Digital Commons Network^™

Meaning In Life And Automatic Stereotyping: A Study Of College Students, Ivonne Andrea Florez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to explore the role of meaning in life in automatic stereotyping in White individuals with respect to African Americans. The study aimed to establish whether meaning in life predicted automatic stereotyping even when controlling for self-esteem, a variable suggested to be a moderator of stereotyping. To assess these variables a number of tasks or measures were administered. The Person Categorization Task was employed as a measure of automatic stereotyping, the Purpose in Life test - Short Form (PIL-SF) was given as a measure of perceived meaning in life, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale …

Synthetic Study Of Karlotoxins And Investigation Of Alpha-Diaminoboryl Carbanion Chemistry, Yusuke Takahashi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Karlotoxins (KmTxs), produced by a toxic marine/estuarine phytoplankton, the dinoflagellate Karlodinium veneficum, are known to be ichthyotoxic, thus being associated with numerous fish deaths events worldwide. They have also been reported to show a variety of biological activities such as hemolytic, cytotoxic, and anti-fungal activities. Recently, the Hamann group successfully assigned the absolute configurations of KmTx2, the first complete structure elucidation among the congeners. In a structural sense, karlotoxins are a family of linear polyketides with three distinctive regions; a bis-tetrahydropyran core fragment, a long, highly oxygenated carbon chain, and a lipophilic chlorodiene unit. Such potent biological activities as well …

The Effect Of Cooperative Gameplay On Aggression And Prosociality In Violent Video Game Play, Jeremiah Nathaniel Beene

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this study was to determine what impact (if any) the context (isolated vs. social) of playing different types (violent vs. non-violent) of video games have on people's aggression and positive social behaviors. Participants were randomly assigned to play either a violent video game or a non-violent video game in an isolated context or with another player for 30 minutes, after which they completed the same questionnaires again. Data were then collected on behavioral tasks measuring aggression and prosociality. This experiment failed to find significant effects of violent video game exposure on aggression. Participants who played a violent …

Tax Compliance: Ethical Orientation, Risk Perception And The Role Of The Tax Preparer, Ashley Beckett Soliz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In a voluntary tax system, taxpayers have an opportunity to avoid or evade paying taxes. The reasons for and the causes of noncompliance are expansive. One way to increase revenue to the government without increasing taxes is to focus on deterring tax evasion and tax underreporting. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects on tax compliance of the taxpayer’s ethical orientation and perceived financial risk, as well as the role of the tax preparer in the compliance decision. This research adds to the current tax compliance literature by investigating (in an experimental setting) the role of the …

Predictors Of Use Of Hydroxyurea And Its Impact On Clinical And Economic Outcomes Among Children With Sickle Cell Disease, Manasi Datar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and predictors of use of hydroxyurea (HU) and its impact on clinical and economic outcomes in pediatric patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) enrolled in Medicaid. Methods: A cohort of patients with SCD was identified in 2006 using ICD-9-CM codes from Medicaid claims from 40 US states. Patients who filled three prescriptions of HU in within 6 months in 2007 were identified as HU users. HU users were then matched with non-users and the impact of HU use on the presence of crises and economic outcomes including presence of …

Primary Care Providers' Provision Of Therapeutic Lifestyle Change Counseling For Patients With Cardiovascular Risk, Tristen Jackson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease is important to the U.S. healthcare system, as it constitutes a high prevalence of deaths and costs the system billions each year. In lieu of this, research directed at preventative measures is important, especially those related to therapeutic lifestyle changes (TLC). TLC represents a host of healthy behaviors, such as physical activity and healthy nutrition, that have shown to provide benefits in both preventing and managing cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia. While public experts have advocated for physicians to recommend not only TLC for patients at cardiovascular risk but also to help …

Leading Edge, Seth Michael Thibodaux

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I was introduced to the airplane at a young age through my father. Since that time I have been obsessed with airplanes. Wanting to be like my father in my youth, I became interested in the construction of these machines. I would spend hours working in the shop with my dad on airplanes and learning the specific structures that made up all sorts of different aircrafts. As I grew older I became fascinated with the history of aviation and where the idea of flight came from. It was this passion and knowledge that led me to my current body of …

The Effect Of A Second-Order Factor Wellness Intervention On The Total Wellness Of Female Collegiate Athletes, Mindy Dunagan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Given that college athletes focus a great deal of time on physical wellness, some might assume that they tend to enjoy higher levels of wellness than their non-athlete counterparts on campus. However, Watson and Kissinger (2007) found that the average wellness scores were higher for the undergraduate non-athlete students when compared to college athletes. More specifically, researchers have found that female collegiate athletes are more susceptible than male athletes to depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and eating disorders and report higher levels of stress (Brunet, 2010; Haupt, 1993; Hudd et al., 2000). In addition, there is a lack of research examining …

The Costs Of Cuba Libre: U.S. Neo-Imperialism, Tourism In Cuba, And The Habana Hilton, Lauren Elizabeth Holt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper is an investigation into North American tourism in Cuba between the “Spanish-American War” in 1898 and the Cuban Revolution in 1959. The research it presents was prompted by a set of photographs taken at the grand opening of the Habana Hilton in March 1958, part of the Bern and Franke Keating Collection, held in the Archives and Special Collections at the University of Mississippi. Many of these photos are also included throughout the text of the paper. I begin with an overview of the relationship between Cuba and the United States at the turn of the twentieth century, …

A Gpu Powered Mobile Ar Navigation System, Mengshen Zhao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a real-time Augmented Reality Navigation System(ARNavi) on Android smartphone that leverages the parallel computing power of mobile GPUs. Unlike conventional navigation systems, our proposed ARNavi augments navigation information onto real scene video streaming from device camera in real-time. To achieve this goal, we implement and accelerate compute intensive part of applications using OpenCL on GPU integrated on mobile Application Processor (AP). The contributions of this thesis are three-fold. First, we propose new lane detection algorithm and prediction mechanism based on geometric coordinates. The result shows that these two algorithms are fast and accurate. Second, we port and …

Characterizing The Innate Immunity In The Hawaiian Coral Montipora Capitata, Melinda S. Ansley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Coral reefs are among the most diverse ecosystems in the world; however, they are quickly diminishing due to natural and anthropogenic stressors, including disease. Corals possess innate immune responses that aid in protection against these stressors. In several coral species, immune responses are inducible in response to stress. Montipora capitata is a predominant coral in Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii. This coral occurs in two color morphs, orange and red, and is susceptible to the tissue loss disease Montipora white syndrome (MWS). MWS disease prevalence within Kaneohe Bay varies, with lower prevalence in the North than South Bay and with orange …

Parental Attitudes, Concerns, Health & Knowledge Of Nutrition And Their Relationship To Usage Of Functional Foods In Parental Feeding, Lauren Elizabeth Guy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purchase and consumption of functional foods is one of the fastest growing trends in the food and nutrition industry. Though many studies have suggested reasons why consumers purchase and consume functional foods, there has been limited research to understand what factors, if any, influence the use of functional foods in parental dietary practices. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether parental awareness of functional foods, self-reported knowledge of nutrition, overall health, and concern for their children's diets play a role in the provision of specific categories of functional foods (digestive health, weight management, bone health, cancer …

How Does The Audit Report's Structure Affect Nonprofessional Investors' Attention To Its Content?, Brian Matthew Goodson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study experimentally examines whether and how two potential changes to the audit report’s structure affect the extent to which nonprofessional investors attend to the report’s content when evaluating a potential investment, and whether the potential effects differ across levels of investor sophistication. Specifically, I examine the impact of descriptive paragraph headings and the relative location of the opinion paragraph on judgments of financial statement reliability and investment decisions. Results indicate that when the audit report includes descriptive paragraph headings, less sophisticated investors perceive the report to be more readable, which, in turn, leads them to attribute higher levels of …

Spatial Distribution Of Debitage At A Chert Procurement Site And A Cultural History Assessment On Orange Lake In North Central Florida, Joseph Petererson Culen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project evaluated a 90 acre parcel of property located on the southern shore of Orange Lake in NCFL (North Central Florida). A cultural resource management style survey was conducted to determine what archeological evidence for prehistoric activity was present. In addition to this general assessment, this research was conducted in order to identify specific settlement patterns in the area and determine if they corresponded with the settlement strategies already identified for wetland environments within the area of north central Florida. Further, after a tool stone procurement zone was identified a study examining debitage size grade drop-off trends was conducted …

Missouri! Bright Land Of The West: Civil War Memory And Western Identity In Missouri, Amy Fluker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project argues that Missouri’s singular position as a border state not only between the North and South, but also between the East and West shaped the state’s Civil War experience as well as its memory of the conflict. During the Civil War, Missouri was a slaveholding border state on the western frontier and home to a diverse and divided population. Neither wholly Union nor Confederate, Missouri’s Civil War was bitterly divisive. In its aftermath, Missourians struggled to come to terms with what it had been about. They found no place within the national narratives of Civil War commemoration emerging …

Discovery Of Alternative Artemisinin Binding Sites In Plasmodium Falciparum Atpase-6, Shuneize Elizabeth Slater

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Malaria is a fatal yet preventable and treatable disease. It is commonly spread through the bite of an infected Anopheles mosquito. Malaria parasites belong to the Plasmodium genus and can be caused by the falciparum, malariae, ovale, vivax, and knowlesi species. Artemisinin is an endoperoxide lactone extracted from qinghaosu (Artemisia annua L. or sweet wormwood). It and its derivatives possess uncharacteristically rapid action against Plasmodium falciparum. Artemisinin is unique in its effectiveness in deadly cerebral malaria. The endoperoxide bridge is crucial for its antimalarial activity; however, how it aids in killing the parasite is unknown. While there are multiple suggested …

Protein-Ligand Interaction Studies And Identification Of New Drug-Like Hits As Cannabinoid Receptor Modulators, Pankaj Pandey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The cannabinoid receptors (CB1 and CB2) belong to the family of class A GPCRs. The CB1 receptor is predominately found in the central nervous system and regulates various neuromodulatory and physiological processes while CB2 receptors are found in peripheral tissues, particularly in the immune system tissues. This dissertation reports several projects including: (1) an examination of the putative binding modes of Cannabis-derived ligands with CB1 and CB2 receptors, (2) the identification of novel CB1 inverse agonists, and (3) the identification of allosteric site(s) in the CB2 receptor and screening of new CB2 allosteric modulators (AMs).

Chapter 1 describes background information …

Effects Of Benzo[A]Pyrene And Cyp19a1b Knockdown On Zebrafish Development, Khalid M. Alharthy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) is a ubiquitous environmental contaminant that is both an endocrine disruptor and a carcinogen. Aromatase (CYP19) is a key enzyme in steroidogenesis playing a key role in the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad feedback loop. We hypothesized that BaP would negatively impact cyp19a1b expression in zebrafish, in turn, adversely affecting development and physiology. Here, we consider whether the toxicities observed following BaP exposure are comparable to those following a transient morpholino (MO)-mediated CYP19a1b knockdown or exposure to an aromatase inhibitor (fadrozole) during early development. One-cell zebrafish embryos were injected with a CYP19a1b-MO or control-MO. Other non-injected embryos were exposed to nominal waterborne …

Solubility Enhancement, Mechanical Properties And Taste Masking Of Poorly Water Soluble Compounds By Optimizing Hot Melt Extrusion Processing, Abdullah Saud Alshetaili

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pharmaceutical research includes investigation and development of a new drug and determination of the delivery route and delivery system, as well as the technology to create the delivery system. It can also consist of a combination of these steps. Researchers studying potential delivery routes have explored oral, nasal, dermal, transdermal, transmucosal, pulmonary, and injection routes for their ability to deliver large and small drug molecules. This research project focuses on the oral route, which is generally accepted as an effective delivery route for many drug products with a large market share, and studies the use of this route for the …

Quality Of Life And Healthcare Utilization And Costs Among Adults With Autism, Krutika Maulik Jariwala-Parikh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

OBJECTIVES The objectives of this study are to: 1) assess construct validity of the World Health Organization’s Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) instrument, 2) evaluate quality of life (QOL) among adults with autism and 3) assess the prevalence, healthcare utilization and costs, and medication use among adults with autism enrolled in the Medicaid program. METHODS The study methodology included both primary and secondary data collection techniques. For objectives one and two, a cross-sectional, descriptive quantitative design was utilized. An internet-based survey using Qualtrics was administered to adults with autism enrolled with the Interactive Autism Network (IAN). The WHOQOL-BREF instrument was validated …

Rebel Leaders And Conflict Processes: An Individual Level Analysis, Serhan Yalciner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Civil conflict is a complex and ambiguous phenomenon that requires a multi-dimensional investigation. A concentration on rebel leaders in the study of conflict promises a good amount of potential for obtaining interesting findings. This dissertation examines rebel leader survival and rebel leaders’ influence on various conflict processes. It demonstrates that relative rebel strength, external support favoring the government, and oil production of the state have a significant impact on rebel leader tenure. To explain why we observe some considerable increases in the number of civilian killings in the course of conflict, the dissertation develops a theoretical model, putting the emphasis …

The Investigation Of Okhissa Dam Using A Real-Time Monitoring System, Corey Alexander Hamil

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

According to the National Inventory of Dams (NID), the United States has approximately 87,000 dams. Many of these dams are more than 50 years old and need to be investigated to ensure their safety to the public. A real time monitoring system can obtain a more reliable evaluation of the dam’s performance as well as serve as an early warning system to inform officials of a dam’s condition. Okhissa Dam was selected for investigation using a real-time monitoring system. Okhissa Dam is located in a region that contains both a phreatic aquifer and a confined aquifer. Prior to this investigation …

Power And Hotspot Modeling For Modern Gpus, Md Mainul Hassan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As General Purpose GPUs (GPGPU) are increasingly becoming a prominent component of high performance computing platforms, power and thermal dissipation are getting more attention. The trade-offs among performance, power, and heat must be well modeled and evaluated from the early stage of GPU design. This necessitates a tool that allows GPU architects to quickly and accurately evaluate their design. There are a few models for GPU power but most of them estimate power at a higher level than architecture, which are therefore missing hardware reconfigurability. In this thesis, we propose a framework that models power and heat dissipation at the …

Leadership Orientation Frame Preferences Of School Boards In Mississippi, Patrick Laquincy Washington

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The work of schools is becoming more complex and demanding. Administrators, teachers and parents are often at the core of the educational debate about what is needed to improve schools. The demand for better results in America's schools has led to many efforts to improve the quality of teaching and learning that mainly rested on the shoulders of teachers and school leaders. The past decade has led to added accountability measures that also include local school boards. Accountability for the school board calls for an in-depth look at school board capacity. This research looks at the role of the school …

Mississippi Statewide Accountability System: A Measure Of Academic Attainment Or Other Factors, Eddie De Anderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative study analyzed the construct validity of the Mississippi Statewide Accountability System through an analysis of the relationship between teacher, financial, socio-economic, and social characteristics and the Quality of distribution index of public school districts in Mississippi. This study sought to determine if there were constructs outside the control of schools and districts that significantly correlated to outcomes of the Mississippi Statewide Accountability System that were not accounted for in the calculations. Educational leaders, communities, and other educational stakeholders have paid close attention to the Mississippi Statewide Accountability System as legislators have chosen to use it to rank schools …

Graphene Based Metamaterials For Terahertz Cloaking And Subwavelength Imaging, Seyedali Forouzmand

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Graphene is a two-dimensional carbon crystal that became one of the most controversial topics of research in the last few years. The intense interest in graphene stems from recent demonstrations of their potentially revolutionary electromagnetic applications – including negative refraction, subdiffraction imaging, and even invisibility – which have suggested a wide range of new devices for communications, sensing, and biomedicine. In addition, it has been shown that graphene is amenable to unique patterning schemes such as cutting, bending, folding, and fusion that are predicted to lead to interesting properties. A recent proposed application of graphene is in engineering the scattering …

Kierkegaard And Byron: Disability, Irony, And The Undead, Troy Wellington Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

After enumerating the implicit and explicit references to Lord Byron in the corpus of Søren Kierkegaard, chapter 1, "Kierkegaard and Byron," provides a historical backdrop by surveying the influence of Byron and Byronism on the literary circles of Golden Age Copenhagen. Chapter 2, "Disability," theorizes that Kierkegaard later spurned Byron as a hedonistic "cripple" because of the metonymy between him and his (i.e., Kierkegaard's) enemy Peder Ludvig Møller. Møller was an editor at The Corsair, the disreputable satirical newspaper that mocked Kierkegaard's disability in a series of caricatures. As a poet, critic, and eroticist, Møller was eminently Byronic, and both …

Three Essays On Firm Liquidity Management, Chris M. Lawrey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In Part 1, we study the costs associated with firm illiquidity. We specifically examine the impact of illiquidity on the costs of financing, financial distress, underinvestment, and competitiveness in product markets. We focus on a comprehensive definition of liquidity that expands upon the typical measure of liquidity, cash and marketable securities, commonly used in the management literature. Our liquidity index, derived from existing cash and marketable securities, available credit lines and cash volatility, measures the likelihood that a firm will become illiquid. Lastly, we address the endogeneity issue that plagues corporate literature linking firm performance to other firm attributes using …

Three Essays On Merger Outcomes: Corporate Strategy, Bargaining Power, And Valuation Waves, Stephen N. Jurich

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three essays on merger outcomes. In the first essay I classify mergers as value-increasing, neutral, or value-decreasing by measuring the change in the combined wealth of acquiring- and target-firm shareholders at the merger announcement date. I then test the role that strategic objectives and negotiation procedures play in driving value-increasing mergers. The results indicate that geographic expansion creates the largest combined increase in wealth. One-on-one negotiations correspond to greater increases in combined wealth, when compared to mergers that begin with auctions, third-party bids, or mutual discussions. The results of my study support both the strategic-alignment and …

The Value Of Internships Within Athletic Training Education: Educators’ Views, Heather Arlene Landry Shirley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In a struggling global economy, internships offer students the opportunity to connect with a network of resources early on in their career journey and provide students with the hands-on work experience that is not often found within the confines of the classroom (Hindmoor, 2010). Higher Education is continuously posed with the challenge of defending the type of education that students are being given and the value that education has (Arum & Roska, 2011a; Arum & Roska, 2014b; Hacker & Dreifus, 2010). With that in mind, internships could be the missing link that leaves future graduates equipped with the much-needed preparation …