Digital Commons Network^™

The Attitudes And Learning Styles Of Adult Learners To E-Instruction Of The Spanish Language, Brian Santos

Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship between adult learner attitudes toward technology and learning style. A sample of community college Spanish students in a Midwestern city in the United States was surveyed to determine (a) an attitude score toward Spanish E-Instruction based on the Lukow ATUTS (Attitudes toward Using Technology Survey) and (b) a learning style measured by the Kolb LSI (Learning Style Inventory). The majority of participants (n = 151) were aged 18-29 (95%), used between one and five software programs on a daily basis (88%), spent at least 11 hours a week online (88%), and reported an "Accommodating" …

Examining The Effects Of Brain Education On Employee Stress Management, Work Performance, Relationships, And Well-Being, Ericka Crawford

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify, examine, and describe the lived experience of employees who received Brain Education training in the areas of stress management, work performance, relationships, and well-being.

Methodology: This qualitative phenomenological study utilized semi-structured interviews to collect data from employees trained in Brain Education. Employees were purposefully chosen based on specific criteria, including those trained in Brain Education for at least three months, worked for organizations that employee more than 20 people, and were located in California.

Findings: Analysis of the data showed 10 major findings across 29 major themes and 76 associated codes. …

A Mixed-Methods Evaluation Of The Pilot Program Paws For Reading In A Midwest Public Library, Marie T. Baine

Dissertations

This was an evaluation of the pilot program Paws for Reading along with other children’s programs ages 5-11 or Kindergarten through fifth grade, according to their mission in a Midwest public library setting. Public libraries were incorporating more programming into the schedules for the benefit of the patrons and growing communities. In this mixedmethods study, the researcher created instruments including a survey, questionnaire, and observation form to evaluate library programming. The library patrons, staff, and managers gave their opinions about the children’s programs provided by the library and the Pilot Program Paws for Reading. Questions included preference in library schedule, …

Exploring The Perceptions Of Citizens Of The Impact Of Community Policing In Two Ethnically Diverse, Low-Income Communities That Have National Safety Ratings Between 0% And 25% In San Diego County: A Phenomenological Study, Eric O'Neal

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to describe citizen perceptions of the impact of community policing in 2 selected, ethnically diverse, low-income communities that have national safety ratings between 0% and 25%. The study explored the 8 pillars of community policing: partnerships, problem solving, procedural fairness, proscribed scope, protection, professionalism, purpose, and principles and their impact on citizens’ perception of their local law enforcement agencies.

Methodology: The study was qualitative with a phenomenological approach to research.

Findings: Findings from this study revealed that examination of study participant interviews, observations, and artifacts resulted in 22 themes and 689 …

Chemotherapy-Related Cognitive Impairment: The Breast Cancer Experience, Jamie S. Myers

Dissertations

The aims of this qualitative descriptive study were to describe the experience of chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) for women with breast cancer who received chemotherapy; and identify information about CRCI that women would find useful prior to chemotherapy and the onset of CRCI. In-depth interviews were conducted with 18 women who reported changes in cognitive function and were within 6-12 months of completing chemotherapy. Participants described issues with short term memory, trouble focusing, and difficulty with word finding, reading, and driving. Support and validation of the experience was acknowledged as important. Coping strategies included writing things down, depending on others, …

The Rebel Made Me Do It: Mascots, Race, And The Lost Cause, Patrick Smith

Dissertations

Public memory is commonly tied to street names, toponyms, and monuments because they are interacted with daily and are often directly associated with race, class, and regimes of power. Mascots are not thought of in the same manner although they are present as part of everyday life. The childish or sometimes comedic nature of the mascot discounts it from many considerations of its influence, symbolism and history. Nonetheless this research focuses on the term “Rebel” as a secondary school mascot. The term possesses the trappings of race because the American vernacular ties the word to the Confederate States of America …

Network Equivalents Applied To Transient Analysis Of Large Distribution Systems, Ghassan Abdul-Hussein Bilal

Dissertations

Frequency domain (FD) methods for electromagnetic transient analysis of electric power systems offer outstanding simplicity and accuracy when dealing with distributed parameter elements and components that exhibit frequency-dependent behavior. However, the use of FD methods is usually restricted to the simulation of small and simple networks, since it is commonly believed that their application implies a very large computational burden when compared to time domain methods. This study demonstrates that FD methods can accommodate the detailed simulation of large distribution networks within acceptable computer times and in a very straightforward manner, thus offering an attractive complement or alternative to common …

University Auxiliary Services: A Review Of Factors Impacting Privatization Decisions, Rita S. Gordon

Dissertations

The dynamics of higher education funding present unique challenges and opportunities for administrators. One method university administrators employ to contain expenses and provide additional revenue is privatization of academic and non-academic services.

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the specific factors considered in a decision to privatize bookstore and/or dining service operations, and perceptions about whether the post-privatization decision met pre-privatization expectations. Gordon’s (2019) Privatization Decision Framework was created based upon existing research and then used to develop survey questions. Twelve pre-privatization decision factors, nine post-privatization contracted relationship expectation factors, overall satisfaction with the privatization decision, and …

A Pilot Study: Identifying The Characteristics Of Postsecondary Offices Of Disability Services Associated With High Graduation Rates, Tiffany B. White

Dissertations

Students with disabilities are entering postsecondary education at higher rates than ever before, but they are graduating at lower rates than their peers without disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act have made it possible for students with disabilities to avail themselves of services in higher education to maximize their potential. To implement laws and provide equal access to students with disclosed disabilities (SWDD), many higher education institutions use central offices to serve students with disabilities. The survey in this study collects information from disability office directors regarding services provided and office characteristics.

The …

A Case Study Of A Jail Participating In An Animal-Assisted Crisis Response Program, Erica Schlau

Dissertations

A crisis state is often the result of being admitted to jail, due to the catastrophic impact incarceration can have on personal and professional lives. Unlike other studies, the present study focuses on inmates in jail rather than in prison. To address jail inmates in a crisis state, the current best practice is suicide prevention, which does not effectively consider the needs of jail inmates. Recently emerging in the literature is the use of animal-assisted crisis response (AACR) to serve individuals experiencing a crisis. There is a lack of research on the use of animal-assisted interventions (AAI) with the population …

Serial And Concurrent Response Presentation: Their Effects On Resurgence, Michael P. Kranak

Dissertations

Serial response training (SRT) may mitigate resurgence of a target response when compared to teaching a single alternative response. However, the necessity of the serial presentation of alternatives is yet to be determined. We hypothesized teaching alternative responses at the same time (concurrent response training [CRT]) may be as effective as, and more efficient than, SRT. We used a multielement design embedded within an ABC resurgence arrangement in a human operant arrangement in three studies. Twenty-seven undergraduate students enrolled in a psychology course participated. In Study 1, we compared CRT to differential reinforcement of a single alternative response (traditional DRA). …

An Exploration Of Nurses' Knowledge Of Right Hemisphere Stroke Associated Communication Impairments, Susan K. Brooks

Dissertations

In the U. S. approximately 795,000 people experience a new or recurrent stroke yearly. Stroke survival has increased with advances in medical technology. The impact of stroke on a patient's neurological status poses critical challenges for nurses. Communication is one area impacted by stroke. Strokes affecting the brain's right hemisphere (RHS) have been described in the literature as negatively impacting communication behaviors of patients, often in a subtle manner. The purpose of this exploratory descriptive study was to examine the knowledge that RNs in North Carolina possess about communication impairments associated with RHS and how these nurses anticipate using knowledge …

The Lived Experience Of Nursing Students In Caring For Suffering Individuals: A Phenomenological Analysis, Susan Sweat Gunby

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to illuminate the lived experience of nursing students in caring for individuals who were suffering. A phenomenological approach was utilized consisting of four iterative steps: purposive sampling, intensive interviewing, inductive data analysis using Giorgi's (1985) method, and uncovering the essential structure of the phenomenon. Using purposive sampling, 12 generic undergraduate nursing students were recruited from a large university located in the southeastern United States. Participants were interviewed and asked to describe their experiences related to caring for a suffering individual. Interviews were audiotaped and then transcribed. The transcriptions of the interviews constituted the data …

Development Of An Instrument To Measure Hope, Judith Fitzgerald Miller

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to measure hope in adults and to evaluate its psychometric properties. A forty item Miller Hope Scale was developed based on the critical elements of hope gleaned from a comprehensive review of literature, including the etymology of hope; as well as from an exploratory study of hope in persons who survived a critical illness. The instrument was critiqued by psychometric and content experts, content validity established and was pretested on 75 subjects. Psychometric properties of the refined instrument were determined by studying 522 healthy adults.

Building A Social Identity: Peer-To-Peer Sexual Harassment In Adolescents, Denise Giannascoli Link

Dissertations

Peer-to-peer sexual harassment is pervasive in secondary schools and is responsible for a number of health effects such as sleeplessness, loss of self-esteem and depression, as well as other negative educational and social effects (AAUW, 1993; Morrisey, 1995; PCSW, 1995; vanRoosmalen & McDaniel, 1998). As a behavior that is learned, the incidence of peer-to-peer sexual harassment may be reduced through interventions aimed at changing inappropriate and harmful behavior. The purpose of this study was to describe and explain the basic social psychological process that induces and perpetuates peer-to-peer sexual harassment in adolescents. In order to achieve this goal, it was …

College Student Risk Behavior: The Implications Of Religiosity And Impulsivity, Mary A. Cazzell

Dissertations

College student risk-taking among 18 to 21 years olds includes smoking cigarettes, binge drinking, casual sex with multiple partners, automobile accidents due to risky driving or driving under the influence, and substance use. Among 10 to 24 year olds, 72% of all fatalities result from automobile accidents, unintended injuries, homicide, and suicide. Since not all college students participate in risk behaviors, protective factors such as religiosity may be a protective social or psychological buffer that supports positive relationships and moral order. Impulsivity, an inability to squelch inappropriate thoughts or actions, is associated with the later development (in the mid-twenties) of …

Public Policy Regarding Infant Mortality: Rhetorical Criticism Of The Mass Media, Joanne Rains Warner

Dissertations

Nurses interested in impacting the formation of policy must understand the multiple factors which influence the process. Mass communication is one important factor because it influences the creation and transmission of political realities. Rhetorical criticism was the methodology used to analyze the persuasive powers of the mass communication, and thereby provide insights into the policy formation process. The purpose of this investigation was to explore the rhetorical strategies of mass communication regarding the issue of infant mortality. The strategies were illuminated within the political context of Indiana's 1988 and 1989 legislative years, and related to legislative activities surrounding legislation which …

Predictors Of Quality Of Life In The Chronic Hemodialysis Patient, Pamela B. Simmons

Dissertations

This was a descriptive, correlational, predictive study designed to investigate the relationships between treatment-related stress, satisfaction with nursing care, and depression in the chronic hemodialysis patient and to determine which were predictive of quality of life (QoL). Demographic variables and selected clinical indicators were also assessed for their ability to predict QoL.

Managerial Caring, Multicultural Competence, And Organizational Commitment In A Department Of Nursing, Eileen A. Sullivan-Kaplan

Dissertations

The purpose of this descriptive study was to investigate the relationships among caring behaviors, multicultural competence of nursing managers, and the organizational commitment of those managers and their staff members. Additionally, a qualitative component was added in order to maximize the contributions of the staff member participants to the study.

The Tenderness Process In Mother-Infant Couples: The Relationship Of Maternal Perception And Anxiety To Infant Satiety And Anxiety, Deidre Marion Blank

Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to identify what impact, if any, maternal perception and anxiety had on an infant at the time of feeding. The framework for testing the relationship was Harry Stack Sullivan's interpersonal theory of psychiatry, as it related specifically to mother-infant tenderness. For the study, tenderness was restricted to a reciprocal process in which the infant had a physiochemical need for milk and the mother a complimentary need to satisfy the infant. Of importance to Sullivan was the fact that an infant had to depend on the intervention of others for survival and therefore manifested a …

The Effect Of Ethnicity And Residential Setting On Cultural Factors Of Low-Income Pregnant Adolescents, Cynthia S. Selleck

Dissertations

Much research has been conducted on adolescent pregnancy; however, culture, as it relates to adolescent pregnancy, has been cited as an area in need of further study. This research focused on the effect of ethnicity and residential setting on cultural factors of low-income pregnant adolescents. The cultural factors studied were social support, knowledge of prevention of pregnancy, and importance of becoming pregnant. These variables were described and compared in white, black, rural, and urban pregnant adolescents. Relationships among these variables were also investigated.

Effectiveness And Cost Efficiency Of Interventions In Health Promotion, Rosanne H. Pruitt

Dissertations

There is a general lack of evidence of the efficacy and cost efficiency of interventions in the area of health promotion. The lack of evidence is frequently cited as a reason programs are not adopted. Resources are limited, and it is important that evidence be generated through research to allow for informed choices to be made. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a stress management program and determine overall effectiveness and cost efficiency. Two research hypotheses addressed effectiveness.

The Relationship Of Denial Of Illness And Compliance With Inhaled Preventive Medications In Adults With Asthma, Elizabeth F. Mcgann

Dissertations

This descriptive, longitudinal, exploratory study was designed to investigate the relationship between denial of illness and compliance with inhaled preventive medication in adults with asthma. The association of severity of asthma in relation to denial and compliance was also examined.

Alcohol Induced Bacterial Changes In The Setting Of Colitis, Paulius Kuprys

Dissertations

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) affect a large number of individuals around the world. This group of diseases is largely composed of two types: Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Upon development of IBD, patients experience cyclical episodes of inflammation, known as flares. Flare induction appears to arise from multiple factors, which can also vary on a person-to-person basis. Alcohol has been shown to trigger IBD flares and onset, though the underlying mechanism has not been established.Defining factors of the IBD intestinal environment include an altered microbiome, bacterial infiltration of the intestinal epithelium, and increased leakage of proinflammatory bacterial byproducts. …

Generating Biologic And Genetic Research Tools To Investigate Serotype I Feline Coronaviruses, Robert Christian Mettelman

Dissertations

Serotype I feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV) is an alphacoronavirus of high veterinary importance due to the 99% mortality rate observed in cats. Since the 1980s, robust experimentation on these viruses has been limited by availability of culturable pathogenic strains, few permissive cell lines, and a lack of standardized methods to study their basic virology. These complications have resulted in variable and conflicting literature reports, have slowed study of clinical strains and hindered effective vaccine design. The goal of this dissertation was to develop a laboratory "toolbox" containing standardized methods, permissive cell lines and genetic techniques to alleviate some of …

Noise Reduction In Eeg Signals Using Convolutional Autoencoding Techniques, Conor Hanrahan

Dissertations

The presence of noise in electroencephalography (EEG) signals can significantly reduce the accuracy of the analysis of the signal. This study assesses to what extent stacked autoencoders designed using one-dimensional convolutional neural network layers can reduce noise in EEG signals. The EEG signals, obtained from 81 people, were processed by a two-layer one-dimensional convolutional autoencoder (CAE), whom performed 3 independent button pressing tasks. The signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of the signals before and after processing were calculated and the distributions of the SNRs were compared. The performance of the model was compared to noise reduction performance of Principal Component Analysis, with …

Analysis Of Acoustic Emission Signals In Aluminum And Composite Structures, Duy Quang Tran

Dissertations

Acoustic emission signal in aluminum plates and composite specimens are examined in this dissertation. The first part of the dissertation examines the symmetric lamb wave modes generated by the spontaneous appearance of a central microcrack in an aluminum plate. The detected acoustic emission amplitude of these waves with radial and angular position of the sensing location was analyzed using finite element analysis. An important aspect of this study is the detailed characterization of the shear horizontal mode of the Lamb wave that is generated by simulated crack growth. This analysis indicates that the amplitude of the shear horizontal mode remains …

Modulating The Tumor Microenvironment To Induce Cross-Priming For Cancer Immunotherapy, Erica Fleming-Trujillo

Dissertations

Adoptive cell transfer (ACT) using T cells engineered to express tumor-specific T cell receptors (TCR) holds great promise in treating cancer patients. ACT involves the in vitro generation of large numbers of tumor-specific T cells, which are then administered back to the patient, to establish an in vivo response and effective tumor control. Our lab conducted a phase I clinical trial in which metastatic melanoma patients received systemic infusions of autologous T cells transduced to express a tyrosinase-specific TCR (TIL 1383I). We observed tumor regression in one of seven patients and the development of vitiligo, indicative of T cell-mediated killing …

Elucidation Of The Molecular Mechanisms Of Electrically-Induced Cardioprotection, Anne Elizabeth Roessler

Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, is a major event in cardiovascular disease characterized by reduced blood flow to the heart. The ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) injury associated with an MI results in a region of dead tissue in the heart called an infarct, the size of which influences patient prognosis. In the 1980s, it was discovered that short, non-lethal episodes of I/R, termed ischemic preconditioning (IPC), can protect the heart against a subsequent MI. Ischemic preconditioning demonstrated the phenomenon of endogenous cardioprotection. Cardioprotection has great potential …

Public School Teachers' Gender, Years Of Teaching Experience, Knowledge, And Perceptions As Predictors Of Their Implementation Of Brain-Based Learning Practices In K-12 Classrooms, Emmanuel Oduro-Bediako

Dissertations

Problem

With the introduction of a national curriculum, content standards, and federally mandated assessment; involuntarily teachers have adopted test-based teaching approaches in the classroom. Concurrently, researchers are celebrating brain-based learning because of breakthroughs in neuroscience and cognitive psychology and are promoting it as a watershed teaching opportunity. This has created a gap between research and practice, meaning that teachers’ ability to implement brain-based learning has been affected negatively.

Method

In a correlational design, a non-experimental quantitative study was conducted to examine a sample (N = 422) of teachers from K-12 schools within the United States public school system. The study …