Digital Commons Network^™

Sex And Age Differences In Approach Behavior Toward A Port That Delivers Nicotine Vapor, Veronika Evangelina Espinoza

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The goal of our laboratory is to study the mechanisms that promote nicotine use, particularly in vulnerable populations such as adolescents and females. Thus, the purpose of this thesis was to characterize age and sex differences in the motivational/rewarding effects of nicotine (Aim 1) and withdrawal behavior (Aim 2). To more closely model human use patterns, the present study employed nicotine vapor methods involving passive exposure for 14 days in adolescent and adult female and male rats. Age and sex differences in approach behavior (nosepokes) were assessed in a port that delivered nicotine plumes on Day 1 and 14. Controls …

Morphological Production Accuracy Patterns In Younger And Older Spanish-English Bilingual Children, Isabel Angelica Cano

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Clinicians require a model of typical bilingual language development. Morphological production accuracy patterns vary in Spanish-English (S-E) bilingual children considering differences in the exposure and use of their two languages compared to their monolingual peers. The purpose of the current study was to examine morphological production accuracy patterns in thirty younger (3- to 4-years old) and older (5- to 6-years old) S-E bilingual children utilizing English and Spanish Morphosyntax subtests from a bilingual language screener. Across development, older bilingual children were more accurate on all forms in both English and Spanish than younger bilingual children. Across languages, all S-E bilingual …

Region-Specific Modifications Of Synaptic Proteins In Response To Early-Life Adversity In The Rat Brain, Jameel Nasser Hamdan

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Drug addiction is a serious condition affecting approximately 19.7 million people in the United States alone (SAMHSA 2018). Exposure to stress and other adverse conditions has been shown to impact drug-taking behavior and making individuals more vulnerable to addiction. In those already suffering from addiction, abstaining from drug use often gives way to relapse after a stressful event (Lu, Shepard et al. 2003; Shaham, Erb et al. 2000). The experience of adversity during early-life can cause long-lasting changes in the brain, affecting development, behavior, learning and memory, and critical thinking processes, which may persist into adulthood (Aisa, Tordera et al. …

Implications Of Dual Language Scoring Of The Preschool Language Scale-Fifth Edition Spanish For Bilingual Preschool-Aged Children, Callie Mae Mathis

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Purpose: Spanish versions of standardized tests used in language evaluations are not well studied. The purpose of this study is to further examine the appropriateness of the Preschool Language Scale, Fifth Edition Spanish (PLS-5S) in a U.S./Mexico border community by comparing the Dual language scores versus the Spanish only scores and comparing the normative sample of the PLS-5S to the population of El Paso, TX.

Method: Twenty-three bilingual preschool aged children in the El Paso area completed the Spanish Edition of the PLS-5S. The parents and teachers of the participants completed two language proficiency questionnaires (Bilingual Input Output Survey; BIOS …

Seeds Of Neocolonialism In Development Discourse: A Study Of Neoliberal "Megarhetorics" Of Global Development And Ecofeminist Resistance, Moushumi Biswas

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This paper is based on a case study of www.monsanto.com, the official website of biotech company Monsanto, and transnational voices of resistance as exemplified by eco-critical activist Vandana Shiva. My rhetorical inquiry concerns the future of the global farming sector and allows for an interdisciplinary exploration of transnational development discourse through the overlapping but complementary lenses of ecofeminism and critical discourse analysis (CDA). The purpose of my study – spanning rhetoric, composition, critical theory, cultural theory, communication studies, business ethics, and postcolonial studies – is to trace new notions of discourse creation in the 21 st century using a combination …

The Impact Of Baby Sign Training On Stress Levels Of Daycare Providers, Grisel Julieta Rodriguez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Proponents of baby sign claim improvements in child-caregiver interactions and reductions in parental stress as benefits of implementing baby sign. Due to research contradicting the claims, and to the rise in daycare attendance, the current study investigated the effects of a baby sign workshop on the stress perception of daycare providers. A pre-test post-test between groups design with 20 participants was conducted using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS10) and a workshop-specific descriptive survey as measures. The difference between the post-test stress levels of experimental and control groups approached significance, as did the differences between pre-test and post-test results for the …

Benefits Of Baby Sign On Cognitive Development In Infants, Clarissa Navedo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Research in the area of baby sign language has increased dramatically over the past several years, however there is still a lack of research regarding baby signs effects on typical infant development, specifically in the area of cognition. The hypothesis of this study was that instruction of baby sign would be correlated with a significant increase in the development of cognition and language acquisition for infant participants. This study provided a five-week instructional course on baby sign for parents/caregivers to implement with their typically developing infants (n=11). The course provided instruction of baby signs, methods of implementation and encouragement to …

"How Do We Not Go Back To The Factory?" Negotiating Neoliberal Conditions In A Latina-Led Transnational Development Organization In El Paso (Texas), Anthony Michael Jimenez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Background: As the structure of the global economy shifted the United States' manufacturing base South of the U.S-Mexico in the years up to and post-NAFTA, thousands of women of Mexican descent residing in El Paso (Texas) were displaced from their garment factory jobs and left without social, political and economic support. Subsequently, some of these women joined La Mujer Obrera, an organization committed to fostering community development for low-income women from both sides of the U.S-Mexico border. The organization faces difficulties in receiving economic aid from the local government, which is apparently due to their development model being incompatible with …

Employers' Perceptions Of Factors Related To The Workforce Development Of Community Health Workers In El Paso, Texas: A Descriptive Study, Aurora Aguirre Polanco

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Workforce studies are necessary for regional economic development and for having a diverse workforce that meets the communities' needs. Workforce studies explore the most salient factors of models aimed at balancing economic forces of supply and demand. Community Health Workers (CHWs) are frontline health workers recognized by both the United States (US) Department of Labor (DOL) and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA). CHWs' service is oriented towards health promotion and disease prevention; they deliver public health interventions.

External and internal factors to the US health care system such as health care and wealth disparities, changing …

The Impact Of Development On Terrorist Activity: Does Development Decrease Terrorism?, Mark Daube

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the relationship between the level of development in a country and the likelihood of terrorism incidents occurring in that country. The central argument of this paper is that the level of development of a country has a curvilinear impact in the shape of an inverted-U on the likelihood of terrorist activity. This paper used a negative binomial regression in order to analyze 119 countries from 1675 to 2000. The empirical results indicate that there is support for the hypotheses of this thesis and that there is a statistically significant relationship in the shape of an inverted-U between …

An Interactive Assessment Of Democracy: Economic And Cultural Determinants Of Democratic Development, Won Ha Reyes Gonzalez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

As democracy has become a popular form of governance, questions as to how to best develop democracies have been raised. Theories based on economic and cultural development have separately provided the academic community with interesting findings. However, theories based on economic determinants and cultural determinants give results that do not answer the question of how to develop democracies in a thoroughly satisfying manner, when approaching the question separately. This thesis tests the two methods separately and then integrates the two methods using interaction terms. By doing this we can see if economic development leads to democratic development, if cultural development …

Children's Reinforcement-Induced Suggestibility: Its Developmental Trajectory And Relation To Individual Differences, Elizabeth Rose Uhl

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Research has shown that reinforcement by interviewers can lead children to make false allegations of wrong doing (e.g., Garven, Wood, & Malpass, 2000). The current study examined the developmental trajectory of reinforcement-induced suggestibility and its relation to individual differences among children. Forty-eight kindergarteners, 52 second graders, and 54 fourth graders viewed a science demonstration by a young man introduced as "Paco Perez." One week later they were interviewed about the visit with misleading questions that suggested Paco had engaged in wrongdoing. Half of the children were interviewed using reinforcement; the other half did not receive reinforcement. Two weeks after Paco's …

Developmental Variation In Children's Acquisition Of Metrical Structure: How Early Treatment Of Stressless Syllables Can Inform Phonological Theory, Clifford S. Jones

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The present study uses 26 color photos to elicit a total of 14 words conforming to a very specific pattern: a stressless syllable word-initially, followed by a stressed syllable, and at most one more stressless syllable. This was found to be a particularly difficult metrical structure for the two- and three-year old participants to produce in an adult-like manner. Based on the findings that a fairly reliable (if language-particular) order of acquisition is observable for contrasts of both place and manner of articulation, the case is made for a system of six emergent features, which may be characterized as combinable …

Characterization Of The Behavioral And Neurochemical Effects Of Nicotine Withdrawal In Adolescent And Adult Rats., Luis Alberto Natividad

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Previous studies have demonstrated that the behavioral effects of nicotine withdrawal are lower in adolescent versus adult rats. However, the neurochemical mechanisms that mediate these developmental differences are presently unclear. Much work has shown that nicotine reward is mediated via enhanced dopamine neurotransmission in the mesolimbic pathway which originates in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and terminates in several forebrain structures including the nucleus accumbens (NAcc). More recently, studies have shown that nicotine withdrawal produces a decrease in NAcc dopamine transmission, an effect that is believed to serve as a neurochemical marker of withdrawal in adult rodents. The goal of …