descriptive causal-comparative quantitative design.

Hypotheses were tested using independent t-tests. The results of the study indicated there was no statistically significant difference between the perceptions of Mississippi high school administrators and professional high …

The Socio-Cultural Influences Of School Choice, Duke Jon Bradley Iii

Dissertations

This dissertation explored whether the marketable features of three different charter schools in East Atlanta, Georgia influenced parents’ school selections and whether differences in race, income level, and educational attainment created patterns of interest regarding their selections. The accessible population (N=1865) for this study included parents of elementary and middle school aged children enrolled in three East Atlanta schools. A sample of 150 parents of elementary and middle school age charter school students enrolled in the three schools were randomly selected from the accessible population. One hundred percent of the proposed participants (150) agreed to participate as subjects. Data obtained …

Cure Kinetics, Morphologies, And Mechanical Properties Of Thermoplastic/Mwcnt Modified Multifunctional Glassy Epoxies Prepared Via Continuous Reaction Methods, Xiaole Cheng

Dissertations

The primary goal of this dissertation is to develop a novel continuous reactor method to prepare partially cured epoxy prepolymers for aerospace prepreg applications with the aim of replacing traditional batch reactors. Compared to batch reactors, the continuous reactor is capable of solubilizing and dispersing a broad range of additives including thermoplastic tougheners, stabilizers, nanoparticles and curatives and advancing epoxy molecular weights and viscosities while reducing energy consumption.

In order to prove this concept, polyethersulfone (PES) modified 4, 4’-diaminodiphenylsulfone (44DDS)/tetraglycidyl-4, 4’-diaminodiphenylmethane (TGDDM) epoxy prepolymers were firstly prepared using both continuous reactor and batch reactor methods. Kinetic studies confirmed the chain …

Developmental Education At The Community College: An Exploration Of Instructional Best Practices And The Relationship Between Integration, Student Involvement And Rates Of Completion, Beverly Gayle Strickland Lewis

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the developmental education process within the community college system in Mississippi. Tinto’s (1993) Integration Theory and Astin’s (1993) Theory of Student Involvement were employed as a framework to assess and understand the relationship between academic integration, social integration, student involvement, and rates of completion.

This concurrent mixed method study identified best practices related to the successful completion of developmental education courses from the vantage point of the faulty and administration at the community college. A total of ten faculty and administrators from five of the community colleges in Mississippi were given a …

Species Delimitation, Phylogenetics, And Biogeography Of The Catfish Genus Rhamdia Bleeker (Heptapteridae) Of Central America And The Trans-Andean Region Of Colombia, Carmen Liliana Hernández Torres

Dissertations

A recent taxonomic revision of the Neotropical catfish genus Rhamdia (Pisces: Siluriformes: Heptapteridae) reduced a number of described species to synonymy, especially under a broadly circumscribed R. quelen. Evidence is presented here from DNA sequence data, external and internal morphology, and morphometrics that argues for the recognition of R. guatemalensis in Central and northern South America and R. saijaensis and R. cinerascens in the Pacific drainages of Colombia and Ecuador, respectively. The DNA data indicate that all trans-Andean samples form a monophyletic group, within which there are separate clades corresponding to R. laticauda and the synonymized R. guatemalensis, …

Aqueous Raft Polymerization Of Glycopolymers For Peptide Interaction Studies And Antimicrobial Peptide Mimics For Antimicrobial Activity And Selectivity Studies, Sarah Elizabeth Exley

Dissertations

The first section of this work describes the synthesis and characterization of novel glycopolymers synthesized to model GM1 gangliosides, a glycolipid found in neuronal cells. Glucose and galactose were attached to N-hydroxyethyl acrylamide, using chemistry that granted control over the stereochemistry at the C1’ carbon of each saccharide, and polymerized via aqueous RAFT (aRAFT). Homopolymers, targeting either 30 or 300 DP, and copolymers, with N-dimethyl acrylamide, were prepared as a glycopolymer platform for investigation of amyloid β (Aβ), a naturally occurring peptide associated with Alzheimer’s disease, aggregation. Aβ aggregation kinetics and aggregate size in the presence of glycopolymer were determined. …