Digital Commons Network^™

The Relationship Of Personality Preferences And Type To Health-Promoting Behaviors, Alcohol Use, And Cigarette Smoking, Billy Fredrick Martin

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

An individual’s personality traits and characteristics have been found to have an important relationship with health behaviors. However, there has been minimal research conducted with personality types. The purpose of the study was to examine the predictive relationship among MBTI® personality preferences and types and both selected health-promoting and selected risk-taking behaviors among residential college students. Furthermore, several potential mediating demographic variables were added to the study to determine their predictive relationship and if they should be entered into a model for the selected health behaviors.

The study used a cross-sectional design with two self-report instruments and demographic questionnaire. The …

Construction Of Efficient Authentication Schemes Using Trapdoor Hash Functions, Santosh Chandrasekhar

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

In large-scale distributed systems, where adversarial attacks can have widespread impact, authentication provides protection from threats involving impersonation of entities and tampering of data. Practical solutions to authentication problems in distributed systems must meet specific constraints of the target system, and provide a reasonable balance between security and cost. The goal of this dissertation is to address the problem of building practical and efficient authentication mechanisms to secure distributed applications. This dissertation presents techniques to construct efficient digital signature schemes using trapdoor hash functions for various distributed applications. Trapdoor hash functions are collision-resistant hash functions associated with a secret trapdoor …

The Effect Of Joint Mobilization On Functional Outcomes Associated With Chronic Ankle Instability, Matthew C. Hoch

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Ankle sprains are among the most common injuries sustained by physically active individuals. Although ankle sprains are often considered innocuous in nature, a large percentage of individuals experience repetitive sprains, residual symptoms, and recurrent ankle instability following a single acute sprain; otherwise known as chronic ankle instability (CAI). In addition to repetitive ankle trauma, those with CAI experience reductions in functional capacity over the life span. This indicates that current intervention strategies for CAI are inadequate and require further investigation.

The objective of this dissertation was to explore differences in walking and running gait parameters between individuals with and without …

Implementation Effectiveness Of Campus Tobacco-Free Policies, Amanda Fallin

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure are leading causes of preventable morbidity and mortality in the United States. Outdoor tobacco smoke exposure conveys many of the same risks as indoor secondhand smoke exposure. Tobacco-free campuses policies are an intervention to promote a positive social norm that encourages smoking cessation, as well as reduces exposure to outdoor tobacco smoke. This dissertation contains a review of the policy implementation literature; findings from a psychometric analysis of the newly developed Tobacco-free Compliance Assessment Tool (TF-CAT) to assess compliance with tobacco-free campus policies; and results of a campus intervention study to promote compliance. The …

Development Of Luminescent Sensing Systems With Clinical Applications, Daniel F. Scott

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

As the move towards the miniaturization of many diagnostic and detection systems continues, the need for increasingly versatile yet sensitive labels for use in these systems also grows. Luminescent reporters provide us with a solution to many of the issues at hand through their unique and favorable characteristics. Bioluminescent proteins offer detection at extremely low concentrations and no interference from physiological fluids leading to excellent detection limits, while the vast number of fluorescent proteins and molecules available allows the opportunity to select a tailored reporter for a specific task. Both provide relatively simply instrumentation requirements and have exhibited great promise …

Values In Place: Intersecting Values In Rails To Trails Landscapes, Lisa Rainey Brownell

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is a study of the values and meanings people attach to places and why exploring those values is important in trails and historic preservation planning. From a foundation in critical humanistic geography and values based preservation literatures, the dissertation examines three rails to trails projects as case studies. Primary research questions include: how does a landscape become valued, devalued, and/or revalued through time? In what ways do different values of different people or groups intersect in rails to trails landscapes and how do they shape the landscape? How do historic values intersect with economic, social, political, and other …

Central Neural And Behavioral Correlates Of Voice Secondary To Induced Unilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis, Ashwini Joshi

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Understanding the involvement of the central nervous system (CNS) in voice production is essential to incorporating principles of neuroplasticity into therapeutic practice for voice disorders. Early steps to attaining this goal require the identification of specific neural biomarkers of the changes occurring in the CNS from a voice disorder and its subsequent treatment. In the absence of an adequate animal vocalization model, the larynx has not been acutely and reversibly perturbed to concurrently examine the effect on both peripheral and central processing of the altered input/output.

Using a unique, reversible perturbation approach, it was the purpose of this study to …

Seeing Subjects: Recognition, Identity, And Visual Cultures In Literary Modernism, George Micajah Phillips

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Seeing Subjects plots a literary history of modern Britain that begins with Dorian Gray obsessively inspecting his portrait’s changes and ends in Virginia Woolf’s visit to the cinema where she found audiences to be “savages watching the pictures.” Focusing on how literature in the late-19^th and 20^th centuries regarded images as possessing a shaping force over how identities are understood and performed, I argue that modernists in Britain felt mediated images were altering, rather than merely representing, British identity. As Britain’s economy expanded to unprecedented imperial reach and global influence, new visual technologies also made it possible to …

Artificial Neural Network Based Fault Location For Transmission Lines, Suhaas Bhargava Ayyagari

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

This thesis focuses on detecting, classifying and locating faults on electric power transmission lines. Fault detection, fault classification and fault location have been achieved by using artificial neural networks. Feedforward networks have been employed along with backpropagation algorithm for each of the three phases in the Fault location process. Analysis on neural networks with varying number of hidden layers and neurons per hidden layer has been provided to validate the choice of the neural networks in each step. Simulation results have been provided to demonstrate that artificial neural network based methods are efficient in locating faults on transmission lines and …

Effect Of A Silicon Tip On Absorption Cross Section, Field Enhancement, And Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Of Different Sized Gold Nanoparticles Under Evanescent Wave Illumination, Gazi Mostafa Huda

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

We have numerically investigated the influence of a nanoscale silicon tip in proximity to an illuminated gold nanoparticle. We describe how the position of the high-permittivity tip and the size of a nanoparticle impact the absorption, peak electric field and surface plasmon resonance wavelength under different illumination conditions. We detail the finite element method (FEM) approach we have used for this, whereby we specify a volume excitation field analytically and calculate the difference between this source field and the total field (i.e., scattered-field formulation). We show that a nanoscale tip can locally enhance the absorption of the particle as well …

New Accurate Fault Location Algorithm For Parallel Transmission Lines, Pramote Chaiwan

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Electric power systems have been in existence for over a century. Electric power transmission line systems play an important role in carrying electrical power to customers everywhere. The number of transmission lines in power systems is increasing as global demand for power has increased. Parallel transmission lines are widely used in the modern transmission system for higher reliability. The parallel lines method has economic and environmental advantages over single circuit. A fault that occurs on a power transmission line will cause long outage time if the fault location is not located as quickly as possible. The faster the fault location …

Resource Allocation And Efficient Routing In Wireless Networks, Jianjun Yang

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

In wireless networks, devices (nodes) are connected by wireless links. An important issue is to set up high quality (high bandwidth) and efficient routing paths when one node wants to send packets to other nodes. Resource allocation is the foundation to guarantee high quality connections. In addition, it is critical to handle void areas in order to set up detour-free paths. Moreover, fast message broadcasting is essential in mobile wireless networks. Thus, my research includes dynamic channel allocation in wireless mesh networks, geographic routing in Ad Hoc networks, and message broadcasting in vehicular networks.

The quality of connections in a …

Identifying Component-Processes Of Executive Functioning That Serve As Risk Factors For Alcohol-Related Aggression, Aaron John Godlaski

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The present investigation determined how different component-processes of executive functioning (EF) acted as risk factors for intoxicated aggression. Participants were 512 (246 men and 266 women) healthy social drinkers between 21 and 35 years of age. EF was measured using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning – Adult Version (BRIEF-A; Roth, Isquith, & Gioia, 2005) that assesses nine EF components. Following the consumption of either an alcohol or a placebo beverage, participants were tested on a modified version of the Taylor Aggression Paradigm (Taylor, 1967) in which mild electric shocks were received from, and administered to, a …

Optimization Of Coagulation And Syneresis Processes In Cheesemaking Using A Light Backscatter Sensor Technology, Tatiana Gravena Ferreira

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Curd syneresis, a critical step in cheesemaking, directly influences the quality of cheese. The syneresis process is empirically controlled in cheese manufacturing plants. A sensor technology for this step would improve process control and enhance cheese quality. A light backscatter sensor with a Large Field of View (LFV) was tested using a central composite design over a broad range of cheese process conditions including milk pH, calcium chloride addition level, milk fat to protein ratio, temperature, and a cutting time factor (β). The research objectives were to determine if the LFV sensor could monitor coagulation and syneresis steps …

Constructing Coldstream: Sustainability And The Politics Of Local Economic Development, John Taylor Shelton

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

This thesis explores the evolution of the Coldstream Research Campus, a high-tech research park operated by the University of Kentucky. Conceived of in the late 1980s and built in 1992, Coldstream was expected to become the „economic engine‟ of central Kentucky through the commercialization of applied scientific and technological research coming out of the university. Twenty years later, with Coldstream having failed to live up to expectations, the university initiated the process of updating the Coldstream Master Plan to incorporate a decided emphasis on the concept of sustainability. Through a mix of archival research and semi-structured interviews, this thesis argues …

An Investigation Of The Reynolds Number Dependence Of The Near-Wall Peak In Canonical Wall Bounded Turbulent Channel Flow, Bahareh Estejab

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

An experimental investigation into fully developed high aspect ratio channels was undertaken. A review of the literature reveals that there is a need for accurate measurement of the inner peak value of streamwise turbulence intensity despite the large number of studies already completed. The scattered data on this subject could be attributed either to insufficient channel size (aspect ratio or length) or to hot-wire spatial filtering.

A new, high quality, channel flow facility was designed and constructed, considering the most recent geometric limitation provided in the literature. To obtain accurate results, data were acquired using hot-wire probes with constant viscous-scale …

The Effect Of Client Self-Disclosure On The Physiological Arousal Of The Therapist, Kristyn M. Blackburn

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

This quantitative study investigated the effect of client self-disclosure on the physiological arousal of the therapist and subsequent ratings of the therapeutic alliance, session smoothness, and session depth. Three therapists and 10 clients participated in a 40-minute videotaped therapy session while being attached to sensors that measured heart rate and skin conductance. The participants completed self-report questionnaires designed to assess the therapeutic alliance and session smoothness and depth immediately following the therapy session. The videotaped therapy sessions were later transcribed and coded by two independent coders for the occurrence of client self-disclosure. Correlation analyses were utilized to determine whether or …

Influence Of Fan Operation On Fan Assessment Numeration System (Fans) Test Results, Gabriela Munhoz Morello

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

The use of velocity traverses to measure in-situ air flow rate of ventilation fans can be subject to significant errors. The Fan Assessment Numeration System (FANS) was developed by the USD-ARS Southern Poultry Research Laboratory and refined at the University of Kentucky to measure air flow of fans in-situ. The procedures for using the FANS unit to test fans in-situ are not completely standardized. This study evaluated the effect of operating fan positions relative to the FANS unit for ten 1.22 m diameter fans in two types of poultry barns, with fans placed immediately next to each other and …

Readers’ Knowledge Of Functional Devices, Hung-Tao Chen

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Various writing devices are designed to serve specialized purposes or “functions” to aid readers in their processing of a text. For example, an index lists important topics in the book and allows the readers to quickly locate the pages relevant to a particular topic. The purpose of this study was to learn what mature readers know about various functional devices. Two experiments were conducted to learn what readers know about functional devices in texts. Experiment 1 investigated readers’ knowledge about functional writing devices and Experiment 2 examined readers’ beliefs about the relevance of functional writing devices in various reading situations. …

An Exploratory Study Of Intimate Relationship Socialization Among Black Collegiate Women, Ahlishia J'Nae Shipley

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The pathways through which individuals learn to appraise and behave in intimate relationships greatly influence the quality and stability of their relationships. Research on intimate relationships among college students guided by a socialization framework focusing on learning and ways of viewing relationships is limited. The purpose of the present exploratory study was to examine the experiences and processes wherein young Black collegiate women learn to approach, maintain, and reflect on their intimate relationships. This topic is particularly salient to Black collegiate women who find themselves navigating unbalanced dating scenes and negotiating love relationships while balancing academic achievement and career aspirations. …

Teacher Expectations Of Children With Mental Illness In The Schools, Jamie Lee Satterly Roig

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Within an experimental vignette design, 224 certified teachers participated in this online study by completing a researcher created rating scale that assessed expectations for a child described in a randomly assigned vignette; a child without mental illness, a child identified with an emotional behavioral disorder, and a child identified as returning from acute psychiatric care. Results from the current study revealed reliable scales; learning, cooperation, self-control, and teacher self-efficacy. Findings indicated teachers reported significantly different expectations for children identified with mental illness in comparison to typical children in the areas of self-control and cooperation; specifically, teachers reported lower expectations for …

The Identity Development Of Preservice Teachers Of Literacy In Field Experiences Considering Their Prior Knowledge, Lindsay Pearle Grow

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative multiple case study explored the identity development of three preservice teachers of literacy. The study focused on the prior knowledge of the preservice teachers of literacy and how their knowledge related to their identity development while in field experiences. The primary question that guided this study was: What is the nature of the construction of identity during field experiences for preservice teachers of literacy? Sub questions explored identity in field experiences and the role of prior pedagogical content knowledge to identity development.

Findings indicated that an evolving habitus central to their identity as literacy teachers could be deduced …

Job Demands, Social Support, And Work-Family Conflict: A Comparative Study Of Immigrant And Native Workers In The United States, Mamta U. Ojha

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Over the last five decades, there has been an increase in the number of immigrants coming to and settling in the United States (U.S.). Limited research has explored the job and workplace characteristics that contribute to work-family conflict among immigrant workers. To fill this gap in knowledge this study examines the relationship of job demands, social support and worker characteristics to work-family conflict among immigrant and native workers in the U.S.

Using the 2002 National Study of Changing Workforce (NSCW), this exploratory study identifies the job demands, social support and socio-demographic factors related with time-based, and strain-based, work-family conflict among …

Using Linked Household-Level Datasets To Explain Consumer Response To Bse In Canada, Xin Wang

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Household-level Canadian meat purchases from 2002-2008, a Food Opinions Survey conducted in 2008 at the national level and household-level egg purchases from 2002-2005 in Alberta and Ontario were used to explore consumer responses to Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in Canada.

The opinions survey focused on nutritional priorities, general and specific food safety concerns, and trust in government and food industry decision makers. The egg data set contained specific product information allowing us to distinguish purchases of conventional eggs from those of value-added eggs with perceived health attributes. Thus, the egg purchase data appeared to be an interesting proxy of revealed …

Fabrication And Study Of Molecular Devices And Photovoltaic Devices By Metal/Dielectric/Metal Structures, Bing Hu

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

A new class of electrodes with nanometer-scale contact spacing can be produced at the edge of patterned metal/insulator/metal this film structures. A key challenge is to produce insulator layers with low leakage current and have pristine metal contacts for controlled molecular contacts. Atomic layer deposition of high quality Al₂O₃ thin films onto Au electrodes was enabled by surface modification with a self-assembled monolayer of -OH groups that react with a monolayer of trimethylaluminum gas source. Ar ion milling was then used to expose the edge of the Au/dielectric/Au structure for molecular electrode contacts. The junctions are characterized …

Computational Analyses Of The Uptake And Distribution Of Carbon Monoxide (Co) In Human Subjects, Kinnera Chada

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, colorless, tasteless gas that binds to hemoglobin with high affinity. This property underlies the use of low doses of CO to determine hemoglobin mass (M_Hb) in the fields of clinical and sports medicine. However, hemoglobin bound to CO is unable to transport oxygen and exposure to high CO concentrations is a significant environmental and occupational health concern. These contrasting aspects of CO—clinically useful in low doses but potentially lethal in higher doses—mandates a need for a quantitative understanding of the temporal profiles of the uptake and distribution of CO …

Dementia Caregiving Outcomes: The Impact Of Caregiving Onset, Role Occupancy, And Care-Recipient Decline, Katherina Nikzad-Terhune

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Dementia is characterized as a progressive loss of brain function that results in the deterioration of many cognitive and physical abilities. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, causing steady declines in memory, functional abilities, and mental functioning. With a projected increase of degenerative illnesses, such as AD, family caregiving for individuals with the disease is also steadily increasing. Caring for an individual with AD has been characterized as a “career,” and within this career are a number of key transitions, including the onset of caregiving. Preexisting caregiving research reveals a number of negative consequences for AD …

Determinants Of Multimethod Contraceptive Use In A Sample Of Adolescent Women Diagnosed With Psychological Disorders, Delia L. Lang, Jessica M. Sales, Laura F. Salazar, Ralph J. Diclemente, Richard A. Crosby, Larry K. Brown, Geri R. Donenberg

Health, Behavior & Society Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVE: Despite recommendations for concurrent use of contraceptives and condoms to prevent unintended pregnancy and STIs, multimethod contraceptive use among women is poor. This study examined individual-, interpersonal-, and environmental-level factors that predict multimethod use among sexually active adolescent women diagnosed with psychological disorders.

METHODS: This multisite study analyzed data from 288 sexually active adolescent women who provided sociodemographic, psychosocial, and behavioral data related to birth control and condom use.

RESULTS: 34.7% of the participants reported multimethod use in the past three months. Controlling for empirically and theoretically relevant covariates, a multivariable logistic regression identified self-efficacy, multiple partners, pregnancy history, …

Healing Healthcare Design For Adolescent Patients: Promoting Holistic Quality Of Life, Eun Young Kim

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

This study examined environmental preferences for adolescent patients in hospital patient rooms and activity rooms to determine age-appropriate healing design elements. The health-related quality of life (HRQOL) concept was adapted to this study as a theoretical framework. In order to develop an age-appropriate healing design, a comprehensive understanding of adolescents‘ cognitive developmental stages and their expectations in hospital settings needs to be recognized. Thirty-two adolescent outpatients aged 15 to 18 participated in the survey. Data collection consisted of three different instruments: Emotional state survey with demographics, Photo analysis with semantic differentials, and environmental preference value survey. Comfort, sadness and stress …

Modeling And Optimization To Evaluate Sustainability Performance Of Customizable Product Service Systems, Ken Harsha Tilakaratne Wijekoon

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

The aim of this thesis is to present a new methodology to evaluate and optimize sustainability of customizable product-service systems while ensuring economic, environmental and societal constraints are also satisfied. Activities across the total product lifecycle are considered to develop a model that evaluates closed-loop flow, while being monitored through the growth, maturity and decline stages of the product to provide a comprehensive analysis. A novel method to evaluate the customer satisfaction is also presented. The research considers a modular product where customization can be achieved by selecting from alternatives while ensuring the compatibility between these alternatives. A manufacturer will …