Digital Commons Network^™

Adsorption Of Lead On Single And Mixed Solid Systems, Soumya Das

Dissertations

Metal oxy-hydroxides and phyllosilicate minerals play a significant role in the fate and transport of heavy metals in the environment (Bertsch and Seaman, 1999). Chemical speciation of metals affects their bioavailability and chemical reactivity (Stumm and Morgan, 1996). Surface complexation models (SCMs) based on equilibrium thermodynamic principles have been successfully used to quantify adsorption of heavy metals on pure solid minerals, including phyllosilicates and oxy-hydroxides. For natural sediments with mixed mineralogy, Davis et al. (1998) suggested two different SCM approaches, namely, the component additivity and generalized composite models. In this study, adsorption of lead on pure HFO, silica and kaolinite …

Perceived Organizational Support And Ethical Work Climates As Predictors Of Turnover Intention Of Licensed Nurses In Skilled Nursing Facilities, Anna A. Filipova

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was twofold: (1) to replicate Victor and Cullen's (1987; 1988) studies to confirm whether ethical climates (ECs) arise in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), and whether organizations and groups within organizations have identifiable ECs; and (2) to test a model that examines the effects of ECs and perceived organizational support (POS) on licensed nurses' turnover intention (TOI) through job satisfaction (JS) and organizational commitment (OC).

A cross-sectional survey design was implemented. Three hundred and fifty nine freestanding SNFs were selected in a midwestern state. While a total of 110 facilities (31%) agreed to participate, responses were …

Perceptions And Intervention Practices Of Speech-Language Pathologists Serving Students With Emotional/Behavioral Disorders, Laura A. Getty

Dissertations

A relationship between emotional/behavioral disorders (E/BD) and language deficits has been validated by researchers in special education (Cantwell & Baker, 1991; Beichman, Cantwell, Forness, Kavale, & Kaufmann, 1998; Cohen, Barwick, Horodezky, Vallance, & Im, 1998) as well as researchers in speech-language pathology (Hyter, 2003; Hyter, Rogers-Adkinson, Self, Simmons, Jantz, 2001; Ruhl, Hughes, & Camarata, 1992; Gallagher, 1999; Fujiki, Brinton, Morgan, & Hart, 1999). The exact prevalence rate between E/BD and language deficits was not definitive as it varies between 35% and 97% depending on the study reviewed (Benner, Nelson, & Epstein, 2002). While it has been documented that a relationship …

Leadership-Influenced Practices That Impact Classroom Instruction Related To Writing: A Case Study Of A Successful Elementary School, Barb Johnson

Dissertations

This research studied the practices of educators at an ethnically diverse suburban elementary school which had demonstrated success in the area of student writing, even among at-risk students. The overall research goal was to examine to what extent and how leadership-related practices impacted classroom instruction in a manner that helped produce successful writing scores. A case study approach was used to explore four key leadership-related practices (supervision, curriculum, professional development, and knowledgeable leaders) and their impact on classroom literacy-based instructional strategies.

The study participants included two leaders and fourteen teachers from a single elementary school located in a metropolitan Michigan …

A Qualitative Exploration Of First-Generation Asian Indian Women In Cross-Cultural Marriages, Monica Thiagarajan

Dissertations

The literature on Asian Indian women has not adequately addressed the experiences that first generation Asian Indian women face while going through the process of making the decision to marry cross-culturally. The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify, describe, and understand the struggles, challenges, and conflict experienced by Asian Indian women who decide to marry cross-culturally and to understand the consequences of the decision on the lives of these women and their interpersonal relationships.

Initial and follow-up phone interviews were conducted with eight Asian Indian women who had experienced cultural and familial challenges regarding their decision to marry …

Gender Disparity In Nigerian Education: Women’S Experience Of Barriers To Equal Educational Opportunity, Eugene Okoli

Dissertations

Discrepancies between males and females in access to schooling, school completion rates, and participation in employment opportunities are still more the norm in some regions of the world than others. Limited access to education plagues women in Nigeria as well as in Sub-Saharan Africa. Disparity in access to educational opportunity is a pressing gender equity issue in Nigeria (World Bank, 2003).

Relatively few studies have focused on obtaining the viewpoints of women who experience this phenomenon. To hear the voices of these women regarding how they gained or were denied access to education in the Nigerian context, a cross-section of …

Michigan Elementary School Facility Quality And Its Impact On Student Achievement, Brett A. Geier

Dissertations

Studies on school facility quality and its impact on student achievement have been conducted throughout the nation with varying results. Some studies conclude a significant relationship exists between facility condition and student achievement, while others refute this potential phenomenon. Much of the research concludes that not enough analyses have been conducted to make appropriate generalizations. This research study focused on the condition ofelementary schools in Michigan and utilized the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (M.E.A.P.) examinations in reading and mathematics at the third, fourth and fifth grade levels as the dependent variable to assess the relationship between building condition and student …

Differences In Bachelors Degree Attainment: Are College Degrees A Function Of Habitus?, Colin S. Mccaleb

Dissertations

This study sought evidence that Pierre Bourdieu's habitus influences college graduation and college transferring patterns. Hypothesizing that low socio-economic students have to change their habitus in the elitist environment of higher education, two research questions were advanced to explore this phenomenon, the first asking if there was evidence consistent with the idea that habitus influenced graduation rates, the second question asking if there was evidence consistent with the idea that habitus influenced transferring patterns. Under each research question, several hypotheses were tested using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, Chi square tests of independence, and logistic regressions. Income and civic participation …

Extensions Of Two-Part Tests To Compare K Independent Populations, Marwan Daoud

Dissertations

We consider two-part models that are mixtures of a point-mass variable with all mass at zero and a continuous random variable. The model may assume a particular distributionh(x) for the continuous part such as a log-normal or a gamma. The response variable is defined as y=(x, d), where d=1 if x > 0 and d=0 if x = 0. The probability distribution function has the following form: fx,d=p ^1-d×1-p ×hx ^d.

Lachenbruch (1976, 2001) proposed several tests to compare means of two populations for this type of data. We proposed a two-part Wald test and …

Audio-Assisted Reading With Digital Audiobooks For Upper Elementary Students With Reading Disabilities, Kelli J. Esteves

Dissertations

Audio-assisted reading has been used as an effective instructional intervention for students with learning disabilities (Carbo, 1978; Gilbert, Williams, & McLaughlin, 1996) and with struggling readers (Chomsky, 1976; Hollingsworth, 1978; Hoskisson & Krohm, 1974; Koskinen, Blum, Bisson, Phillips, Creamer, & Baker, 2000; Rasinski, 1990). The strategy involves reading along while listening to an audio recording of a fluent model (Evans, 1997).

The goal of this study was to compare the efficacy of audio-assisted reading with digital audiobooks against the traditional practice of sustained silent reading in terms of reading fluency rates and reading attitude scores with upper elementary students with …

Treatment Of Co-Morbid Methamphetamine Substance Abuse And Borderline Personality Disorder Features Using Modified Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Jessica R. Schultz Fischer

Dissertations

The study investigated the effectiveness of a time-limited, skills-based treatment in a population of female substance abusers. This project implemented a pilot clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a 12-session modified Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) protocol among a small sample of women, with co-morbid borderline personality disorder features, receiving concurrent outpatient treatment for methamphetamine abuse. A non-concurrent multiple baseline design was used. In addition to on-going assessment conducted during baseline and weekly over the course of treatment, a comprehensive assessment battery was administered pre-, and post-treatment as well as at 1 and 3 months following treatment. Findings suggest that …

Therapists' Handling Of Secrets Between Partners In Couple Therapy, Michael Alan Jansen

Dissertations

This study examines couple therapists' policies, procedures, and perspectives regarding secrets between partners in couple therapy. Handling secrets appropriately is necessary to avoid legal, ethical and therapeutic problems, especially when the secret involves contentious or potentially dangerous material such as infidelity, divorce, paternity, and HIV/AIDS infection. One hundred sixty randomly selected Clinical Members of the AAMFT participated in a 38-question researcher-generated mail survey. Data provided descriptive statistics and allowed for between-groups comparisons to explore for differences between therapists with regard to experience and several specific practices related to handling secrets. The study also examined whether courses in HIV/AIDS confidentiality law …

Creating A Culture Of Safety: The Influence Of Medical Simulation On The Attitudes Of Surgical Team Members, Diane J. Jones

Dissertations

The objective of this study was to determine change in individual and aggregate attitudes of the members of two subspecialty surgery teams (cardiac and vascular) in six domains (teamwork climate, safety climate, job satisfaction, stress recognition, perception of management, and working conditions) following medical team simulation and debriefing exercises. The study was a pre-post partially randomized controlled, quasi-experimental study that took place in a 545-bed hospital with a high-volume cardiovascular surgery program. Participants included interdisciplinary team members caring for cardiac and vascular surgery patients.

Main outcome measures included change in responses to safety attitudes questionnaires (SAQs) administered before, 1 week …

A March Of Moral Panic?: An Examination Of Reaction To Crime In Ireland In March 2006, Robin Maginn

Dissertations

Moral Panic is a concept that examines disproportionate reaction towards an event or persons. In March of 2006, several events occurred which provoked strong reactions from the media and from politicians. This thesis explores and examines those reactions, and will try to determine if a moral panic could be said to have occurred. This is accomplished through a qualitative reading of the reactions, by identifying themes running through the discourse on crime of the time in question, and by applying indicators of moral panic to the data. The study finds that though the reactions may not necessarily indicate moral panic, …

Principals And Library Media Specialists Working Together: A Case Study Of One Elementary School, Diane Elaine Gregg

Dissertations

Elementary school principals are busy people. They are torn away from instructional duties by daily emergencies and are challenged to track student achievement and plan for improvements. Library media specialists are in a position to help principals improve teaching and learning. Gaining a better understanding of a positive and productive working relationship between a principal and a library media specialist will give the field valuable insight into how present-day schools can meet the needs of instructional and administrative leadership. This qualitative study examined the working relationship of an elementary school principal and library media specialist in a public school setting. …

Wireless Lan 802.11x In U.S. Educational Institutions: Technology Adoption And Digital Divide Perspective, Sang-Baek (Chris) Kang

Dissertations

The current study of wireless local area networks (WLAN) adoption in educational institutions is motivated by three reasons. First, most students are exposed to information technology when they are at K-12 schools. Indeed, educational institutions represent the largest segment in the WLAN market in the United States in terms of the number of adopters. Second, WLAN requires a substantial financial investment before it can enable an "anytime, anywhere" learning environment, and may thereby aggravate the digital divide between rich and poor schools. Third, although WLAN is infrastructure technology, it has different characteristics compared to other infrastructure information technologies; traditional infrastructure …

Nurturing Peace: United Nations Peacebuilding Operations In The Aftermath Of Intrastate Conflicts, 1945-2002, Duk Hyang Kim

Dissertations

After World War II, intrastate conflicts rapidly replaced interstate conflicts as the dominant threat to international peace and security, a trend that has become all the more evident in the post-Cold War era. Given the prevalence of civil wars, there is increasing awareness of the need for post-conflict settlement procedures, development of local capacity for conflict resolution, and long-term peacebuilding efforts. In his 1992 An Agenda for Peace, former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali encouraged the international community to take responsibility for the full range of post-conflict management roles by introducing ?post-conflict peace-building.? Even though the term ?peacebuilding? did not …

Structural Models Of Comorbid Anxiety And Depression In A Primary-Care Older Adult Sample: Effect Of Medical Illness Severity, Threat, Chronicity, And Progressiveness On Model Fit, William Michael Palmer

Dissertations

Recent research suggests that anxiety disorders may be more common in later life than previously thought. Among other factors, the presence of comorbid mood disorders and medical illness confounds accurate assessment and diagnosis of these conditions in the elderly. There have been few studies, however, examining the structural relationships between anxiety and depression with older-adult samples, and even fewer have considered the effect of medical illness on these relationships. This study examined three established structural models of anxiety and depression, using a clinical sample of older adults seeking treatment in a primary-care setting (N = 2,163). It was hypothesized that …

Mobile Information Communication Technology For Crisis Management : Understanding User Behavior, Response And Training, Elizabeth Avery Gomez

Dissertations

SMS text-messaging is an interoperable communication vehicle known to be dependable for mass media alert notifications in crisis management. SMS text-messaging also offers potential as one viable two-way communication alternative for field responders in crisis response. Both continuously changing mobile information communication technologies and the importance of precise information exchange constitute a need for communication protocol training and practice. This study introduces a technology-mediated training technique based on speech act and communicative action theories. These theories are used to inform the design of a baseline measure for task performance improvement and to suggest a model to predict communication readiness. Because …

Designing Multimodal Interaction For The Visually Impaired, Xiaoyu Chen

Dissertations

Although multimodal computer input is believed to have advantages over unimodal input, little has been done to understand how to design a multimodal input mechanism to facilitate visually impaired users' information access.

This research investigates sighted and visually impaired users' multimodal interaction choices when given an interaction grammar that supports speech and touch input modalities. It investigates whether task type, working memory load, or prevalence of errors in a given modality impact a user's choice. Theories in human memory and attention are used to explain the users' speech and touch input coordination.

Among the abundant findings from this research, the …

Interaction Of Methoxyethyl Methyl Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquids With Uranium And Its Effect On Bioreduction Of Uranium, Hao Wang

Dissertations

Ionic liquids (ILs) are new materials with unique properties such as non-measurable vapor pressure, low melting point below 100°C and tunable physical-chemical properties. These liquids demonstrate tremendous potential applications in many fields, including nuclear waste treatment.

In this study, new MOEMIM (methoxyethyl methyl imidazolium)-based ionic liquids were synthesized. Their properties were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy (UV-vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ETIR), mass spectroscopy (MS) and NMR (Nuclear magnetic resonance). The interaction between ILs and uranium has been explored by various analysis techniques, including pH, potentiometric titration, UV-vis, MS and EXAFS (extended x-ray absorption fine structure). Among all the ILs studied …

Design, Fabrication And Testing Of A Fiber Optic Stress/Strain Sensor For Soft Stretchable Materials Using Polarization Imaging Technique, Jianjun Zheng

Dissertations

The polarization imaging technique has been used to obtain high quality surface images of turbid media. This technique can be slightly modified and used for noninvasive sensing of strain and stress in soft stretchable materials, such as latex and human tissues. Previously this sensing method was developed with free space bulk optics. In this study, a fiber optic based system is developed to investigate the potential application of this technology on the strain/stress as well as surface roughness measurements of stretchable materials. In this system, polarizers are simply attached to the fiber ends to form a polarizing three-fiber probe. Furthermore, …

Cognitive Vs. Supportive Therapy For Distressed Collegians, Jean Clore

Dissertations

Rates of depressive symptoms, psychological distress, and low self-esteem appear to be growing on college campuses. Determining how best to help distressed collegians is an important public health concern, as these individuals appear to be at significant risk for further deterioration, disrupted quality of life, and impaired ability to succeed in college. This study compared the effects of (a) six sessions of cognitive therapy (CT; training in two cognitive modification strategies—building positive self-thoughts and disputing negative self-thoughts) to (b) six sessions of non-directive, supportive therapy (ST). Fifty-three students from a large mid-western university reporting low self-esteem and significant levels of …

A Study To Investigate The Relationship Between A User’S Thermal Comfort And Seat Pan Materials, Anil Raghavendra Kumar

Dissertations

Workers performing sedentary tasks in job types such as administrative, technical, customer service and executive could be seated for four or more hours during their normal work shift. Due to the prolonged periods of sitting, a worker could experience dissatisfaction, discomfort, and fatigue, which could lead to reduced performance. Symptoms of discomfort could over time lead to injuries and illnesses such as low back pain, cumulative trauma disorders, disc herniation, and pressure ulcers.

Evaluating The Immediate Impact And Short-Term Therapeutic Effects Of The “Internalized-Other” Interviewing With Couples, Shai M. Brosh

Dissertations

The present study examined empirically the immediate and short-term therapeutic effects of the internalized-other interview (Tomm, 1996) with couples during a single session and compared it with the standard method of interviewing couples (i.e., treatment as usual). Thirty-two married couples (N = 64 participants) were randomly assigned into one of two conditions (internalized-other versus standard interviewing). Couples attended an initial interview session and two follow-ups (one and four-weeks respectively). Self-reported measures of session impact were taken immediately after the session, while self-reported measures of marital satisfaction, intimacy, closeness and empathy were taken at baseline (before the session) and during …

Work Stress, Non-Work Stress And Mental Health Among School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists: Effects Of Social Support, Lena Gloria Caesar

Dissertations

This study utilized secondary data from the Work and Well-being of SLPs survey (Caesar, 2004) to examine possible sources (predictors) of work stress, job satisfaction, and psychological distress among 409 speech-language pathologists (SLPs) employed in public school settings in Michigan. This study also investigated the relationship of work-related and non-work-related stress to the mental health status of SLPs and sought to determine the mediating and/or moderating effects of varied types of social support on the mental health of respondents. Data analysis was done in three stages. First, each of the dependent and independent variables were described statistically. Secondly, correlation analyses …

Private Narratives In Public Places: The Experiences Of Predominantly White Gay Male Undergraduates On Lgb Classroom Panels, James Patrick Dolan Jr.

Dissertations

The scholarly literature addresses the common practice and effectiveness of using classroom panel presentations by lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) speakers to increase awareness of LGB experiences and to change attitudes. However, little is known about the experiences of the speakers themselves or how the experience may affect the speaker's sense of self or identity. From an identity as narrative perspective, the goal of this study was to learn what effect the repeated telling of a coming out story in a public setting may have on the teller's identity, the story they tell, and the meanings and feelings associated with …

A Phenomenological Study Assessing African American Women’S Perspectives On Successful Heterosexual Relationships, Shamika Yolanda Latrell Hall

Dissertations

This study seeks to understand successful African American relationships from the perspective of African American females. Recognizing the impact of structural factors on African Americans, as well as the limits of imposing Eurocentric definitions of successful relationships, this study seeks to understand how African American women themselves describe successful relationships and to identify factors that have influenced their ideas about what is required for them to have healthy, happy, long-lasting, nurturing relationships. Design of the present study is informed by findings from Stephens-Williams' (1992) study of successful African American relationships, as well as a broader review of structural, sociological, and …

Citation Analysis And Journal Impact In School Psychology: 1995-2004, Rebecca Lanai Jennings-Knotts

Dissertations

The present study is a citation analysis of the school psychology literature from 1995-2004. Data from six major journals over a 10-year period were analyzed to determine the disciplines, books, and authors who most heavily impacted school psychology. Findings suggest that school psychology is characterized by high levels of interdisciplinary collaboration, and that the school psychology literature maintains relatively low self-citation and cross-citation rates when compared to other domains of psychology. As in previous investigations, the field of education was found to be less influential than the field of special education. The impact of behavior analysis varied significantly by school …

Evaluation Of A School-Based Program Targeting Pediatric Asthma Self-Management Skills In An Urban Population, Dawn J. Dore-Stites

Dissertations

Asthma is the most commonly diagnosed chronic disorder in childhood and is linked with several problematic outcomes including frequent school absences, increased hospitalizations and decreased quality of life. Further, urban populations struggling with low socioeconomic status are disproportionately represented in prevalence statistics and suffer from increased functional morbidity relative to other children with asthma. These findings exist in the midst of largely effective pharmacological interventions.

Asthma self-management programs (SMPs) target several behaviors linked to improved outcomes and are often used as an adjunct to medication management. SMPs have been employed using a variety of techniques and treatment targets in a …