Fostering Resilience: A Pilot Study For Mindful Yoga As An Intervention For Adolescents Exposed To Chronic Adversity, Michele Pinellas

Dissertations

The effects of ongoing stress can cause chronic affect dysregulation, destructive behavior against self and others, learning disabilities, dissociative problems, somatization, and distortions in concepts about self and others (Bessel van der Kolk, 1994, p. 259). There may be particular benefits for youth who live in urban, underserved populations as they have experienced social challenges such as poverty, violence, drugs, racism, and immigration. Given the historical tendency of youth to express their emotions externally as a coping strategy, there is rationale to support a physically based treatment, like yoga, as an intervention for this population (Beltran et al., 2016). This …

Exploration Of The Link Between Migration And Acculturation Related-Stress, Attachment Style, And Psychological Distress In Arab Immigrants, Refugees, And Asylees, Hayat Nadar Psy.D.

Dissertations

Abstract

The migration process is fraught with experiences of ethnic discrimination and has been linked to heightened levels of psychological and acculturative stress. Interestingly, earlier research revealed a higher prevalence of insecure attachment in migrant compared to non-migrant populations. Attachment style may be influenced by sociocultural and sociopolitical forces and the associated prejudice and discrimination experienced by a particular migrant population. The current study was conducted to explore whether higher levels of sociocultural adversity were associated with increased psychological distress and attachment insecurity and to test attachment as a mediator between sociocultural adversity and psychological distress. Using a cross-sectional design, …

Career Influences: A Phenomenological Study Of Career Influences Of African American Women In The Counseling Profession., Tamara L. Ford

Dissertations

The current literature concerning African American women in the counseling profession is limited. Research is available regarding women in the profession; however, research on African American women is scarce. This study seeks to add to the body of literature by exploring the reasons African American women become counselors, thereby improving recruitment techniques to increase representation in the field and improve mental health care for the African American community. This qualitative research study used a phenomenological approach to explore, interpret, and describe the lived experiences of eight African American women who are Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors currently practicing in the …

Life After Menopause: Quality Of Life In Women Diagnosed With Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome After The Childbearing Years, Katelyn Baker

Dissertations

Very little research has been conducted in regards to what happens after a woman diagnosed with PCOS is menopausal or post menopausal. This study researched the quality of life in women with PCOS before and after menopause in an attempt to compare the two groups.

Enrichment Of Ontologies Using Machine Learning And Summarization, Hao Liu

Dissertations

Biomedical ontologies are structured knowledge systems in biomedicine. They play a major role in enabling precise communications in support of healthcare applications, e.g., Electronic Healthcare Records (EHR) systems. Biomedical ontologies are used in many different contexts to facilitate information and knowledge management. The most widely used clinical ontology is the SNOMED CT. Placing a new concept into its proper position in an ontology is a fundamental task in its lifecycle of curation and enrichment.

A large biomedical ontology, which typically consists of many tens of thousands of concepts and relationships, can be viewed as a complex network with concepts as …

Mathematical Models And Tools To Understand Coupled Circadian Oscillations And Limit Cycling Systems, Guangyuan Liao

Dissertations

The circadian rhythm refers to an internal body process that regulates many body processes including the sleep-wake cycle, digestion and hormone release. The ability of a circadian system to entrain to the 24-hour light-dark cycle is one of the most important properties. There are several scenarios in which circadian oscillators do not directly receive light-dark forcing. Instead they are part of hierarchical systems in which, as \peripheral" oscillators, they are periodically forced by other \central" circadian oscillators that do directly receive light input. Such dynamics are modeled as hierarchical coupled limit cycle systems. Those models usually have a large population, …

In Partnership? Pedestrian Plazas In New York City, Topal Vardi Topal

Dissertations

Traditional public spaces —such as public parks, streets, and public squares—have long been part of the urban landscape. In today’s congested cities, however, creating such public spaces is difficult because they require capital investment, vacant land, and ongoing maintenance. Possibly in response to these obstacles, new types of urban public spaces have emerged.

Pedestrian plazas, one of these new types, is the topic of this research, with a focus on the New York City Plaza Program, which was the first such program in the U.S. For this research, the design, management, and use characteristics of five completed pedestrian plazas were …

Genetic Population Structure And Microbiome Of German Cockroaches In Urban Environments, Xueyang Fan

Dissertations

Pests of human habitats may harbor and disperse pathogens that cause human disease. One such pest is the German cockroach (Blattella germanica), which is known to harbor numerous pathogens, including Klebsiella and Pseudomonas. The aim of this study is to reveal the importance of the German cockroach as a potential vector of human medically important diseases. To do so, this study investigates German cockroach population structure and their associated bacterial microbiome in urban residential environments. Ninety German cockroaches are collected from three residential apartment buildings in three New Jersey cities. Samples are caught by glue traps and stored at -20°C. …

Peer-To-Peer Consumption In 3d Printing Design, Weizhi Chen

Dissertations

Three-dimensional printing or additive manufacturing is a new element in new product development that emphasizes on digitalization and innovation. However, due to its new emergence, existing research has rarely explored its mechanism and benefits especially in marketing, new product development and innovation. This research addresses the mechanism of 3D printing under collaborative consumption in the age of personal fabrication. The primary focus of this research lies at the intersection of marketing, 3D printing in collaborative consumption, and data science. Online peer-to-peer 3D printing sharing platform myminifactory.com is utilized as primary study context. In this research, two types of product design …

Investigating The Combined Effects Of Whole Body Vibration And Vestibular Stimulation On Spasticity And Dystonia In Cerebral Palsy, Peter A. Michael

Dissertations

This study identifies and addresses three voids and potential shortcomings associated with the classification, assessment and management of Cerebral Palsy (CP). These concerns should not undermine the significant advancement that has been made in this specific branch of rehabilitation, but addressing them is necessary. Cerebral Palsy is a group of motor impairments due to hypoxic-ischemic brain damage around the time of birth and very commonly manifests as excessive muscle tone and poor motor control. There are classifications within CP including spasticity and dystonia.

First, a level of discrepancy is present in the classification of CP between the clinical and research …

Mind Maps And Machine Learning: An Automation Framework For Qualitative Research In Entrepreneurship Education, Yasser Farha

Dissertations

Entrepreneurship Education researchers often measure entrepreneurial motivation of college students. It is important for stakeholders, such as policymakers and educators, to assert if entrepreneurship education can encourage students to become entrepreneurs, as well as to understand factors that influence entrepreneurial motivation. For that purpose, researchers have used different methods and instruments to measure students' entrepreneurial motivation. Most of these methods are quantitative, e.g., closed-ended surveys, whereas qualitative methods, e.g., open-ended surveys, are rarely used.

Mind maps are an attractive qualitative survey tool because they capture the individual's reflections, thoughts, and experiences. For Entrepreneurship Education, mind maps can be utilized to …

Biomechanical Loading Changes Between Species In Mild Blast-Induced Traumatic Brain Injury, Jose Juan Rodriguez

Dissertations

Blast-induced traumatic brain injury (bTBI) has become one of the leading injury modalities in military personnel and is considered a signature injury in veterans returning from conflicts in the Middle East. One of the main concerns in studying bTBI is translating animal experiments to clinical applications that can service veterans. Significant advances have been made using animal models in relating external shock waves to emerging neuropathophysiological and behavioral outcomes. However, it is unknown if these results are applicable to humans; and if so, can an interspecies transfer function be developed based on size, shape, and material response. This work aims …

Microglia Induced Neuroinflammation Through The Nlrp3 Inflammasome Following Blast Traumatic Brain Injury, Daniel Younger

Dissertations

The incidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) among military personnel have been steadily increasing with modern conflicts. A recent RAND report estimated 320,000 service members, totaling 20% of deployed forces, suffer from TBI. However, of this population roughly 60% have not seen a medical professional specifically for TBI. Unlike the civilian population, the primary cause of TBI for active-duty military personnel is blast exposure. Blasts now account for over 70% of all US military casualties in operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation enduring freedom (OEF) and are the major cause of TBI. Among many pathological mechanisms associated with blast TBI, …

Institutional Logics And The Double Bottom Line: A Study Of Chikum Microfinance Bank Limited, Daniel Anyanwu

Dissertations

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) serve a social mission, while also having to focus on financial sustainability. Microfinance emerged as an alternative to traditional aid to the poor and aims to help alleviate poverty through providing them with financial services. MFIs can be self-sustainable and even profitable through income generating activities. This twin goal of commercial viability and social mission has generated much scholarly interest in the competition between two seemingly incompatible logics of action. Assumptions about the incompatibility of profit and mission motives have dominated the literature and led to a neglect of how some MFIs may be successful in integrating …

Analyzing And Assisting Patient Decision-Making In Online Health Communities, Mingda Li

Dissertations

In recent years, many users have joined online health communities (OHC) to seek information, suggestions and social support. However, little has been studied about the roles of OHCs in patients' decision-making processes. The aim of this research is to analyze OHC data to better understand patient decision-making processes, and to provide assistance to OHC users in their decision-making.

In order to analyze or assist patients in their decision-making, a novel classification model is designed to identify discussion threads in OHC that are related to decision making. This is achieved by building a two-step combined deep learning model. Empirical evaluation shows …

Graphene Based Barrier Membrane For Gas Separation Processes, Cheng Peng

Dissertations

Novel graphene oxide (GO) flake-based composite lamellar membrane structure is being developed as a potential component of a garment for protection against chemical warfare agents (CWAs) represented here by simulants, dimethyl methyl phosphonate (DMMP) (a sarin-simulant) and 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide (2-CEES) (a simulant for sulfur mustard), yet allowing a high moisture transmission rate. GO flakes of dimensions 300-800 nm, 0.7-1.2 nm thickness and dispersed in an aqueous suspension are formed into a membrane by vacuum filtration on a porous polyethersulfone (PES) or poly (ether-ether-ketone) (PEEK) support membrane for noncovalent π-π interactions with GO flakes. After physical compression of such a …

Accurate Patient Health Condition Identification And Risk Prediction From Health Data, Jinhe Shi

Dissertations

Online Health communities (OHCs), Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and Claims data contain rich patient information. Accurate identification of patient's health conditions is critical for providing effective and safe health care service and for trustable knowledge discovery. This dissertation proposes several deep-learning based techniques on identifying patient health conditions and predicting adverse drug event (ADE) risks using various health data.

First, this dissertation presents a novel patient experience mining model to differentiate the data expressing user experiences from the one describing hearsays. Indeed, OHCs contain information with varying degrees of quality. Identifying information that describes patient health experience from OHCs is …

Error Correction For Asynchronous Communication And Probabilistic Burst Deletion Channels, Chen Yi

Dissertations

Short-range wireless communication with low-power small-size sensors has been broadly applied in many areas such as in environmental observation, and biomedical and health care monitoring. However, such applications require a wireless sensor operating in "always-on" mode, which increases the power consumption of sensors significantly. Asynchronous communication is an emerging low-power approach for these applications because it provides a larger potential of significant power savings for recording sparse continuous-time signals, a smaller hardware footprint, and a lower circuit complexity compared to Nyquist-based synchronous signal processing.

In this dissertation, the classical Nyquist-based synchronous signal sampling is replaced by asynchronous sampling strategies, i.e., …

A Cost Analysis Of Two Academic-Based Nursing Centers, Deborah Vincent

Dissertations

A nursing center is an ambulatory care clinic in which nurses provide health care to clients and manage the operational and financial functions of the center. During the 1980s, academic based nursing centers proliferated largely due to the need for clinical teaching sites for undergraduate and graduate nursing students and the availability of funding for demonstration projects for undeserved populations. However, financial instability has led to the closure of many nursing centers and placed others at risk for closure. Employing gross costing, activities based costing techniques, and time studies, this study analyzed the operating costs of a financially troubled academic-based …

A Pilot Study To Evaluate The Effectiveness Of The National Diabetes Prevention Program In An Urban Medically Underserved Community, Stefanie Annette Schroeter

Dissertations

This study evaluated the effectiveness of participation in the National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP) for weight reduction in a sample of prediabetic individuals in an urban medically underserved community. The NDPP was developed from research demonstrating a reduced risk for diabetes in prediabetic individuals who participated in an intensive lifestyle intervention program aimed at reducing weight and improving lifestyle habits. The NDPP was integrated into existing services within a medically underserved urban community health center to provide this evidence-based program targeted to high-risk prediabetic patients.

An Ethnography Study Of Hiv Positive Midlife Black Women, Charlotte Stoudmire

Dissertations

Black women, ages 45 and older, are disproportionately affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In 2001, Black women comprised 11% of all older women in the United States; however, they accounted for more than 50% of AIDS cases and more than 65% of HIV cases (Winningham et al., 2004). The literature review reflected little research specifically looking at the reason(s) for the increase in HIV in Black women, ages 45 to 60. Furthermore, few research studies focused on HIV patient health beliefs and their experiences in living with HIV. This study was conducted with an ethnography research method coupled with the …

Parental Influences On Late Adolescents' Autonomous Motivation And Sexual Risk Knowledge And Behavior, Bettina Hornbuckle Riley

Dissertations

Adolescent risky sexual behavior is associated with unprotected sex, unplanned pregnancy, abortion, and contraction of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as chlamydia, syphilis, gonorrhea, and HIV/AIDS. During their time of transition to adulthood, late adolescents make decisions about their sexual health that may or may not be motivated by parental (mother and father) sexual risk communication and autonomy support. While the adolescent may be physically independent or semi-independent from his/her parents, parents continue to influence their adolescents through past and present endorsement of certain behaviors. This research examined how parent-sexual risk communication and parental autonomy support may individually and collectively …

The Geriatric Cancer Experience In End Of Life: Model Adaptation And Testing, Harleah Graham Buck

Dissertations

The National Institutes of Health recommends the development of conceptual models to increase rigor and improve evaluation in research. Validated models are essential to guide conceptualizations of phenomena, selection of variables and development of testable hypotheses. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a methodology useful in model testing due to its ability to account for measurement error and test latent variables. The purpose of this study was to test a model of The Geriatric Cancer Experience in End of Life as adapted from Emanuel and Emanuel's framework for a good death using SEM.

A Case Study Of The Professionalization Of Mexican Nursing: 1980 To 2005, Allison Patricia Squires

Dissertations

This exploratory case study examined the professionalization of nursing in Mexico between 1980 and 2005 with the aim of improving understanding about Mexican nursing human resources. The twenty-five year period was selected because it represented a period of significant economic and political change in Mexico that would have impacted Mexican nurses both personally and professionally.

The Relationships Among Social Support, Spiritual Well-Being, Commitment And Health-Promoting Behaviors In Older Adults, Clara S. Boland

Dissertations

Study purpose was to examine relationships among personal factors, social support, spiritual well-being, commitment and health-promoting behaviors in three elderly age groups. Pender's revised Health Promotion Model (HPM) guided development of a theoretical model for this correlational study. Criteria for inclusion were (a) self-caring, (b) community dwellers, (c) English speaking, (d) adults aged 65 and older who were (e) without known cognitive impairment.

A Study To Determine The Relationship Between Classroom Teacher Attendance And Student Success, Meagan Stanley

Dissertations

Students that consistently have access to high-quality teachers and teaching strategies experience higher degrees of success (Frieberg, 2013). In the absence of high-quality, professional classroom teacher, students may not succeed at the rate they would otherwise. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between classroom teacher attendance and student success. Student success factors (attendance, behavior, and achievement) were examined in connection with classroom teacher attendance. The study included students in grades Kindergarten through Fifth grade who attended Kindergarten through Fifth grade buildings in a Midwestern school district. The literature reviewed for this study reiterated the importance of …

Noncognitive Characteristics And Family Income: The Impact Of Socioeconomic Status On Grit Levels And Mindset Types, Joshua A. Teeter

Dissertations

Noncognitive characteristics have been identified as essential predictors of academic success (Duckworth, 2016, 2019; Farrington et al., 2012). Grit and growth mindset are two noncognitive characteristics that predict academic success; therefore, this study was conducted to determine if there is a difference in grit level and mindset types among students from different socioeconomic backgrounds (Duckworth, 2019; Dweck, 2010b). Researchers and educators have focused heavily on identifying and implementing interventions to improve students’ cognitive factors, yet little attention has been given to finding ways to improve students’ noncognitive traits (Cooper, Krieg, & Brownell, 2018). High school students from a school district …

Increasing Provider Awareness To Detect, Treat, And Reduce Sexually Transmitted Infections In Male Service Members, Vincent E. Krause

Dissertations

The incidence of sexually transmitted infections within the military continues to rise at rates higher than that of the civilian population. The project was developed to improve provider perception related to the male patient's sexual history, practices, and attitudes and focus on adherence to the recommended guidelines related to screening for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), specifically Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Education was provided regarding recommended screening criteria, screening protocols, interview techniques, screening options available, and statistical data. The goal was to increase provider awareness and laboratory diagnosis of STI screenings among the male population, reducing chlamydia and gonorrhea infections …

The Lived Experiences Of African American Male Students: An Exploration Of African American Male Student Athletes And African American Male Student Nonathletes At California Community Colleges, Marie Harris

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences and differences between African American male student athletes and African American male student nonathletes at California community colleges. Methodology: The methodology of this study is a qualitative phenomenological design to explore the lived experiences of African American males who are student athletes and those who are student nonathletes enrolled at three California community colleges. In depth and semistructured interviewing techniques were utilized to capture their stories. Findings: There were 9 major findings that emerged through the data collection and analysis. The findings showed that African American …

Talent Retention: An Empirical Examination Of A 21st Century United States Department Of Agriculture, James Ellis Jordan Jr

Dissertations

Federal organizations at all levels are experiencing difficulty retaining talented employees and must examine current strategies to retain talented high performing employees. Thirty-one percent of government-wide employees will be eligible to retire by 2022 (GAO, 2019). As a result, government organizations need to examine generational expectations and values related to talent retention, which may prove beneficial when developing strategies for the current workforce. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty-five Generation X and millennial federal government employees to gain an in-depth understanding of their insights related to talent retention in the federal government context. Additionally, supplemental quantitative data were collected that …