Digital Commons Network^™

Integrating Select Industry Into New Urbanism, Marcus Wax

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

Role Of The Alzheimer's Amyloid Precursor Protein In High Fat Diet Induced Obesity And Regulating Macrophage Phenotype, Kendra L. Puig

Theses and Dissertations

Amyloid precursor protein (APP) derived amyloid beta peptides have been extensively investigated in Alzheimer's disease pathology of the brain. However, the function of full length APP in the central nervous system remains unclear. Even less is known about the behavior of this ubiquitously expressed protein and it metabolites outside of the central nervous system. Therefore, we sought to broaden our understanding of the expression and function of APP and its proteolytic fragments in specific non-neuronal tissues. Although the majority of research effort is currently focused on neuronal amyloid beta production and its effects on cells, prior work in our lab …

Wendell Berry's Philosophy Of Education: Lessons From Port William, Jane Margaret Schreck

Theses and Dissertations

In the midst of a proclaimed crisis in higher education, in the clamor and clamber to leverage technology for such innovations as mass open online courses and differentiated learning modules, in the speculative frenzy of preparing students for the careers of a fantasy future, and in the swirl of angst about funding accountability and economic relevance, Wendell Berry's philosophy of education declares that the essential element missing from most current discussions and considerations of education is love. As explained in his essays and revealed in his fiction and poetry, Berry's philosophy centers on love as the best animator of learning: …

Reducing Disparities In Palliative Care For Pediatric Intensive Care Nurses: Utilizing The Synergy Model Of Patient Care, Meghan E. Braden

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Financial Development And Human Development In The European Union, Sasa Ostojic

Theses and Dissertations

The relationship between finance and economic growth is often studied using GDP per capita growth. This paper aims to focus on the richness of human life, not the richness of the economy. Thus, the Human Development Index is used to test the relationship between financial development and human development. By focusing on a sample limited to the European Union, the many criticisms associated with the use of an index can be mitigated. At this moment there is not a universally accepted measure of financial development. Use of measures from past literature allowed for consistency with past works. The results show …

Delay Of Gratification And Delay Discounting In Children And Their Parents, Kayla D. Ford

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

Voting For Women : How Views Toward Women Influence Voting Behavior, Colleen Lofton

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

The Correlation Between Autism Spectrum Disorder And Food Allergy, Megan A. Strube

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

Development And Outcomes Of An Experientially-Based Nonverbal Social Skills Curriculum For Youth With Visual Impairments, Rebecca J. Cicha

Theses and Dissertations

The importance of social skills training for youth with visual impairments has been widely researched within educational and rehabilitation settings. To date, social skills training curricula for visually impaired youth have largely utilized verbally-based methods for instruction and training. Given the non-visual aspects of human communication, it is proposed that verbal approaches to nonverbal social skills training may not be sufficient for visually impaired individuals. To address this issue, an experiential curriculum of nonverbal social skills training was developed that emphasized hands-on learning and practice of nonverbal social skills. This curriculum was administered to seventeen visually impaired youth attending short-term …

Modeling Arsenic, Antimony, And Selenium Partitioning During Coal Combustion, David W. James

Theses and Dissertations

Even though greenhouse gas emissions have gained widespread recent attention, they are not the only form of pollution associated with coal. Several trace elements liberated from the coal matrix during combustion represent additional pollutants that must be understood and controlled. These elements have a variety of ways in which they are associated within coal, which impacts how they may be released into the environment. Namely, trace elements are classified as "included," "excluded," or "organically bound." Specific elements-arsenic, antimony, and selenium-are of particular interest due to their semi-volatile nature.

Modeling the partitioning of semi-volatile elements-arsenic, antimony, and selenium-is the focus of …

Putting The Cart Before The Horse: Understanding The Family Assessment Process In Early Intervention, Kristen Michelle Votava

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of six state-wide policies and procedures used in the family assessment process within early intervention services. This study looked at the administrative understanding of the family assessment federal regulations, state policies and procedures, and local implementation from the perspective of the Part C coordinator in his or her state.

This qualitative study utilized methodologies associated with a grounded theory approach through in-depth interviews. The participants in this study included six state Part C coordinators. Based on the findings of this study, two broad conclusions are offered:

1. There was a …

Family Factors And Perceived Coworker Support And Supervisor Support, Sara Narveson

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how aspects of family formation relate to coworker support and supervisor support. Studying both coworker support and supervisor support is valuable because they can give us a glimpse of how different people feel about the workplace. Using the theoretical perspective of homophily, which focuses on how people prefer to interact with others who are similar to themselves, it was hypothesized that people who are married or who have children will perceive more coworker support and supervisor support than others. The data set of the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce was used. It contained 3,368 cases …

Grassland Songbird Response To Landscape Composition And Vegetation In Northeastern And East-Central North Dakota, Dustin James Vanthuyne

Theses and Dissertations

Grassland songbirds are declining faster and more consistently than other avifauna of North America. This has resulted in many species being placed on state and federal lists as species of concern. These declines can be linked to former and current land use practices which have resulted in an extensive loss of habitat. Natural resource agencies are trying to offset these habitat losses by reconstructing grasslands formerly cropped areas and protecting remaining grassland tracts. Few studies have addressed how the location in the landscape and vegetation composition of these reconstructions affects grassland birds. This thesis describes data collected from 32 locations …

Pregnancy, Sexism, And The Greek System, Taylor Marie Walkky

Theses and Dissertations

Both hostile and benevolent sexism have been found to correlate with attitudes related to pregnancy (Terrell et al, in prep). Benevolent and hostile sexism have both been shown to correlate with attitudes towards sorority members as well (Walkky, unpublished). The goal of the present study was to expand on the knowledge of how sexism relates to pregnancy attitudes, especially how it relates to sorority membership. Participants read a scenario about a college woman, who was either in a sorority or not, who had just discovered that she was pregnant. In the scenario, she chose to either end the pregnancy, continue …

The Effect Of Birth Order On Age At First Sex And Total Number Of Lifetime Sexual Partners, Lacey Christine Clark Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

Research in the field of birth order is expansive and has been used to explain many social processes, including the sexual behavior of young adults. However, results regarding the influence of birth order on risky sexual behavior are somewhat limited, sometimes contradictory, and often lack generalizability to larger populations. In this thesis, using

data from the National Health and Social Life Survey (1992) and multiple regression techniques, I investigate the influence of ordinal position on two measures of sexual behavior,age at first sex and total number of lifetime partners, among young adults age 18 to 30. Results show that birth …

Climate Change And Ragweed Allergy Risk Assessment: A Study Of The Grand Forks Metropolitan Statistical Area, Shumila Rani Ahmad

Theses and Dissertations

Nowadays the association between anthropogenic climate change and public health is in the early stages of universal recognition. Yet one fundamental aspect that remains largely unappreciated is the impact of climate change on ragweed (Ambrosia species) biology and the ensuing pathophysiology of human systems. Ragweed pollen is one of the primary causes of seasonal pollen allergy in the world. Allergic reactions to ragweed pollen can range from mild hay fever to life-threatening asthma attacks. The aim of this thesis was to conduct a ragweed allergy risk assessment for the Grand Forks ND-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).

The study area is …

Inhibition Of The Ysc Type Iii Secretion System Of Yersinia Pestis By Compound D And Interaction Of Type Iii Secretion System Needle Proteins With Host Receptors, Danielle L. Jessen

Theses and Dissertations

The type III secretion system of gram-negative bacterial pathogens is a major virulence factor and functions to modulate host immune responses. Immune modulation occurs in many ways, including direct injection of effector proteins or indirect methods such as the detection of bacterial components by host immune receptors. Knowledge of these immune modulations allows for development of treatment options in an ever-increasing antibiotic-resistance climate. The studies presented here explore both areas of immune modulation. We identify Compound D as a potent inhibitor of the type III secretion system of Yersinia pestis. Through evaluation of effector secretion by bacteria grown in the …

The Effect Of Health Expenditure And Other Determinants On Health Outcomes, Yi Liu

Theses and Dissertations

A major question in determining health policy is to what extent the additional health care expenditure yields benefits in the form of improved health outcomes. However, establishing relationships between them is very complex, because there are numerous factors besides health expenditure that could contribute to health outcomes, and some data especially individual level nutrition and exercise data, are nearly impossible to gather. Another difficulty involves which indicator we should choose to measure health outcomes.

This study examines life expectancy, all-cause age adjusted mortality rates and infant mortality as the "output" of the health care system, and health expenditure, various life-style, …

Tanzania Higher Education-Fifty Years After Independence, Godfrey Magoti Mnubi

Theses and Dissertations

As Tanzania celebrates fifty years of independence at the crossroads of globalization, the country has experienced a changing landscape and a major transformation in higher learning education with spectacular expansion in student enrollment rates. This requires its higher education institutions, particularly universities, to function effectively as a source of knowledge and to serve as an important partner in sustainable development by promoting effective teaching, research and service in Tanzania.

To understand the pace of globalization and the multitude of social challenges that have faced Tanzania higher education since 1961, how the policies and practices of higher education have evolved over …

Life History Strategy And The Role Of Self-Regulation In Cheating Behavior, Joshua Reynolds

Theses and Dissertations

The current study examined cheating behavior, the role of self-regulation, and if the distal causal framework of life history theory could illuminate the relationships between self-regulation and cheating behavior. Participants in the experimental condition had their state self-regulation taxed (compared to the control condition); participants had an opportunity to cheat, which was recorded unbeknownst to participants. Additionally, participants completed questionnaires and tasks assessing individuals' life history strategy, trait self-regulation, and mood. It was hypothesized taxed state self-regulation, lower trait self-regulation, and a faster life history strategy would increase cheating behavior and a faster life history strategy would predict lower trait …

Spirituality And Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Kara Ann Richardson-Cline

Theses and Dissertations

Problem: The positive relationship between spirituality and physical, psychological, and social well-being has been well established. However, beyond quality of life measures, this construct has yet to be more deeply studied in a sample of individuals diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). Furthermore, relational spirituality has yet to be studied in a chronically ill population. Meeting these gaps in the literature, this study compared the explicit domains and latent constructs measured by a relational spirituality instrument and examined their associations with a measure of biopsychosocial-spiritual well-being and quality of life measure.

Results: Utilizing nonrandom online surveys, this study included 305 …

Breast Cancer, Genetic Testing And Attribution Of Responsibility, Lona Parsons Smith

Theses and Dissertations

In this study I research how the refusal of genetic testing shapes people's perceptions of responsibility or attribution for a friend's breast cancer diagnosis, emotions, and willingness to help. Bernard Weiner's theory of attribution and emotion is useful for understanding how blame and causation shape one's willingness to help. Weiner's theory suggests that perceived attributions influence one's emotional state, which in turn shapes their willingness to help others. Most studies using Weiner's attribution theory examine highly stigmatized illnesses, such as HIV/AIDS, drug abuse and mental illness, but few analyses consider breast cancer and even fewer have assessed how the availability …

Mechanical Characterization Of Composite Repairs For Fiber-Glass Wind Turbine Blades, Tanveer Singh Chawla

Theses and Dissertations

While in service, wind turbine blades experience various modes of loading. An example is impact loading in the form of hail or bird strikes, which might lead to localized damage or formation of cracks a few plies deep on the blade surface. One of the methods to conduct repairs on wind turbine blades that are damaged while in service is hand lay-up of the repair part after grinding out the damaged portion and some of its surrounding area. The resin used for such repairs usually differs from the parent plate resin in composition and properties such as gel time, viscosity, …

Air Circulation Under Reduced Atmospheric Pressures, Lendell E. Hillhouse

Theses and Dissertations

The control of heat exchange is vital for plant life in off-world, low pressure,

greenhouses. The ability to control this process was limited by methodology and

technology. Mathematical models, based on classical mechanics are created to enhance

our control capabilities. Data is collected using various sensors placed inside the Low

Pressure Test Bed (LPTB) Chamber at Kennedy Space Center. Data from those sensors

became non-linear at various pressures below 25 kPa. We introduced mathematical

calibration corrections and found that sensor data linearity could be extended to a greater

range of pressures. These calibration corrections allow for sensor calibration corrections

in …

Women's Use Of Intimate Partner Violence: An Examination Of Attachment, Coping, And Gender Ideology, Theresa Elizabeth Magelky

Theses and Dissertations

Until recently, much of the research on intimate partner violence has focused primarily on male aggressors. However, research has increasingly indicated that women use violence against male intimate partners at higher rates than previously suspected. Significant controversy exists with regard to the context, motivation, and types of violence used by women. The current study explored the degree to which female aggressors' attachment styles are associated with and predictive of their use of intimate partner violence against men. In addition, coping processes and feminine ideology were studied, particularly in combination with attachment style, to determine their relationship with use of partner …

Tbi And Long-Term Competitive Employment As A Function Of Services Provided By Vocational Rehabilitation, Natasha Dawn Adamson

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Research has demonstrated the importance of vocational rehabilitation (VR) for individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who seek competitive long-term employment. Unfortunately, there has been minimal research on the provision of services provided by VR as a moderating factor, and almost non-existent research for individuals in rural regions. Research in this area is crucial given that the services are provided as a way to increase the individual's likelihood of overcoming barriers to gaining employment. Therefore, this study focused on individual's diagnosed with TBI who are clients of North Dakota's Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) and the connection between services …

Effects Of Paid Maternity Leave On The Gender Wage Gap, Rachel Baxter

Theses and Dissertations

The persistence of the gender wage gap in countries throughout the world has sparked several theories as to its cause and possible solutions. One theory centers on the decisions faced by a woman regarding children and fertility throughout her career. Typically, as the primary caregivers for children, women are more likely to interrupt their careers or leave the labor force entirely as a result. This thesis uses a fixed-effects model using a panel dataset of 18 countries with observations from 2000 to 2010 to evaluate whether paid maternity leave has an effect on the breadth of the gender wage gap. …

An Investigation Of The Relationships Among Instructional Congruence, Burnout And Attrition In Undergraduate Music Theory Students, Whitney Blaire Berry

Theses and Dissertations

Music theory is a core course in all undergraduate music degree programs. Students enter this course with varying degrees of prior subject matter knowledge, which presents a challenge to music theory teaching and learning. An incongruence between the student's prior knowledge and the level of instruction can negatively affect learning, mental health and persistence in the course sequence.

The purpose of this study was to determine what relationships exist among instructional congruence, burnout and attrition in undergraduate music theory students. A survey was developed and administered to music theory students at four universities in the upper Midwest (95.5% response rate, …

The Impact Of The Perceptions Of Fathering On Adult Children's Emotional Well-Being And Satisfaction With Life, Abraham John Bilyeu

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to examine how perceptions of one's father figure impacted reported levels of depression, anxiety, stress, alexithymia, and satisfaction with life. Participants reported that as negative perceptions of their father figure increased so did reported levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. Further, negative perceptions of one's father figure were negatively correlated with life satisfaction, such that as negative perceptions of father increased ones reported satisfaction with life decreased. Participant age was also positively correlated with perceptions of their father, whereas age increased, so did a positive view of one's father figure. When the Attitude …

Professional Socialization In Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs: Attitudes And Beliefs Of Faculty Members And Recent Graduates, Kevin Buettner

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to better understand professional socialization in nurse anesthesia educational programs through an exploration of the attitudes and beliefs of faculty members and recent graduates. Participants for this cross-sectional, quasi-experimental online study included a convenience sample of 178 nurse anesthesia faculty members and 399 recent graduates of nurse anesthesia educational programs in the United States. Measures in this study explored the importance, recent graduate preparation, and influence on professional socialization outcomes (e.g., professional development, scholarly activity/critical inquiry, professional ethics, and professional and social responsibility). The effect of cohort size and instructional delivery method were also …