Digital Commons Network^™

Is Preoperative Functional Status A Predictor Of Postoperative Mortality, Morbidity And Quality Of Life In Open Heart Patients?, A. Kate Macphedran

Dissertations

The very nature of mortality and morbidity surrounding cardiac surgery is complex with numerous risk factors involved and researchers have found functional status to be a stronger predictor of outcomes than the admitting diagnosis. Preoperative functional status, however, is not measured by any of the cardiac risk scores. Functional status can be objectively measured using validated outcome tools such as the Late-Life Function and Disability Instrument (LLFDI). In 3 studies, the impact and association of functional status changes over time was explored in patients who have undergone elective open heart surgery. Analyses in Study 1 demonstrated significantly improved functional status …

The Night We Set The Dead Kid On Fire, Ephraim Scott Sommers

Dissertations

The Night We Set the Dead Kid on Fire, a collection of poetry, is a book chocked-full of characters (both women and men) that don’t receive much attention in Contemporary American Poetry,—the dishwashers, the addicts, the truckers, the card players, the convicts, the boxers, the grave-diggers, the mechanics, the farmers, the blue-collar “others”—and many of these characters are either the victims or the perpetrators of violence. This book's speakers (both women and men) lie and cheat and drink and fist-fight in parking lots, campgrounds, and dive bars. They get cheap in casinos, broken apartments, hospitals, and hotel rooms. In this …

Seventh-Day Adventists And ‘Race’ Relations In The U.S.: The Case Of Black-White Structural Segregation, Cleran Hollancid

Dissertations

A worldwide Christian denomination of some eighteen million in global membership, and with a presence in over 200 countries and territories (i.e., in just about every country on the globe), the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church is one with a distinctive arrangement in the U.S., insofar as it concerns its racial segregation practice. The SDA Church professes and preaches unity in the pulpit, as in all members being equal and one in the faith, yet the actual practice says otherwise. Such is the case since it is officially segregated along black-white lines.

The segregation arrangement, essentially a black-white schism, falls …

Examining The Existence And Importance Of Ten Skills For Successful School Leaders From Saudi Principals’ Perspectives, Khalifah Albalawi

Dissertations

In 2011, the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Saudi Arabia began reform of its educational system to improve school performance, especially student achievement. The MOE has realized the importance of developing school leadership to lead the process of change, focusing on principals as change agents. The new MOE vision, therefore, places principals at the center of education reform initiatives. As a result, principals are expected to enact different roles, and must improve their leadership capacities to successfully lead reform efforts. Specifically, the new expectations for principals include:

• Building a vision concentrated on student education and learning,
• Developing the process of …

Interaction Between Human Experience, Landscape , And Coffee Production In The Blue Mountain Region Of Jamaica, Shohei Yoshida

Masters Theses

In today's coffee industry, individual farmers’ identities are hardly visible from the products we buy. Each coffee farmer has different lifestyles and methods of coffee farming. Such information about farmers can make each cups of coffee potentially unique in consumers’ experience. However, there are barriers which make consumers blind from the identities of the farmers making their coffee. I will explain about the barriers, and introduce the way to make consumers associate individual farmers' identities with each cup of coffee they drink. This thesis mainly consists of two parts: a theoretical part and a poetry part. There is a small …

Paris Burn, Iliana Rocha

Dissertations

First and foremost, Paris Burn- interrogates language as a rebel heteroglot in its relation to power and to identity, focusing on liminality and marginality. The speakers in these poems constantly (re)enact, generate, disassemble, and revise their lyric selves, either reaffirming or challenging dominant discourses and ideologies. Drag queens figure prominently throughout the manuscript because they are the physical embodiment of constructs that challenge an essential identity—race, ethnicity, sexuality, and gender. The title, an abbreviated form of Paris is Burning, an influential 1980s documentary profiling drag culture in New York City, invokes a physical body that figures in metaphorical relation to …

Principals’ Perspectives On The Professional Development Process And Its Outcomes, Sara Kathleen Moore

Dissertations

This study examined principals’ perspectives on the professional development process and its outcomes. Principals are in the best position to ensure a connection between research-based best practices and what actually happens in the classroom, but there is little research on how principals actually select professional development for their staff in the field. This study was conducted in a Midwestern state using data gathered from public elementary school principals in the form of a survey. The sample included all K-5 and K-8 elementary principals on record with the state department of education, with 242 principals responding. It examined how much control …

Student-Teacher Connection, Race, And Relationships To Academic Achievement, Timothy Brian Mabin Jr.

Dissertations

Urban, primarily minority and low-SES students continue to lag behind their suburban white non-low SES counterparts in terms of academic achievement. Some previous research suggests that strong bonds between teachers and students help such students succeed. This study therefore sought to investigate any relationships between student-teacher connection, race, and academic achievement.

Student perceptional data on student-teacher connections (i.e., a teacher caring about them) and student achievement data in the areas of math and reading from 3,359 high school students within a large urban Midwestern school district was examined. In addition, the race/ethnicity of both the students and teachers were examined …

Analysis Of Pedestrian And Bicycle Crashes In Michigan, Ahmed Abbas Ghubin Al-Zubaidi

Masters Theses

Vulnerable road users such as pedestrian and bicyclists are more likely to sustain a severe injury when they are involved in a crash with motor vehicles. Identifying the causes of crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists is essential to reducing the number and the severity of such crashes. This study identified the causes and risk behaviors associated with pedestrian and bicycle crashes in Michigan by reviewing selected individual crash report (i.e., UD-10). Crash reports for all pedestrian and bicycle fatal crashes (K) and a sample of incapacitating injury crashes (A) from 2010 to 2014 were reviewed and typed individually using the …

Oppression, Evaluation, And Direction: Understanding Character Agency Through The Music Of Wozzeck, Eric Allen Hester

Masters Theses

In Alban Berg’s opera, Wozzeck, the concept of agency is one of fundamental importance. The oppressive dictates of fate and social position are featured prominently in the plot of the opera, and the characters evaluate their relationship with these oppressive structures in order to direct their agency. This thesis explores how Berg uses musical form, leitmotivs, and semiotic topics to show how characters engage in this evaluative act and ultimately find agency in their world. Music-drama analysis in this paper is approached from a Peircean semiotic perspective, exploring how the dramatic meaning behind the music is used to inform …

Model Based Vehicle Simulation For Electrically Actuated Transmission Test Cells, Kenneth L. Gruel

Masters Theses

The Eaton Vehicle Group is responsible for the development of a large family of automotive products, including manual and automated manual transmissions for light, medium, and heavy duty vehicles. To further expand the transmission testing capabilities at Vehicle Group headquarters, the Vehicle Simulator system was developed and integrated into an existing motor-based test cell. System development time and cost were reduced by leveraging readily available vehicle models and real-time hardware. The Vehicle Simulator system allows a user to control the speed and torque settings of the test cell motors in manual mode, or switch the motors to vehicle emulation mode. …

Political Utopias Of The Renaissance: An Analysis Of Thomas More’S Utopia, Johann Valentinus Andreae’S Christianopolis, And James Harrington’S The Commonwealth Of Oceana, Brittany Page Brake

Masters Theses

Utopian works have entertained generations throughout history. Much like more recent genres including science-fiction novels or movies, utopian works stimulate the mind and ultimately cause its readers to question whether an author’s design of such a place, or society, is possible in the real world. While some may perceive the purpose of utopias to be completely fantasy-driven, there is a great deal of scholarly literature that dedicates itself to proving otherwise. More specifically, many scholars argue that utopias are serious and practical, ultimately aimed at re-shaping the entire political structure of a society.

This thesis aims to understand the more …

Environmental Applications Of Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, Wisam Abdulabbas Flayyih Al Isawi

Masters Theses

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatographymass spectrometry (LC-MS) are powerful analytical techniques that combine the separation power in a stationary phase with the detection power of mass spectrometry. GCMS and LC-MS have gained dominant positions in identifying and quantifying different analyte species due to their high selectivity, high sensitivity, and high reproducibility.

My research utilizes the analytical power of LC-MS and GC-MS to address two environmental issues: 1) Identification of biodegradation products of the ionic liquid 1- butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (BMIMCl) by an activated sludge microbial community using LC-MS and 2) identification and quantification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in …

Royal Advice And Religious Authority In Smaragdus Of St. Mihiel's Via Regia:An Analysis And Critical Edition, Roland Black

Masters Theses

Around 813 CE, the Carolingian monk Smaragdus of St. Mihiel produced the first medieval moral guidebook for a king, entitled the Via regia. The text was most likely intended for Charlemagne’s sole surviving heir, Louis the Pious. Smaragdus incorporated passages from both the Old and New Testaments and provided exegesis meant to guide the king in correct moral behavior. The text asserted the critical importance of the king’s correct moral behavior, and offered a window into the Carolingian court as well as political and religious life at the turn of the ninth century. Presented here for the first time …

The Value Of The Arts In Education, Thorin Teague

Masters Theses

Art is a subject that has no substitute, as the learning and production of art satisfies a uniquely human need to communicate and connect with other human beings. The marriage of art and society can (and should) be thought of as culture. This author intends to assert that the arts have a critical place in education and indeed human society itself, bringing ancillary benefits to bear on the subject without relying on them as the primary justification for the retention and even expansion of arts programs; education (which could in turn be thought of the dissemination of cultural knowledge) of …

The Perceptions Of Michigan Hunters Regarding Wolves (Canis Lupus) And The Ldea Of A Wolf-Hunt As A Management Option, Zachary A. Merrill

Masters Theses

Gray wolves (Canis lupus) are an important keystone species in mixed forest ecosystems throughout the Great Lakes region. Due to wolves being placed on the Endangered Species List in 1974, the wolf population of Michigan has increased from near extinction in 1974 to greater than 650 in 2013. The return of wolves to northern Michigan ecosystems has re-ignited complex debates regarding how humans and wolves should best coexist. Wildlife professionals have become increasingly aware of the importance of human response for sound wildlife management decisions. The most effective management plans require cooperation from all parties, including farmers, citizens, tourists, wildlife …

Western News, March 17, 2016, Western Michigan University

Western News (1972-2018)

Story highlights: Ethics Center marks 30 years, honors founder; Medieval Institute director garners NEH grant; Dunn honored with national ‘Giving Back’ diversity award; Goldsworth Valley upgrades underway; On Campus with Nicole Allbee.

Just Caring: Parsimonious Care In Certain Uncertain Circumstances, Leonard M. Fleck

Bioethics: Preparing for the Unknown

Uncertainty is a Hydra-headed phenomenon in health care. From a physician’s perspective there often is uncertainty (many degrees) with respect to diagnosis (and the reliability of the technologies needed to establish a diagnosis), prognosis (and the infinite variety of genetic, physiological, pharmacological, behavioral, technological, economic, and cultural factors that affect the outcome of prognostic judgments), the appropriateness of a therapeutic intervention (perhaps related to medical disagreement), the likely effectiveness of a therapeutic intervention, the risk/ benefit ratio of a therapeutic intervention (potentially complicated by co-morbid conditions), the likelihood of a patient complying with the behaviors needed to maximize the likelihood …

Reading Horizons Vol. 55 No. 1

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

No abstract provided.

English-Spanish Cognates In The Charlotte Zolotow Award Picture Books: Vocabulary, Morphology, And Orthography Lessons For Latino Ells, José A. Montelongo, Anita C. Hernández, Roberta J. Herter

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

English-Spanish cognates are words that are orthographically and semantically identical or nearly identical in English and Spanish as a result of a common etymology. Because of the similarities in the two languages, Spanish-dominant Latino English Language Learners (ELLs) can be taught to recognize English cognates thereby increasing their bilingualism and bi-literacy for these two languages.

There are over 20,000 English-Spanish cognates, many of the academic vocabulary words. Despite their vast educational potential, however, cognates are typically excluded as a word category in the language arts curriculum, thus denying Latino ELLs of a resource for acquiring English-Spanish bilingualism and bi-literacy.

English-Spanish …

Motivated To Engage: Learning From The Literacy Stories Of Pre-Service Teachers, Deborah Macphee, Sherry Sanden

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

The influence of motivation on readers' behaviors has received wide attention in literacy scholarship. The importance of readers’ motivations for reading becomes critical when considered in relation to readers’ engagement with reading activities and their perceptions of themselves a competent. This article presents a qualitative study of pre-service teachers’ literacy history stories and reflections on their identities as literate individuals. The stories represented pre-service teachers’ perceptions of home and school literacy experiences that either motivated or discouraged them from engaging in literacy activities. Their reflections were an account of how their experiences may have influenced their current self-perceptions and engagement …

Reading Comprehension Strategies In Secondary Content Area Classrooms: Teacher Use Of And Attitudes Towards Reading Comprehension Instruction, Molly Ness

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

The purpose of this mixed methodology study was to identify the frequency of reading comprehension instruction in middle and high school social studies and science classrooms. An additional purpose was to explore teachers' perceptions of and beliefs about the need for reading comprehension instruction. In 2,400 minutes of direct classroom observation, a total of 82 minutes (3%) of reading comprehension instruction was observed. The qualitative findings reveal that teachers did not feel qualified or responsible for providing explicit instruction on reading comprehension. Teachers pointed to the pressure to cover content in preparation for state standardized tests as barriers to providing …

The Contribution Of Morphological Knowledge To 7th Grade Students’ Reading Comprehension Performance, Kouider Mokhtari, Joanna Neel, Abbey Matatall, Andrea Richards

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

In this study, we examined the role of morphology, an important yet largely understudied source of difficulty, in reading ability among 7^th grade students in one junior high school in the southwestern United States. We sought to find out how much variance in reading ability is accounted for by these students’ morphological knowledge, and whether skilled readers do in fact have higher levels of morphological knowledge than less skilled student peers. We found that students’ sensitivity to the morphological structure of words accounted for 18% of the variance in these students’ reading performance. We further found that skilled readers …

Acknowledgements/Image Credits, Molly Lynde-Recchia

Transference

No abstract provided.

Notes On Contributors

Transference

No abstract provided.

Orchards 52, Orchards 54, Orchards 57: The Doe, And Orchards 59 By Rainer Maria Rilke, Susanne Petermann

Transference

Translated from the French by Susanne Petermann.

The Universe In Perspective, Commentator, And The Birth Of A Masterpiece By Yu Kwang-Chung, Hsinmei Lin

Transference

Translated from the Chinese by Hsinmei Lin.

A Man Out Of Time: Aias 646-692 By Sophocles, Emily Anhalt

Transference

Translated from the Greek by Emily Anhalt.

Enduring Scars By Ahmad Al-Safi Al-Najafi, B. N. Faraj

Transference

Translated from the Arabic by B.N. Faraj.

A Community In The Open, An Autumnal Fossil, On Skeletons, And Orpheus At The Butcher Shop By Shiro Murano, Goro Takano

Transference

Translated from the Japanese by Goro Takano.