Digital Commons Network^™

Rewriting Patriarchal Norms In Academia: Invitational Rhetoric In A Crowdsourced Survey, Rachel Molko

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis seeks to understand the how texts are constructed to forward feminist communicative objectives through a case study of Dr. Karen Kelsky’s "A Crowdsourced Survey of Sexual Harassment in the Academy." In this research, sexual harassment is understood as an act of power, sexual in nature, enacted by faculty or staff (employed or contracted in different capacities) in their relations with other faculty or staff, who are often lower ranking. By adopting invitational rhetoric as a theoretical framework, this thesis examines the way Dr. Karen Kelsky's crowdsourced survey creates the space to articulate and elevate often suppressed personal testimony …

Anything But Crazy: How American Musical Theatre Can Change Societal Stigmas Against Mental Illnesses, Benjamin Walton

Honors Undergraduate Theses

There is a societal stigma that villainizes or degrades anyone diagnosed or associated with any mental illness. While many different forms of media have attempted to destroy this stigma through psycho-centric narratives, I wanted to argue that musical theatre has the greatest potential as a live entertainment source to deconstruct and reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness. For my research, I theorized that musical theatre can most effectively change societal stigma about mental illness by communicating a clear understanding of the disease through music, and achieving popularity in the public eye longer than other live forms of theatre. I chose …

The Effectiveness Of Interventions And Bundles For Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Mohamad Alhamwi

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Introduction: Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSIs) are a major cause of increased mortality, morbidity and healthcare costs in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) patients. Despite CDC's efforts to reduce infection rates, patients often suffer consequences. The objective of this study is to perform a systematic review of strategies utilized in the neonatal population and evaluate them with the current CDC's guidelines to assess the effectiveness of bundles in preventing CLABSI in NICUs.

Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted using CINAHL Plus with Text, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and MEDLINE from January 2008 up to 2018. There were multiple …

Analyzing Children's Literature Awards, Literary Criteria, And District Demographics To Create A Diverse And Inclusive Elementary School Classroom Library, Casey L. Lavallee

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Future elementary school teachers are tasked with the responsibility to ensure that the children in their classrooms have access to high quality books every day. This can be accomplished by building classroom libraries with titles that are not only of high literary quality but are also inclusive of the students in the classroom as well as the people these children will encounter outside of the classroom. Children should be able to see themselves represented in the literature they read, and they should also be able to develop empathy for people who are different than they are. Diverse literature can have …

Effects Of Energy-Based Therapies On Postoperative Recovery: An Integrative Review Of The Literature, Emily M. Wooten

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Associated with health care reform, there has been a growing interest among healthcare professionals regarding use of energy-based therapies as a complementary therapeutic intervention. The purpose of this integrative literature review was to examine the impact of energy-based therapies (i.e. healing touch, reiki, therapeutic touch) on patients’ postoperative recovery. The methodology included identifying appropriate peer-reviewed, English-language research articles on the topic area that were published between 2006 to 2018. Following a search in select data bases, articles focusing on the topic were critiqued, analyzed and synthesized by the researcher. Consistent and inconsistent findings along with gaps in the literature are …

Investigating A Potential Relationship Between Sibling Gender Composition And Health Behavior Indicators In Young Adult And Adolescent Males, Taylor N. Goss

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The presence of siblings during childhood and adolescence has a significant impact on the behaviors and perceptions of adults later in life. Effects of mixed-gendered sibling dyads on delinquent behavior, gender typing, and romantic and sexual relationships are of interest. These behaviors can lead to notable health disparities, making it imperative to gain insight into factors associated with such behaviors in young adult and adolescent males. This project explored possible correlations between gender composition of siblings and health behavior indicators for violence, competition and risk, and sexual and romantic relationships. Analysis of these variables was performed using data from the …

Essential Components Of Participation For An Exercise Program For Underserved, Older, African-American Females, Marina Meinert

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Physical activity (PA) is beneficial to people of all ages and ethnicities. Regular physical activity can reduce the risk of multiple chronic diseases, improve mood and sleep and allows your body to function better overall (CDC, 2018). However, populations that are more vulnerable to adverse health risks may benefit more than others from regular physical activity. This study was designed to identify the motivating factors for physical activity in a sample of older, African-American women of lower socioeconomic status (SES). This particular subgroup was chosen because of their increased risk of obesity and cardiovascular disease due to unhealthy lifestyle factors, …

An Exploration Of Research And Resources Related To Aphasia: Creating A Resource Guide, Lexie Anne Velez Diaz

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of educators is to aid their students as they develop as their own individuals. Only through education can individuals grow to become the best version of themselves, in and out of the classroom. It is crucial for educators to be aware of the many different learners in the world, so teachers are prepared for any exceptional student that enters their classroom. That is why it is so important to educate oneself on the many exceptionalities and circumstances students are facing. Encompassed within the 13 disabilities identified in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, 1975), are sub categories …

Identifying Undergraduate Student's Motivation To Attend Tutoring For General Chemistry Courses, Alexis C. Hyacinthe

Honors Undergraduate Theses

General Chemistry II is a common chemistry course that is required for professional school such as, medical, dental, optometry schooling. Considering that it historically has a high drop, fail, withdrawal rate, it is surprising that less than 10% of students in chemistry II attend tutoring at the Student Academic Resource Center (SARC). In this tutoring center, sessions are led by students who have excelled previously in that specific course. The objective of this research is to investigate the relationship between student motivation and attendance in SARC peer tutoring sessions for chemistry II. More precisely, to better understand the connection between …

Investigation Of The Effects Of Cobimetinib On Neurofibromatosis Type 2 Model Schwannoma Cells, Konstantin Brnjos

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Neurofibromatosis type two (NF2) is a genetic disorder predisposing those affected to the development of multiple benign tumors in their central and peripheral nervous systems. This is due to the absence of the tumor suppressor protein merlin, which is encoded by the NF2 gene. In nearly all NF2 cases, patients present with bilateral schwannomas of the vestibulocochlear nerve, in addition to other schwannomas throughout the central and peripheral nervous systems, as well as meningiomas and ependymomas. Currently, no therapeutic alternatives to surgical removal and radiation therapy are available for NF2 patients. This study investigated cobimetinib, an inhibitor of the often-deregulated …

An Exploration Of Elementary Student Responses To The Interest Inventory For Informational Texts Based On The Teacher Disposition Delivery, Alison Elk

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The impact that a teacher can have on their students is monumental. Teachers often are the only consistent figure of authority that a student sees. Therefore, a vulnerable and conformable environment is crucial for students, so they can share their needs and in return have them met. With this in mind, teachers must consider forming their classroom environment, because of how it is received by the students. This study examined the impact that a teacher’s disposition can have on the response of a student through a six-question interview by analyzing the number of words spoken by the students depending on …

Effects Of Music Therapy On Individuals With Dementia: An Intergrative Literature Review, Liani Sanchez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this integrative review was to examine the effects of music therapy, a complementary intervention, on individuals with dementia. Peer-reviewed journals were retrieved from MEDLINE, CINAHL, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Music Index to evaluate their relevance to music therapy use in people diagnosed with dementia. English and Spanish-language research articles published from 2000-2017 were included for the review (n=15). The literature indicates the use of music therapy as an adjuvant therapy for the treatment of dementia in older adults may be beneficial in decreasing symptoms of aggression, anxiety, agitation and depression. …

Bsn Students' Opinions Of Mentally Ill Patients, Kavika Chugh

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Compassionate care, or humanism, should be available to all patients, but the stigma associated with mental illness is a barrier to many people receiving the appropriate care. Views held by Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) students can vary from custodial, or the belief in a traditional medical model which involved a highly controlled setting for all mentally ill patients, to humanistic, or viewing the hospital as a therapeutic community for the human needs of a patient. This study examines the views of BSN students before their psychiatric clinical experience through a pretest and post-test survey and analyzes for a …

Mathematical Models Of Mosquito Populations, Hanna Reed

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The intent of this thesis is to develop ordinary differential equation models to better understand the mosquito population. We first develop a framework model, where we determine the condition under which a natural mosquito population can persist in the environment. Wolbachia is a bacterium which limits the replication of viruses inside the mosquito which it infects. As a result, infecting a mosquito population with Wolbachia can decrease the transmission of viral mosquito-borne diseases, such as dengue. We develop another ODE model to investigate the invasion of Wolbachia in a mosquito population. In a biologically feasible situation, we determine three coexisting …

The American Black Body: Materials,Symbols, And Representations From A Perceived African American, Christopher Santos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As a Cape Verdean American, I investigate the idea of what it means to be of the African Diaspora in America. I also consider the experiences of past generations of American black bodies and how their history has molded my world. This series of work began with Mask Drawing 1, an ink drawing inspired by my own interpretation of an African mask. Subjected to colorism, the discrimination of a person based on their skin color, my skin was not enough validation for other people to view me as black. On numerous occasions I have had to clarify my identity, nationality …

Rebuilt And Remade: The Florida Citrus Industry, 1909-1939, James Padgett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prior to orange juice concentrate, Florida citrus was already an industrialized agricultural sector. This thesis explores the early-20th-century Florida citrus industry and demonstrates that contemporary farming practices were influential in advancing how citrus was produced, processed, worked, marketed, and regulated in early-20th-century Florida. Restarted after devastating freezes in 1894-1895, resolute Florida growers rebuilt their groves into marvels of large-scale citrus fruit production. Continuing a legacy in experimental crossbreeding, improved varieties of citrus were developed to lengthen the season and markets. Advocated by nurserymen and university educators, biological innovation helped the citrus thrive in the 1910s and 1920s from adverse weather …

A Study Of Eeg Signature Associated With Emotional And Stress Responses Due To Cyberbullying, Ashraf Alhujailli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The human brain processes vital information regarding human feelings. Prior research has focused on the problems of underage bullying, workplace bullying, burnout, mobbing and, most recently, cyberbullying. Scholars have traditionally examined the adverse outcomes of cyberbullying using subjective measures of stress and emotion for decades. However, very few studies examined cyberbullying using objective measures like EEG. The main goal of this study was to explore the relationship between the brain's EEG, expressed by the power spectral density, and emotions and stress due to two types of cyberbullying, specifically: 1) social exclusion, and 2) verbal harassment. This research also examined how …

Influence Of Selected Factors On A Counselor's Attention Level To And Counseling Performance With A Virtual Human In A Virtual Counseling Session, John Hart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Virtual humans serve as role-players in social skills training environments simulating situational face-to-face conversations. Previous research indicates that virtual humans in instructional roles can increase a learner's engagement and motivation towards the training. Left unaddressed is if the learner is looking at the virtual human as one would in a human-to-human, face-to-face interaction. Using a modified version of the Emergent Leader Immersive Training Environment (ELITE-Lite), this study tracks visual attention and other behavior of 120 counselor trainees counseling a virtual human role-playing counselee. Specific study elements include: (1) the counselor's level of visual attention toward the virtual counselee; (2) how …

Usda Instructional Risk Messages For High Pathogen Avian Influenza, Jenna Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

High Pathogen Avian Influenza (HPAI) is a highly contagious disease threatening United States poultry farms. The aim of this study is to examine the extent to which current instructional risk communication by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) meets the expectations of existing literature, particularly the IDEA model. This study examined two documents produced by the USDA for the ongoing threat of HPAI, the Red Book and the Defend the Flock campaign. The aim of the documents is to provide U.S. poultry farmers and the publics with knowledge and information about prevention and response to HPAI. The IDEA model …

Rumination And Executive Dysfunction: Risk Factors For Vascular Depression, David Brush

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: The widely-supported vascular depression hypothesis is underspecified with respect to cognitive mechanisms by which high cerebrovascular burden (CVB) and neuropathology relate to depressive symptoms. Integration of the vascular depression hypothesis with the CaR-FA-X model, a framework of affect regulation mechanisms, suggest that Rumination (R) and executive dysfunction (X) may increase due to altered recruitment of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex resulting from high CVB and underlying neuropathology. This process would contribute to depressive symptomatology among older adults with high CVB. The progression of examined hypotheses included mediation models examining mechanistic relationships between predictors (CVB, DLPFC activation), cognitive correlates (rumination, executive …

Adaptation And Resilience Of Extreme Teams: A Qualitative Study Using Historiometric Analysis, Lauren Campbell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The business and academic worlds agree that team resilience and team adaptation are in increasing need of study. This study explores the behavioral processes of team adaptation—specifically, those action phase and interpersonal processes mapped by Marks, Mathieu, and Zaccaro (2001) and overlapping with the team adaptation model by Burke, Stagl, Salas, Pierce, and Kendall (2006) and expanded by Rosen et al. (2011). Additionally, the impact of trigger type on adaptive behaviors is explored as suggested by Maynard and Kennedy (2016). These explorations are conducted within the context of extreme teams, and the primary method used is Crayne and Hunter's (2018) …

Complete Issue, Volume 37, Issue 1

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This is the complete issue for Volume 37, Issue 1 of the Journal of the Association for Communication Administration.

Fostering Organizational Integrity Through Departmental Program Reviews, James T. Petre, David S. Heineman, Angela G. La Valley

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Conducting a departmental program review can be a stressful and arduous process. At the same time, the final report can provide valuable insights. The challenges and benefits of program reviews have been well noted by scholars. We seek to add to this conversation by arguing that program reviews can prove beneficial by fostering and maintaining organizational integrity. In our essay, we review relevant literature on program reviews, provide an explanation of organizational integrity, present a narrative of our program review process, and explain how this process fostered organizational integrity.

“Field” Research: Letting Corporate Communication Professionals’ Stories Inform Curriculum Development, Mary Stairs Vaughn, Jimmy Davis, Jeremy Fyke, Nathan Webb

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

We interviewed 25 corporate communication professionals to learn the competencies they see as necessary for entering and succeeding in their field. We then used what we learned to inform course-level and program-level changes to our corporate communication major. Our results detail: (1) the range of tactical, strategic, and dispositional competencies the interviewees identified as necessary for a career in corporate communication, (2) three categories of strategies for transitioning into the field, and (3) the subsequent curricular and course-level changes that resulted from our interviews. Our study concludes that students need broad training for a wide-ranging and rapidly-changing field, and they …

Complete Issue, Volume 37, Issue 2

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This is the complete issue for Volume 37, Issue 2 of the Journal of the Association for Communication Administration.

The Use Of Crisis Communication Strategies To Build Community Resilience: Evidence From Emergency Managers, Brittany Haupt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As public administration evolved to encompass a strong focus on supporting safe growth and development for communities, the role and responsibilities of government became increasingly complex with aspects of emergency management becoming quintessential. The ability to assess resilience plays a strong role in understanding the capability of a community to face a range of threats. Additionally, issues with communication uncovered the need to understand how administrators collect, disseminate, and adapt critical information through understanding crisis type and local community needs. This dissertation discusses the connection between public administration and emergency management, the evolution of crisis communication and strategies, resilience and …

Examining The Influence Of Personal And Environmental Factors On Treatment Outcomes In Opioid Dependent Medication-Assisted Treatment Patients., Vierne Placide

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Opioid abuse has become a global epidemic and is now a huge public health concern here in the US. Non-medicinal use of opioid prescription drugs is at the forefront of the epidemic and considered the "gateway" drug to other illicit opioid use. As opioid prescribing has increased over the last decade in the US, so has opioid-related deaths, surpassing car accidents and suicide as the leading cause of injury-related deaths. Medication assisted treatment (MAT) is fundamental in decreasing opioid abuse overdose and mortality. Therefore, the research study aims to determine if counseling adherence, opioid abstinence, and retention in MATs are …

Risk In Privacy Breach Determination: The Application Of Prospect Theory To Healthcare Privacy Officers, Amanda Walden

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A significant concern in healthcare is that of patient privacy and how organizations protect against unauthorized access to protected health information. The federal government has responded by instituting policies and guidelines on requirements for protection. However, the policy language leaves areas open to interpretation by those following the guidelines. Reporting to the Office for Civil Rights and/or the patient can open an organization to risk of financial and possible criminal penalties. There is a risk of harm to their reputation which could impact patient visits and market share. Therefore, Privacy Officers might view risk in different ways and therefore handle …

Predicting Patients' Trust In Physicians From Personality Variables, Ethnicity, And Gender, Zoreed A. Mukhtar

Digital Repository: Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence

No abstract provided.

A Complex Calculus: How Message Format And Processing Route Coordinate To Influence Hpv Vaccination Message Persuasiveness Among Young Adults, Laura Boutemen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection may lead to cancer and genital warts yet can be prevented by a safe and effective vaccine recommended for individuals up to 26 years old. HPV vaccination rates remain low among college aged adults that represent a catch-up population still eligible to receive the HPV vaccine. This present study is a theory-based investigation employing the Heuristic Systematic Model to explore the effect of message format and processing route on attitude and behavioral intention in the context of HPV vaccination. Undergraduate students aged 17-26 years old (N = 261) from various majors (e.g., STEM, social sciences, humanities) …