Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring The Effects Of Guilt, Spousal Support, And Role Conflict On The Psychological Well-Being Of The Educated Full-Time Stay-At-Home Mother, Susan Donley Desimone Phd

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of guilt, degree of spousal support, role conflict, and decreased psychological well-being experienced by educated stay at home mothers with young children. Social role theory is utilized as a basis for the development of a theoretical model. Relevant research literature does not identify a link between guilt, degree of spousal support, role conflict, and decreased psychological well-being in stay at home educated mothers. The significance of this study was to bring recognition to the phenomenon among educated stay at home mothers that little or no attention has been acknowledged. The …

Promoting Healthy Behavior Change In Skin Cancer Risk Reduction Using The Transtheoretical Stages Of Change Model, Sherry L. Pagoto

Dissertations

Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States with 20% of people developing some form of skin cancer in their lifetime (American Cancer Society, 1999). In spite of the high incidence of skin cancer, it is highly preventable. Approximately 90% of the cases are caused by exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun (Skin Cancer Foundation, 1992). The effect of an intervention aimed at reducing skin cancer risk was compared to a survey only control group in 99 Chicago beach-goers. The intervention was based on the Transtheoretical Stages of Change Model (TTM) and included sun sensitivity …

Crossing Myriad Borders: A Dimensional Analysis Of The Migration And Health Experiences Of Indigenous Oaxacan Women, Sharon Mcguire Phd, Op, Msn, Rn-C

Dissertations

The growing feminization of the migration of ethnic indigenous women, such as Mixtecs, Zapotecs and Triquis from the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, are altering the dynamics and configuration of traditional Mexican migration, making it especially significant for the health professions. Informed by a postcolonial ecofeminist paradigm, this bi-national grounded theory study explored the migration and health experiences of indigenous Oaxacan immigrant/migrant women. Data collection using participant observation and interviewing occurred in Oaxaca, Mexico, along the US-Mexico border, and the interior of California. Dimensional analysis was used as the method of data analysis to generate theoretical understandings of these phenomena. …

Video Indexing And Summarization Using Motion Activity, Kadir Askin Peker

Dissertations

In this dissertation, video-indexing techniques using low-level motion activity characteristics and their application to video summarization are presented. The MPEG-7 motion activity feature is defined as the subjective level of activity or motion in a video segment. First, a novel psychophysical and analytical framework for automatic measurement of motion activity in compliance with its subjective perception is developed. A psychophysically sound subjective ground truth for motion activity and a test-set of video clips is constructed for this purpose. A number of low-level, compressed domain motion vector based, known and novel descriptors are then described. It is shown that these descriptors …

Comparison Of Optical Density, Total Cell Protein, And Number Of Viable Cells (Via Fluorescent Straining) As Measures Of Microbial Growth Kinetics In Suspended And Biofilm Cultures During Biodegradation Of Naphthalene, Jeong Seop Shim

Dissertations

Most studies on bacterial growth kinetics have been dependent on theoretical modeling with general biomass measurements using either dry weight or optical density (OD), without distinguishing live from dead bacteria or debris. As a result, there remains considerable uncertainty in reliably predicting rates of biodegradation for design of treatment processes for environmental pollutants.

This research focused on measurement of bacterial growth rates and activities in suspended cultures and biofilms using Pseudomonas putida (ATCC 17484) for biodegradation of naphthalene. As expected, the rates of biodegradation differed between suspended and immobilized cultures. A comparison was made of the impact of three biomass …

Numerical Modeling And Optimization Of Waterjet Based Surface Decontamination, Konstantin Babets

Dissertations

The mission of this study is to investigate the high-pressure waterjet based surface decontamination. Our specific objective is to develop a practical procedure for selection of process conditions at given constraints and available knowledge. This investigation is expected to improve information processing in the course of material decontamination and assist in the implementation of the waterjet decontamination technology into practice. The development of a realistic procedure for processing of a chaotic and non-accurate information constitutes the main accomplishment of this study.

The research involved acquisition of representative information about removal of brittle, elastic and viscous deposits. As a result an …

Nonlinear Optical Properties Of Nano Structures, Mahesh U. Ajgaonkar

Dissertations

Nonlinear optical properties of nanoscale semiconductors had been a topic of intense research in recent years in attempts to realize all-optical communication systems. These semiconductor nanoclusters, in the range of 1-100nm are hosted in a dielectric material and are considered as a particular example of Conditional Artificial Dielectric (CAD). It has been reported that the dielectric properties of such materials will be greatly changed by light intensity.

Two main paths to realize nano semiconductor clusters are reported in this dissertation. The Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) technique is first described. Here we were investigating the effect of surface modification of nano …

Interference Suppression And Diversity For Cdma Systems, Xiaodong Cai

Dissertations

In code-division multiple-access (CDMA) systems, due to non-orthogonality of the spreading codes and multipath channels, the desired signal suffers interference from other users. Signal fading due to multipath propagation is another source of impairment in wireless CDMA systems, often severely impacting performance. In this dissertation, reduced-rank minimum mean square error (MMSE) receiver and reduced-rank minimum variance receiver are investigated to suppress interference; transmit diversity is applied to multicarrier CDMA (MC-CDMA) systems to combat fading; packet combing is studied to provide both interference suppression and diversity for CDMA random access systems.

The reduced-rank MMSE receiver that uses a reduced-rank estimated covariance …

Object Detection And Activity Recognition In Digital Image And Video Libraries, Ibrahim Burak Ozer

Dissertations

This thesis is a comprehensive study of object-based image and video retrieval, specifically for car and human detection and activity recognition purposes. The thesis focuses on the problem of connecting low level features to high level semantics by developing relational object and activity presentations. With the rapid growth of multimedia information in forms of digital image and video libraries, there is an increasing need for intelligent database management tools. The traditional text based query systems based on manual annotation process are impractical for today's large libraries requiring an efficient information retrieval system. For this purpose, a hierarchical information retrieval system …

Multi-Mode Cavity Effects In The Microwave Heating Of A Ceramic Slab, Stuart J. Walker

Dissertations

In order to gain insight into hot spot development in microwave heated ceramics, a partially insulated, two dimensional ceramic slab situated in a TE_M01 cavity is modeled in the small Biot number limit. If the electrical conductivity is an exponential function of temperture and E₀ is the strength of the incident mode, then the relationship between the spatially uniform, steady state leading order temperature, v₈, and E₀¹ is characterized by the well known bi-stable, or S shaped, response curve. The steady state second order temperature, v₁, is described by a boundary …

Numerical Studies Of Newtonian And Viscoelastic Fluids, Felix J. Alcocer

Dissertations

The direct numerical simulation (DNS) approach is used to understand the flow behavior of Newtonian and viscoelastic fluids in porous materials, four-to-one contraction and the flow of a Newtonian fluid past an airfoil.

In simulations the viscoelastic fluid is modeled by the finitely extensible nonlinear elastic (FENE) dumbbell and Oldroyd-B models. The finite element method (FEM) is used to discretize the flow domain. The DNS results show that the permeability of a periodic porous medium depends on the wavelength used for arranging particles in the direction of flow. Specifically, it is shown that for a given particle size and porosity …

The Social Construction Of The Sex Offender, Lisa L. Sample

Dissertations

Over the last two decades, Americans have come to perceive sex offending as a serious and widespread problem. As a response to the public's concern, new sex offender legislation has been enacted. This dissertation examines the contemporary sex offender problem and the legislative responses, within a social constructionist framework. I performed a content analysis of newspaper accounts, conducted interviews with public officials, and analyzed arrest data to determine the current definitions of sex offenders, the process by which those definitions found their way into law, and how they were applied to offenders.

I found that the media depict and policy …

Changes In Navy Leadership Theory And Practice: Post-Vietnam, Nicholas A. Trongale Edd

Dissertations

Since the Vietnam War, Navy leadership theory and practice has changed, becoming more like current civilian leadership theory and practice than traditional leadership of old. Indicators of this change have been seen in journal writings, the new Navy performance evaluation structure, current Navy leadership training, and by the birth of a Navy Command Leadership School. This study was designed to explore the evolution and recent history of the Navy's leadership theory and practice for indications of change. Combining a qualitative and quantitative methodology, this study used a 5-point Likert-type scale survey that included a written comments section. Over 70% of …

Adult Learning In The Context Of Interreligious Dialogue: A Collaborative Research Study Involving Christians, Jews, And Muslims, Nadira K. Charaniya, Jane West Walsh

Dissertations

What do American Jews really know about Muslims? What do American Muslims really know about Jews? These questions undergird this account of how two religious adult educators--a Jew and a Muslim--came to engage in collaborative, dialogic, relational and transformational interreligious learning and research. Emerging out of this collaborative doctoral research project at National-Louis University, this study addresses two different dimensions of research and practice in the field of adult education: the nature of adult learning in the interreligious dialogue process and the role of collaborative methods in research methodology.

Adult learning in the context of interreligious dialogue can best be …

The Effectiveness Of The High-School Academic Program In Preparing Graduates For Post-Secondary Education As Perceived By Alumni From Four Seventh-Day Adventist Senior High Schools In Canada, Janice P. Maitland

Dissertations

Problem. Questions have been raised regarding the preparation of high-school students for postsecondary studies. This study was designed to measure the effectiveness of the high-school academic program in preparing graduates for postsecondary education as perceived by alumni from four Seventh-day Adventist senior high schools in Canada.

Method. Respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement for each of 18 statements on a Likert-type (survey) instrument, strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5), measured against a scale—I-2.5, minimally effective; 2.51-3.5, moderately effective; and 3.51-5, highly effective. Mean scores and standard deviation scores were calculated to answer the first research question. …

An Analysis Of Role Perceptions And Job Satisfaction Of Secondary-School Counselors In Trinidad And Tobago, Hillman St. Brice

Dissertations

Problem. The increasing emphasis on school counseling by the Ministry of Education in Trinidad and Tobago highlights the need to clarify and standardize the role of the counselor in the secondary schools. The satisfaction of these needs can be facilitated by determining the perceptions held by counselors, principals, teachers, and students about the counselor’s role in the school system; by clearly articulating this role; and by identifying the relationships between the counselor’s role and the counselor’s job satisfaction. The burden of this study was to determine these perceptions and relationships.

Method. A descriptive mode of inquiry was used to explore …

Venezuelan Adventist University Institute: The Development Of A Seventh-Day Adventist Educational Institution, 1962-1999, Pablo E. Huérfano

Dissertations

Problem. The first and only Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) tertiary-level institution in Venezuela is Venezuelan Adventist University Institute. It was founded initially as asecondary boarding academy in 1962, began offering college level programs in 1990, was accredited by the Seventh-day Adventist Church at the college level in 1995, and achieved status as a university institute under Venezuelan law in 1999. No comprehensive history has been written portraying its development.

Method. The documentary-historical method, based on published and unpublished material, was used. Sources included books, periodicals, school bulletins, board minutes, school reports, school evaluations, correspondence, interviews, and other documents pertaining to …

Intergenerational Transmission Of Values Through Adages In An Ecuadorian Family, Norma Albán-Lowry

Dissertations

Problem. This study explored the function of adages in intergenerational value transmission in an Ecuadorian family. Drawing on the richness of Hispanic culture, the study documents a method used by parents and grandparents to pass on their wisdom to younger generations.

The transmission of values to younger generations has always been of special interest to parents, teachers, and religious educators. While the role of the family in the transmission of values has been researched, the use of adages, long practiced as a traditional parenting method in Ecuadorian families, had not been studied.

Method. The ethnographic method, as proposed …

Intergovernmental Mediation : A Technique For Successful Local Government Partnerships, W. Thomas Wiseman

Dissertations

Problem. Statement Local government officials are faced with ever-increasing citizens' demands and unfunded Federal and State mandates while competing with neighboring governments for dwindling federal and state monies. Both of these tend to fuel intergovernmental conflicts. Research is necessary, therefore, to determine the most effective ways of addressing the alarming rate at which intergovernmental conflict is occurring in order to meet the needs of local government officials.

Methodology. This study examined the relationship between local government organizations in terms of intergovernmental mediation, conflict resolution, and the sharing of revenues and resources. Data were collected from county commissioners in Ohio, …

Environment, Cultures, And Social Change On The Great Plains: A History Of Crow Creek Tribal School, Robert W. Galler Jr.

Dissertations

This study explores the socio-cultural history of a school for Native American students on the Crow Creek Sioux Reservation in central South Dakota. The case study places the school's history (1886-present) within the context of the historic interaction between environment, cultures, and social change on the Great Plains.

This work focuses on a Catholic school and the multi-dimensional students and staff who constitute its story. These individuals acted neither as perpetually passive students nor simplistically sinister administrators. Instead, this dissertation broadly explores the challenging nature of intercultural relations that led to the founding of the school and how tribal/Catholic interactions …

Public School Principals’ Perceptions In Accredited And Non-Accredited Elementary Schools Regarding Strategies To Improve Student Performance On The Michigan Education Assessment Program, Mattie P. Hampton

Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to investigate whether principals of summary accredited elementary schools and principals of non-accredited elementary schools significantly differ in their perceptions in regards to selected strategies used to prepare students for the Michigan Education Assessment Program (MEAP). More specifically, this study attempted to address three focused interrelated questions: (I) Will principals of summary accredited elementary schools and principals of nonaccredited elementary schools significantly differ in their perceptions in regards to selected curriculum strategies used to prepare students for the MEAP? (2) Will principals of summary accredited elementary schools and principals of non-accredited elementary schools …

The Federal Election Commission: An Analysis Of Administrative Behavior, Maurice C. Sheppard

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Teachers’ Use Of Instructional Alignment In Michigan Fifth Grade Classrooms And The Relationship Of Use To Student Meap Scores In Writing, John Rasmussen

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which Michigan fifth grade teachers use components of instructional alignment in writing instruction, and then to compare the writing MEAP scores from a sample of fifth grade elementary buildings in Michigan to determine if there was a relationship between writing test scores and (a) teachers’ years of experience; (b) the degree to which fifth grade teachers use the Michigan Model Core Curriculum in writing, the Michigan Curriculum Framework, or local curriculum documents containing this curricula, to plan their lessons; (c) the degree to which teachers perceive they are implementing …

The Effect Of Presentation Media On Student Reading Comprehension, Jeffrey T. Conklin

Dissertations

The purpose o f this study was to investigate the effect of display media on reading comprehension in students with learning disabilities. This research examined two types o f display media, computer screen and paper.

Three groups of subjects were used in this study: (1) readers with learning disabilities, (2) low achieving readers, and (3) average readers. Three instruments were used to gather performance data in this study: a) a standardized measure o f reading comprehension, b) a measure of individual passage comprehension, and c) a measure of vocabulary knowledge using words from the experimental passages.

The data presented in …

Turbulent Mixing And Chemical Reaction In Baffled Stirred Tank Reactors : A Comparison Between Experiments And A Novel Micromixing-Based Computational Fluid Dynamics Model, Otute Akiti

Dissertations

The optimization of reaction processes to maximize the yield of a desired product while minimizing the formation of undesired by-products is one of the most important steps in process development for drug manufacturing or fine chemical production. In many situations the kinetics of product formation can be quite complex and involve a number of intermediate steps as well as parallel and serial reactions. This renders the systems sensitive to the operating conditions. Often, upon scale-up, a decrease in the yield of the desired product is experienced, while more undesired by-products are produced. A large number of interrelated variables influence the …

Feasibility Study To Extract Iron And Chromium From Chromium Contaminated Soils, Wiwat Kamolpornwijit

Dissertations

Chromium contaminated soils, besides being recognized for toxic and hazardous hexavalent chromium, contain high iron concentrations. At some sites, concentrations of iron oxide are higher than 30%. Both iron and chromium in soils have recyclable value provided they can be either concentrated in the oxide form or separated as metal. The concentrated oxide can be used as a substitute for the iron ore. The extracted metal can also be recycled in the steel industry. The objective of this study is to study the feasibility of extracting iron and chromium from soils.

Chromium contaminated soils, can be classified into two groups, …

Comparison Of Health Promotion Behaviors And Performance On The Navy Physical Readiness Test Among Active Duty Shipboard Personnel With And Without Anterior Knee Pain, Robin Theresa Mckenzie Phd, Msn, Rn

Dissertations

Health promotion is the number one health priority of the nation, yet, health promoting behaviors (HPB) are rarely part of the management plan for persons with anterior knee pain (AKP). In an active duty military population, AKP can interfere with performance on the required, semi-annual physical readiness test (PRT). The purpose of this descriptive, comparative study was to compare the relationships among HPB, AKP and performance on the PRT between two groups of active duty Navy shipboard personnel (those with AKP and those without AKP). Pender's (1996) Health Promotion Model (HPM) served as the theoretical framework. Subjects completed demographic and …

The Victim Rights Movement: A Social Constructionist Examination, Angela Renee Evans

Dissertations

What has been termed the victim rights movement has made great progress in promoting legislative changes regarding victim rights in the United States. This research examines the victim rights movement from a social constructionist perspective by focusing on two pieces of federal legislation passed in the 1980s: the Victim and Witness Protection Act of 1982 and the Victims of Crime Act of 1984. Using the social constructionist perspective, the research examines who was involved in the claims-making activities and which claims were most likely to be heard and acted upon. Rather than seeing social movements as the result of some …

Childcare And Experiential Knowledge: Expanding Definitions Of Childcare, Lori L. Mcneil

Dissertations

Childcare is traditionally defined as care for children while their parents/guardians are in the workforce or attending school. While technically accurate, it is argued that traditional definitions of childcare are partial and consequently do not fully describe childcare based on an experiential dimension. Thus, this research project sought to augment normative definitions of childcare by including the voices of children in childcare, parents using childcare and those caregivers providing childcare.

Several theoretical frameworks were used for this research. First, standpoint theory (Harding, 1987) was presented in order to inform an alternative perspective of childcare based on “experiential” rather than “expert” …

Capital Punishment: A New Perspective On Race And Ethnic Differences In Punishment And Death Sentence Outcomes, Martin G. Urbina

Dissertations

A review of the existing literature on death sentence outcomes (i.e., executions, commutations) shows evidence of discrimination against minority defendants (e.g., African Americans). Prior studies, however, have followed a Caucasian/African American and/or execution/commutation approach. Latino defendants have either been excluded or treated as a monolithic group. Thus, little is known about death sentence outcomes for Latinos, whose experiences differ from those of African Americans and Caucasians. Additionally, little is known about the treatment of the various ethnic groups (e.g., Cubans, Mexicans) that constitute the Latino community. And, since the focus has been on executions and/or commutations, little is known about …