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Multi-Physics Numerical Simulation Of Corrosion And Service Life Evaluation Of Novel Reinforced Concrete Systems, Jin Fan

Dissertations

Durability challenges of reinforced concrete materials can shorten the service life and increase the carbon footprint of civil infrastructure systems. Novel alternative materials, such as high-performance fiber reinforced cementitious composites (HPFRCCs) and recycled aggregate concrete (RAC), offer an alternative to tradi-tional concrete materials by increasing the service life of infrastructure or reducing raw material consumption, thereby reducing the life-cycle carbon footprint. Due, in part, to a lack of robust numerical tools, predicting the durability response of these emerging cementitious materials has been insufficiently addressed. A time-dependent multi-physics modeling framework is proposed and adopted to investigate the chloride induced deterioration mechanisms …

Development Of Novel Hybrid Structures For Fast Dissolution Of Hydrophobic Drugs, Mohammad Saiful Islam

Dissertations

Nanomaterials have proven to be highly effective in the design and development of biomedicine. Complementary nanostructured hybrid particles show great promise in drug delivery applications. By improving functionalization, the physicochemical properties of the particles can be enhanced resulting in a high surface area, tunable hydrophilicity and porosity. These characteristics can provide a suitable environment for drug encapsulation, biocompatibility, high drug loading, and customizable release capabilities.

The formulation of drugs with poor water solubility faces multiple challenges, such as insufficient dissolution and inconsistent therapeutic efficacy, particularly when administered orally over an extended period. To overcome these challenges, some of the beneficial …

Oil Droplet Size In Subsea Oil Spills: The Experimental And Numerical Investigation, Ruixue Liu

Dissertations

Well blowout or oil leakage may occur during the offshore oil exploration activities. A great number of crude oils are released to the water environment in those accidents. Three sequent processes after the blowouts are commonly modelled: the droplet formation near the leakage or orifice, the transport of oil droplets in the water column, and the transport of oil slick with waves near the ocean surface. The oil droplet size distribution (DSD) serves as a vital role as it affects any further process, including chemical process such as biodegradation and physical process such as transport, which provides reference for assessing …

A Piezoelectric Gelatin Scaffold For Schwann Cell Induced Spinal Cord Repair, Scott Stratton

Dissertations

Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in axonal damage and consequently, functional loss for which there is no effective treatment at the present time. Axon growth across the injured site is needed to restore disruptive axonal circuitry, which is needed for recovery of lost function, but endogenous axon growth is poor. A Schwann cell (SC) transplant has shown promise in promoting axon growth in the injured spinal cord. Similarly, it has been shown that axons grow into biomaterial conduits especially when they are engineered to provide physical and biochemical growth-promoting cues. While both approaches are promising, their overall effect on axon …

Male Nursing Students In The Community College And The Struggle To Completion, Geri Brewer

Dissertations

Despite significant contributions to healthcare made by male nurses throughout the centuries, nursing is a female-dominated profession, creating challenges for male nursing students. The problem addressed in this study was that male nursing students experience challenges that impede their success toward completing their urban Midwest community college nursing program. Guided by the nursing undergraduate retention and success model, the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore male nursing students' perceptions of the challenges they face that impede their success and their recommendations for the supports they need to overcome these challenges within two urban Midwest community college nursing …

Mantram For Mamas: A Pilot Study For Postpartum Women, Ritamarie Smedile

Dissertations

Objective: This pilot study launched an online Mantram Repetition Program (oMRP) using a virtual health portal that aimed to explore online portal accessibility, oMRP acceptance, and overall interface satisfaction among a sample of postpartum women.

Background: Postpartum depression remains one of the most common and severe childbirth complications, affecting more than 13% of women during the first three months after childbirth. Cognitive or behavioral talk therapy sessions and medication are the most frequently recommended treatments to alleviate symptoms. Although effective, women tend not to enroll or adhere to these modalities, suggesting they need alternative treatment plans. A possible alternative, mirroring …

The Lived Experience Of Patients With Clostridioides Difficile, Andrea Scherschel

Dissertations

Background: Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) is the most common healthcare-acquired gastrointestinal infection in the United States. While there is a plethora of information on the treatment and diagnosis of C. difficile infection (CDI) in the literature, there is a paucity of research findings describing the lived experience of a person with the disease.

Objective: This study described the lived experience of patients who have had one or more CDIs.

Lines of Inquiry: There were two lines of inquiry for this study: (1) Describe the lived experience of having a CDI, and (2) determine if photo-elicitation as a research modality enhanced …

Anxiety And Agitation In Adult Patients Admitted To An Emergency Room During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Doris L. Asombrado

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this retrospective correlational study was to identify the relationship between COVID-19 status and the prevalence of anxiety-agitation with select sociodemographic and clinical characteristics in adults admitted to the ED during the pandemic (03/01/2020 through 12/31/2020).

Background: COVID-19 infections combined with the WHO and CDC recommendations to mitigate spread have had deleterious psychosocial and economic outcomes with the risk of subsequent COVID-19 related mental illness. Studies indicate one in three adults experience anxiety or depression.

Methods: This retrospective correlational study reviewed 2,572 psychiatric admissions from a Southern California ED during the pandemic from March 1, 2020 through …

Academic Nursing Administrators' Experiences With Social Distancing During Covid-19: A Qualitative Study, Vineta Mitchell

Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about many unpredictable challenges requiring flexible and adaptable solutions for higher education, especially in nursing academia. The COVID-19 pandemic challenged nursing academia, including academic nursing administrators (ANAs), to keep staff and students safe while mitigating the spread of the disease. The ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 and the global healthcare crisis of this generation led to the need for social distancing. As the number of deaths increased from the coronavirus, radical changes were adopted in the United States, including social distancing. The COVID-19 pandemic complicated the practical aspects of the practicum in nursing education as they questioned …

Relationship Between Social Support And Stress In Accelerated Nursing Students, Karen L. Bravo

Dissertations

Nursing program attrition rates and retention rates in the first year of professional practice are excessive due to stress. Investigating through this quantitative, correlative research study is due to the lack of information related to accelerated students and stress. Theories framing this study, the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping, and Triadic Reciprocal Determinism Theory, posit that the environment, whether internal or external, affects stress reactions. The research questions included relationships of Significant Other Support, Family Support, and Friend Support to Perceived Stress Score in a two-part online survey of 116 United States participants.

The Experience Of "Doing Well" In Older Nursing Home Residents: Bringing The Past To The Present, Ronald J. Walent

Dissertations

Though discussions of well-being and quality of life for older adults in American nursing homes have flourished over the past decade, relatively few studies have explored these notions from the perspective of older residents themselves. The purpose of this research is to understand experiences and perceptions of "doing well" in older nursing home residents.

Improving The Use Of Advance Care Planning In Assisted Living Facilities, Johnpaul King

Dissertations

Ensuring patients receive care in the fashion they so choose at the end of life should be considered and addressed upon any admission process. The project site noted many unnecessary, repeated emergency room (ER) visits for residents so an evidence-based solution was sought. The purpose of this quantitative, quality improvement project was to determine if the implementation of the Carolina Caring Hospice Agency ACP (CCHAACP) toolkit would impact ACP implementation and reduce ER visits among residents in an assisted living facility (ALF) in Western North Carolina over four weeks. Orem's selfcare theory was the framework of the project. Data was …

Diabetes-Related Distress Experienced By Saudi Adults With Type Two Diabetes Mellitus, Ibtesam Alqahtani

Dissertations

Living with a chronic condition such as diabetes mellitus (DM) and adhering to its complex treatment regimen strongly affect patients' psychological well-being as well as their physical health. Diabetes-related distress (DRD) is a common issue, affecting 40% of DM cases, but it often goes unnoticed and untreated. Despite the high prevalence of DM in the Saudi population, DRD has received little research attention.

This study explored the lived experience of DRD among Saudi adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Utilizing New Technologies To Measure Therapy Effectiveness For Mental And Physical Health, Jonathan Ossie

Dissertations

Mental health is quickly becoming a major policy concern, with recent data reporting increasing and disproportionately worse mental health outcomes, including anxiety, depression, increased substance abuse, and elevated suicidal ideation. One specific population that is especially high risk for these issues is the military community because military conflict, deployment stressors, and combat exposure contribute to the risk of mental health problems.

Although several pharmacological approaches have been employed to combat this epidemic, their efficacy is mixed at best, which has led to novel nonpharmacological approaches. One such approach is Operation Surf, a nonprofit that provides nature-based programs advocating the restorative …

Racism Without Race: The Racialization Of Middle Eastern And North African Students At U.S. Colleges, Hannah Mesouani

Dissertations

Although a growing body of literature covers the experiences of international students at U.S. colleges, the stories of those who do not fit into the U.S. racial schema remain untold. This study examined how Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) students understood their racial identities given the United States’ tense history with Islam and the MENA world. Using foundational texts on critical race theory, current scholarship on Arab Americans and foreign-born students, and facets of the Ethnic Identity Scale (EIS), this study examined the experiences of MENA students who study amid a national backdrop of xenophobia and racialized Islamophobia. This …

Safeguarding From Scrutiny: Toward A Critical Consciousness Of Organizational Culture In Humanitarian Ngos, Andrew Henck

Dissertations

Humanitarian nongovernmental organizations (HNGOs) face a moment of reckoning brought on by decades of operational complexity and conceptual tensions between self-espoused values and external pressures as social change movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter demand organizational accountability. Humanitarian aid is being questioned systematically as most HNGOs continue reconciling with their colonialist origin stories from the Global North. Alongside a shrinking British foreign aid budget, and mounting pressures for proving value for money, HNGOs face a record number of natural disasters, energy crises, armed conflicts, and other major emergencies to respond to across the globe.

As the British aid sector …

Virtual Learning To Enhance Non-Technical Nursing Skills: A Basic Qualitative Study, Nicole Murtagh

Dissertations

Nurse educators are currently facing restraints of limited space, time, availability, conflicting schedules, and increased demands on in-person learning experiences. Due to these restraints, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the rapid technological increase, nursing educators have been tasked with incorporating virtual learning opportunities into traditionally in-person programs. There is a gap in the literature on the faculty experiences of teaching non-technical skills in a virtual environment. This basic qualitative study aimed to explore the experiences of nursing faculty in the state who have incorporated education activities into their virtual learning classroom to improve nursing students' non-technical skills.

Effects Of Membrane Components On The Oligomerization Of Amyloid-Β (Aβ) In Alzheimer Disease, Jhinuk Saha

Dissertations

Deposition of extracellular proteinaceous plaques of amyloid-β (Aβ) is one of the major hallmarks of Alzheimer disease (AD). Although, insoluble high molecular fibrils of Aβ are the main constituents of the senile plaques in AD, low molecular weight soluble Aβ oligomers have emerged as the key toxic species involved in memory impairment and neuronal cell death in AD. The process for generation of oligomers can be highly diverse and can involve homotypic interactions of Aβ as well as heterotypic interaction of Aβ with other macromolecules. Previously, the generation of Aβ oligomers with distinct biochemical and biophysical characteristics catalyzed non-esterified fatty …

A Delphi Study To Determine The Organizational Supports Necessary For Middle School Counselors To Be Successful And Positively Influence Student Outcomes, Debbie Monroe

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this Delphi study is to identify, from the perspective of expert counselors, the roles that middle school counselors perform during their workday, to rate the importance of the roles identified, and to identify organizational supports necessary for middle school counselors to successfully perform each of the six most important roles identified. Additionally, this study seeks to gain feedback from expert middle school counselors on how to best align the necessary organizational supports with the identified most important roles.

Methodology: The Delphi method was utilized for this study through an electronic survey that asks participants a combination …

Affective Commitment, Mentoring, And Anticipated Turnover Among Millennials, Keiasha Hypolite

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Millennials comprise the largest group of individuals in the workforce, yet organizations struggle to keep millennials engaged in the workplace. Millennials move from job to job, with an average stay at one employer between 12 and 18 months (Hechl, 2017). Researchers have reported that millennials cause the majority of turnover in the workplace. Globally, human resources practitioners experience difficulties retaining millennials (Sahraee et al., 2021). Previous studies have researched millennials, affective commitment, mentoring, and turnover. However, no known research has used all four factors to solve a global problem. In their discussion of the highly competitive labor market, Ramírez …

The Use Of Grounded Theory To Develop A Framework For Understanding Student Retention In Community College Nursing Programs, Kimberly S. Priode

Dissertations

Gaining admission into pre-licensure nursing programs has proven to be quite difficult for the average college student. Topping the list of crucial priorities for many academic institutions is the retention of these nursing students. Yet, the reality is that many students decide not to complete their course of study for reasons other than academic failure. The retention of nursing students is essential to securing competent, well-educated nurses to care for society in years to come. Current research has indicated that the enrollment of students pursuing an Associate Degree of Nursing within the Community College systems has greatly increased; however, attrition …

Friedrich Warnecke: Toward A New Edition Of Ad Infinitum, Elton Machado

Dissertations

The dissertation collects and organizes information on German double bassist, pedagogue, and author Friedrich Warnecke and investigates the significance of his life and work to the double bass history. The ever-changing European musical environment throughout Warnecke’s life, the challenges double bassists faced during that time, and the rapid developments of the double bass at the turn of the twentieth century provide a rich historical background. The study addresses Warnecke’s life, pioneering writings on the history of double bass, pedagogical contribution and influence as a teacher and author, and work as a performing double bassist. Finally, it discusses Warnecke’s substantial pedagogical-technical …

Haramed And Dangerous: A Thematic Examination Of Muslim Women’S Representation In We Are Lady Parts, Reham Bohamad

Dissertations

Since the early days of Western media, Muslim women have been portrayed in a negative way. From belly dancers to oil-rich horny sheikhs to voiceless passive wives of terrorists. This image has led the Western spectator to associate Islam and the Muslim women’s headscarf (Hijab) with backwardness, extremism, and oppression. In recent years, there has been a positive shift towards a more inclusive and authentic representation of Muslim women. This shift is the result of the post-network era which provides on-demand media outlets that challenge the dominant hegemonic production system and provide diverse and inclusive images that cater to niche …

An Exploration Of Faculty-To-Faculty Bullying In Nursing Education: The Prevalence, Who Is Bullying Whom, And Intent To Leave, Pamela Kemp

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This study, drawn from a nationwide sample with 1,407 responses, examines faculty-to-faculty bullying and incivility in nursing education. It assesses the prevalence of bullying and incivility within the organization, identifies the most commonly occurring bullying behaviors, and identifies and ranks the most frequently occurring uncivil workplace behaviors. The study also examines the relationship between bullying, incivility, and intent to leave the organization.

Research tools include the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised (NAQ-R), the Workplace Incivility/Civility Scale (WICS), and the Turnover Intention Scale-6 (TIS 6). The analysis includes an evaluation of significant differences in which faculty members are targets of bullying or …

The Impact Of A Culturally Responsive Approach In Science Education On Kindergarten Students, Monique Hite-Patterson

Dissertations

Classrooms today are more ethnically and linguistically diverse. Unfortunately, students of color demonstrate a history of marginalized educational inequities (Williamson et al., 2007). These marginalized educational inequities impact academic achievement across all content areas especially literacy, math, and science. To improve the academic performance of students who are culturally, racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse, methods of instruction and pedagogy that better facilitate learning among diverse student populations must be instituted (Ladson-Billings, 2005). A mixed methods study was conducted in response to the need to examine the impact of using culturally responsive strategies on kindergarten student’s attitudes towards science and their …

Unfit For Slavery: A Qualitative Exploration Of African American Male Perceptions Of Persistence And Academic Achievement At A Midwest Public Community College, Lavada Rebecca Rice

Dissertations

While African American males enrolled in community colleges, persistence and graduation rates remained low compared to all other demographics. Educational literature and research examining the performance of African American male students in community colleges was scarce (Bush & Bush, 2010). The most recent research focused on African American male students in the community college systems was 2010 (Harris & Wood, 2013) and focused on ways to keep African American male students enrolled. Ignoring the socio-ecological factors can affect decisions to stay enrolled. The researcher believed examining institutional and socio-ecological influences might be necessary to improve the persistence and academic achievement …

Interprofessional Role Clarification Among Licensed Health Care Practitioners In Rural And Smaller Community Hospitals, Dianne E. Allen

Dissertations

Enhancement of healthcare systems has increased the demand for healthcare practitioners (HCPs) to share client care by functioning in a variety of roles within interprofessional teams. When these roles are integrated into team practice, the outcome can be collaborative sharing of client care responsibilities but without sharing, team members can experience uncertainty as to what their contributions should be. Understanding this shift in practice begins with role clarification, whereby HCPs have self-awareness about their own roles, and then gain an understanding of the roles of others in their collaborative practitioner groupings. Interprofessional role clarification (IPRC) is thought to be necessary …

When Nurse-Teachers Become Ill: A Narrative Inquiry Into The Personal Illness Experiences Of Three Nurse-Teachers, Jasna K. Schwind

Dissertations

In this inquiry I explore how a personal serious illness of three nurse-teachers impacts their teaching and nursing practice. My interest in illness stories emerges in response to my own experience of becoming a patient thirteen years ago. As a result of this circumstance I became curious to learn how other nurse-teachers may experience personal illness events. To help me think about my puzzle I chose Connelly and Clandinin's narrative inquiry, where narrative is both the method and the phenomenon of study. In this research my two co-participants and I talk about what it is like for a person, who …

A Study On Vivian Fine’S Chamber Concerto For Cello And Six Instruments, Andrea Beltran Landers

Dissertations

The music of American composer Vivian Fine (1913-2000) has fallen into obscurity despite its high quality. Her musical career has led her from being a child-prodigy at the piano to being a part of the elite inner circle of avant-garde composers in New York in the early 1930s, and ultimately to a faculty position at Bennington College in the 1960s. Due to the stability and job security that the academic world brought to Fine, she was able to dedicate most of her time to composition. The Chamber Concerto for Cello and Six Instruments belongs to this fruitful period in her …

Agreement Of Psychiatric Diagnoses Within And Between Groups Of Mental Health Clinicians From Different Disciplines, Wade Mcguire

Dissertations

The development of therapy as a treatment option for mental health problems has led to the creation of different disciplines. Each discipline has developed its own conceptualization of classification and treatment of mental health problems. These conceptualizations have led to different areas of focus for each of the disciplines, specifically counseling, psychology, and social work. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether these areas of focus influence how each discipline diagnoses. For this study, data was collected by having clinicians provide diagnoses for three fictitious clients. The vignettes for the clients were taken from a psychopathology textbook to …