Digital Commons Network^™

The Influence Of Linguistic Style: A Matched-Guise Experiment Assessing The Effects Of Source Accent, Argument Quality, And Issue Involvement On Persuasion, Sean Goatley-Soan

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

For decades, persuasion researchers have demonstrated that under certain conditions, the success of a persuasive appeal depends, at least in part, on perceptions of a source (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986; Wilson & Sherrell, 1993). In the same way, a person’s linguistic style, such as their accent, has been shown to have a powerful impact on listeners’ judgments (Dragojevic et al., 2018). However, despite many real-world persuasive settings requiring an oral component, the impact of a source’s accent on persuasion outcomes has received comparatively little empirical attention (Hosman, 2002). Moreover, few of the existing investigations use well-established theories of persuasion to …

Communicating Individual And Collective Mindfulness: Understanding Listening And Sensechecking At Work, Leanna Hartsough

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many organizations made workplace changes, which added an additional challenge to employees’ communication. However, mindfulness may help members strengthen their workplace interactions. Mindfulness is an intentional open awareness to the present moment (Shapiro, 2009). The theoretical framework of collective mindfulness includes organizational mindfulness, which is mindfulness from a top-down approach and mindful organizing, which is a bottom-up approach to mindfulness at work. This dissertation extends research on collective mindfulness by including listening, individual mindfulness aspects, and sensemaking to examine how collective mindfulness members make meaning of changes due to COVID-19. I observed 26 meetings and interviewed …

Coordinating Boundaries And Negotiating Mental Health Diagnoses And Disclosure: An Exploration Of Stigma And Communication Privacy Management, Paige Anne Von Feldt

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

For quite some time, researchers have tried to reduce stigma and misconceptions about individuals diagnosed with a mental illness. Researchers have examined stigma towards individuals diagnosed with a mental illness, and the internalized stigma that can result. Additionally, researchers have analyzed the dialectical push and pull that occurs between privacy and confidentiality for self-disclosures. Past research has explored disclosure of a mental illness in the context of family members, psychiatrists, employers, friends, and in academic settings. However, there is a lack of research examining how risk perceptions are affected by internalized stigma, thus impacting young adults’ intentions to disclose their …

Is This Going To Be The End? Understanding Problematic Integration Among Appalachian Patients In Colorectal Cancer Screening Navigation, Audrey Smith Bachman

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is preventable through regular screening; however, incidence and mortality rates in Appalachia are among the highest in the United States. Public health programs and interventions meant to mitigate the higher CRC burden and increase screening rates are ongoing in the U.S. and Appalachia. In continuing the efforts to reduce the burden of CRC in Appalachian communities, this dissertation uses a two-part study to investigate communication practices relative to problematic integration and health beliefs in CRC screening conversations from the perspective of both patients and patient navigators in the region. As part of efforts directed by the Rural …

Motivating The Protection Of Others: A Theoretical Extension And Empirical Test Of Compassion Appeals, Erin B. Hester

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

The term “wicked problems” is used to describe a constellation of social issues that are deeply entangled (Rittel & Webber, 1973). Although these social messes affect everyone in society, some people suffer more than others (Ackoff, 1974). Nevertheless, tackling wicked problems begins with recognizing our shared responsibility to ease the misfortune of others (Rittel & Webber, 1973). As such, they provide an ideal context to investigate the persuasive effectiveness of messages that encourage the protection of others (i.e., other-protection messages). Wicked problems, such as the opioid crisis and food insecurity, need strategies that compel individuals to engage in prosocial action …

From Fear To Action: Exploring The Role Of Emotion During Imminent Threat Events Using The Extended Parallel Process Model, Michele K. Olson

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

The extended parallel process model (EPPM) is a popular health and risk communication theory that explicates the relationship between perceived threat, perceived efficacy, fear, and adaptive and maladaptive responses. This study examines the EPPM in an imminent threat context and focuses on how warning message content influences EPPM perceptions and how these perceptions, in turn, influence both protective action and information seeking intentions.

The first objective of this study focuses on applying the EPPM to an imminent threat context by designing EPPM informed tornado and flash flood warning messages. After message pretesting with 42 undergraduate students, 312 undergraduate students completed …

Applying The Causal Network Model To Advance Care Planning Messages, Katherine Leigh Harville

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

The process of advance care planning often involves conversations that focus on worst case scenarios and discussions of end-of-life, which makes the topic a daunting one. Most of these conversations occur with older adults or individuals who are seriously ill. However, advance care planning is of importance to those who are healthy, young adults as well. Narrative messages could help simplify the process of approaching such conversations and provide tools for conducting them in a more effective manner.

The proposed study makes use of the causal network model, a model that proposes that the location of information within narratives impacts …

Authentically Advocating: Public Relations' Role In Social Issues Management, Gabrielle Leigh Dudgeon

Theses and Dissertations--Communication

Now more than ever, organizations utilize public relations to build, maintain, and even strengthen relationships with internal and external stakeholders. Many public relations strategies and tactics serve to bridge an organization’s interests with those of their publics, while also building, maintaining, and strengthening trust. Social issues management is one of the tools that has the potential to build long-term trust and commitment. Public relations practitioners have recognized this opportunity, and most engage in social issues management in a variety of ways to strengthen their organizations while also contributing to society (Fall, 2006). This double-edge tool can create long- lasting impact …

Is Embedded Behavioral Health Embedded Enough? Why Behavioral Health Officers Should Be Battalion Level Assets, Amy Hernandez

DSW Capstone Projects

Due to the long-lasting military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, current military members are likely to have deployed multiple times and have experienced chronic high-intensity stress. Numerous studies have demonstrated that military service members are at elevated risk for various psychiatric problems and substantially underutilize mental health services. This capstone consists of a series of academic papers: systematic review, conceptualization paper and practical application paper aimed at exploring barriers to care and conceptualizing possible solutions. The research question guiding the systematic review is what actual or perceived barrier to care has the most significant impact on solider under-utilization rates of …

Forward-Looking Disclosures And Accounting Information In Equity Crowdfunding Firms, Evisa Bogdani

Theses and Dissertations--Accountancy

Forward-looking disclosures (FLDs) play a critical role in traditional capital markets. However, evidence of their usefulness in settings with weak information environments, little to no operating history, nonprofessional investors, and lighter regulation is limited. This study sheds light on this critical issue and finds that FLDs are useful disclosures for raising capital in equity crowdfunding (ECF), and the presence of accounting information enhances FLDs relevance. I find that firms disclosing more FLDs raise more capital and attract a greater number of investors. More investors contribute to firms that disclose more quantitative FLDs, especially when the disclosures are accompanied by reviewed …

An Experimental Investigation Of Auditors' Evidence Evaluation And Work Ownership In A Compartmentalized Test Of Details Setting, Christopher Pearson

Theses and Dissertations--Accountancy

Psychological ownership theory suggests that auditors are more likely to exert effort when they feel a sense of personal ownership of the audit. Ongoing trends towards a more compartmentalized and decentralized audit, however, may impair auditors’ work ownership by decreasing their interaction with work, as well as by discouraging engagement with work performed by colleagues. In two experiments, I test the effects of audit work compartmentalization, where I consider whether auditors’ evaluation of evidence is affected by the source of the sample to which evidence is related. Findings from my first experiment indicate lower performance when auditors evaluate evidence that …

Three Essays On Food Safety And Private Food Safety Certifications, Lijiao Hu

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

In the first essay, we provide a comprehensive literature review of the market of private food safety standards. Since the inception of private food safety standards in the late 1990s, producers, processors, retailers, and governments have been increasingly relying on them to provide assurances to food safety. This article first develops a conceptual framework for the market of private food safety standards through the lens of agri-food supply chain logistics, outlining how the key players in the market interact and classifying these interactions into fifteen categories. Second, we classify and review studies based on the interactions identified. Our review supports …

Influence Of Bedrock Erodibility On Orogen Evolution In Collisional Systems And Implications For Geodynamic Models, Stephanie Ann Sparks

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

Theoretical and numerical geodynamic models of continental collisional systems often involve, either explicitly or implicitly, a necessary yet complicated dependence between tectonics and erosion; however, the exact nature of these relationships remains elusive and controversial. In such models for the Himalayan-Tibetan (H-T) collisional orogen, surface processes are theorized or in some cases required to play an essential role in modulating critical processes active in the evolution of that system. To investigate, at least to first order. these interactions between climate and tectonics, we generate a simplified landscape evolution model of an actively uplifting orogenic wedge acted upon by surface processes. …

Optimizing Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Investments And Activities To Improve Safety And Increase Revenue Collections, Brian Howell, Jennifer Walton, Andrew Martin

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) owns and maintains 14 fixed weigh stations for commercial vehicle enforcement. The Kentucky State Police (KSP) is responsible for staffing these facilities to conduct enforcement, while KYTC is responsible for constructing and maintaining these facilities. Like many states, Kentucky has experienced a decline of enforcement personnel to operate weigh stations limiting its ability to conduct inspections for safety enforcement and revenue collection. This study analyzes three CMV facilities for their impact on safety enforcement and revenue collection and determines their viability for potential replacement. All three existing weigh stations in Hardin, Fulton, and Henderson counties …

Mechanisms Of Programmed Nutrition In Finishing Cattle In Vivo And Ruminal Parameters Of Amaize Supplementation In Vitro, Amanda Pesqueira Schiff

Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences

Programmed Nutrition Beef Program (Alltech Inc.) is a dietary supplement that contains Aspergillus oryzae fermentation extract with α-amylase activity that could reduce the use of feed additives such as monensin and tylosin in conventional feedlot diets. This study examines the changes in rumen fermentation resulting from feeding monensin/tylosin and Programmed Nutrition Beef Finisher. The goal was to determine if these shifts in rumen fermentation contribute to the Programmed Nutrition response observed in vivo. This study also analyzes how different levels of α-amylase (Amaize)supplementation impacts feedstuff degradation and utilization in vitro. In vivo experiment used eight steers in a replicated …

Three Essays On Governance, Inequality, And Social Equity, Sarah Ausmus Smith

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

Comprised of three essays, my dissertation is linked by a common focus: the relationship between state or local governance arrangements and inequality or facets of social equity. I draw upon a range of literatures to motivate my research questions and inform my methodologies—welfare and social policy, public economics, intergovernmental relations, public finance and management.

In the first essay, I ask: does localizing welfare governance impact geospatial access to the social safety net? This is an important question because proximity is highly salient to program utilization. I geocode the location of human services nonprofits from tax filings in eight states using …

Can Grades Be An Effective Form Of Feedback?, Thomas R. Guskey

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

When grades are used in the right way, at the right time, and for the right reasons, they can be useful to students.

The Best Of Both Worlds: A Study Of Agreement Between University Teacher Preparation In Literacy And Schools’ Needs/Expectations Of Novice Literacy Teachers, Kristy Lyn Zak

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

The purpose of this dissertation was to understand non-tenured and tenured teachers’, administrators’, and literacy support staff’s perceptions of the most imperative practices new teachers should know to teach reading in local elementary schools located in one regional state university’s service region. As well, this dissertation sought to determine the degree to which there was alignment between what is being taught in reading methods classes at one regional, state university with those practices. Questionnaire data were used to determine the level of alignment between stakeholders at the elementary school districts and university teacher preparation program. The results showed that there …

Sizing Considerations For Ev Dynamic Wireless Charging Systems With Integrated Energy Storage, Donovin Lewis, Huangjie Gong, Gregory D. Erhardt, Rong Zeng, Omer Onar, Veda Prakash Galigekere, Burak Ozpineci, Dan Ionel

Power and Energy Institute of Kentucky Faculty Publications

Roadways with dynamic wireless charging systems (DWCS) enable charge-sustaining in-motion EV charging, which can reduce charging idle time while increasing range capabilities. Spatially distributed transmitter coils are controlled in response to traffic load that varies significantly minute to minute with high power levels, very short charging time, and low system utilization like wind turbine power. Traffic load estimation and localized analysis may guide effective sizing and topology adoption for feasible and scalable DWCS deployment. DWCS traffic load approximation is reviewed with measured Automated Traffic Recorder (ATR) data and statistical distributions being used to create a synthetic load analyzed using proposed …

Demand System Analysis Of Beer In The U.S. Market, Laxmi Devi Adhikari

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has stimulated remarkable changes in consumer purchasing and consumption behavior of food and beverages. This inherently raises the question of what the demand for beer differentiated by brands in the U.S. during the pandemic is? To answer this question, we used the recent Nielsen scanner data and employed the Linear Approximated Almost Ideal Demand System (LA/AIDS) model to jointly estimate the demand for the five major brands: Budweiser, Coors, Corona, Heineken, and Miller, as well as remaining brands combined. Our results suggest the sales of Corona and Heineken increased during the pandemic. After controlling …

Consumer Measures Of Local Food System Performance And Shopping Behavior Across Covid, Azita Varziri

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

This dissertation consists of three essays: In the first essay, we utilize a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to measure the residents’ perceptions of the local food system performance. Local food system (LFS) components are classified into related measures that may help explain the overall performance scores provided. LFS performance measures are explored across 15 different communities in the U.S. South. The second essay explores the awareness and performance differences toward farmers markets, including the markets themselves and the corresponding local food product quality, product diversity, and markets infrastructure across different age-range groups and community sizes in Southern states. Finally, in …

Examining Motivations And Barriers For Online Grocery Shopping Among Urban And Rural Populations Of Kentucky, North Carolina, And Maryland, J.B. Pitts

Theses and Dissertations--Nutrition and Food Systems

The online grocery industry grew exponentially alongside the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. With the implications of this growth still unclear, this study aimed to identify key influences and barriers towards the adoption of online grocery shopping, and to understand how online grocery shopping may affect food security and dietary intake. Across seven counties in Kentucky, North Carolina, and Maryland, 183 participants were surveyed about their usage of online grocery shopping before and after COVID-19, their opinions about online grocery shopping, their dietary intake, and food security. Survey answers were stratified between SNAP and non-SNAP recipients and urban and rural …

Elucidating The Role Of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 In Lung Stem Cell Fate And Lung Disease, Aria Byrd

Theses and Dissertations--Toxicology and Cancer Biology

The average human lungs take ~22,000 breaths and inhale ~2,000 gallons of air each day. This organ is the primary conduit for the transfer of oxygen to the internal organs, making it crucial for the sustainment of life. Consequently, mechanical malfunction of the lungs and/or pollution of inhaled air negatively impact internal organ function and ultimately put survival in jeopardy. Epigenetics, by nature, is a plastic phenomenon in which environmental stimuli influence short term, long term, and generational gene expression patterns. Chronic exposure of harmful stimuli to the lung epithelium has also been shown to alter epigenetic pathways, engender aberrant …

Sex Dimorphism In Hematopoiesis And Bone Marrow Niche, Xiaojing Cui

Theses and Dissertations--Toxicology and Cancer Biology

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), which are a rare population of cells existing in human circulating blood and bone marrow, can form the whole-blood system by their self-renewal capacity and differentiation ability. Sex dimorphism can be found in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells, and in the development of hematopoietic lineages. Also, males are at higher risk and have a worse prognosis for most hematologic malignancies than females. Under normal conditions, the number of circulating progenitor cells in women is lower than in men. Furthermore, female mice have a higher rate of HSC division than male mice. A dramatic gender difference exists …

The Pet’S ‘Perfect Bowl’: Environmental And Welfare Discourse In Alternative Pet Food Movements, Carly Baker

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

Marketing ‘sustainable and humane’ super-premium dog kibble has emerged alongside alternative food movements (AFM). Unfortunately, super-premium pet-food comprised of ‘high-quality’ protein is at odds with sustainability and affect for particular animals. This study analyzed social and geographical (mis)representations of nonhumans in the pet-food commodity chain by tracing how knowledge and value is produced, and mapping the geography of Open Farm dog food. I assess these geographies and discourses and I identify the following: (1) sustainability claims focus on transportation and packaging, ignoring the significant environmental and social impacts of animal agriculture. (2) Images of farmed animals on packaging often do …

"I Dreamt Of Home": U.S. Veterans' Representations Of Wartime Experiences, Brenna Foley

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

This thesis employs several books from the Veterans Book Project, focusing on the stories of white male veterans of the Iraq War. I analyze these books through the lenses of banal nationalism, masculinity, feminist political geography and embodiment. Using archival and visual methods, I analyze how these books reproduce imperial logics and what this suggests about the veterans’ role in the everyday realities of war. Through analysis of these books, I examine the representation of the veterans’ wartime experiences and the reconstruction of veterans’ identities. This research seeks to understand how personal narratives reproduce imperial projects and colonialism through discourse …

The Fantastic Debate: Religion, Ideology, And National Identity In The Short Fiction Of Nineteenth-Century Spain, Morgan Keith Stewart

Theses and Dissertations--Hispanic Studies

This dissertation analyzes fantastic short fiction in terms of its relationship to the traditionalist and progressive forces that were vying for hegemonic control over Spanish national identity in the ever-changing period of the nineteenth century, demonstrating how these powers shaped Spain’s past and future national character to suit ideologically driven narratives and revealing how fantastic literature can disrupt these narratives to unlock new patterns of thought. In Chapter 1, entitled “Fantastic Short Fiction and National Identity,” I delineate the historical/political circumstances that led to the rise of Spain’s dominant ideological frameworks. I also establish my own definition of the fantastic …

Jocelyn Hagen’S Choral Settings On Texts By Sara Teasdale: Analysis And Rehearsal And Performance Guidelines, Elizabeth Wilson

Theses and Dissertations--Music

This paper seeks to gain insight into American composer Jocelyn Hagen’s musical style, delving into her compositional process through analyses of three of her choral settings of Sara Teasdale’s poetry: April and the Sun, To See the Sky, and Joy. This work offers a detailed analysis of each piece using Jan Larue’s analytical method, which focuses on the basic musical elements of sound, harmony, melody, rhythm, and growth (known through its abbreviated form as SHMRG).

Because Jocelyn Hagen is a young composer, much of the relevant literature on Hagen comes from journal articles and dissertations. A significant resource …

Surficial Geologic Map Of The Constantine 7.5-Minute Quadrangle, Kentucky, Maxwell L. Hammond Iii, Antonia E. Bottoms, Matthew Massey, Emily Morris, Michele Mchugh

Contract Reports--KGS

The Constantine 7.5-minute quadrangle is located west of Elizabethtown along the boundary of Hardin and Breckinridge Counties. The quadrangle lies along the northern section of the Dripping Springs Escarpment, which separates the Mammoth Cave Plateau and Pennyroyal regions of the Mississippian Sinkhole Plain physiographic province (McFarlan, 1943). Topography is mostly characterized by high-elevation plateaus, ridges, and knobs of the Mammoth Cave Plateau (up to 919 ft), which have been intensely dissected by the Rough River and its tributaries (down to 516 ft). A small area of the Pennyroyal extends into the eastern part of the quadrangle, which is marked by …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Collaboration And Turnover Among State Health Leadership, Kaylee Gouge

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Background/Objectives: State Health Officials (SHOs), the physician-leaders of state public health departments in the US, have long been indicated as potential peacemakers between the fields of medicine and public health. However, the average term length of SHOs has declined in recent years. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased public visibility of state public health departments and their leadership. Some have hypothesized that the political strain of the pandemic has further accelerated SHO turnover, compromising their leadership efficacy. Contrarily, others have suggested that the pandemic would force public health and organized medicine into closer collaborative alignment through a common enemy. …