Digital Commons Network^™

Development And Experimental Verification Of A Three-Dimensional Model Of Left Ventricular Flow Dynamics, Tong Ding

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ischemic heart disease, which results from the insufficient coronary artery blood flow is a leading cause of mortality in developed countries. It manifests itself by abnormal left ventricular wall motion during systole.

A three dimensional numerical model was developed to simulate the flow patterns in the left ventricle. Numerical solutions were obtained by discretizing the Navier-Stokes equations for viscous, incompressible, steady flow using finite element method.

A diagnostic index Central Ejection Region (CER) as well as its quantitative version CER coefficient which are based on the flow patterns were defined as the region in which velocity vectors were aligned 5 …

Computer Anxiety And Nursing Informatics Needs Of Graduate Nursing Students, Margot Elizabeth Clark

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The impact of technology in today's society affects every aspect of life. This study focused on exploring the extent of computer anxiety among graduate nursing students using the Oetting's computer anxiety scale. Computer and information seeking skills required for both education and advanced nursing practice were also assessed using a survey by Jacobs and dela Cruz. Special emphasis was placed on retrieval of information from large data-bases. The conceptual framework was based on Roy's Adaptation Model.

The sample consisted of 28 students enrolled in a nursing informatics class in a south Florida university. Frequency distribution, and t-tests were used to …

Design And Construction Of A Portable Force-Reflecting Manual Controller For Teleoperation Systems, Pattaraphol Batsomboon

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A man-machine system called teleoperator system has been developed to work in hazardous environments such as nuclear reactor plants. Force reflection is a type of force feedback in which forces experienced by the remote manipulator are fed back to the manual controller. In a force-reflecting teleoperation system, the operator uses the manual controller to direct the remote manipulator and receives visual information from a video image and/or graphical animation on the computer screen.

This thesis presents the design of a portable Force-Reflecting Manual Controller (FRMC) for the teleoperation of tasks such as hazardous material handling, waste cleanup, and space-related operations. …

The Relationship Between Participation In Unethical Behaviors During The Nursing Student Experience And Participation In Unethical Behaviors As A Registered Nurse, Lynne J. Bryant

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The effect of unethical behaviors in health care settings is an important issue in the safe care of clients and has been a concern of the nursing profession for some time. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between use of unethical behaviors in the nursing student experience and the use of unethical behaviors in the workplace as a registered nurse. In addition, the relationship between the severity of unethical behaviors utilized in the classroom, clinical setting and those in the workplace was examined. To insure greater honesty in self-report, only a limited umber of demographic variables …

The Role Of Exploration And Critical Decision Making And Problem Solving In Making Life Choices, Ondina Arrufat

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although the literature on the types of abilities and processes that contribute to identity formation has been growing, the research has been mainly descriptive/correlational. This dissertation conducted an experimental investigation of the role of two theoretically distinct processes (exploration and critical problem solving) in identity formation, one of the first to be reported. The experimental training design (pre-post, training versus control) used in this study was intended to promote identity development by fostering an increase in the use of exploration and critical problem solving with respect to making life choices. Participants included 53 psychology students from a large urban university …

Social And Cultural Influences In The Formation Of Identity: A Cross-National/Cultural Study., Ervin Briones

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This multi-site, multi-ethnic/cultural study examined the effects of variation between ethnic/cultural groups and the effects of institutional variation within ethnic/cultural groups on identity formation. The participants were 892 late adolescent college students from six sites in 5 countries (Brazil, China, Costa Rica, US, and Sweden) representing different linguistic and ethnic/cultural traditions living in the context of varied social conditions. As hypothesized, there were significant differences in the proportion of identity statuses between sites in the Personal domain, X²(20, N=858)= 164.78, p2(20, N=858)= 145.69, p2(20, N=858)= 120.89, p

Risk-Taking Propensity Of Faculty, Administrators And Academic Departament Heads At Large, Urban, Multicampus Community College, Lois Hanson Bolton

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research was undertaken to explore dimensions of the risk construct, identify factors related to risk-taking in education, and study risk propensity among employees at a community college. Risk-taking propensity (RTP) was measured by the 12-item BCDQ, which consisted of personal and professional risk-related situations balanced for the money, reputation, and satisfaction dimensions of the risk construct. Scoring ranged from 1.00 (most cautious) to 6.00 (most risky).

Surveys including the BCDQ and seven demographic questions relating to age, gender, professional status, length of service, academic discipline, highest degree, and campus location were sent to faculty, administrators, and academic department heads. …

Occupational Stress In Private Schools: A Teacher Profile, John P. Davies

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was threefold. The primary purpose was to develop a stress profile for teachers in private schools. This study also addressed two exploratory issues. The first, consisted of an examination of the possible differences in the levels of on-the-job stress among teachers in different types of private schools. A second issue was to discuss the findings on private school in light of the extant literature on public schools, specifically using the data collected by Fimain to develop the Teacher Stress Inventory. This study was conducted utilizing 316 full time teachers from seven schools from six …

An Investigation Into The Lived Experiences Of Racism Among African -American Nurses, Paula Alexander-Delpech

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the lived experience of racism among African-American nurses. Utilizing a qualitative phenomenological approach, data were collected by interviewing 10 African-American nurses currently practicing in Dade county. The interviews were tape recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed using the seven step method of Colaizzi (1978).

The findings of this study indicate that racism encompasses attitudes and beliefs which generate behaviors reflecting ethnocentric ideations. The process of racism creates glass ceilings that hinder the career advancement of African-American nurses. Internalizing these experiences of racism engenders feelings of betrayal and erodes unity and cohesion …

Advertising Effects On Brand Search And Preference: Assessing The Mediational Role Of Aad And Ab, Sandipa Dublish

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Most advertising research has focussed at examining effects of advertising on attitudinal responses or brand preference and choice. However, in a natural environment, the time period between advertising exposure and purchase decision is filled with prepurchase search. Prepurchase external search refers to information search from sources other than memory, prior to making a purchase decision. Usually consumers access only a small subset of available information and base their choice decisions on it. Prepurchase search therefore acts as a filter and, the final choice depends critically on the small subset of potential inputs the consumer notes in the environment and integrates …

A Phenomenological Study Of Self-Disclosure Of Male's Hiv Seropositivity To Another Person, Elaine A. Diveronica

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological study described the fundamental structure of what it was like for men to tell someone of their HIV-positive status. Nineteen men participated in interviews to describe their experiences of self-disclosing their HIV-positive status to lovers, families, and friends. The data were analyzed first by using the phenomenological approach of Colaizzi. Data were then further analyzed using an approach by Van Manen, in which the lifeworld existentials of spatiality, temporality, and relationality provided an even clearer understanding of the phenomenon. The findings from both analyses revealed that the participants felt emotions such as rejection, denial, and lost tomorrows; as …

Substructuring In Four Populations Of African Descent, Margarita Teresa Almeida

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

When a suspect's DNA profile is admitted into court as a match to evidence the probability of the perpetrator being another individual must be calculated from database allele frequencies. The two methods used for this calculation are phenotypic frequency and likelihood ratio. Neither of these calculations takes into account substructuring within populations. In these substructured populations the frequency of homozygotes increases and that of heterozygotes usually decreases. The departure from Hardy- Weinberg expectation in a sample population can be estimated using Sewall Wright's F_st statistic. F_st values were calculated in four populations of African descent by comparing allele …

Intra-Organizational Turnover In A Self-Selective Team Environment, Sharon Anne Israel Dolfi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Four-hundred twenty-seven firefighter/paramedics and firefighter/emergency medical technicians completed questionnaires regarding past and current turnover decisions. The employees, who work in teams of either three or four, have a collective bargaining benefit that allows them to "bid for" (request) new positions/teams every six months; positions are awarded on the basis of seniority. Because employees are leaving neither the organization nor their job, the "bid" process creates intra-organizational turnover on a regular basis. It was hypothesized that those individuals higher in teamwork/social cohesion expectations, higher in interpersonal orientation, and lower in conflict tolerance would report placing greater importance on interpersonal reasons (teamwork/social …

The Role Of Individualism And Collectivism As Predictors Of Attributions For Unethical Work Behavior : An Empirical Examination Across Two Culturally Diverse Groups, Ana Azevedo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation addresses how the cultural dimensions of individualism and collectivism affect the attributions people make for unethical behavior at work. The moderating effect of ethnicity is also examined by considering two culturally diverse groups: Hispanics and Anglos. The sample for this study is a group of business graduate students from two universities in the Southeast. A 20-minute survey was distributed to master's degree students at their classroom and later on returned to the researcher. Individualism and collectivism were operationalized as by a set of attitude items, while unethical work behavior was introduced in the form of hypothetical descriptions or …

Valued Occupational Roles And Life Satisfaction Among South Florida Hiv-Infected And Non-Infected Homosexual Males : An Exploratory Study, Kenneth Morton Byers

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A study was conducted in order to describe and understand the occupational role behavior of gay men with particular interest on understanding the impact of an HIV diagnosis on their roles and life satisfaction. A 137- item questionnaire was developed for this study and distributed through various gay community groups in south Florida. The process resulted in ranked description of 24 valued occupational roles of gay men (n = 80) along with a general understanding of potential shifts that may occur in those roles as a result of becoming infected with HIV. The study concludes that a diagnosis of HIV …

The Effects Of The Advanced Placement Examination For Credit Policy By The Florida State Universities On The Acceleration Of A Student's Postsecundary Education, Denise A. Collado

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to determine if the Advanced Placement program as it is recognized by the universities in the Florida State University System (SUS) truly serves as an acceleration mechanism for those students who enter an SUS institution with passing AP scores. Despite mandates which attempt to control uniformity of policy, each public university in Florida determines which courses will be exempted and the number of credits they will grant for passing Advanced Placement courses.

This is a descriptive study in which the AP policies of each of the SUS institutions were compared. Additionally, the college …

The Lived Experience Of Healing Touch With Cancer Patients, Charlene Ann Christiano

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The recent use of complementary therapies by cancer patients has prompted the study of the use of Healing Touch, an energy based therapy, to learn the meaning of the experience. By using Ray's Caring Inquiry, a phenomenologic-hermeneutic process, the lived experience of receiving Healing Touch was elicited from three cancer patients. Through the interactions of the Healing Touch practitioners, the cancer patient participants, and the energy in and around them, specific themes were expressed: body-physical, emotion-feeling, mental-knowing, and spirit-essence. Further abstracting lead to the metathemes sensation and perception. Through a change in consciousness, a oneness/wholeness was experienced. The unity of …

The Effect Of Participation In A "Greening The Bcc Curriculum" Workshop Series On The Environmental Literacy Of A Community College Faculty, Margaret Lee Green

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop a series of workshops designed to raise the environmental literacy of a community college faculty and facilitate infusion of an environmental perspective into the courses they teach. Data was gathered on the effect of the workshops on the level of environmental literacy of the participants as well as the persistence of any observed effect. How faculty infused an environmental perspective into their courses was also explored.

The workshop model was developed by reviewing adult learning and change theories, case studies of workshops at other colleges, environmental education research, and results of a …

Contingent Maternal Attention As Determinant Of Infant's Protest Responses In Dark And Light Contexts, Aida Isabel Sanchez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

When infants confront darkness, a context many consider to be aversive and to elicit fear responses, their protests are often taken to denote fear of the dark. A functional analysis using the operant-learning paradigm was conducted of the role of contingent versus noncontingent maternal attention on protests when confronting darkness, in each of 10 human infants. In the laboratory, each mother served as interactor, her behaviors prompted by the experimenter. Identified were the controlling antecedents and consequences that shape and maintain infants' protests in darkness, and under an illuminated control condition. For every one of the 10 single-within subject designs, …

Contingent-Relations Description Facilitates Rule-Following In A Subsequent Generalization Task, Noel Alexander Crooks

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined if the opportunity to describe contingent relations after a matching-to-sample conditional-discrimination training procedure differentially affected participants' performances on a generalization task; and if verbal feedback differentially affected the number of trials-to-criterion during training. Eighty college students were randomly assigned to one of four groups (N=20/group). Group 1 received verbal feedback congruent with computer generated contingencies. Group 2 received verbal feedback incongruent with these contingencies. Group 3 received no verbal feedback but was asked to write a description of their correct responses before the generalization test. Group 4 received neither verbal feedback nor the opportunity to write …

Design And Evaluation Of A Consulting System For Database Design, Solomon Raj Antony

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Database design is a difficult problem for non-expert designers. It is desirable to assist such designers during the problem solving process by means of a knowledge based (KB) system. Although a number of prototype KB systems have been proposed, there are many shortcomings. Firstly, few have incorporated sufficient expertise in modeling relationships, particularly higher order relationships. Secondly, there does not seem to be any published empirical study that experimentally tested the effectiveness of any of these KB tools. Thirdly, problem solving behavior of non-experts, whom the systems were intended to assist, has not been one of the bases for system …

A Study Of The Effects Of A Service-Learning Experience On Student Success At An Urban Community College, Judith Sheryl Berson

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of a service-learning experience on student success as measured by class attendance, course completion, final course grades, and end-of-term evaluation data.

Though many outcomes of service-learning experiences have been studied, including ethical values, self-esteem, student personal development, and career preparation, relatively few studies have been conducted on the effects of such experiences on academic achievement, and the studies that have been done have primarily studied students at traditional, four-year, residential universities.

The study consisted of 286 students enrolled in six paired courses taught by five instructors at a community college …

Elder Malnutrition: A Meta Analysis Of Studies Using The Nutrition Screening Initiative Determine Checklist, Carmen Teresa Brain Urrunaga

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To demonstrate the extent of elder malnutrition risk in this country, a meta analysis of 30 studies that used the Nutrition Screening Initiative's "DETERMINE Your Nutritional Health Checklist" was conducted. The studies were divided into three categories: Elder Populations in Healthcare Related Systems (HS), Elder Meal Program Participants (MP), and General Community Residing Elder Population (GC). HS was sub-divided into Hospital Inpatient/Clinic Outpatient and Long Term Care/Home Care. The MP population were identified as Congregate or Home Delivered meal participants. Overall, results indicate that 63% of elders are at moderate (32%) or high (31 %) risk of malnutrition. Home Delivered …

A Sociological Look At The Maria Paradox, Cecilia Juana De Sola Potharst

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Maria Paradox: How Latinas Can Merge Old World Traditions with New World Self-Esteem (1996) argues that acculturation is difficult for Hispanic women more so that for other women, because traditional gender-roles hinder adaptation to life in the United States. While the book looks psychologically at the ideology of marianismo, I believe a sociological analysis of this ideology is helpful. I argue that the umbrella term of Hispanic should not be used because it assumes that this group is culturally homogeneous, which is not the case. Post-industrial society has changed the status quo irrevocably in such a way that everyone …

Feature Geometry, Underspecification And Child Substitutions, Cynthia Williams Core

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis looks at two recent developments in phonology, feature geometry and underspecification. Three models for feature geometry (Bernhardt, Halle-Sagey and Clements-Hume) and principles of radical underspecification are studied using previously collected data from child substitutions which reflect normal and unusual substitution processes. The goal of the thesis is to determine the ability of the feature geometry models and underspecification to account for the differences between normal and unusual processes in a principled manner. The findings are that neither feature geometry nor underspecification when used alone provides a complete explanation for the difference between normal and unusual substitution processes. However, …

Mode Choice Modeling With Neural Network : Boston Area Case Study, Soon Chung

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Demand forecasting is an essential element in the analysis of transportation systems. It is concerned with the behavior of consumers of transportation services and facilities. We choose geographic, demographic, and socioeconomic characteristics of consumers that may affect the travel demand of each selected. We use an artificial neural network to predict travel demand with characteristics selected from three different database sources: Census Summary Tape files, TIGER/Line files, and Federal Transit Administration's National Transit GIS database.

A neural network is an information processing system that is intensely parallel and neural networks are capable of learning how to classify and associate input/output …

Effects Of Nutrition Education On The Nutrition Knowledge Of Future Aerobic Dance Instructors, Abbe Michelle Breiter

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The effectiveness of nutrition education on the nutrition knowledge of future aerobic instructors was studied. Forty-seven subjects participated in the study. The experimental group (n=31) chose to and paid for a two-hour per week session of structured nutrition education for four weeks, the control group (n=16) did not. A nutrition knowledge test was completed by all subjects before and after the intervention. Results were analyzed for relationships between subject's nutrition knowledge and age, gender, educational background, income, and body mass index. No significant differences were found between the groups. The results showed that prior to any formal nutrition education, fitness …

Object Access Control To Enable Internet Commerce, Chengqiang Chen

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Object-Orientation defines components (objects) that encapsulate data and functionality. Modern 00 programming languages have features that specify the degree of encapsulation in much detail. This thesis extends the access control specification capabilities to objects and puts more emphasis on the objects of Internet commerce. A simple and flexible framework of access control is introduced based on the concept of "token". A prototype implemented in Java demonstrates the feasibility of the ideas and related issues.

Psychosocial Variables Associated With The Co-Occurance Of Risky Sexual Behavior With Alcohol Consumption Among University Students, Morris F. Burnham

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the association of theoretically guided and empirically identified psychosocial variables on the co-occurrence of risky sexual behavior with alcohol consumption among university students. The study utilized event analysis to determine whether risky sex occurred during the same event in which alcohol was consumed. Relevant conceptualizations included alcohol disinhibition, self-efficacy, and social network theories. Predictor variables included negative condom attitudes, general risk taking, drinking motives, mistrust, social group membership, and gender. Factor analysis was employed to identify dimensions of drinking motives. Measured risky sex behaviors were (a) sex without a condom, (b) sex with people not known very …

An Investigation Of The Relationships Among Self-Care Behaviors, Health Beliefs, And Metabolic Control In The Non-Insulin-Dependent Diabetic Adult, Sonia R. Anglin

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Self-care and health beliefs have been found to be important concepts in the management of chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus. Poor metabolic control has been associated with a higher incidence of complications in diabetic patients. This study sought to explore any relationships among perceptions of self-care behaviors, health beliefs and metabolic control.

The sample consisted of 52 outpatients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes from a large teaching medical center. Interviews were done to obtain the patients' perceptions of their self-care behaviors, and their health beliefs concerning diabetes. Results of glycosylated hemoglobin and/or serum glucose levels were obtained from the medical records. …