Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Adolescent Perspectives And Comfort Levels Communicating With Systems Of Care Following Concussion, Sarah Terry Cable

All ETDs from UAB

Objective: To examine 1) adolescent communication comfort levels, 2) barriers to com-munication with systems of care (e.g., family, medical, school, athletic, friends), and 3) associations between communication comfort and demographic, injury characteristics, medical history, emotional well-being, and recovery outcomes following a concussion.Methods: Participants were 73 adolescents (mean age = 14 years old, 61.6% male, 67.1% White) recruited from sports medicine clinics. Communication comfort level ratings with individuals in each system of care were assessed with possible responses including: not at all, a little, somewhat, and very. To evaluate barriers to communication, participants provided reasons for comfort ratings less than very. …

Examining The Pathophysiology Through Which Violence Exposure Varies With Functional Brain Connectivity And The Psychophysiological Response To Stress, Heather Elizabeth Dark

All ETDs from UAB

Violence exposure during childhood and adolescence is associated with susceptibility to internalizing disorders such as depression and anxiety. The relationship between childhood violence exposure and internalizing disorders may be explained by changes in brain function. For example, childhood maltreatment, including violence exposure, is associated with changes in brain regions that are important for emotion regulation. Reciprocal connections among these brain regions are important for healthy responses to stress. Thus, examining how childhood violence exposure varies with acute stress-induced changes in functional brain connectivity and psychophysiological stress responses may elucidate how childhood violence exposure may contribute to susceptibility to internalizing disorders. …

Predictors Of Subjective And Objective Everyday Functioning In Middle-Aged And Older Adults With Hiv, Alexandra Elaine Jacob

All ETDs from UAB

People with HIV (PWH) are at an increased risk for everyday functionalimpairment, especially as they age. The purpose of this study was: (1) to identify factors associated with subjective and objective instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) difficulty in PWH and (2) to identify factors associated with awareness of functional capacity. This cross-sectional study included 261 PWH. Participants completed a comprehensive neurobehavioral assessment, including self-report and performance-based measures of everyday functioning. Hierarchical multiple regressions were performed to identify health, psychological, and cognitive factors that contribute to subjective and objective evaluation of everyday functioning. We also examined factors that predicted a …

The Role Of Visa Status And Acculturation In The Health Of Us Immigrants, Serra Sevde Hatipoglu

All ETDs from UAB

Using data from the 2003 New Immigrant Survey, I examined the association between visa status and acculturation with physical, mental, and self-rated health among immigrants residing in the United States. The primary predictor variable in the study is immigrant visa status. The outcome variables of interest include physical health as any morbidity (chronic diseases), mental health as depressed (as defined by the DSM-IV) and self-rated health (poor self-rated health). Using logistic regressions, I found those with unfavorable visa statuses have worse mental, physical, self-rated health compared to the favorable visa holders. I used inverse odds ratio weighted (IORW) mediation method …

The Effects Of A Social Skills Intervention On Neural Processing In Autism Spectrum Disorder, Abbey Jane Herringshaw

All ETDs from UAB

Difficulties in social interaction are considered a core characteristic of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and have significant negative effects on quality of life in this population. Such deficits may reflect alterations in key areas of the “social brain” in ASD. Many clinical interventions for ASD seek to improve social interaction abilities, including the Program for Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®). PEERS® has demonstrated significant benefits for participants, but little is known about: 1) generalizability of the specific social knowledge gained to broader social cognitive processes, and 2) potential neuroplastic changes within the social brain in response to social …

Understanding And Improving The Police Response To Suspected Cases Of Human Trafficking, Lekendra Kidd

All ETDs from UAB

Human trafficking has been on the rise since slavery was abolished in the 19th century. As the prevalence of human trafficking continues to rise, the criminals involved continue to develop more sophisticated ways to hide their crimes from the police. Accordingly, countless victims remain unidentified. Research shows there is a critical need for local law enforcement officers to be trained in how to identify and investigate cases of human trafficking, as well as to interact compassionately with and effectively help its victims. The purpose of the current study was to qualitatively investigate the human trafficking training currently provided to local …

A Lean Six Sigma Evaluation And Cost Analysis Of Alabama’S Oral Fluid Roadside Screening And Confirmation Testing Program, Minjee Kim

All ETDs from UAB

In recent years, oral fluid has emerged as a vital biological specimen for driving under the influence of drug (DUI/D) cases among toxicology laboratories. Oral fluid possesses numerous advantages. The collection process is non-invasive, rapid, and simple compared to other traditional biological specimen, such as blood or urine. Due to its simplicity of collection, oral fluid can be collected proximate to the actual time of driving, traffic stop, or crash. Oral fluid as a biological specimen is also able to capture active parent drugs of recent use, especially for drugs that were administered orally. However, because oral fluid testing program …

Japonisme And Modernity In Thirty-Six Views Of The Eiffel Tower By Henri Riviere, Yen-Hua Liu

All ETDs from UAB

This thesis examines the intersection of Japonisme and modernity in Henri Rivière’s lithographic album, Thirty-Six Views of the Eiffel Tower (1902). While paying homage to Hokusai’s Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, Rivière represents thirty-six lithographs of modernized Paris. Rivière’s concept of modernity in the album goes beyond simply depicting the modern cityscape with the recently-built Eiffel Tower. His choice of lithography, usage of photographs, and innovative visual strategies indicate that the album is also a representation of modern life in the last decade of the nineteenth century.Modernity in this album operates on multiple levels. In addition to embodying changing fashions …

Cutting The Lilies, Olivia A. Mcmurrey

All ETDs from UAB

Cutting the Lilies is a historical-fiction novel that begins in April of 1963 and ends in June of 1964. Settings include rural areas on Alabama’s Sand Mountain, the small towns of Fort Payne and Scottsboro, and the city of Birmingham. As with much historical fiction, the novel interweaves a personal, ostensibly fictional story about everyday people with true events. In this case, the personal story is based on a real family involved in a boating accident on the Tennessee River in 1963. A mother and six of her eleven children, as well as two extended family members, drowned. The personal …

Correlates Of Early Adversity In Children And Adolescents: Examining The Interrelatedness Of Aggression, Post-Traumatic Stress, And Suicidal Behaviors, Elizabeth Mcrae

All ETDs from UAB

The negative outcomes associated with adverse childhood experiences, especially child maltreatment ACEs (CM-ACEs), often emerge concomitantly with these experiences and have cascading negative effects across the lifespan. For example,childhood aggression, post-traumatic stress, and suicidal behaviors have all been identified as negative sequelae of CM-ACEs. They have been associated with each other, as well, and share several common underlying mechanisms. Thus, it might be that these outcomes collectively exacerbate the risk of experiencing negative effects of CM-ACEs, yet most existing research has examined these risk factors independently. Moreover, these outcomes often emerge early in development, yet most related research has been …

Characterization Of The Metabolic And Cognitive Features Of A Novel Alzheimer’S Disease Rat Model Along With Investigation Of Its Gut Microbiota Change Over Time, Akash Nagarajan

All ETDs from UAB

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is currently the fifth highest cause of death in the United States and affects primarily individuals of very old age (>80 yrs.). Aging is known to be the biggest risk factor of AD. Recent studies have shown that AD patients have an altered gut microbiota composition. To investigate whether the Alzheimer’s disease pathology in the brain could drive gut microbiota changes during the adult and late life stage of the rat, we performed 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing on the fecal samples of the animals at 14 months and 20 months of age. We found a distinctive …

High-Pressure Phase Diagram Of Ferromagnetic Superconductor Eu(Fe0.75ru0.25)2as2, Zachary Taylor Nix

All ETDs from UAB

Eu(Fe0.75Ru0.25)2As2 is an intriguing system with unusual coexistence of superconductivity (TC≈23 K) and ferromagnetism (Tm≈20 K) and provides a unique platform to study of the nature of such coexistence. To establish a microscopic magnetic phase diagram of the recent doped 122-type ferromagnetic superconductor Eu(Fe0.75Ru0.25)2As2, time-resolved synchrotron Mössbauer experiments in 151Eu have been performed on a single crystalline sample under hydrostatic pressure and low temperatures. Upon compression, the magnetic ordering temperature first increases sharply from 20 K at ambient pressure to 53 K at 10 GPa. With further compression, the magnetic ordering temperature decreases and the magnetic order is fully suppressed …

The Relationships Fathers Have With Their Co-Residential Adult Children With Developmental Disabilities: A Qualitative Exploration Of Fatherhood And Masculinity, Kirsten Leigh Ostergren Clark

All ETDs from UAB

This dissertation explored the relationships between fathers and their co-residential adult children who have been diagnosed with an intellectual and developmental disability (IDD). This research addressed 1) the ways fathers understand their involvement in the lives of their adult child with developmental disabilities, especially as it relates to their masculinity; 2) how fathers perceive that their experiences fathering their child have impacted their health and health behaviors, including how masculinity plays a part; and 3) what supports fathers stated they have utilized and recommend, along with what challenges and constraints fathers feel they have faced. My analysis of in-depth interviews …

An Investigation Of Endogenous Pain Modulation And Inflammatory Biomarkers In Non-Specific Chronic Low Back Pain, Demario Overstreet

All ETDs from UAB

ABSTRACT Chronic low back pain (cLBP) is one of the most common disabling conditions in the world, and is one of the leading contributors to medical care seeking in adults. The worldwide prevalence of activity-limiting (acute and chronic) low back pain is about 12%, which equates to approximately 933 million people globally suffering with low back pain at any given time. Despite the prevalence and frequency of medical intervention, sustained pain relief and functional restoration are rarely achieved for those with cLBP. The vast majority of cLBP is “non-specific” with no identifiable pathology of the spine or related tissues. Without …

Psychosocial Risk And Resiliency Factors For Pain Severity Among African Americans With Chronic Low Back Pain, Terence Matthew Penn

All ETDs from UAB

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is among the most prevalent, disabling, and painful health conditions worldwide, contributing to significant economic and societal costs. In the United States, the burden of chronic pain – including CLBP – disproportionately affects non-Hispanic Blacks (“Blacks”) compared to non-Hispanic Whites (“Whites”), with Blacks consistently displaying greater pain severity and frequency across multiple studies. To help understand these racial pain disparities, researchers have adopted a biopsychosocial model of chronic musculoskeletal pain, examining how cognitive, behavioral, social/environmental, and biomedical factors collectively influence pain outcomes. Different lines of research have investigated the impact of distressing social experiences on …

Inflammation, Executive Function, And Adiposity In Children With Or At Risk For Obesity, Kathryn L. Prendergast

All ETDs from UAB

Obesity is associated with executive function (EF) deficits across the lifespan. Higher body mass index (BMI), greater severity of obesity, and poorer adherence and weight outcomes in obesity treatment have all been associated with EF deficits. Adult literature has begun to emphasize neuroinflammation in obesity as a possible pathway to later cognitive impairment. However, the pediatric obesity literature has yet to even establish associations between peripheral inflammation and EF. Thus, the present study aimed to examine associations and variability in inflammatory biomarkers, EF, and adiposity in children with or at risk for obesity. Additionally, inflammation was examined as a mechanism …

An Investigation Into The Effects Of Diet On Pain And Pain Disparities, Larissa Jane Strath

All ETDs from UAB

Chronic pain is one of the most common and disabling disorders in Westernsociety. Recently, it has been suggested that dietary quality may play a key role in the development and maintenance of pain. Additionally, diet differs between demographic groups, as does physiological differences in response to metabolites. We sought to explore 1) the central way in which diet influences pain sensitivity and 2) if dietary patterns affected various demographic groups differently. We first employed a rat model to observe diet-related changes in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. In the absence and presence of an injury, rats fed a …

Sites Of Memory In Lao Pdr: The Role Of Tourism In Post-Conflict Reconciliation Processes, Angela Morgan

All ETDs from UAB

During the Second Indochina War (known to Americans as the Vietnam War), the United States conducted a “secret war” from 1964 to 1973, dropping more than 2 million tons of bombs over Laos, including 270 million cluster sub-munitions. Up to 30% of ordnance did not detonate, leaving about 80 million live sub-munitions to contaminate the land (along with other live ordnance such as large bombs and landmines). Fourteen of Laos’ 17 provinces, and around 25% of its 10,500 villages, are contaminated by this unexploded ordnance (UXO). Clearance efforts have been underway since 1994, but progress is slow, and UXO impacts …

Examining Effects Of The Covid-19 Pandemic And Social Distancing On Children And Their Play And Social Development, Jenni Koehler

All ETDs from UAB

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global public health crisis that has affected everyone worldwide and drastically changed the social landscape since the first reported case on December 31, 2019 (WHO, 2020). Part of this social landscape includes children’s ability to play with their peers. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social impairments, have been observed to initiate and reciprocate peer interactions much less frequently than their peers, including language-matched children with other developmental disabilities, without therapeutic intervention (American Psychiatric Association, 2013; Frankel et al., 2011). Therefore, children with ASD could be at an increased risk …

A History Of New Deal Archaeology In Alabama: Labor And Science In Economic Reform, Caleb Ross Butz

All ETDs from UAB

This thesis is a history of New Deal archaeology within the state of Alabama. It was designed to facilitate research with New Deal-era collections by providing a comprehensive contextual background. This thesis explores the relationship between the Works Progress Administration (WPA) laborers and the archaeological institutions of the period within the context of the Great Depression and the social democratic reforms of the New Deal. Labor, labor-time, and logistical information were gathered from the WPA Quarterly Progress Reports prepared by David L. DeJarnette from 1936 to 1942. An inventory of over 130 archaeological sites was compiled based on field reports …

Disparities, Telemedicine, And Covid-19: Rhetorical Approaches To Health And Medicine For Positive Behavior Change In Older African American Women, Audrey S. Wrenn

All ETDs from UAB

Overlapping exigencies experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic illustrate the need for adaptable and flexible public health responses that include cultural perspectives and lived experiences of specific groups. The rhetoric surrounding COVID-19 has proven to be multifocal because of the social and environmental experiences occurring simultaneously. Americans experienced periods of civil unrest, unequitable health care, overall lifestyle changes, and an immediate shift to telehealth use as the pandemic unfolded. This research examines telehealth engagement during the pandemic among African American (AA) women ages 75 and older to indicate the benefits and challenges to patient care in a virtual environment and from …

Motivating Factors Influencing The Decision To Create Worker Cooperative Businesses, Brandon Alexander Debalsi

All ETDs from UAB

While there is a growing body of literature on the subject of worker cooperatives in the field of economics that compares them to conventional capitalist firms, there has been little literature to date looking at lives of the workers within these enterprises. This study investigates the self-stated reasons for why worker-owners of worker cooperative firms chose this form of employment. In unstructured interviews, a sample of thirty-seven current and former worker-owners were asked why they chose to become worker cooperatives members. The responses are grouped into three categories based on their self-reported motivations: Idealists, Economists, and Drifters. Implications for future …

Predictive Modeling Of Superhard And Topological Materials By Density Functional Theory And Machine Learning, Wei-Chih Chen

All ETDs from UAB

In this dissertation, we focus on the computational prediction for new superhard materials and topological phase transitions in quantum materials. To search for new superhard materials, we employed machine learning techniques, evolutionary crystal structure prediction, and density functional theory to explore new superhard materials in ternary B-C-N and B-N-O compounds. For the B-C-N systems, our machine learning prediction shows that a 1:1 B-N ratio can lead to various superhard compositions. Our subsequent evolutionary algorithm searches indicated that BC10N has an extremely high hardness ~ 87 GPa based on density functional theory. For BN- O systems, we adopted an self-improvement computational …

Kinetic Mechanism Investigations Of Nucleotide Addition Catalyzed By Rna Polymerase I And Ii, Zachariah M. Ingram

All ETDs from UAB

Eukaryotes contain at least three multi-subunit DNA dependent RNA polymerases (Pol I, II, and III). The three Pols are responsible for synthesizing specific RNAs. Pol I synthesizes the majority of the ribosomal RNA (rRNA), Pol II synthesizes all messenger RNA (mRNA) and most regulatory RNA, and Pol III synthesizes transfer RNA (tRNA) and the 5S rRNA. Despite the three Pols all synthesizing RNA, mechanistic differences are present between the polymerases. One example is the nuclease activity for each enzyme. Pol I and Pol III contain intrinsic nuclease activity conferred by specific subunits, whereas Pol II requires the association of the …

Balanced Placebo Design With Varenicline: Pharmacological And Expectancy Effects On Medication Adherence, Samantha Schiavon

All ETDs from UAB

Varenicline is one of the most efficacious smoking cessation medications. However, some individuals are unable to adhere to the 12-week medication regimen, primarily due to side effects. Although these side effect may be due to the pharmacological effects of varenicline, there may also be a psychologically rooted explanation (i.e., nocebo effects). Varenicline was once believed to cause serious adverse events and although this has been refuted, concerns regarding its use continue within the general population. This is the first study to differentiate psychological expectancies from pharmacological barriers as it relates to varenicline adherence. Varenicline naïve smokers (N=80) were randomized into …

Socioeconomic Status In Adolescence And Dna Methylation In Young Adulthood, Malcolm Barker-Kamps

All ETDs from UAB

Children from low socioeconomic status (SES) families are at a greater risk of negative health outcomes in adulthood, in part from chronic stress. The chronic stress of these experiences may become biologically embedded through DNA methylation in stress-related genes. However, the effects of specific SES dimensions during childhood or adolescence on later epigenetic profiles in adulthood are not well understood. The present study examined the roles of two objective SES dimensions and two subjective SES dimensions experienced in early adolescence in DNA methylation in young adulthood. The analyses focused on two genes, NR3C1 and SLC6A4, because their methylation has been …

Cultural Narratives Of Methamphetamine Using Parents And Children, Blake Beaton

All ETDs from UAB

People who use drugs are at a greater risk of being stigmatized than those who do not. Those who use drugs and parent children are at an even greater risk of stigmatization due to social expectations for parents to be accountable for their children. Therefore, it is acutely important that parents who use drugs form distinctions between themselves (i.e. good parents) and other drug using parents who are more deserving of social demonization. Previous research on drug users has demonstrated their attempts to distance themselves from other drug users using symbolic boundaries. These symbolic boundaries create clearer distinctions between oneself …

The (Un)Sustainability Of Higher Education Institutions In Jordan, Sumaya Bint El Hassan, Kyle E. Cordova, Ghaith Rabadi, Wejdan Abu Elhaija

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Higher education in Jordan has been tied closely to the state-building process in the century since the modern Hashemite state's foundation in 1921, with its explicit purpose being to educate and train high volumes of students who are competent and capable to serve as contributors to the state's development. Though this purpose has largely been successful to date, it is becoming increasingly clear that more is needed than simply issuing degrees. In an increasingly globalized world, it is necessary to educate those who can contribute to future research arenas and labor markets over which a single state has limited control. …

淺談屈原《天問》中屈原對儒家天命觀的批判吸收, Minxuan Cheng

Dissertations from all years

選題意義：《天問》一章對於整個楚辭研究來說都是難解的一个章节，關於對《天問》篇章的研究，學者們的成果更加集中在對於其中字句、史料的勘校和疏證，以及對於其中出現的單個的民俗、哲學、宗教文化的單獨討論。對於其中蘊含屈原的思想來源以及蘊含著對於天命政治的懷疑並未有過多的關注。

本文研究方法：通過典籍和文物兩相印證，首先討論屈原吸收儒家學說的可能性，其次討論夏、商、周三代以來的天命觀的發展與演變，以及先秦儒家對於天命觀的吸收與改造，通過屈原提出的若干歷史問題，在儒家典籍中找出同樣對歷史中出現的個例問題的回答，在研究過程中發現對於一些不同於先秦儒家天命觀的具體問題，與屈原在《天問》中的討論進行對比，找出屈原對天命觀的懷疑。同時也發現，儒家提出的在天命觀為基礎上的執政觀念被屈原吸收成為屈原對於楚國政事的解決方式。

論張錫恭《喪服鄭氏學》引《春秋》三傳釋「諸侯為天子」之義, Mengwei Fei

Dissertations from all years

鄭玄，作為東漢經學大家，調和今古文之爭，著述頗豐，後世無數學者奉之為圭臬。群經之中，他對禮學的見解尤為獨到，有「禮是鄭學」之說。禮學精華則在喪服，故鄭君喪服之學更顯精妙。

至清時，今文經學、古文經學及宋學各自發展，三派雖對立但亦有融合之象。黃式三、黃以周父子會通漢宋兩派，且不存今、古文經學門第之見，不專一家之言。撰寫《喪服鄭氏學》的張錫恭師承黃以周，深得其師之法；但在治學理念有了轉變——欲專守鄭君之說，可通過其書一窺他個人對鄭學的維護與發展。

值得深究的是，張錫恭在書中雖力守鄭意，但仍會提出與鄭意有所出入之說。他對「諸侯為天子」經文及鄭注的釋讀就有此趨向，引起筆者注意。他將《春秋》三傳並列齊觀，得見其融合之理念；以「奔喪」為切入點用分類的角度進行踰年否、父葬否的概括，可知其說較前人更加系統化；又在鄭注基礎上提出不同於鄭君的思路，另有新意。從這三點來看，張錫恭在此處的案語的確能充分體現其治學方法及精神，甚至顯露出與他自身「守鄭君」態度的些許矛盾。

本文欲通過分析張錫恭所撰「諸侯為天子」之案語，以他的思路將各家觀點進行系統化整合，從而盡力還原鄭君之意，著重關注張錫恭所主觀點與鄭君是否相合，並對其新說做出評價。