Digital Commons Network^™

Increasing Blood Glucose Monitoring In Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes: Effects Of A Prompt, Stephen J. Albrecht

Dissertations

A series of single-subject designs (AB, ABAB) were used to assess the effects of an antecedent prompting procedure (i.e., prompts) on blood glucose monitoring in young individuals diagnosed with type I diabetes. Prompts were delivered through portable, automated paging technology. Frequency of blood glucose checks was obtained across meter, baseline, and intervention phases. Metabolic control was assessed by obtaining blood glucose levels for each check across baseline and intervention phases, and hemoglobin (HbA1c) values at study entry and follow-up. Results indicated that the prompt increased blood glucose monitoring for three participants, and metabolic control improved for 2 participants when the …

An Empirical Study Of Fiscal Decentralization Of Local Governments In China, Jianfeng Wang

Dissertations

The world is experiencing dramatic fiscal reconstruction in the socialist and (former) socialist countries and of continuing and fascinating evolution of government structure elsewhere. Being one of the fastest growing economies over the past nearly three decades, China seems deeply embracing this global mantra of power devolution in her effort to energize local economy that was suffocated in the highly constricted state-planning system. The literature of the Chinese central-local studies suggests that fiscal decentralization from the central government to provincial governments is a key institutional factor to explain Chinese economic success. However, the literature misses various lower levels of government …

Being Whole: Aligning Personhoods To Achieve Successful Childbirth With A History Of Childhood Sexual Abuse During Perinatal Services, Karla Kendall Richmond Phd, Msn, Rnc, Cns

Dissertations

Being a pregnant female is a temporary condition. A woman with a history of childhood sexual abuse aligns the personhoods of child victim, adult survivor and pregnant female to achieve a successful pregnancy, labor, delivery and postpartum experience. Female survivors desire to be recognized and function as whole being during the perinatal experience. It is estimated that 15 to 32 percent of females prior to the age of eighteen have unwanted sexual contact. Female survivors carry this history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) with them throughout their lives which may involve childbirth. There are many long-term psychological consequences that can …

An Evaluation Of The Renaissance Zone Programs Of Michigan, Yuanlei Zhu

Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes whether the Renaissance Zone (RZ) programs in the state of Michigan are effective in helping distressed urban areas. The unique ES202 data permits us to use both establishment level data and aggregated zip level data to examine the impact of RZ programs on the establishment number and the firms' employment, real wage, and life duration. Based upon the presumption that different firms are sensitive to the tax incentives in different ways, this study examines the impact on all firms, on new firms, dead firms, and existing firms, on manufacturing and service firms, and on large and small …

A Sociological History Of Prison Privatization In The Contemporary United States, Donna Selman-Killingbeck

Dissertations

This dissertation is framed by the radical criminological-theoretical perspective and utilizes the social constructionist method of analysis to examine the development of prison privatization in the United States. Central to this analysis is the question: How is it that, given the disastrous history of blatant attempts to blend capitalism and punishment, contemporary privatization of prisons not only emerged but continues to expand becoming a multinational incarceration industry? Three phases of privatization: emergence, maintenance and perpetuation, are illuminated in their political, economic and cultural contexts. Thestrategies and techniques, access to power, claims-making and managing counterclaims for example, of various stakeholders in …

A Study Of How Precursor Key Concepts For Organic Chemistry Success Are Understood By General Chemistry Students, Patrick Gerard Meyer

Dissertations

This study examines college student understanding of key concepts that will support future organic chemistry success as determined by university instructors. During four one-hour individual interviews the sixteen subjects attempted to solve general chemistry problems. A think-aloud protocol was used along with a whiteboard where the students could draw and illustrate their ideas. The protocols for the interviews were adapted from the Covalent Structure and Bonding two-tiered multiple choice diagnostic instrument (Peterson, Treagust, & Garnett, 1989) and augmented by the Geometry and Polarity of Moleculessingle-tiered multiple choice instrument (Furió & Calatayud, 1996). The interviews were videotaped, transcribed, and coded …

Salary Negotiation Strategies Of Female Administrators In Higher Education, Suzette Compton

Dissertations

The salary equity gap continues to exist, with men earning more on average for every dollar a woman makes. Research suggests that women's underdevelopednegotiation skills play a role in the continuation of the salary equity gap. Understanding the negotiation strategies and gendered communications traits women utilize may assist in enhancing their skills and in moving toward gender salary equity.

This study addresses the negotiation strategies and gendered communication traits of female administrators in higher education. Twenty-two women inadministrative positions in institutions of higher education in West Michigan were interviewed to determine the strategies they utilized when negotiating forsalary and other …

Photoexcitation And Photoionization Of The Argon Atom And The Hydrogen Bromide Molecule, Ximao Feng

Dissertations

Interaction between synchrotron radiation with inner-shell electrons is a fundamental method to study the structure and dynamics of atoms and molecules. This thesis, under the guidance of Dr. Nora Berrah, concentrates on the study of the interaction between soft x-ray photons with Ar atoms and HBr moleculeswith time-of-flight (TOF) electron spectrometers and two-dimensional photoelectron spectroscopy (2DPES). Both of the experiments were performed on theAtomic, Molecular and Optical Physics undulator beamline at the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

The argon study focused on photoelectron recapture when the 2p electrons are ionized just above the thresholds of the two …

Performance Evaluation Models For Strategic Decision-Making: Towards A Hybrid Model, Geraldina Villalobos Quezada

Dissertations

Performance management systems serve strategic, administrative, and developmental purposes; therefore, their role in an organization cannot be overestimated. As a function of this strategic role, different evaluation models have been developed and implemented by organizations: BSC, CIPP, TQM, Six Sigma, and AOP.

Following a review of current evaluation theory and practice models that focus on improving strategic decision-making in organizations, four research questions were developed that sought to identify the interrelationships, evaluation components, evaluation indicators, data collected to support the evaluation,evaluation implementation protocols, quantitative and qualitative analyses, outcomes, and critical factors of the BSC and CIPP models.

A multiple case …

Professional Role Complexities And Job Satisfaction Of Collegiate Certified Athletic Trainers, Kirk Brumels

Dissertations

This study examined whether professional role complexities existed for certified athletic trainers (ATCs) employed at the collegiate level, and if so, what impact these role complexities had upon job satisfaction and intent to leave a current position or the profession. The amount and sources of role complexities were examined for collegiate ATCs who were employed in clinical, faculty, or joint appointment positions.

Potential for professional role complexities exist in any situation where multiple role obligations are present in the workplace. Professional role complexities for health care employees often manifest into tension, dissatisfaction, lack of energy or ambition, and decreased attention …

Automotive Service Technology Intersectional Skills Proficiency Assessment, David L. Macquarrie

Dissertations

This dissertation focused on the creation and validation of a criterion referenced credentialing assessment of automotive service technicians' intersectional skills (ASTIS) proficiency. These intersectional skills are prerequisite and common to multiple job level tasks that an automotive service technician (AST) performs on the job. An assessment of the ASTIS was created to aid automotive technician employers in the evaluation of hiring prospective technician employees and is not duplicated by current certifications (e.g. ASE) as they do not uniquely assess these skills.

This dissertation focused on the ASTIS skills and the information an employer can obtain pertaining to a prospective employee's …

Nursing Students' Knowledge And Attitudes Regarding Pain And Pain Management, Ruth L. Schaffler Phd

Dissertations

Pain is a universal human experience and is a primary reason people seek health care; however, undertreatment of pain has been reported in the literature as a significant clinical problem for more than three decades. Researchers have concluded that nurses have inadequate knowledge of pain assessment, are misinformed about opioids, and have inappropriate attitudes about pain and pain management that lead to the undertreatment of pain. One question is whether those misconceptions are acquired in nursing school or whether they are present when students enroll in nursing programs. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to examine the attitudes regarding …

Robust Techniques And Applications In Fuzzy Clustering, Amit Banerjee

Dissertations

This dissertation addresses issues central to frizzy classification. The issue of sensitivity to noise and outliers of least squares minimization based clustering techniques, such as Fuzzy c-Means (FCM) and its variants is addressed. In this work, two novel and robust clustering schemes are presented and analyzed in detail. They approach the problem of robustness from different perspectives. The first scheme scales down the FCM memberships of data points based on the distance of the points from the cluster centers. Scaling done on outliers reduces their membership in true clusters. This scheme, known as the Mega-clustering, defines a conceptual mega-cluster which …

An Automata-Based Automatic Verification Environment, Yi Meng

Dissertations

With the continuing growth of computer systems including safety-critical computer control systems, the need for reliable tools to help construct, analyze, and verify such systems also continues to grow. The basic motivation of this work is to build such a formal verification environment for computer-based systems.

An example of such a tool is the Design Oriented Verification and Evaluation (DOVE) created by Australian Defense Science and Technology Organization. One of the advantages of DOVE is that it combines ease of use provided by a graphical user interface for describing specifications in the form of extended state machines with the rigor …

On The Design For Flexibility Of Manufacturing Systems : A Stochiastic Approach, Nathapol Areeratchakul

Dissertations

Flexibility has emerged as one of the most strategic imperatives for company viability in today's fast paced economy. This realization has stimulated extensive research efforts in this area most of which have focused mainly on defining flexibility and its attributes, the need for flexibility and how to measure it. Nevertheless, despite the considerable amount of publications regarding flexibility and its related subjects, insufficient attention has been given to the optimality of the design for flexibility and the inherent needs to meet uncertainty. Bridging this gap is the intent of this work.

In this dissertation, developed analytical models are for the …

Studies Of Solar White-Light Flares And Small-Scale Magnetic Structures Observed In The Near Infrared, Yan Xu

Dissertations

Using the most advanced infrared imaging technology as developed by NJIT, detailed study of solar white-light flares and small magnetic structures, such as faculae and pores, are presented in this dissertation. The investigations focus on near-infrared observations at 1.56 μm, which are good proxy of the deepest layer of the solar photosphere.

I made fundamental contributions in two areas of near infrared (NIR) solar physics: (1) the first detection and understanding of white-light flares in the NIR and (2) clearly demonstrated non-existence of "dark faculae". Several high-resolution observations have been carried out at BBSO and National Solar Observatory/Sacramento Peak. The …

When The Past Meets The Present: Economic And Business Development Of Hungary And Russia From Communism To Market, Zinaida Karapetyan

Dissertations

The study analyzes the continuity in economic and business development in Hungary and Russia from command economy to market. It consists of two parts.

The first part presents an overview of historical development of the planned economic system in Russia and Hungary with the emphasis on two issues ¿ how the system came about and what kind of reforms had been introduced prior to its collapse. The first issue is addressed to demonstrate that the communist regime in either country was not simply imposed on it by some ideologically driven group, in the case of Russia, or by the Soviet …

An Analysis Of Rhythm Systems In The United States: Their Development And Frequency Of Use By Teachers, Students, And Authors; And Relation To Perceived Learning Preferences, Paul Charles Varley

Dissertations

One of the issues facing music educators is the way in which they teach students to read rhythms accurately. Using the current educational philosophy of differentiation, or teaching a student by appealing to their preferred learning style, as a backdrop, the researcher proposed that music educators tend to teach rhythms using a limited number of systems, thereby failing to utilize many of the available systems.

The researcher examined the published rhythm systems dating back to the early nineteenth century, surveyed band students in grades 7-12 concerning their preferences in learning rhythms and their learning styles, surveyed music teachers concerning their …

Alice Parker: American Choral Composer, Arranger, And Educator, Gail H. Fleming

Dissertations

This investigation is an in-depth examination of Alice Parker's philosophy of music in relation to choral teaching, arranging, and composing. The researcher proposes that within the context of multi-cultural American music, Alice Parker's unique approach to music making and how it is manifested within her choral compositions, arrangements, and teaching techniques is a significant and valuable area of study for music educators and students. Further, it is beneficial to administrators and the general public, as well.

Within the literature review, Alice Parker's unique and effective approach to music making is related to the need for a philosophy of music, educational …

Connecting The Dots: A Study Of An Innovative Principal Preparation Program's Impact On The Mental Models And On-The-Job Behaviors Of Aspiring School Leaders, Rich Newman Edd

Dissertations

Despite years of criticism aimed at university-based principal preparation programs, most of these programs continue to be judged less than successful in producing effective school leaders. Furthermore, there is also little rigorous and systemic research about principal preparation in general; there is even less work focused on understanding how preparation programs might assist emerging school leaders in developing the sorts of intellectual capacities needed to be successful in an era when principals are expected to be instructional leaders and work with teachers to improve student achievement. Consequently, little is known about how principal preparation programs can help individuals (a) incorporate …

Incidence And Clinical Predictors Of Risk Factors For Inappropriate Shock In Patients With Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators, Shu-Ling Lo Phd

Dissertations

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is a major unresolved medical problem worldwide. Although Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators (ICD) are highly effective in diagnosing and treating life threatening arrhythmias, inappropriate shock therapy (IST) occurs in approximately 5-20% of ICD recipients. IST results in pain, anxiety, induction of ventricular arrhythmias, decreased battery longevity, and even death. Researchers studying clinical predictors of IST have drawn findings based on single case studies with small samples or with outdated data. This study filled this gap by describing the incidence and co-existing clinical predictors of IST. Methodology This descriptive, retrospective study analyzed the incidence and clinical predictors of IST …

An Exploratory Study Of Functional Status In Post Cardiac Arrest Survivors Discharged To Home, John J. Whitcomb Phd

Dissertations

Cardiopulmonary arrest is a major health problem, claiming 350,000 to 450,000 lives per year in the United States, but survival has increased to 49% from the use of Automated External Defibrillators (AED) by lay personnel. Leidy's work on functional status is a comprehensive framework to describe functional status and has not been used in this population. The specific aims of the project were to describe perceived functional capacity, physical functional performance, mental health, symptom distress, and demographic factors in survivors of cardiopulmonary arrest after discharge to home and to examine the relationship among perceived functional capacity, mental health and physical …

Worry, Kristen Tracy

Dissertations

The poems that make up Worry investigate themes of feminine struggle, identity, and survival. They move at a fast pace, and many of the metaphors are drawn from the animal kingdom.

Intergenerational Power Exchange Model: Meta-Analysis Of Male Batterers’ Intervention Programs, Suzanne Van Weelde

Dissertations

Domestic violence is an ongoing social problem. Many women have suffered from the abuse of spouses and boyfriends. A number of children have been victims, or witnesses of, this particular form of violence. The consequences of abuse are: preventable crimes, victims and witnesses becoming abusers themselves, escalating health and mental costs. Domestic violence has touched every community within the United States. It is not a social problem that sociological researchers can afford to minimize.

Sociological literature has documented the growth of the social problem of domestic violence. As a result of the awareness of domestic violence as a serious social …

Evaluating The Operative Mechanisms Underlying The High-Probability Request Sequence, Carrie L. Coleman

Dissertations

Failure to comply with requests in educational settings interferes with the learning process. The high-probability request sequence has been demonstrated to be an effective treatment for noncompliance. However, the operative mechanisms underlying this treatment remain unknown. This study sought to further elucidate high-p behavior change mechanisms through the manipulation of reinforcement and response rate variables. The purpose was to determine whether increases in compliance to low-probability requests could be obtained with either the high-p sequence or with the delivery of preferred stimuli on a response-independent basis. Math problems served as high-p and low-p requests, and data were collected on compliance …

Aid Effectiveness, Policies And Reform, Elias Kedir Shukralla

Dissertations

The effectiveness of foreign aid in developing countries is one of the most controversial topics in the development literature. In particular, issues relating to the link between aid and growth, and whether aid works better when good policies and reforms are undertaken, and how aid should be allocated have been hotly debated by economists and policy makers. As a matter of fact, developing countries continue to receive large amounts of foreign aid every year, and the controversies surrounding aid also remain strong. This dissertation reexamines the links between aid, growth, policies and economic reforms in aid recipient countries and sheds …

Pyramidal Staff Training: Teaching Play And Manding To Children With Autism And Developmental Disabilities, Koji Takeshima

Dissertations

This study involved pyramidal staff training and the teaching of play and manding to children with autism and developmental disabilities in an early intervention program. The following training components were sequentially introduced to each technician: (a) a written procedure; (b) video modeling; (c) a slide show and checklist, combined with video modeling; and (d) feedback. The trainees improved their skills in teaching play as these training components were introduced, and the children's performance in play and manding subsequently improved. For the skills of teaching play, the core component of the training that resulted in the largest improvement varied across technicians. …

The Relationship Between Counselor-In-Training Personality Traits, Family-Of-Origin Characteristics And Working Alliance, Anthony W. Tatman

Dissertations

Research has revealed that the working alliance between counselors-in-training (CITs) and their clients predict therapeutic outcome (Horvath & Symonds, 1991; Parish & Eagle, 2003). The amount of research is limited, however, concerning CIT traits that facilitate the development of the working alliance (Ackerman & Hilsenroth, 2001; Ligiero & Gelso, 2002; Wampold, 2001). The purpose of the present study was to identify the degree to which CIT personality traits and family-of-origin (FOO) characteristics are associated with working alliance evaluations. This study utilized the 5 domains of personality, measured by the NEO-FFI (Costa & McCrae, 1992), and alexithymia, measured by the TAS-20 …

The Politics Of Neighborhood Governance: Understanding China’S State-Society Relations Through An Examination Of The Residents Committee, Jianfeng Wang

Dissertations

For the nearly three decades of coexistence between economic liberalization and political authoritarianism, China remains as an anomaly to the liberal mantraof our time. This project explores a segment of the China Paradox, the state-society interaction channeled by the Residents Committee. Being the largest urban neighborhood organization, the committee deserves study because of its controversial status interlaid between ordinary residents it claims to represent and the authoritarian state. The committee enters the discourse as a directly congruent example of the same paradox that the whole China displays, when it is endowed with important, yet tension-changed statutory functions ranging from social …

International Financial Integration, Sonila Beliu

Dissertations

During the last two decades, the degree of international financial integration (IFI) has increased substantially. This increased level of IFI has a number of benefits. First, it can lead to more efficient allocation of saving and investment across countries and, therefore, facilitate consumption smoothing. Second, it can enable domestic investors to achieve a higher level of diversification. Third, the industrial sector can benefit from having better access to the world’s capital supply and, eventually an increase in the level of IFI will have a positive impact on countries’ output growth. In all, higher levels of IFI can lead to a …