Digital Commons Network^™

Response To White House Office Of Scientific And Technical Policy Request For Information: Public Access To Peer-Reviewed Scholarly Publications, Data And Code Resulting From Federally Funded Research, Paul Royster, Sue Ann Gardner

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

The current 12-month embargo period is widely disregarded. It is observed by PubMed Central (PMC), but the existence of preprint servers and academic social network sites (ResearchGate or Academia.edu) makes it possible for most authors to distribute peer-reviewed manuscripts at will. While enforcement of the embargo is lax or non-existent, its elimination would have a negative impact on publishers’ cooperation—pushing them to replace so-called “green” open access with author-pays models. The 12-month embargo allows PubMed Central time to prepare accurate and standardized versions of accepted author manuscripts. Requiring immediate access would not eliminate the PMC production time; there would still …

Rhythms Of Cinematic Horror: Enabling The Device Of The Frame, Violet Bast

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

Horror can be defined as the lens in the pursuit of defining a complex model of aesthetic judgement, which is a classification that has conventionally been home to profound suspicion about the virtues of aesthetic itself. Particularly in horror films, the device of the frame can be utilized as an opportunity to alter a viewer’s perception of what may or may not occur within a space. This affiliation with space is what allows cinema and architecture to link their worlds and human experience together. By employing the methodologies of rhythmic impact and montage theory, the effects of horror-derived operations on …

Boundary Echoes: A Series Of Cautionary Tales, Shayla Joy Dick

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

Around the world, people live in places where boundaries define their lives. Cities like Nicosia, Jerusalem, Belfast, and El Paso must contend with the constant struggle of us versus them, solidified through physical barriers. Unfortunately, these places and their very real problems are removed and seemingly unimportant in our safe and familiar reality. But these are real cities where real people live. Those people could be us. Their cities could be our cities. Thus, a radical approach is taken in this thesis. A satire of sorts. Four divided cites are examined to understand the spatial and social factors of their …

Language, Motor, And Cognitive Outcomes Of Toddlers Who Were Born Preterm, Diane Frome Loeb, Caitlin M. Imgrund, Jaehoon Lee, Steven Barlow

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the language, motor, and cognitive abilities of children born preterm in four categories: (a) healthy preterm infants, (b) infants of diabetic mothers, (c) infants with respiratory distress syndrome, and (d) infants with chronic lung disease when the children were 30 months, uncorrected age. Comorbidity of language, motor, and cognitive skills was examined, along with predictor variables.

Method: A total of 148 children who were born preterm participated and were assessed using bivariate tests and logistic regression on standardized assessment scores.

Results: Controlling for the children’s gestational age (GA), overall language ability …

Behind Closed Doors, Hannah Schafers

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

This thesis launches itself off the contemporary critique of phenomenology that values subjectivity and places emphasis on the ‘archetypical’ user. Spectators in build space today are just that, seeing architecture as what you bump into while trying to view something else or merely as a culturally framed monument visible by its own significance. Ninety-three percent of our lives revolve around built space, and in particular the interior condition, yet architecture has become a subconscious being of mundane expectations for the occupant. The values of human experience in architecture are sometimes difficult to portray and internalize in their pure form.

Behind …

A Social–Ecological Odyssey In Fisheries And Wildlife Management, Andrew K. Carlson, William W. Taylor, Melissa R. Cronin, Mitchell J. Eaton, Mark A. Kaemingk, Andrea J. Reid, Ashley Trudeau

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Aldo Leopold, famous ecologist and “father” of North American wildlife management, once said, “These are two things that interest me: the relation of people to each other, and the relation of people to land” (Leopold 1947). Ever prescient, Leopold recognized that natural resource management is fundamentally about humans and their relationship with nature well before conservation became an established way of thinking, much less the bedrock of entire professions. Similarly, amid the Green Revolution to increase agricultural production, in part, through widespread use of pesticides, renowned environmentalist and journalist Rachel Carson noted that we are all “a part of nature, …

Ten Questions Concerning Well-Being In The Built Environment, Sergio Altomonte, Joseph Allen, Philomena M. Bluyssen, Gail Brager, Lisa Heschong, Angela Loder, Stefano Schiavon, Jennifer A. Veitch, Lily M. Wang, Pawel Wargocki

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Well-being in the built environment is a topic that features frequently in building standards and certification schemes, in scholarly articles and in the general press. However, despite this surge in attention, there are still many questions on how to effectively design, measure, and nurture well-being in the built environment. Bringing together experts from academia and the building industry, this paper aims to demonstrate that the promotion of well-being requires a departure from conventional agendas. The ten questions and answers have been arranged to offer a range of perspectives on the principles and strategies that can better sustain the consideration of …

The Glass Menagerie: Lighting Design Analysis And Reflection, Adam Jezl-Sikorski

Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film: Theses, Student Research, and Creative Work

The Nebraska Repertory Theatre, in partnership with the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, designated Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie as its second production for the 2019-2020 season. The production began previews on Wednesday, November 06, opened Friday, November 08, and ended their run on Sunday, November 17, 2019. As the lighting designer for this production, it was my responsibility to provide the master electrician with the plans and paperwork necessary to physically realize my artist vision. This included a drawn-to-scale light plot, channel hookup, and instrument schedule denoting the placement of lighting equipment …

Understanding Hope In Elementary Students, Amber O'Shea

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

As educators, it is in our best interest to care for the whole child, including social and emotional needs, in order to promote student success. One elementary school in the Midwest has identified increasing hope as a school improvement goal in belief that this will in-turn increase student well-being. With the interest of increasing hope, we must first garner an understanding of our specific population of students so we can create a hope intervention suitable for their needs.

The purpose of this dissertation study was to closely examine four first grade students in order to better understand how they cognize …

Migratory Patterns And How They Affect The Relocation Of The Age Cohort 20 To 40 Into Nonmetropolitan Communities Of Nebraska, Mariah Tobin

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

Nebraska’s nonmetropolitan communities have been rapidly declining in population. However, recent research has shown an uncharacteristic increase in the population of those age 20 to 40. The survival of nonmetropolitan communities is crucial to the societal ecosystem of America. The people moving into these nonmetropolitan areas believe in rural; they are “Rural by Choice”.

If Nebraska is to keep this way of life alive and thriving, small towns must re-evaluate their communities and strive to meet the demands of today’s globally connected world and the expectations of these younger generations. People are moving into nonmetropolitan areas in search of communities …

Defying The Odds, Stories Of Success: A Case Study Of Foster Care Alumni In The Community College Environment, Julia Philyaw

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the lived experiences of foster care alumni and how these experiences influenced the individual’s decision to enroll in a community college, persist, and complete a degree. The dissertation drew from two conceptual frameworks, Bandwidth (Verschelden, 2017) and Capitals – cultural, social, and academic (Bourdieu, 1986; St. John, Hu, & Fisher, 2010). Foster care alumni were selected as the population due to their underrepresentation in college enrollment and poor completion rates. Moving beyond a deficit model that focuses on identifying obstacles, this dissertation focused on success stories of the foster care alumni in …

5-Ht2a Receptors Modulate Dopamine D2-Mediated Maternal Effects, Jun Gao

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Serotonin 5-HT2A receptors are expressed throughout the mesolimbic and mesocortical dopamine pathways, and manipulation of this receptor system has a profound impact on dopamine functions and dopamine-mediated behaviors. It is highly likely that 5-HT2A receptors may also modulate the D2-mediated maternal effects. The present study investigated this issue and also explored the possible behavioral mechanisms. We tested the effects of two D2 drugs (an agonist quinpirole: 0.5, 1.0 mg/kg, and a potent D2 antagonist haloperidol: 0.05, 0.10 mg/kg, sc) and their combinations with two 5-HT2A drugs (a selective 5-HT2A agonist TCB-2: 2.5 mg/kg, and 5-HT2A antagonist MDL100907, 1.0 mg/kg, sc) …

Testing Traditional Machismo And The Gender Role Strain Theory With Mexican Migrant Farmworkers, Laura M. Acosta, Arthur R. Andrews Iii, M. Natalia Acosta Canchila, Athena K. Ramos

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The current study examines the moderating role of traditional machismo on mental health outcomes. We hypothesized that machismo would enhance the effects of stressors that are incongruent with traditional machismo beliefs (discrimination, adverse childhood experiences [ACEs], and fear of deportation) on depression and anxiety outcomes but would not enhance stressors that are congruent (harsh working conditions and poverty) on depression and anxiety. Participants were 190 male Mexican migrant farmworkers. As hypothesized, endorsing high traditional machismo was associated with stronger effects of fear of deportation and discrimination on depression outcomes compared with low traditional machismo. The interaction of machismo and …

Training Teachers To Differentiate Instruction To Address Work Completion Problems In Math, Elisabeth Kane

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation investigated an adaptation of functional analysis methodology, performance deficit analysis (PDA), and its use in training teachers to differentiate instruction for students having difficulty completing independent math seatwork. Participants included three middle school teachers and one of their students who was referred for having difficulty completing his or her work. Behavioral skills training was used to individually train each teacher to interpret her student’s PDA data, determine if the student had a skill or performance deficit, and select appropriate motivational and instructional strategies to increase the student’s performance. To answer the research questions, a multiple-baseline-design across teachers was …

The Meaning Of Peace: William Faulkner, Modernism, And Perpetual Civil War, Jason Luke Folk

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Much of scholarship regarding the presence of war in literary modernism has foregrounded psychic trauma endured by veterans of World War I. The returning soldier is often figured as representative of the war’s infiltration of the homefront. The common argument claims that the erosion of the distinction between war and peace (as well as private and public) is a mirror image of the veteran’s wounded psyche. This thesis, however, argues that peace and war in the West have always been indistinct. The body politic is, in actuality, constituted by a perpetual civil war. Furthermore, the novels of William Faulkner, because …

Using The Elaboration Likelihood Model As A Method To Teach Science Communication, Ann Briggs

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

For most scientists, researchers, and resource professionals, the act of communicating their science is not the focus of their training or practice. While the importance of sharing information with the general public is widely accepted, many professionals have not been taught how to communicate with the public. They rely on trial and error and other methods that often lead to misunderstanding and miscommunication. Science communication is a necessary step to keep society engaged and informed about science and the scientific process, and a lack of science communication to the public leads to misinformation, and ultimately a lack of trust in …

A Qualitative Analysis Of The Barriers Faced By Nursing Assistants And Medication Aides In The Care Of Dysphagia Residents, Lauren Kreuzberg

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Dysphagia refers to the symptom of difficulty in swallowing that accompanies several prevalent conditions in the older adult population, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease), stroke, Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, dementia, various cancers, and brain tumors (Allari, 2014). Many older adults who suffer from these conditions reside in nursing facilities, where most of their care is provided by certified nursing assistants (CNAs) and medication aides (MAs). However, the extent of these workers’ knowledge and competence in providing care to nursing home residents with dysphagia is vastly under-researched. The qualitative analysis investigates themes among interviews with fifteen CNAs and …

Changes In Religiosity Among Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Emerging Adults, Brandi Woodell, Philip Schwadel

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Highly religious Americans are relatively likely to oppose lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) rights and many churches are unwelcoming to sexual minorities, which may lead LGB Americans to retreat from religion. To assess this possibility, we investigate trajectories of religious change for sexual minorities and other emerging adults. We use two longitudinal data sources (National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and the National Study of Youth and Religion) to explore how sexuality predicts the likelihood of decreasing religiosity in emerging adulthood. Results show that three different operationalizations of sexual minority status—attraction, behavior, and identity—are each strongly and consistently …

Exploring Pedagogical Empathy Of Mathematics Graduate Student Instructors, Karina Uhing

Department of Mathematics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Interpersonal relationships are central to the teaching and learning of mathematics. One way that teachers relate to their students is by empathizing with them. In this study, I examined the phenomenon of pedagogical empathy, which is defined as empathy that influences teaching practices. Specifically, I studied how mathematics graduate student instructors conceptualize pedagogical empathy and analyzed how pedagogical empathy might influence their teaching decisions. To address my research questions, I designed a qualitative phenomenological study in which I conducted observations and interviews with 11 mathematics graduate student instructors who were teaching precalculus courses at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln.

In the …

The Downfall: Listening To Non-Urban Communities And Their Language Ideologies, Jessica Sierk, Theresa Catalano

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Increased mobility due to globalization and other geopolitical shifts has changed school demographics worldwide. In the Midwest, much of this new immigrant population is Spanishspeaking and in need of language support. Consequently, schools play an important role in responding to the New Latino Diaspora. In this paper, we describe how unconscious language ideologies inhibited social change that could improve conditions for new student populations in two non-urban high schools in Nebraska (Stockbridge and Springvale, pseudonyms). This critical discourse analysis draws on ethnographic data from a larger study, including participant observations and semi-structured interviews. Findings reveal language ideologies that use language …

Social Studies Teacher Perceptions Of News Source Credibility, Christopher H. Clark, Mardi Schmeichel, H. James Garrett

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Politically tumultuous times have created a problematic space for teachers who include the news in their classrooms. Few studies have explored perceptions of news credibility among secondary social studies teachers, the educators most likely to regularly incorporate news media into their classrooms. We investigated teachers’ operational definitions of credibility and the relationships between political ideology and assessments of news source credibility. Most teachers in this study used either static or dynamic definitions to describe news media sources’ credibility. Further, teachers’ conceptualizations of credibility and perceived ideological differences with news sources were associated with how credible teachers found each source. These …

Fifty Shades Of Leather And Misogyny: An Investigation Of Anti-Woman Perspectives Among Leathermen, Meredith G. F. Worthen, Trenton M. Haltom

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The Fifty Shades books and films shed light on a sexual and leather-clad subculture predominantly kept in the dark: bondage, discipline, submission, and sadomasochism (BDSM). Such new interest in this community also generated widespread misconceptions about the sexual practices that take place in these circles, especially in regard to the treatment of women. In the current study, we investigate how a BDSM or “leather” identity is related to attitudes toward women. We use a nationally representative sample of U.S. adult men aged 18–64 stratified by U.S. Census categories of age, race/ethnicity, and census region (N = 1474) and a …

Perceptions Of Stress And Coping In Traditional Age First-Year College Students, Bridgett Grant

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This qualitative research study examined the perceptions of stress and coping in traditional-age, first-year college students. This study sought to form an understanding of the participants’ lived experiences relating to stress and coping throughout their first semester of college. Five participants’ were separately interviewed twice for the purposes of data collection. The findings from the data analysis process showed that these first-year college students experienced stress as a result of new and challenging academic expectations while also trying to navigate interpersonal relationships. Further, participants’ in this study experienced stress as a result from interacting with social media. These traditional-age, first-year …

The Dark Side Of Helping Behaviors: Partner Support Increases Daily Alcohol Use In Outpatients With A History Of Alcohol Dependence, Frances C. Calkins, Rebecca L. Brock

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The primary goal of the present study was to systematically investigate the role of intimate partner support in alcohol use and to examine whether partner support serves a maladaptive function among individuals with a history of alcohol dependence. This goal was pursued in a sample of low-income outpatients because of increased risk for chronic stress and alcohol use disorders among this population. We implemented a comprehensive, multimethod assessment of partner support and ecological momentary assessments of alcohol use over 14 consecutive days. Results demonstrate the potential “dark side” of helping behaviors that has been proposed in recent literature. Specifically, in …

Interactive Effect Of Maternal Activation And Disc-1 Knockout On Pup Preference Of Postpartum Rats, Barbara Bueno

UCARE: Research Products

The main purpose of the study was to find a three-way interaction between genotype, treatment and interacted subjects. Interestingly, and not expected, the KO*MIA rats spent more time with the pups compared to time spent with the male rat. This unexpected results from this study are evidence that there is a complex spectrum of behavioral symptoms due to genetics, environment and their interactive effect (Schwartzer et aI., 2013). For that reason, the interaction between genetics (DISCI) and environment (MIA) might be more complex than what is believed.

Emotional Awareness During Bug Fixes: A Pilot Study, Jada O. Loro, Abigail L. Schneff, Sarah J. Oran, Bonita Sharif

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study examines the effects of a programmer's emotional awareness on progress while fixing bugs. The goal of the study is to capitalize on emotional awareness to ultimately increase progress made during software development. This process could result in improved software maintenance.

Job Knowledge Tests, Michelle Graef

Umbrella Summaries

What are job knowledge tests?

In an employment context, job knowledge tests are hiring tools that assess candidates’ knowledge of facts, principles, concepts, and other information that is important for performance of a job (Hunter, 1983). This knowledge falls into two general categories: (a) technical information and (b) the processes and judgmental criteria required to perform correctly and efficiently on the job (Hunter, 1983). Measures of job knowledge vary in the level of specificity of the content. Some measures are intended to test a candidate’s knowledge of specific content for a specific job, whereas other measures are designed to assess …

Desire Satisfaction Theories And The Problem Of Depression, Andrew Spaid

Department of Philosophy: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation argues that the desire satisfaction theory, arguably the dominant theory of well-being at present, fails to explain why depression is bad for a person. People with clinical depression desire almost nothing, but the few desires they do have are almost all satisfied. So it appears the theory must say these people are relatively well-off. A number of possible responses on behalf of the theory are considered, and I argue that each response either fails outright, or requires modifications to the desire satisfaction theory which make the theory unattractive for other reasons.

Advisors: Joseph Mendola and John Brunero

Finite Population Corrections For Two-Level Hierarchical Linear Models With Binary Predictors, Steven Svoboda

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Answering social science research questions about clustered data necessitates collecting data using sampling schemes, which may result in hierarchical data structures. Hierarchical liner modeling (HLM) techniques are required to account for the interdependency of observations due to clustering. However, traditional HLM assumes the target population is infinitely large or near enough to infinitely large for practical purposes (i.e., the sample consists of less than 5% of the target population). Often times, the assumption of an infinitely large target population may not hold.

The current study was conducted in two separate phases using Monte Carlo simulation methods. First, the continuous predictors …

Conceptualizing Perceived Parental Communicated Acceptance During Parent-Child Religious Difference, Toni Morgan

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Significant religious difference in the family has become increasingly prevalent in recent years (Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 2008; Pew Research Center, 2015). While religious difference is challenging for families to negotiate, the manner in which they communicate about it seems to be helpful in promoting positive outcomes (e.g., Colaner, Soliz, & Nelson, 2014; Hughes & Dickson, 2005). The purpose of this study was to conceptualize parental communicated (non)acceptance in the context of significant parent-child religious difference. To that end, I conducted interviews with 44 adults who identified a significant religious difference with their parent. The interviews also …