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Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Daughters/ Daughters-In-Law Providing Primary Informal Care To Their Mothers/ Mothers-In-Law With Dementia, Sarah Macfarlane

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Abstract

Objective

As the senior population in Canada rises, more middle aged residents of Canada will find themselves taking on a caregiving role, often times for a parent with dementia. This research examines the lived experiences of daughters/daughters-in-law providing primary informal care to their mothers/mothers-in-law with dementia in order to understand the motivations, effects, and transitions within caregiving relationships.

Methods

Phenomenology was the theoretical orientation used to guide this research and captured individuals’ lived experiences. Background questionnaires were administered initially, followed by one-on-one semi-structured interviews which were transcribed verbatim upon completion for data analysis. Field notes, member checks, and triangulation …

Staff Knowledge And Attitudes Toward Recovery Principles Among Mental Health Professionals Who Work With Adult Psychiatric Inpatients, Hussain Alhashem

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Recovery from serious mental illness (SMI) promotes a lifestyle that enables individuals to overcome obstacles related to mental illness and to become hopeful, responsible, and empowered to contribute to society (Anthony, 1993; Jacobson & Greenley, 2001). This study addressed the mental health worker’s knowledge and attitudes toward recovery principles, utilizing an online survey method to examine the relationship between staff knowledge of and attitudes toward recovery principles among mental health professionals who work in inpatient psychiatric settings that serve adult patients. Participants in this study included staff members at inpatient psychiatric hospital facilities in the United States. Results from this …

Dichotic Listening Test Performance In Children, Kairn Stetler Kelley

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Dichotic tests evaluate binaural integration through simultaneous presentation of different stimuli to each ear of a listener who has normal hearing sensitivity in both ears. Dichotic listening deficits may lead to problems with language, communication, reading, or academic performance. If accurately identified, dichotic deficits may be treatable with listening training or managed with accommodation. However, it is not clear which of several commercially-available dichotic test recordings are best for audiologists to use when assessing binaural integration in children. Literature review revealed limited evidence of reliability, accuracy, usefulness, or value for dichotic tests applied to children. Of 11 dichotic tests identified, …

An Ensemble Study Of The Sea Level Rise Impact On Storm Surge And Inundation In The Coastal Bangladesh, Mansur Ali Jisan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The hydrodynamic model Delft3D is used to study the impact of Sea Level Rise (SLR) on storm surge and inundation in the coastal region of Bangladesh. To study the present-day inundation scenario, track of two known tropical cyclones (TC) were used: Aila (Category 1; 2009) and Sidr (Category 5; 2007). Model results were validated with the available observations. Future inundation scenarios were generated by using the strength of TC Sidr, TC Aila and an ensemble of historical TC tracks but incorporating the effect of SLR. Since future change in storm surge inundation under SLR impact is a probabilistic incident, that’s …

Using Differentiated Instructional Strategies To Improve Early Elementary Comprehension Skills, Deborah S. Cirincione

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to provide information to educators about teaching strategies used in the classroom. The researcher opened up a survey to Early Elementary Reading teachers so
they can provide their input in an anonymous manner so as to get as much information as possible so others can find this narrative, qualitative research useful in their careers. The writer researched scholarly and peer-reviewed journals, as well as, commonly used resources such as government websites to acquire and report recent practices of early elementary reading strategies used in classrooms. The study was of qualitative nature, and the survey was …

Closing The Achievement Gap In Mathematics For Students With Learning Disabilities Utilizing The Resource Room As An Intervention, Esta H. Brownstein

Theses and Dissertations

Students with learning disabilities are placed in general education classrooms in increasing numbers. Many of these students receive additional services in Resource Room programs taught by a special education teacher. The intent of this study was to determine if students with disabilities, who were struggling in mathematics, increased achievement utilizing Resource Room instruction as an intervention. Students in the study were in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades and performed at least one grade level below expectations for that grade in mathematics. All of the students had a specific learning disability. This study investigated the correlation, if any, between the amounts …

The Price Of Being A Trans-Atlantic Hero: Struggles Of A Migrant Mother, Erica C. Davies

Capstones

Migration is a huge part of Filipino culture. Economic hardship often force some Filipinos to leave their home and their families behind in order to provide a sustainable life. This decision has resulted in over 2 million OFWs, or Overseas Filipino Workers, around the globe. OFWs are local heroes, often braving long distances, sub-par working conditions, and long work hours away from their families for months or years at a time to make sure they are properly taken care of. In a world where the 9 to 5 is seen as common practice, the stories of two women show the …

Remembering Time, Jonathan Carey

Capstones

My parents were dressed in their Sunday best, heading to a church revival. I was 12 and still the baby of the family, so staying home alone was out of the question. My grandmother Lillian, who preferred to be called Nana, came to babysit me. She relished a little time away from the doldrums and senior citizen gossip that engulfed the high-rise building where she lived,five minutes from my house in Petersburg, Virginia. That evening, as the sounds of “The Young and the Restless” echoed through the house, I tiptoed downstairs to give Nana a playful scare.

Creating A Community Of Writers The First Week Of School, Jeanne Fimmen

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this capstone was, How can an environment be created during the first weeks of school to foster efficacy in student writing? This capstone describes current research on creating an environment for writing as well as strategies for effective writing instruction. It describes approaches and rationales for a writing curriculum that integrates socialemotional learning with writing. The goal of this project was to create curriculum specific to the beginning of the year that would help elementary students see themselves as effective writers through the use of engaging writing activities.

An Exploration Of Impacts Of A Culturally Relevant Online Orientation Course For Indigenous American Students At A Tribal College, Melanie F. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

The problem addressed was the low level of technology skills and access to technology among Native American students entering tribal colleges. The purpose of the quantitative study was to examine the impact of the culturally relevant Jenzabar Online Orientation Course on tribal college students’ preparedness for participation in online courses and use of the learning management system (LMS). Impact of the orientation course as well as the impact of the 7 Anishinaabe cultural values incorporated into the course were examined. Data were collected by administering a survey. Participants for the study were 45 freshmen and transfer students at the target …

Minibrain And Wings Apart Control Organ Growth And Tissue Patterning Through Downregulation Of Capicua, Liu Yang

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The regulation of organ growth is a fundamental aspect of developmental biology. My work uses Drosophila as a model system to understand how the various growth regulators are coordinated. The transcriptional repressor Capicua (Cic) controls tissue patterning and restricts organ growth, and has been recently implicated in several cancers and neurodegenerative diseases. Cic has emerged as a primary sensor of signaling downstream of the receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway, but how Cic activity is regulated in different cellular contexts remains poorly understood. In order to identify Cic regulators, I have used affinity purification/mass spectrometry (AP-MS) to study …

Evolution In The Deep Sea: Scales And Mechanisms Of Population Divergence, Amanda E. Glazier

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The deep sea is the Earth’s largest ecosystem and harbors a unique and largely endemic fauna. Although most research has focused on the ecological mechanisms that allow coexistence, recent studies have begun to investigate how this remarkable fauna evolved.. My work quantifies geographic patterns of genetic variation and investigates potential mechanisms that shape evolution in the deep ocean.

Bathymetric genetic divergence is common in the deep sea with population structure typically decreasing with depth. The evolutionary mechanisms that underlie these patterns are poorly understood. Geographic patterns of genetic variation indicated that the protobranch bivalve Neilonella salicensis was composed of two …

A New Class Of Integrable Two-Mass Mixtures In One-Dimension, Zaijong Hwang

Graduate Masters Theses

Among systems with many hard-core point particles that only interact by elastic collisions in one-dimension, it has long been thought that only those with equal mass particles were completely integrable, where the final state of the system through time evolution could be easily predicted from its initial state due to the existence of a maximal number of conserved quantities. In this thesis, we introduce a new class of integrable three-particle systems that contain two unequal masses. These integrable triplets can affect the rate of thermalization in a much larger system composed of particles with two unequal masses, the effect of …

Boundary Spanning, Networking, And Sensemaking/Sensegiving: How Career Services Directors Enact Mid-Level Leadership, Linda Kent Davis

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This study seeks to understand higher education leadership overall by exploring how mid-level leadership is enacted by career services directors. Given that higher education institutions are facing a wide range of challenges that require an equally wide range of skills to address them, colleges and universities may need to become more inclusive regarding who contributes to institutional leadership. Mid-level leadership is defined in this study as a process of social interaction that originates with a middle manager and that cuts across functional areas and/or hierarchical levels to impact institutional goals. Three research questions frame the study: 1) How do career …

Experiences Of Trust In Longer-Lasting Formal Youth Mentoring Relationships, Michelle Levine

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this longitudinal qualitative study was to investigate youth experiences of trust and mentor experiences supporting youth trust in longer-term formal youth mentoring relationships. Trust was defined as youth relying on and confiding in their mentors based on experiences of mentor reliability, honesty, and emotional sensitivity and protection from emotional harm. Thematic analysis was conducted on interview data from a longitudinal dataset, involving analysis of narratives from interviews (n=147) with youth, mentors, and parents for mentoring matches that lasted at least two years. Overall, participants in this study identified multiple ways trust was experienced by youth and supported …

'Whose Goals Am I Meeting?' Policy And Practice Dilemmas In Adult Basic Education (Abe) In The Era Of Accountability, Alma Hallulli Biba

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

For the last two decades, federal legislation and Massachusetts’ state ABE policies have linked adult learners’ educational outcomes to performance systems and accountability requirements. These outcomes, represented as ‘goals’, reflect an emphasis on return-on-investment strategies and outcome-based accountability measures. Greatest emphasis is placed on that subset of adult learners’ goals that are easily measured, attainable, and that are associated with public outcomes. This dissertation, in contrast, seeks to understand the goal setting process from the perspective of learners and local ABE stakeholders. Using a novel, mixed-method approach, this dissertation presents ABE learners’ goal setting as a decision problem in order …

Evaluating Contradicting And Confirming Evidence: A Study On Beliefs And Motivated Reasoning, Zachary Alan Caddick

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine ideological, psychological, and demographic predictors of motivated reasoning. Three-hundred and seventy-seven participants from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk system completed written responses critically evaluating strengths and weaknesses in a vignette on the topic of anthropogenic climate change. The vignette has two fictional scientists present prototypical arguments for and against anthropogenic climate change that are constructed with equally flawed and conflicting reasoning from both view points. Written responses were coded by a team of trained and reliability assessed qualitative raters. Motivated reasoning is operationalized by providing supporting evidence for the congruent belief and counter evidence …

The Moderating Role Of Perceived Organizational Support And Perceived Supervisor Support On The Relationship Between Teamwork Behaviors And Affective Commitment, Carlie Ann Stephens

Master's Theses

Researchers have identified employee affective commitment as a key indicator of variables that are of great interest to organizations (Mowday, Porter, & Steers, 1982). Teamwork behaviors have been identified as predictors of affective commitment (Meyer, Stanley, Herscovitch, & Topolnytsky, 2002). However, very few studies have examined the moderating effect organizational and supervisor support may have on these relationships. The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating effects of perceived organizational support and perceived supervisor support on the relationship between teamwork behaviors and affective commitment. Results of a survey administered to 3,926 employees in a medical device company revealed …

Sers Intensity Correlations To Lspr On Aggregated Au@Ag Systems, Caesar Alexander Munera

Master's Theses

The optimal surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) intensity was correlated to the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of individual and aggregated gold core/silver shell (Au@Ag) nanoparticles (NPs) in titrations involving the addition of both SERS label (e.g., rhodamine 6G, R6G) and the non-SERS active aggregant (chemical species that triggers the aggregation of NPs) potassium chloride (KCl). Titrating NP solutions with pure SERS label has often resulted in highly non-linear calibrations. In some cases, addition of non-SERS active aggregating agents such as KCl has also resulted in a large increase in SERS signals. An order of initial addition was followed in …

Stroke Outreach In The Lao Community, Noor A. Dythavon

Master's Projects and Capstones

CNL Abstract

A community health needs assessment for the service area prompted concern regarding access to quality healthcare for non-English speaking Southeast Asians (SEA) in the area. Goals of an initial investigation and subsequent implementation of sustainable stroke health fairs for non-English speaking communities were evaluated to assess primary healthcare concerns that the SEA community face and to suggest long-term solutions to these issues. Initial investigation required researching population-specific minority health statistics to quantify the prevalence of chronic diseases and conditions which were prioritized in terms of needs versus disparities. Research came from evidence base practice guidelines and personal concern …

Comparative Evaluation Of Malnutrition Screening In Oncology Patients In An Acute Care Hospital: A Pilot Study, Chandni Sen Sinha

Master's Theses

Malnutrition is associated with negative health consequences in the vulnerable cancer population, making it imperative for an efficient interdisciplinary approach to conduct nutritional screening using an appropriate scale. For the present study, a comparison between an existing malnutrition risk-screening questionnaire (EMR-SQ) and a comprehensive screening questionnaire (CMR-SQ) was performed on 37 cancer patients. The first stage of data collection required the nurses to electronically complete the EMR-SQ. In the second stage, the same patients’ data were assessed using the CMR-SQ, developed by the authors based on the guidelines of the PG-SGA and A.S.P.E.N. The CMR-SQ identified 32.4% at low, 37.8% …

Rna-Protein Structure Classifiers Incorporated Into Second-Generation Statistical Potentials, Takayuki Kimura

Master's Theses

Computational modeling of RNA-protein interactions remains an important endeavor. However, exclusively all-atom approaches that model RNA-protein interactions via molecular dynamics are often problematic in their application. One possible alternative is the implementation of hierarchical approaches, first efficiently exploring configurational space with a coarse-grained representation of the RNA and protein. Subsequently, the lowest energy set of such coarse-grained models can be used as scaffolds for all-atom placements, a standard method in modeling protein 3D-structure. However, the coarse-grained modeling likely will require improved ribonucleotide-amino acid potentials as applied to coarse-grained structures. As a first step we downloaded 1,345 PDB files and clustered …

Variation In Organismic Rna And Dna Content: Analysis And Application To The Assessment Of Living Planktonic Biomass, Elizabeth Lam Gagneron

Master's Theses

Modern analysis of DNA and RNA nucleic acid sequences has yielded profound changes in our understanding of the genetic biodiversity of planktonic organisms within the microbial food web of aquatic ecosystems. However, the bulk environmental concentrations of DNA and RNA, and their relative ratios, also potentially provide important information on the biomass and metabolic activity of planktonic organisms. Currently, there is a need to quantify the relative living biomass levels of natural water contained in ships’ ballast tanks to regulate the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS) resulting from ballast water discharge practices within the international shipping industry. Ultraviolet (UV) …

Elucidating The Role Of Mastermind-Like 1 In The Degradation Of Myocyte Enhancer Factor 2c, Azia S. Evans

Master's Theses

Mastermind-like 1 (MAML1) is well characterized for its involvement in the Notch signaling pathway where it functions as a transcriptional co-activator and facilitates the degradation of the Notch intracellular domain (NICD). MAML1 has recently been implicated as a multifunctional protein that interacts with a variety of other signaling pathways, including Wnt-β-catenin, NF-B, and MEF2C (myocyte enhancer factor 2C). MEF2C is a member of the family of transcription factors involved in muscle cell differentiation and proliferation. MAML1 has previously been shown to activate MEF2C transcription. Given that MAML1 is responsible for degradation of the NICD, we wanted to know if MAML1 …

“A (Blind) Woman's Place Is (Teaching) In The Home”: The Life Of Kate Foley, 1873-1940, Angela Gates

Master's Theses

This thesis examines the life and career of Kate Foley, home teacher of the blind with the California State Library from 1914-1940. The purpose of this investigation is to determine how Foley, who was disabled, built a successful career with the state library despite facing significant discrimination and prejudice. Using a wide variety of primary source material, including letters, library publications, conference proceedings, newspaper articles, and census data, this biography evaluates Foley’s pioneering role as well as the challenges she faced. Home teaching provided a new vocational opportunity for blind women, whose professional choices were extremely limited. Despite her unique …

Sex-Specific Diet And Rockfish Consumption In California Sea Lions (Zalophus Californianus): Insights From Molecular Scatology, Keith Michael Hernandez

Master's Theses

Molecular diet analysis has the potential to overcome the limitations of traditional methods. I used prey hard parts and molecular methods to examine sex-specific diet trends and rockfish consumption of California sea lions (Zalophus californianus, CSL). Fresh scat samples (n=219) were collected from Año Nuevo Island, CA (ANI), during the summers of 2013 and 2014. Prey taxa were identified from fish otoliths and cephalopod beaks recovered from cleaned scats. Sex of the CSL depositing the scat was assigned via multiplex PCR of a CSL microsatellite and a carnivore Y chromosome marker. Prey species also were identified using multiple loci in …

The Effects Of Repeated Global Self-Adapted Testing On Online Statistics Performance, Gita Sierra Hodell

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a computerized academic testing format. Centered on the motivating and stress-reducing aspects of personal control, a modified form of global self-adapted testing (GSAT) was explored to help students who are challenged by test anxiety or low academic motivation. Forty-two students completed multiple GSATs throughout one semester of college-level, online statistics. Of those students, 20 volunteered to complete an academic motivation questionnaire at the beginning of the semester. The relationships between scores on the motivation questionnaire, GSAT use characteristics, and statistics performance were analyzed. Students who used the GSATs correctly …

Mémoires: The Revolutionary Map Of The Twentieth Century, Megan Merritt

Master's Theses

The artistic collaborations between Guy Debord and Asger Jorn blossomed in 1957, and have typically been explored in terms of their context within the canon of the Situationist International (SI), a notorious group of political thinkers and activists who formed in July, 1957, with a shared repulsion for capitalism and consumerism. Before co-founding the SI with Jorn and several other individuals, Debord was part of the Lettrist International, a splinter group of the Lettrists, which allowed Debord more authority and autonomy to create his first film, Hurlements en Faveur de Sade (Howls for Sade, 1954), and explore other media that …

Geochemical Modeling And Hydrothermal Experiments Used To Constrain The Conditions Of Illite Diagenesis In Sedimentary Basins, Michael Joseph Murphy

Master's Theses

Two hydrothermal experiments were performed using sandstone core material from

the Norwegian North Sea with synthetic brines reacted at approximately 150˚C and 450

bars, temperature and pressure calculated to simulate a depth of burial of approximately 4 km. The results of the experiments were analyzed with geochemical modeling and with

chemical and petrographic analyses. Geochemical modeling with several computer

programs indicated that the experimental fluid was undersaturated with respect to K-feldspar, kaolinite, and illite, but supersaturated with respect to muscovite. Chemical

analysis with inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry indicated that the fluid

reached saturation with respect to K-feldspar. Petrographic analysis with …

Estuarine Habitat Use By The California Sea Otter (Enhydra Lutris Nereis), Jacqueline Kimberly Lindsey

Master's Theses

As the southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) range expands into northern and southern California, it will encounter estuaries that have been historically occupied by sea otters. Understanding how otters use re-colonized estuarine environments will inform how estuaries might be managed to encourage future sea otter range expansion. This project addressed the question: how do southern sea otters use space in the unique estuarine habitats of Elkhorn Slough? I compared the locations and behaviors of 25 individual sea otters of different status (male, female, and female with pup) among eelgrass, saltmud, saltmarsh, tidal creek, and main channel habitats in Elkhorn …