Digital Commons Network^™

Correlates Of Body Image Of Undergraduate Females Attending Andrews University, Jennifer L. Dabros

Dissertations

Problem: Literature on the relationship between ethnic identity and body image has been scarce, focusing almost entirely on the Asian and/or Hispanic population. The purpose of this study is to examine the influence that ethnic identity has on the body image of undergraduate females.

Method: In the present study, I explored the extent to which body image is related to ethnicity in a diverse sample of 345 undergraduate females (43.5% Caucasian American, 17.4% African American, 9.3% West Indian/Caribbean, 14.8% Hispanic American, 12.5%, Asian American, & 2.6% Multi-ethnic) from a Seventh-day Adventist university. Possible correlates of body dissatisfaction such as ethnic …

The Relationship Between Attitudes Toward The "No Child Left Behind" Law And Perceived Levels Of Burnout Among Teachers In Berrien County, Michigan, Carmen George

Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to explore the extent to which variations in the three subscales of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) are influenced by teachers' attitude toward the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. This study also examined the extent to which years of teaching experience and class size influence differences in reported levels of burnout.

Method: Teacher perception of the NCLB Act and how it contributes to teacher burnout in this study was examined by utilizing two instruments. First was the MBI-ES instrument which captures a three-dimensional profile of burnout: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal …

Impact Of First Disclosure Experience And Internalized Stigma On Disclosure Patterns In The Hiv+ Community, Mary Elizabeth Talbot

Dissertations

The present study examined possible antecedent factors that contribute to the type of discloser (HIV status) one becomes as well as the relation between discloser type, social support, and CD4 count. This study builds off previous research by Stutterheim et al. (2011) that examined differences between disclosure groups on a variety of variables, but the study did not examine variables that may contribute to the type of discloser a person becomes. The present study examined two variables that previous research suggests may influence the type of discloser (relative non-discloser, selective discloser, full discloser) a person becomes, first-disclosure experience, and internalized …

Empowering Homeless Youth In Transitional Living Programs: A Transformative Mixed Methods Approach To Understanding Their Transition To Adulthood, Ashley Etzel Ausikaitis

Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to gain insight into the journeys of homeless youth residing in transitional living programs in the Chicago area. There are multiple factors that can lead youth to homelessness as well as various risks made greater by living on the street that can lead to negative life outcomes. There is a dearth of research on outcomes of youth in transitional living programs, particularly research that includes the perspectives of those receiving services. This researcher partnered with three transitional living sites that serve homeless youth ages 18 to 24. Utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods, the …

Brandy Nan And Farmer George: Public Perceptions Of Royal Health And The Demystification Of English Monarchy During The Long Eighteenth Century, Steven Catania

Dissertations

This dissertation investigates how public comments related to the body natural and the body politic of the English monarchs, particularly in newspapers and other forms of print culture, changed between 1688 and 1789. It argues that by examining the depth and type of reportage on royal health and the sovereign's body, coupled with Parliament's increasing involvement in such activities, it is possible to see the irregular trajectory of how the English monarchy was demystified during the long eighteenth century. Additionally, this work shows how the topic of monarchical health went from being an illicit subject, to one associated with a …

Catalytic Mechanism And Maturation Of The Metalloenzyme Nitrile Hydratase, Natalie I. Gumataotao

Dissertations

Nitrile hydratases are metalloenzymes that catalyze the hydration of nitriles to their corresponding amides in a specific manner at ambient pressures and temperatures at neutral pH. Traditional industrial methods require high temperature and pressure, extreme pH, and heavy metals. NHases are used as biocatalysts in the large scale industrial production of amide precursors to textiles, animal feedstock, and polymers. Notably, NHase is used in the production of ~100,000 tons of acrylamide annually by the Mitsubishi Corporation.

Despite being used extensively in industry, questions remain about NHase. The catalytic mechanism is not defined. Understanding the way in which the nitrile is …

Urban Agriculture And Sustainability In Chicago, Matthew Hoffmann

Dissertations

Sustainability is increasingly informing the organization of urban life. In the past 15 years, cities have sought to alleviate the dual effects of environmental degradation and a changing economy by introducing sustainable development initiatives. Policy makers and environmental activists have often praised these efforts, pointing to the enhancement of quality of life, the mitigation of industrial pollution, and these initiatives' capacity to address poverty in a post-welfare state. Most popular depictions of the experiences of sustainability come from the perspective of white, middle class, college-educated volunteers and, increasingly, social entrepreneurs such as artisans, farmers, and other producers connected to "local" …

Investigating The Professional Values Of Teachers: The Differential Impact Of Accountability On Teachers' Career Decisions, Cortney Rowland King

Dissertations

Education reform and policy efforts have focused a great deal on teachers over the past decade or more. Reform efforts focused on accountability have altered how teachers are paid, how they spend their time, how they are evaluated, what they are accountable for, and what sort of control they have over their daily tasks. At the same time, teacher attrition continues to rise. This study employed principal component analysis (PCA) on a subset of questions from the National Center for Education Statistics' (NCES) 2007-2008 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) and 2008-2009 Teacher Follow-up Survey (TFS) data. I examined the extent …

Social Media And Reflective Thinking: A Case Study Of Generation Y Business Students, Stacy Neier

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Some Of My Best Dolls Are Black: Colorblind Rhetoric In Online Collecting Communities, Rebecca Joan West

Dissertations

While dolls are beloved play objects, they have also been the subject of social critique for many years. From the generic "baby" to the sexualized Barbie, they have been alternately praised and vilified for their role in forming the behaviors and identities of the children who play with them. However, such criticism overlooks a key component of doll play: the element of the adults who purchase the dolls, for children as well as for themselves, and the ways in which such toys are used to express engagement with larger social structures.

My research focuses on the American Girl Dolls Collection, …

Predicting Emotion Regulation In Early Childhood: The Impact Of Maternal Well-Being, Infant Crying, And Dyadic Mutuality, Tiffany Burkhardt

Dissertations

Learning adaptive emotion regulation skills in early childhood has been identified as fundamental to social competence, academic success, and psychological well-being. Because children learn to regulate their emotions through interactions with their caregivers, dyadic mutuality between the mother and infant may influence child emotion regulation capacity more than maternal behavior alone. To better understand the impact of maternal well-being and infant crying on the development of emotion regulation, parenting stress, maternal self-efficacy, maternal depression, and infant crying were examined with dyadic mutuality in the parent-child interaction to predict emotion regulation capacity.

A racially and socioeconomically diverse community sample of 149 …

Tweeting In The Agora: An Historical Documentary Of Educational Structures And Discourse In Ancient Greece And In Modern Social Media, Jill Maraldo

Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the systems and structures of formal and informal education in Ancient Greece under the leadership of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle and the systems and structures of education and discourse on social media, specifically on blogs and Twitter. Using historical documentary research methodology of primary and secondary sources, the researcher analyzed, compared and contrasted these systems and structures and examined the implications for today's educational leaders.

The four research questions of this study were:

1. According to select primary sources from 400 B.C.- 322 B.C. (heretofore referred to as ancient times) and historical secondary sources about that …

Perceptions Of Value And Perceived Strengths Of Arts Education During An Age Of Accountability: Conditions And Qualities That Shape A Citizenry - Implications For Leadership, Stephen Tyler Plank

Dissertations

This research examines the perceptions of arts education during periods of educational efficiency and accountability focusing specifically on the arguments made by advocates for the value of arts education within the Chicago area. It is intended to help leaders understand how we can learn from our past through revealing cyclical behaviors that can guide future decisions about how best to lead a school.

This study utilized a mixed methodology of historical documentary with oral history to compare two distinct time periods in education focusing on schools that operated in opposition to the norms of the time. Historical documentary was used …

Expertise, Democratic Values, And Tolerance, Erika D. Price

Dissertations

Political tolerance (the willingness to extend civil liberties to disliked groups) has been disturbingly low among the American public since measurement of tolerance began in the 1950's. The few voters who do exhibit tolerant attitudes tend to be people who know a great deal about politics (i.e. people high in "political expertise"). Researchers have theorized many explanations for why political experts are more tolerant on average; for example, experts may place more value on the legal and normative `rules' of democracy (i.e. "democratic norms"), which guarantee free speech, or they may consider democratic norms to be more important than non-experts …

Superintendent Leadership And Collective Bargaining Processes, Procedures, And Outcomes, Kevin David Rubenstein

Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between superintendent leadership practices and collective bargaining processes and procedures using a sequential explanatory, mixed methods approach. In phase one of the study, superintendents in the State of Illinois were asked to complete the Leadership Practices Inventory - Self Assessment (2013) (LPISelf) and a demographic profile to identify the type of bargaining that had been used in the most recent negotiations with the teacher's union in their district. The LPI-Self yields data to identify a dominant leadership practice among five leadership practices including "Model the Way," "Inspire a Shared Vision," "Challenge the Process," "Enable Others …

The Affective Consequences Of Expressing Moral Convictions, Lisa Diana Sandberg

Dissertations

This project examined the affective consequences of expressing moral convictions to an opposing majority. It was predicted that moral conviction would function as a buffer to the common negative emotions that occur when speaking out against majority opinion (e.g., fear; Asch, 1956; Berns, et al., 2005). It was also hypothesized that moral conviction would enhance positive feelings among those who speak out (e.g., pride). Two studies were conducting using two different research paradigms. Study 1 used a normative influence paradigm modeled after Hornsey, Smith, and Begg (2007). Participants' opinions and strength of moral conviction about the target issue (torture of …

New Teacher Induction Programs: A Case Study Of An Exemplary School District And How It Prepares Its New Teachers For The Use Of Instructional Technology In The Classroom, David Brian Sherman

Dissertations

This research study examined Generation Y new teachers, the process of new teacher induction, and the most effective methods for providing professional development in instructional technology for Generation Y teachers.

The main research questions for this paper were as follows:

1. What constitutes a high quality new teacher induction program for Generation Y teachers in the area of instructional technology?

2. What recommendations should be made for school districts in order for them to properly train their new Generation Y teachers in the best uses of instructional technology?

3. What are the implications for school leaders?

This was a qualitative …

Recipe For Resilience: Factors Contributing To Urban African American Males' Post-Secondary Academic Achievement, Melvin Thomas Hargrett

Dissertations

The present research sought greater understanding of and contributes additional insights into supporting the academic success of African American males in urban public high schools and in higher education. The findings based on eight world life interviews of successful African American males from an urban community adds valuable information about the community factors (family, church, schools and community organizations) that contribute to the development of resiliency among African American males. Additionally, the research sought to provide a detailed account of the community wisdom (messages and methods) that informed resilience. Lastly, the transformative nature of resilience was explored in collegiate settings, …

Identification And Analysis Of Omentum Derived Suppressor Cells In Regards To Th17 Inhibition, Nick Huang

Dissertations

Omentum has been harnessed by surgeons for hundreds of years, providing an ideal environment for graft healing and acceptance. However, little is known about the cellular mechanisms that promote the tolergenic environment of the omentum. We examined the cellular composition and role of activated omentum in regards to T-cell immunomodulation. We then tested activated omentum as a cellular therapy in a mouse allogenic lung transplantation model.

Our findings demonstrated activated omentum is mostly comprised of non-hematopoietic cells resembling mesenchymal stem-like cells (MSCs) and myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). Activated omentum exhibited anti-inflammatory properties through suppression of Th1 and Th17, while …

He Seems Like A Good Kid Lessons In Informal Social Control From A Midwestern Peer Court Program, Patricia Lee Maddox

Dissertations

This study examines how peer court jurors make meaning out of the sanctioning trials of youth offenders. In particular, it focuses on how peer court jurors understand juvenile delinquency, deterrence and punishment. Data was collected utilizing ethnographic field observation methods while attending a Midwestern County's peer court program between the end of the 2011-2012 school year and the 2012-2013 school year. Thirteen interviews were conducted after the sessions with willing peer court jurors in order to supplement the field work data.

During the peer court sessions the youth jurors tried to understand the nature of the offenses and how to …

Wind Energy In Ireland - An Analysis Of Percentage Error In Forecasting, Michael Mcdonald

Dissertations

This research aimed to examine the percentage error in forecasting of wind energy using datasets from a small wind farm in Ireland. Furthermore, the study aimed to compare this calculated data to the national forecasting percentage errors. Internationally, the electrical sector and society are undergoing a revolution in terms of 'green economy'. This paradigm shift towards renewable energy technologies is recognised as a priority, with diminution of finite fossil fuels at its core. Renewable energy as a sector has provided significant financial stimulation to global economies in recent years. Moreover, wind energy has provided significant amounts of clean electricity throughout …

Andragogy In One Community College: A Study Of Students' Attitudes And Perceptions Toward Reading And Writing Following The Completion Of A Concurrent Acquisition One-Semester Developmental English Course, Michele Murphy Froehlich

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore if student attitudes and perceptions changed toward reading and writing after participation in and completion of a one-semester dual-enrollment mandatory developmental non-credit reading and/or writing course combined with a concurrent acquisition general education three-credit-hour English 101 course.

The subjects were nine voluntary participants in the dual-enrollment Accelerated Learning Program 099 and English 101. The classes were offered in a suburban community college close to a large metropolitan city in the Midwest and taught by the same instructor. A mixed methods approach, that is, descriptive-qualitative/ethnographic was used in this study. Descriptive data were …

Examining The Words And Actions Superintendents Used To Lead An Educational System Through A Culture Shift Following The Occurrence Of A Scandalous Critical Incident, Dale Ross Fisher

Dissertations

The dissertation examines the words and actions district superintendents used to lead an educational system through a culture shift following the occurrence of a scandalous critical incident. This qualitative study deeply investigated the specific words and actions as offered by the superintendents of two educational systems and members of their respective leadership teams. Those actions were then filtered through two lenses. The first lens was John Kotter's eight steps for change, and the second lens was Thomas Sergiovanni's five sources of authority. The study generated five themes of specific actions taken by the superintendents, determined that four of Kotter's eight …

Identifying Novel Factors Involved In Biofilm Formation By Vibrio Fischeri, Valerie Ray

Dissertations

Biofilm formation by bacteria provides them with a means to survive harsh environmental conditions and promote colonization of a particular surface (biotic or abiotic). Due to the resistance properties of biofilms, biofilm-forming bacteria are difficult to treat in the context of host infections. Thus, investigating the processes that control biofilm formation will promote the development of novel therapeutics. To study biofilm formation in the context of a host, I utilized as a model system the marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri, which must be competent to form a biofilm to colonize its squid host Euprymna scolopes. Biofilm formation by V. fischeri requires …

Just Water: A Feminist Catholic Response To The Commodification Of Water, Rachel Noelle Hart Winter

Dissertations

Any Catholic ecological ethic today that does not focus sustained attention to our worldwide water crisis is inadequate, for it fails to engage one of today's core social justice violations and neglects to offer any moral guidance for one of the human family's most pressing challenges. A responsible Catholic approach to water justice that addresses the problems stemming from a commodified view of water must be informed by ecofeminist concerns and by the Catholic social justice tradition of moral reasoning. As populations grow and water sources run dry, access to water has become a pressing ethical issue. Today, nearly one …

Host Entry Factors For Human Coronaviruses, Taylor Heald-Sargent

Dissertations

Coronaviruses infect a diverse range of animals from birds to pigs and cats to humans. Coronaviruses employ RNA-based replicative processes and as such are genetically adaptable to acquire novel host ranges. A coronavirus from one species can jump to another by shifting its entry requirements. As we learned from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) pandemic, this shift in species can have detrimental consequences. Thus, it is imperative that we understand the virus-host interaction during the entry process.

This dissertation focuses on host entry factors that influence human coronavirus entry. Recently, a new class of proteases, the type II transmembrane …

Biblical Lessons For Educational Leaders: The Servant Leadership Of King David, Apostle Paul, Dr. Joe Hairston, Dr. Tim Markley, Tracy D. Lett

Dissertations

This qualitative research study used the methodology of historical documentation. Primary and secondary sources were gathered alongside of the original sources for Servant Leadership as espoused by Robert Greenleaf in "The Servant as Leader" (1970). The New International Version (NIV) of the Bible will be referenced as a primary source and a host of primary and secondary sources regarding Superintendents Hairston and Markley will be supplied. Throughout this study, Greenleaf's definition and eighteen characteristics of a servant leader will be the framework for interpreting the biblical passages as they relate to the leadership of King David and Apostle Paul, as …

'We're Not Little Babies Anymore': A Cultural History Of Small Girls In America, 1920-1945, Stella A. Ress

Dissertations

The appearance of high-profile girl characters in popular culture media of all types soared between the years from 1924, when Little Orphan Annie first appeared in the comic section of newspapers, to 1945, when teenage girls replaced their younger sisters in the spotlight. As such, girl culture of the 1920s through the 1940s experienced a boon in popularity never before witnessed. And yet, despite substantial evidence that point to the impact preadolescent girls had on society during this time, surprisingly scholars have left the experiences of these girls and their depictions in popular entertainment unexplored. For historians, this raises a …

Mutations In Phospholamban Alter The Structure And Function Of The Calcium Atpase Regulatory Complex, Neha Abrol

Dissertations

Phospholamban (PLB) is an integral membrane protein that plays an important role in regulation of cardiac calcium handling and contractility. PLB exists as a homopentamer in the membrane, which upon deoligomerization into active monomers reversibly inhibits sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase (SERCA). Mutations in PLB that change the PLB monomer-pentamer equilibrium result in dysregulation of SERCA. To determine the structural and regulatory role of the C-terminal residues of PLB in the membranes of living cells, we fused fluorescent protein tags to PLB and SERCA. We then studied the effect of C-terminal alanine substitutions and truncation mutations on PLB oligomerization and SERCA …

Toward The Development Of Roman Catholic Teaching About Contraception In Light Of The Experience Of South Korean Catholic Women, Taeeun Kim

Dissertations

In recent decades, the morality of artificial contraception has been hotly debated in the Roman Catholic Church. Many theologians and ethicists have challenged the hierarchical church teachings in the last fifty years. The opening chapter of the dissertation reviews Catholic Church teachings on birth control throughout history, and in Chapter Two I explore the theo-ethical reflections on artificial contraception from two different approaches (traditionalist and revisionist) and support the revisionists' perspectives, findings, and arguments. Then, in order to lay the context for my interpretations of my ethnographic interviews with ten participants, in Chapter Three I explore South Korean sexual culture …