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The Glucose And Insulin Responsiveness Of The Rat Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Promoter, Daryl Arkwright-Keeler

Dissertations

The regulation of expression of some enzymes involved in glucose homeostasis and fat metabolism requires both insulin and glucose to elicit an effect, while the regulation of others requires only one. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), an important enzyme involved in glucose homeostasis, has been shown to be transcriptionally regulated by carbohydrate feeding in rat liver, a diet regime that increases the levels of both glucose and insulin. Our lab had previously shown that insulin induces expression of G6PDH, thus we wanted to determine if glucose also induced G6PDH expression and if so, are the glucose and insulin responses mediated through identical …

Understanding Photosynthesis And Plant Cellular Respiration As “Nested Systems”: The Characterization Of Pre-Service Teachers’ Conceptions, Mary H. Brown

Dissertations

This dissertation project focused on pre-service elementary teachers' conceptions of the plant processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration as being connected, occurring at multiple ecological levels, and working within "nested systems." Participants enrolled in a biology course designed for elementary education majors provided their views of the processes through a series of tasks with a peer, a semi-structured interview, and clarified both photosynthesisand plant cellular respiration directly following classroom instruction on the two topics. The instructor of the course was interviewed after a preliminary analysis of the participants' responses. Data were analyzed using the qualitative analysis computer program The Ethnograph …

Narratives Of Adolescent Students: The Integration Of Health And Learning Through Application Of Nursing Theory, Marjean Huber

Dissertations

Problem. There are few resources to show educators how to help students improve learning by improving health and mental well-being. There is a lack of integration in the literature in terms of how practitioners can reach these students in order to help them learn effectively and develop into successful, productive adults with meaningful lives. This study has three major sections. First, I examine my experiences within education to determine what values, truths, and principles mold my practice. Second, I identify my teaching practice in relationship to nursing theory integrating it with learning theory, thus highlighting the relationship between the health …

Suicide Attempt And Characteristics Of Religiously Affiliated Puerto Rican Adolescents And Young Adults, Saúl Rivera

Dissertations

Problem. Recent research has identified several risk factors associated with attempted suicide among the general population. Puerto Ricans, in general, and Puerto Rican Seventh-day Adventists (SDAs), in particular, may face unique challenges that are related to their familial, social, and religious environment that may affect the suicidal attempts among this group. Therefore, this study examined family-related factors, history of being abused, religiosity factors, sexuality factors, gender, substance abuse, age, and socioeconomic status factors among a sample of religiously affiliated Puerto Ricans (73.2% SDAs) living on the island.

Methodology. The data for the study came from the Avance PR study. Avance …

Wendell Berry's Sociological Imagination: Agrarian Values And Good Leadership In A Postmodern Culture, Paul Alan Kaak

Dissertations

Problem. The question guiding my dissertation research was: In what ways do the writings of Wendell Berry, reflecting his sociological imagination, address and advance leadership theory with specific regard for the issue of agrarian values?

Method. I used the writings of Wendell Berry as a modified case study for my inductive, theoretical, exploratory research in a qualitative vein. As I reviewed his writings, I identified his moral ideology and extracted his value-set. Along the way, I observed Berry's use of a method promoted by C. Wright Mills in his book The Sociological Imagination (1959). Since sociological imagination finds …

Representation Of The Elderly In Counselor Education Textbooks, Alicia V. Fahr

Dissertations

The counseling profession requires multicultural competence in meeting the needs of diverse groups. The responsibility for training counseling students to work effectively with the elderly falls upon counselor educators. Textbooks convey cultural values and contribute to what is learned by students. Specifically,textbooks may contribute to how counseling students think about older adults and aging issues. This study was designed to determine how older adults and aging issues are represented in counselor education texts.

The textbooks used most frequently by 11 randomly selected master's degree programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (2001) were identified …

The Relationship Between Locus Of Control And Nutrition Health Status Among Adult Wic Participants, Damita Jo Zweiback

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between locus of control orientation and the nutrition health status of adult WIC participants in Michigan. The locus of control variable is defined as the degree to which an individual perceives reinforcement or outcomes as contingent upon his or her own behavior. It ranges from internal to external. Internal locus of control is the individual's belief that s/he is an actor and can determine one's fate within limits. External locus of control is the person's belief that s/he is controlled by forces outside of one's self (Lefcourt, 1976; Koger, 1999). …

A Model For Using The National Board Dental Hygiene Examination Results As A Method Of Outcomes Assessment, Debra Scott Schultz

Dissertations

This research study examined the use of the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination (NBDHE) results for the Dental Hygiene Program at Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Dental hygiene programs must develop outcomes assessment plans through a 7-year accreditation cycle under the auspices of the American Dental Association's (ADA) Council on Dental Accreditation using pass/fail rates for program graduates.

T -tests and ANOVA statistical tests were used in this study to examine NBDHE results from the Dental Hygiene Program within Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) during the years 1998 to 2000 to answer four questions: (1) How …

Underrepresented Doctoral Students: The Cultural And Institutional Barriers That Hinder Their Ability To Graduate, Nancy Greer-Williams

Dissertations

African American, Hispanic/Latino, and American Indian doctoral students continue to have attrition rates substantially higher than their White counterparts (Lovitts, 2001). Attrition was defined as the act of weakening or exhausting by constant harassment, abuse, or attack (Merriam-Webster, 2004). Research todate on this topic has focused on causes and barriers that can be attributed to mainstream groups, not on particular cultural barriers that may adversely affectdoctoral persistence among underrepresented groups. This study collected the lived experiences of these students at three separate university settings and turned them into conceptualized statements in an effort to understand the meaning of their experiences …

The Efficacy Of A School-Based Support Group On Adolescent Self-Esteem And Social Support, Julia Ann Smith Phd

Dissertations

Adolescents are faced with daily obstacles that affect their ability to progress into adulthood successfully. Rising divorce rates and subsequent single parenting, adolescent pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, violence, and lack of parental involvement represent only a few of the many issues teens confront. School nurses are on the front lines, attempting to educate youth against an alarming rise in personal and social controversies that impede their ability to come to school ready to learn. As part of the educational team, school nurses are in a prime position to develop and integrate intervention strategies aimed at assisting adolescents during this …

Examining The Meaning And Experience Of Self-Determination And Its Impact On Quality Of Life For Individuals With Cognitive Disabilities, Carol Marie Sundberg

Dissertations

There is a national agenda for advancing self-determination for persons with disabilities. Broadly defined, self-determination means having control over ones own life. The purpose of this research was to gain a better understanding of self-determination and its effect on the quality of life of persons with cognitive disabilities. A qualitative, phenomenological approach was selected. Ten individuals from a community mental health system in southwest Michigan participated in the study. Participants had a developmental disability and were dependent on others for their care. The research combined qualitative interviews with behavioral observations and proxy interviewing, and included the audiotaping of those interviews. …

The Effects Of Elevated Co2 And Environmental Variation On Plant Phenotype, Herbivore Performance, And Evolutionary Potential In A Brassicacae Model System, John Michael Landosky

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Relationship Between Race-Related Stress, Identity And Well-Being Among African Americans, Darrick Tovar-Murray

Dissertations

For almost four hundred years, African Americans have been victims of race-related stress. Race-related stress is defined as the encounters between individuals and their environment that surface from racism and strain an individual's resources or threaten his or her well-being. Despite findings on the negative impact of racism on African Americans' well-being, very little research has focused on the relationships between race-related stress, identity and well-being among African Americans.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between race-related stress, identity, and well-being among African Americans. A total of 196 African American community members and college students participated …

Recipes For Reform: Americanization And Foodways In Chicago Settlement Houses, 1890-1920, Stephanie J. Jass

Dissertations

During the late nineteenth century as tens of thousands of immigrants flooded American cities, public debate among reformers--who tended to be middle-class, white, Anglo-Saxon Protestants--began to center on the best ways to assimilate these foreigners into American society. Although some Americanization groups stressed language and citizenship training, two major reform movements focused on foodways as an important tool of assimilation.

This dissertation examines how both the home economics and settlement house movements attempted to Americanize ethnic food practices. It describes why reformers saw foodways as a viable and meaningful avenue for reform, as well as the varied responses that reformers …

Child Welfare And Devolving Federalism: An Analysis Of The Effects Of Federal Funding Schemes On Selected Child Welfare Outcomes In Michigan, Timothy J. Kangas

Dissertations

Child abuse and neglect has become a pervasive problem across the United States. Between 1985 and 1995 the foster care population in the United States grew by 79%, with costs soaring into the billions. During the mid-1990s, in an effort to address this issue, the federal government shifted from using a funding scheme identified with a traditional model of federalism to one identified with devolving federalism. In Michigan, the focus of this research, this shift in approaches occurred through the issuance of block grant funding for child welfare programming. The intent of this shift was to decentralize elements of the …

Self-Reported Personal Problems Of Adventist Academy Students, Ellen Marsh Crosby

Dissertations

Problem. Adolescence is a time fraught with many challenges. There are no current studies prior to this one for Adventist academy students concerning the whole range of their personal problems.

Method. A survey of students in 14 Adventist academies was conducted in the regular classroom setting using the Personal Problems Checklist for Adolescents (PPC-A). The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Data were tested with one-way, two-way, and, three-way ANOVA and correlation coefficients to determine differences between males and females, age groups 13/14 to 18/19, and in three different settings of day, boarding, and self-supporting Adventist …

Influential Factors Contributing To Exercise Compliance Following A Structured Lifestyle Change Program, Wayne E. Borin Edd

Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease remains the number one cause of death in the United States, with five hundred thousand people diagnosed annually. Even though regular exercise has been shown to dramatically reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, few hospitals offer programs that focus on the requisite lifestyle changes for participants to maintain long-term exercise programs. In an effort to determine what factors contribute to long-term exercise compliance, this study surveyed 279 participants of the Scripps Ornish/Healing Hearts program, a comprehensive lifestyle change program, to identify the factors that helped explain variation in exercise compliance among program completers. Results of the hierarchical multiple …

Three Essays On Economic Reform: Effects On Human Development, Fertility, And Factor Shares, Khaled Ibrahim Abdel-Kader

Dissertations

This dissertation contains three essays on economic reform programs supported by the IMF and World Bank. Using appropriate theoretical and empirical models, we investigate the impact of reform on three aspects of economic development: (1) human development, (2) fertility, and (3) income shares of factors of production. In the first essay, we examine the long-run impact of reform on different measures o f human development and income. Empirical results show that reform has long-run positive impact on GDP per capita and measures of human development. However, worse initial macroeconomic conditions offset this impact. In the second essay, we examine the …

After Turning Points: Evidence Of The Adoption Of Middle School Reforms In The United States 1987-2000., Nancy Barnes Mansberger

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the adoption by U.S. middle schools of key practices recommended by the 1989 Turning Points report. Three questions were examined: (1) To what extent have the organizational practices identified by research to impact the development of "small learning communities" been adopted by U.S. middle schools? (2) To what extent do the instructional practices of U.S. middle school teachers reflect developmentally responsive or traditional/bureaucratic methods?, and (3) Do the instructional practices of U.S. middle school teachers differ between those who teach in schools with developmentally responsive organizational practices and those who teach in …

Getting Back: Successful Rehabilitation After A Hip Fracture, Carole Florek Hair Phd, Ms, Rn

Dissertations

Fracturing a hip is a devastating experience for the older adult, and mortality and morbidity following a hip fracture are high among this vulnerable population. Mortality rates from 12 to 37 percent have been reported within one year after a hip fracture. It is estimated that 50 percent of individuals who experience hip fractures become partially dependent in activities of daily living, and 33 percent become totally dependent in activities of daily living. Reducing morbidity by improving rehabilitation outcomes is an important healthcare goal for older adults. Motivating participation in rehabilitation activities poses a challenge for professional caregivers. The purpose …

Differences Among Accredited Athletic Training Education Programs In Preparing Students For The National Certification Examination, Donna M. Ritenour

Dissertations

A retrospective quantitative study that surveyed all of the CAAHEP accredited athletic training education programs was performed. The purpose of this study was twofold: (I) what are the institutional and programmatic characteristics associated with the colleges/universities that sponsor CAAHEP accredited entry level athletic training education programs, and (2) do these differences significantly alter the preparedness of students for the athletic training profession. Athletic Training Education Programs that were developed prior to 1993 were compared to those programs that were developed after 1993 to determine if institutional or programmatic characteristic differences exist among the Colleges/Universities that sponsor CAAHEP accredited entry level …

Two-Dimensional Reflectivity Polarization Elastometry Imaging Techniques (Piet) Of Soft Tissue, Hee Chuan Lim

Dissertations

A non-invasive polarized light reflection measurement method to measure the stretch of soft tissue, such as skin, is described. The technique utilizes changes in the reflectivity of polarized light intensity as a monitor of skin stretch. Measurements on in-vitro pigskin and invivo human skin show that the reflectivity of polarized light intensity increases linearly with stretch over a range. The changes in diffusive reflectivity properties of skin result from the alterations that take place in the roughness across the thickness of the skin layers due to stretch. Conceptually, as the roughness of a layer decreases with stretch, a smoother reflecting …

Prenatal Maternal Attachment: The Lived Experience, Regina Ann Leva-Giroux Dnsc

Dissertations

Prenatal maternal attachment and the practice of health promoting behaviors during pregnancy are considered universal phenomena to women. Yet, the understanding of these phenomena from the lived experiences of pregnant women has not been well researched. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the experience of maternal attachment to the unborn child and how that attachment might relate to the practice of these behaviors during pregnancy. The participants in this study were ten English speaking women, college educated, professionally employed, who were pregnant for the first time. Unstructured interviews were conducted with the participants at 14–16 weeks and …

Role Perceptions Of School Nurses Who Work With Medically Fragile Students, Cay Chapman Casey Phd

Dissertations

In 1999, the Supreme Court ruled that school districts were financially responsible to provide related services including nursing services, to medically fragile students. This decision applied to children attending public schools who have complex health problems and are tracheostomy dependent. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to explore role perceptions of eighteen school nurses caring for these children in classrooms. Six dimensions emerged from the data: Promoting Family/Nurse Connections, Adapting the Environment, Claiming Authority, “Standing Out There”, Striking a Balance and Experiencing Success. Promoting Family/Nurse Connections emerged as the central perspective, essential to implementing a plan of care. …

Protective Care: Mothering A Child Dependent On Parenteral Nutrition, Lorie H. Judson Phd, Mn, Rn

Dissertations

Home care of technology-dependent infants and children has become an accepted and expected consequence of higher survival rates among critically ill newborns and children who develop chronic illnesses. One of the high-tech modalities which foster dependence of these infants and children is parenteral nutrition. Parenteral nutrition, also called total parenteral nutrition (TPN), supplies life-sustaining nutrients through a central venous catheter and requires the use of machinery to pump this fluid directly into the bloodstream. Due to the tremendous cost of prolonged hospitalization for these children, and the deleterious effects to the child, home care is considered an obvious and viable …

A Study Of Quality Of Life Issues In Community-Dwelling Elders, Kimberly S. Mcclane Phd

Dissertations

In the year 2000, there were approximately 35 million people in the United States who were 65 years of age or older, a ten-fold increase since 1900. The growth of this population has presented opportunities and challenges to American society. Health care needs, physical changes of aging, and the allocation of health care resources are several of the issues that need to be addressed (Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics, 2000). Quality of life measurement tools have been used to assess the health and social needs of aging people both in the United States and internationally since their conception in …

The Relationship Between Spiritual Belief, Life Attitude, And Mental Health Among Physical Fitness Participants In Northern Indiana, Sharon K. Sacks

Dissertations

Problem. The purpose of this study is to explore spiritual beliefs as defined by an interconnectedness with self and others, generated from a relationship with a higher power, and consider its impact on attitude toward life and mental health.

Method. This study employed the survey research method to collect data investigating the relationships between spiritual beliefs, attitude toward life, and mental health. A battery of three instruments was selected for this study. The Royal Free Questionnaire on Beliefs and Experiences, developed by King, Speck, and Thomas (1994), was used for measuring spiritual beliefs. The Optimism and Pessimism Questionnaire provided a …

A Model Health-Related Elementary Physical Education Program For Saipan: Teachers' Knowledge, Attitudes, And Practices, Kurt C. Barnes Edd

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was significant differences in changes of knowledge, attitudes, and practices between elementary school teachers who took part in an in-service physical education training program and those who did not take part. The in-service training program utilized a model health-related physical education program. The setting for the study was a school district on Saipan whose teachers were required to teach physical education. Teachers in five of nine public elementary schools were placed in the in-service training program. A questionnaire assessing knowledge, attitudes, and practices, was administrated as a pre- and post-test. …

Attitudes Toward And Usages Of Humor Among Practicing Marriage And Family Therapists, Nicholas Todd Wilkens

Dissertations

A descriptive study was conducted exploring attitudes toward and usages of humor among marriage and family therapists. This was an internet study, novel for both St. Mary's University and for marriage and family therapy research in general.

The literature review highlighted the research and theory that has evolved over the past century, addressing the topic of humor in mental and physical health and development. It was noticed that humor has not been a significant topic of study in marriage and family therapy research, nor have attitudes toward and usages of humor been measured among any of the health professions, though …

Women's Experiences With Chronic Heart Failure, Denise M. Boren Phd, Msn, Cns

Dissertations

Nationwide, approximately 4.1 million Americans suffer from chronic heart failure accounting for estimated direct and indirect costs of over $21 billion spent annually for health care. The incidence of heart failure has doubled each decade since the 1940's and slightly more men were inflicted with the illness. This trend changed three years ago, with a decline in the overall incidence of heart failure and a slight predominance of the illness in women rather than men. The incidence of this condition was reduced in males nearly three times that of females. Women survive longer after diagnosis, however they are hospitalized more, …