Digital Commons Network^™

Self-Consistency And Self-Care Among Older Adults With Type 2 Diabetes, Jing Hu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Evidence from previous studies showed that older adults with diabetes demonstrate low levels of self-care for managing their symptoms and blood glucose and have difficulty adhering to self-care behaviors for long periods of time. Since self-care is motivated by self-concept, the consistency of self-concept may help patients better cope with their health problems and form longstanding healthy behaviors. The purposes of this study are to: (1) examine the relationship between self-consistency and self-care among older Chinese adults with type 2 diabetes; (2) examine the bi-variate relationships among depressive symptoms, self-consistency, and self-care among older Chinese adults with type 2 diabetes; …

How Does Our Voice Reflect Who We Are? Different Ways Of Relating To The Voice And The Self Using Implicit Association Tests., Audrey Elizabeth Tucker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to examine individual differences of the voice’s contribution to the self via implicit and explicit associations. A new Implicit Association Test (IAT) about the voice was created and presented to vocal performers and community controls. One-hundred eleven participants completed this voice-related IAT, the Vocal Congruence Scale (VCS), and the Voice Handicap Index (VHI) via an in person, monitored, and timed Qualtrics survey. Findings demonstrated an implicit relationship between the voice and the self. Strength of implicit relationships between self and voice were greater for community controls than vocal performers. This IAT revealed divergent validity with the VCS …

Shared Treatment Decision Making On Hyperthyroidism Among Chinese Women Planning For Pregnancy, Feifei Gu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Women of childbearing age are a high-risk group for hyperthyroidism. Although several hyperthyroidism treatment options are available, none are optimal. Women with hyperthyroidism planning to become pregnant may face the challenge of making a “trade-off” treatment decision for a future safe pregnancy. Shared treatment decision making (STDM) is an ideal model for physicians and patients to adopt in reaching an agreement and determining treatment decisions while considering the patient’s preferences, values, treatment costs and side effects. However, limited studies exist on STDM in women with hyperthyroidism before pregnancy. Therefore, this study aims to examine STDM on hyperthyroidism in Chinese women …

Reliable, Experienced, And Versatile: Biography Of Admiral Alan Goodrich Kirk, Harry Barber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is a biography of Admiral Alan Goodrich Kirk. Kirk is known primarily for his role as commander of the American landings at Normandy during World War II. This biography explains that Kirk was one of the founders of modern amphibious warfare, a model and pioneer in joint-warfare, and was key to the earliest meetings between American and British military officers that laid the groundwork for allied cooperation. Kirk’s service as ambassador to the Soviet Union and the Republic of China maintained peace during the Cold War. Born in Philadelphia in 1888, his mother came from the Goodrich family …

Increasing Retention And Knowledge Transfer Through Digital Storytelling And The Comics Medium: A Design Case, Kevin Thorn, Edd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Asynchronous multimedia learning is a common form of delivering training in the workforce industry, and organizations rely on a completion status to measure that training. However, measuring retention and knowledge transfer of new material rarely occurs during asynchronous learning. Grounded in the Visual Language Theory (VLT) and a delivery modality of digital storytelling (DST) suggest that sequential images presented as a visual narrative have higher degrees of retention. Thus, knowledge transfer occurs when learners relate to the narrative and visual applications when engaging with a comics approach to learning. From 2019-2022 a story emerged to design and develop an asynchronous …

Longitudinal Prospective Relations Between Cannabis Use And Substance-Free Activities In A Diverse Community Sample Of Emerging Adult Heavy Drinkers, Andrew T. Voss

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

National drinking and drug use trends suggest emerging adulthood (ages 18-25) is the developmental apex of harmful co-use of alcohol and drugs, with notable recent increases in cannabis use among emerging adults. Many emerging adults naturally begin to reduce harmful alcohol or drug use into their late 20s and 30s, however, a significant subgroup report a developmentally persistent pattern of frequent alcohol and cannabis use. There is evidence that limited access to alternative substance-free reinforcement (SFR) is a risk factor for chronic alcohol and drug misuse, there is a need for longitudinal research that examines changes in patterns of SFR …

Berth Allocation At Passenger Terminals Using Auctions, Dimitrios Giampouranis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Both the industry/commercial community and academic circles have long recognized the necessity for developing an efficient and dependable system for allocating berth and quay slots at seaports. The majority of scholarly articles, however, deal with container ports, where berth allocation is often done on a first-come, first-served basis and/or based on long-term contracts. Although the berth allocation problem has been extensively studied and documented, it seems that few studies have been published with reference to auctions as the primary method of efficiently allocating berthing timeslots at passenger terminals. Previous studies have recognized the advantages that game theory and auctions have …

Longitudinal Prospective Relations Between Cannabis Use And Substance-Free Activities In A Diverse Community Sample Of Emerging Adult Heavy Drinkers, Andrew T. Voss

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

National drinking and drug use trends suggest emerging adulthood (ages 18-25) is the developmental apex of harmful co-use of alcohol and drugs, with notable recent increases in cannabis use among emerging adults. Many emerging adults naturally begin to reduce harmful alcohol or drug use into their late 20s and 30s, however, a significant subgroup report a developmentally persistent pattern of frequent alcohol and cannabis use. There is evidence that limited access to alternative substance-free reinforcement (SFR) is a risk factor for chronic alcohol and drug misuse, there is a need for longitudinal research that examines changes in patterns of SFR …

Combatting The Impact Of Trauma And Occupational Burnout Among Correctional Officers: The Role Of Coping Mechanisms And Psychopathic Personality Traits, Sarah M. Pringer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An estimated 2.3 million people are currently incarcerated in the United States (Sawyer and Wagner, 2020). As a result, mass incarceration has created job opportunities managing and overseeing facilities that house justice involved individuals. Given the high prevalence of aggressive and violent behavior, exposure to trauma is inevitable in correctional settings. In addition to traumatic exposure and response symptoms, correctional security staff report experiencing job-related burnout at high rates, resulting in quick turnover. After surveying a sample of 288 correctional staff from two state departments of correction, the current study used a moderated mediation path analysis to examine the role …

Lipid Membranes Mediated Interactions And Self-Assembly Of Janus Nanoparticles, Yu Zhu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since many advanced applications require specific assemblies of nanoparticles (NPs), considerable efforts have been made to fabricate nanoassemblies with specific geometries. In this dissertation, we demonstrate the potential of lipid membranes as a medium for the self-assembly of NPs. To control their degree of adhesion to lipid membranes, the NPs are surface modified into hydrophilic Janus NPs such as one moiety interacts more attractively with the lipid head groups than water while the other moiety interacts more attractively with water than the lipid head groups. First, using extensive molecular dynamics simulations of a coarse-grained implicit-solvent model, in conjunction with the …

The Student-Athlete Perspective: Identifying The Tenets Of Student-Athlete Development That Enhance Career Readiness, Tywanna D. Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As studies highlight the career transition struggles of collegiate student-athletes (Hansen et al., 2019; Payne & Driska, 2020; Woods, 2017), researchers have called for more investigation into the influence of various environmental factors on student-athlete outcomes (Navarro & Malvaso, 2015; Navarro et al., 2019). Collegiate student-athletes often face excessive time demands that may necessitate programming interventions to support their holistic development needs beyond academic matriculation. For instance, prior studies (Haslerig & Navarro, 2016; Lochbaum et al., 2022; Poux & Fry, 2015) have concluded that student-athletes may require additional support with identity formation and career preparation. In recent years, the field …

Determinants And Predictors Of Smoking-Related Weight Concern In Smokers Participating In A Community-Based Cessation Program, Cheri Kilmurray

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Concern about weight gain is a barrier to smoking cessation, but determinants of post-cessation weight concern have not been adequately evaluated in the context of community-based cessation programs. Methods: Baseline data were analyzed from a cessation trial of 392 adults randomized to physical activity (PA) or general wellness counseling as adjunctive treatment for cigarette smoking. Outcomes were 1) Use of smoking to control weight (“control”) and 2) Willingness to tolerate weight gain without returning to smoking (“intolerance”) using validated instruments. Independent variables were self-reported PA and perceptions, socio-demographics, psycho-social measures, smoking behavior and perceptions, diet, and body mass index …

The Interplay And Impact Of Ptsd And Reward Functioning: Examining Ptsd And Anhedonia Using Ecological Momentary Assessment, Cecilia Claire Olin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Anhedonia, or deficits in reward functioning (i.e., low motivation to seek out, or impaired capacity to derive pleasure from rewards) has been associated with worse outcomes among individuals with PTSD (e.g., greater functional impairment, worse quality of life, and greater risk of suicide). Studies of the relationship between anhedonia, PTSD, and their sequelae, however, have been limited. Few studies have comprehensively examined the nuanced components of reward function: hedonic pleasure (i.e., “liking” rewards) and reward motivation (i.e., “wanting” and approaching rewards). Moreover, reward availability (i.e., accessibility of rewards in one’s environment) appears to play a particularly important role in the …

Multicultural Orientation-Informed Focused Acceptance And Commitment Therapy For Adolescents Seeking Bariatric Surgery, Mary Elizabeth Keenan-Pfeiffer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The present paper details a pragmatic trial of a Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (FACT) intervention for adolescents seeking bariatric surgery. The intervention was developed within a multicultural orientation (MCO) framework to acknowledge families’ diverse sociocultural contexts and clinical needs. The intervention aimed to increase psychological flexibility, specifically by supporting values-consistent behavior change through openness to internal experiences and present moment awareness, within the context of seeking bariatric surgery. It was designed to be flexibly implemented across two sessions, one focused on increasing adolescent psychological flexibility, the other on increasing caregiver psychological flexibility. The present paper describes implementation and …

Determinants And Predictors Of Smoking-Related Weight Concern In Smokers Participating In A Community-Based Cessation Program, Cheri Kilmurray

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Concern about weight gain is a barrier to smoking cessation, but determinants of post-cessation weight concern have not been adequately evaluated in the context of community-based cessation programs. Methods: Baseline data were analyzed from a cessation trial of 392 adults randomized to physical activity (PA) or general wellness counseling as adjunctive treatment for cigarette smoking. Outcomes were 1) Use of smoking to control weight (“control”) and 2) Willingness to tolerate weight gain without returning to smoking (“intolerance”) using validated instruments. Independent variables were self-reported PA and perceptions, socio-demographics, psycho-social measures, smoking behavior and perceptions, diet, and body mass index …

Revealing The Invisible Cage: Understanding Coercive Control Through The Eyes Of Survivors In The Era Of Covid-19, Chloë Elizabeth Eidlitz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Coercive control (CC) is a pervasive, systematic pattern of behaviors used by an intimate partner to exert power over, manipulate, intimidate, control, and undermine a victim’s ability to leave the relationship. Compared to intimate partner violence (IPV) involving physical violence alone, abusive relationships marked by CC are linked with more long-lasting psychological consequences and an increased risk for more severe physical injuries, including domestic homicide. Dutton and Goodman (2005) created a theoretical model outlining distinct and interrelated components involved in the development and maintenance of coercively controlling relationships. In this qualitative study, I investigated whether components of this model reflect …

Unveiling Ai Aversion: Understanding Antecedents And Task Complexity Effects, Md Jabir Rahman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has generated significant interest due to its potential to augment human intelligence. However, user attitudes towards AI are diverse, with some individuals embracing it enthusiastically while others harbor concerns and actively avoid its use. This two essays' dissertation explores the reasons behind user aversion to AI. In the first essay, I develop a concise research model to explain users' AI aversion based on the theory of effective use and the adaptive structuration theory. I then employ an online experiment to test my hypotheses empirically. The multigroup analysis by Structural Equation Modeling shows that users' perceptions of human …

Acceptability And Feasibility Of A Multicultural Orientation-Informed Focused Acceptance And Commitment Therapy For Caregivers Of Adolescent Bariatric Surgery Candidates, Jessica L. Cook

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The current study developed and assessed caregiver perspectives of acceptability and feasibility of a family-based multicultural-orientation Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (FACT) intervention for use with adolescents with obesity pursuing bariatric surgery and their caregivers. The intervention aimed to increase adolescent and caregiver psychological flexibility specific to adolescent implementation and caregiver support of health and related values-consistent behaviors. The intervention was iteratively refined to enhance acceptability among families of diverse sociocultural identities while ensuring feasibility of its implementation during routine interdisciplinary pediatric weight-management clinic visits. Method: Adolescent-caregiver dyads were recruited to participate in two intervention sessions during routine pre-operative …

Extending The Work Of Dt-Fixup: Examining The Effects Of Powernorm And Madgrad Optimization On Dt-Fixup Performance, Prem Shanker Mohan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the introduction of the attention technique, the Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) have greatly advanced the study of solving sequence-to-sequence tasks in Natural Language Processing (NLP). When the task-specific annotations are limited, the NLP tasks are commonly performed by pre-training a model using the transformer technique on large-scale general corpora, followed by fine-tuning the model on domain-specific data. Instead of using shallow neural components for fine-tuning, additional transformer layers could be introduced into the architecture. Recent research shows that, by resolving some initialization and optimization issues, these augmented transformer layers could lead to performance gains despite of the …

Reinforcement Learning-Based Data Rate Congestion Control For Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks, Gnana Shilpa Nuthalapati

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Vehicular Ad-Hoc Network(VANET) is an emerging wireless technology vital to the Intelligent Transportation System(ITS) for vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication. An ITS is an advanced solution that aims to deliver innovative services pertaining to various transportation modes and traffic management. Its objective is to enhance user awareness, promote safety, and enable more efficient and coordinated utilization of transport networks. ITS aims to mitigate traffic problems and improve the safety of transport by preventing unexpected events. When the vehicle density, i.e., the number of vehicles communicating in a wireless channel, increases, the channel faces congestion resulting in unreliable safety applications. Various decentralized …

The Characterization Of Riparian Vegetation In Agriculture Drains Impacted By Phragmites Australis And Drain Management: A Southwestern Ontario, Canada Case Study, Ryan Mackenzie Graham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Agricultural drainage systems are important components of regional ecosystems and play key roles in ecosystem functioning. Biodiversity is a service provided by drains which is not fully understood in agriculturally dominated areas and is disrupted consistently by drain management, specifically in drains invaded by Phragmites australis. The objective of this thesis was to characterize the contribution of regional vegetational biodiversity provided by drainage systems, across sites representing a gradient of management frequencies. Drains were separated into management categories: Low (managed +5 years ago), Medium (managed every 3-5 years), or High (managed yearly). Plant abundance was measured and biodiversity indices (Species …

Reducing Energy Usage For Residential Furnace Blowers: Blade Re-Design And Assessment Of The Impact Of Flow Non-Uniformity Elimination, Mohammad Mirmohammadi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Residential furnace blowers are widely used in North America, but they often are designed to be low-cost rather than highly efficient. In this study, analysis of the literature yields an estimated adiabatic efficiency for typical furnace blowers of approximately 48%. The geometry of a typical furnace suggests much of the cause of this low efficiency is due to poor flow uniformity entering the blower. While the specific diameter and specific speed of the blower lie far from the Cordier diagram locus, these parameters cannot be dramatically changed due to space constraints. Thus, this study aims to quantify the efficiency gain …

Examining Adolescent Peer Victimization, Emotion Regulation, And Mental Health Using Path Analysis, Kelsey Ann Walker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The adverse effects of peer victimization in adolescent development have been consistently shown, including but not limited to internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and reduced life satisfaction. Emotion regulation, a critical individual level factor to the stress-coping process, potentially affects mental health in the context of peer victimization through different mechanisms. Based on theories and relevant empirical research, in the current study, the first mechanism was examined through mediation models, in which emotion regulation strategies (i.e., cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) were mediators in the relations between peer victimization and mental health. The second mechanism was tested via moderation models to …

Suicide Prevention: Suicide Literacy And Its Impact On Helping Intentions, Salman Ibrahim

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Suicide is currently classified as a public health crisis due to the number of people that die by suicide each year. The majority of those that that are contemplating suicide disclose their thoughts to family and friends before mental health professionals. Non-mental health professionals can receive suicide prevention training in order to bolster their general understanding of suicide, otherwise known as suicide literacy. However, to date, there exists no research that has demonstrated a link between an individual’s level of suicide literacy and their intention to help someone at risk of suicide. To this end, we examined the association between …

On-Campus Mental Health Service Use Among College Students With Autism: A Case Study Applying The Andersen Behavioral Model Of Health Services Use, Estella C. Lilyquist

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The unique set of impairments and limitations presented by students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) make the accessing of campus-based nonacademic resources more difficult and complicated than their typically developed peers. Each year, the rate of students entering college with disabilities continues to grow, but their mental well-being is relatively poor. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to apply the conceptual framework of the Andersen behavioral model of health services use (ABMHSU) to the experiences of college students with ASD to understand and predict their utilization of campus-provided mental health resources. The participants were seven college students with …

The Impact Of The Digital Divide On Rural Community College Students, Martin Ray Sheppard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

This qualitative case study investigated the perceived impact of the digital divide on rural U.S. community college students. An online survey was conducted of adult community college students at a rural community college. In addition, volunteer faculty at the same institution were interviewed through Zoom. The purpose of the student surveys and faculty interviews was to determine the impact of the digital divide on rural community college students and the ways in which these students seek to overcome the divide. This study used a theoretical framework that combined aspects of the situational theory of problem solving (STOPS) with the …

Effective Leader Development Within A Church-Planting Organization For A Changing And Chaotic World, Jeremy Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A challenge in cross-cultural church planting is developing leaders. Cross-cultural church-planting organizations like Latin American Mission (LAM; pseudonym) that lack a leadership development strategy struggle to form lasting leaders, sending missionaries with Biblical training but not leader development training. Additionally, developing leaders in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment creates specific challenges that missionaries must address. The purpose of this qualitative, Delphi method study was to investigate the leadership development perceptions and experiences among existing LAM missionaries in the regions of Latin America (Colombia, Cuba, Mexico City, Peru, Brazil, and Ecuador) to provide suggestions for improving effective leadership …

Teacher Self-Efficacy In Novice Job-Embedded Practitioners, Shay Shannon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Each year, thousands of novice teachers are hired, and within a few years, many of these teachers decide to leave the profession. Job-embedded practitioners, teachers who have yet to fulfill their academic requirements at their universities to become fully licensed teachers and are taking an alternative route to obtain their teaching licenses, comprise a large proportion of those novice teachers. Local and state school districts spend thousands of dollars trying to recruit new teachers to balance high attrition rates. With current teacher shortages nationwide, schools must find novel mechanisms to combat teacher attrition, rather than constantly hiring new teachers to …

From Convergence To Compromise: Understanding The Interplay Of Digital Transformation And Mergers On Data Breach Risks In Local And Cross-Border Mergers, Santhosh Srinivas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In today's digital age, the potential risks and challenges associated with digital transformation (DT) and cybersecurity have received limited research attention. This dissertation consists of three interconnected studies that aim to address this gap. The first study employs paradox theory to demonstrate that DT initiatives can increase a firm's susceptibility to data breaches. Using a unique dataset spanning 10 years and involving 3604 brands, our analysis reveals that DT efforts in mobile and digital marketing are associated with a higher incidence of data breaches. However, firms can mitigate this impact by enhancing their innovative capacities. These findings contribute to a …

Lexical Studies On The Concept Of Dirtiness In Ancient Egyptian Daily Life, Paul David Larson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a study of ancient Egyptian conceptions of dirtiness. While the subjects of ritual purity and taboo in ancient Egypt have been examined in Egyptological studies, less attention has been paid to understanding the general conceptions of dirtiness and impurity in the day to day, mundane lives of the ancient Egyptians, including its role in social distinctions. This is partly because Egyptian texts, while frequently mentioning purity, often in a ritual or cultic context, usually do not state or explain exactly what is defiling or dirty. Rather than another study of ritual purity or taboo, this dissertation attempts …