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Value And Impact Of Nurse Innovators Working In Academic, Industry, And Government Settings: A Qualitative Study, Olivia A. Lemberger

Dissertations

This dissertation explores the value and impact of nurse innovators working in academic, industry, and government settings. A qualitative descriptive study was chosen to understand the contributions of nurse innovators and the outcomes associated with their innovative endeavors. The purpose of this study is to better understand the contributions of nurse innovators by answering the following research questions: 1) How do nurses perceive that nursing innovation adds value to and/or impacts patients or the United States health care system? 2) What metrics/outcome measures do nurse innovators identify as relevant or useful to evaluate innovation success? And 3) What methods/resources do …

Supports And Barriers Of The Lived Experience Of Hmong Women K-12 Administrators Seeking Advancement In Leadership Positions, May Moua

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to examine the supports of cultural, family, community, professional career, and mentorship Hmong women administrators experienced in their career path toward a high-ranking educational administrative position. Additionally, the purpose of this study was to examine the cultural, family, community, professional career, and mentorship barriers Hmong women administrators experienced as they ascended to high-ranking educational administrative positions.

Methodology: This study was conducted using qualitative research methods. The researcher utilized a group of highly educated Hmong female administrators in the Central Valley, California area. This group of individuals shared their experiences of supports …

On The Dimensions Of Managerial Readiness Among Middle-Level Academic Managers In Philippine Colleges Of Nursing: An Exploratory Sequential Design, Blaise B. Nieve

Dissertations

The study aimed to establish a valid and reliable research tool to measure managerial readiness among middle-level academic managers in Philippine colleges of nursing. This study employed a mixed methods design, specifically exploratory sequential design. For the qualitative phase of this study, a total of nine participants were purposefully selected for the in-depth interviews, five for the focus group discussions. They were selected on the basis of the following criteria: must be full-pledged registered nurses, currently a full-time employee in a CHEDaccredited college of nursing in the Philippines, must have at least three years of teaching experience, at least three …

Quantifying Non-Muscle Myosin 2 Filament Dynamics, Melissa Ann Quintanilla

Dissertations

Non-muscle myosin 2 is a motor protein that, when assembled into filaments, works on the actin cytoskeleton to produce contractile forces within cells. This type of myosin dynamically assembles within cells to exert forces necessary for a wide variety of functions including cell division, migration, and multicellular movement. The ability to dynamically assemble contractile networks, and the ability to control the assembly and placement of these myosin filaments in both space and time, is therefore required throughout cell physiology. We used a suite of dynamic, quantitative imaging approaches to identify deterministic factors that drive myosin filament appearance and amplification as …

Establishing A Novel Lipid-Polyamine Metabolic Connection To Virus Replication, Yazmin Edith Cruz Pulido

Dissertations

Polyamines are small positively charged alkylamines found in all living cells. These ubiquitous molecules have been found to play a variety of roles ranging from stabilizing nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) to cellular proliferation. Studies have also identified roles for polyamines in viral packaging and viral enzyme function. However, the role of polyamines on cellular components and their effect on viral replication is less known. In our efforts to identify the lipid-polyamine metabolic connection to virus replication we utilized a human hepatocyte cell line in which polyamines were depleted via pharmacological or genetic approaches and studied the effects on lipid …

Revitalizing The Middle-Skill Talent Pipeline: Exploring The Decision To Enroll In A Postsecondary Career And Technical Education Program, Felicia Hall

Dissertations

A workforce shortage exists within occupations requiring educational training beyond high school but less than a 4-year degree, known as middle-skill occupations. Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs offered at community colleges throughout the United States equip graduates at the middle-skill level. Although affordable CTE programs are readily available, little is currently known about what makes students consider and ultimately enroll in postsecondary CTE programs. This qualitative phenomenological study investigated the decision to enroll in a postsecondary CTE program as experienced by current students at a North Alabama community college to identify enablers and barriers faced during the decision to …

Villa-Lobos Choros No. 1: A Study Of The Recordings, Andrei Jan Hoffmann Uller

Dissertations

This dissertation explores changing perspectives on performance practice for the well-known solo guitar work Choros No.1 composed in 1920 by Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959), by documenting different interpretations heard on selected recordings from across the 20th century and into the 21st century. The methodology considers the recordings as the main object of study. Choros No. 1 features a hybrid style that makes it especially interesting for a research method that captures performance details such as articulations, dynamic and agogic accents, timbre, and tempo flexibility. This dissertation will consider performance decisions that are not often discussed in the research. For example, the …

Coworkers And Leaders: The Relationship Between Trustworthiness, Trust, And Employee Engagement, Lianne Young

Dissertations

A highly engaged workforce provides numerous organizational and individual benefits (Shuck et al., 2016), the culmination of which leads to a competitive advantage difficult to emulate (Burke et al., 2013). It remains challenging to understand how engagement develops, with little research available explaining the process (Shuck, 2020). High employee engagement levels provide a competitive advantage, but stagnant engagement levels remain a significant obstacle (Shuck, 2020).

Shuck (2020) recommends further research focusing on methods to increase engagement. Trustworthiness and trust are antecedents and drivers of engagement (Chughtai & Buckley, 2008; Federman, 2010; SHRM, 2017). A lack of trust has negative impacts …

Relationship Between School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions And Supports, Student Achievement, And Teacher Efficacy In High Poverty Rural Alabama Elementary Schools, William Combs

Dissertations

The purpose of this research study is to determine if relationships exist between the level of School-wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports implementation, student academic achievement, and teacher self-efficacy in high-poverty rural Alabama elementary schools. The research encompassed a comprehensive analysis of existing literature, incorporating historical and policy-related context, theoretical underpinnings, relevant studies, and expert viewpoints. Additionally, the research involved the gathering and examination of data, presentation of findings, establishment of conclusions, and suggestions for prospective research directions. The primary objective of this study is to investigate potential correlations between the extent of SWPBIS (School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports) …

Arturo Rodriguez: A Mexican Mosaic. A Discussion Of His Life And Selected Works, Jorge Gonzalez

Dissertations

Arturo Rodríguez (b. 1976) is a Mexican composer living in Los Angeles, California. His music has gained tremendous popularity in México within the last ten years and is being performed regularly by some of the most prestigious professional orchestras in México and abroad. One of the most interesting aspects of his career is that he writes music for both the concert hall and motion pictures. His compositional output is abundant and covers a variety of genres including music for symphony orchestra, chamber orchestra, chamber music, and piano. Rodríguez has focused on the art of symphonic composition for the past fifteen …

Thermally Rearranging Polyimide Networks For High-Temperature Applications, William Guzman

Dissertations

High-performance polymers can retain functional properties when exposed to long-term or short-term durations of harsh conditions, such as mechanical action, at elevated temperatures (>177 °C). A mixture of intramolecular and intermolecular forces of and between polymer chains provide excellent property retention at elevated temperatures. Specifically, the highly aromatic nature of high-performance polymer backbones provides outstanding thermal stability, which is typically attributed to π-π stacking. However, the interrelationship between thermal stability and high aromaticity creates a challenging structure-processing relationship paradigm, which causes poor polymer processability in most high-performance polymers. Herein, it was demonstrated that rationally designing a crosslinking phenylethynyl imide …

An Analysis Of The Factors That Affect Self-Employment, Stefani Broome

Dissertations

This dissertation research identifies the factors that affect self-employment in a three-essay format. Essay one builds a foundation on analyzing the determinants that affect self-employment in the United States through a country-level time-series analysis. Essay two includes a time-series panel analysis and comparative analysis between the United States and United Kingdom by expanding on Meager’s (1992) study of the relationship between unemployment and self-employment. This analysis focuses on the United Kingdom, an outlier in Meager’s (1992) study, which included a structural change to the motivation to enter self-employment after an economic shock in the late 1970s. Essay three utilizes a …

Using Afm-Ir To Study Nanoscopic Phase Behavior Of Polymer Blends And Photovoltaic Bulk Heterojunctions, Nathaniel L. Prine

Dissertations

Conjugated polymers (CPs) and polymer blends harbor the potential for high-performance organic solar cells (OSCs) due to their short energy payback time, low cost, solution processability, lightweight attributes, and flexibility. However, OSCs suffer from poor thermal stability compared to their inorganic equivalents. This study explores the thermal instability of OSCs, focusing on phase separation of the photoactive layer under heat, resulting in morphology changes and degradation of power conversion efficiency (PCE). Utilizing atomic-force microscopy coupled with infrared spectroscopy (AFM-IR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), we delve into thermal stability-morphology relationships to devise strategies to improve OSC blend durability under thermal …

Timeseries Forecasting Of U.S. Housing Price Index Using Machine Learning And Deep Learning Models, Krishna Chaitanya Nunna

Dissertations

Time series forecasting is a promising technique for various applications which predicts future values or patterns by taking historical data as base. Forecasting future trends is very beneficial for different industries to make valuable decisions and strategies. One such industry is housing market; it has biggest influence on U.S. economy. Housing price index (HPI) is a one of the crucial economic indices published by various government funded and private agency to benefit several industries and individuals for better analysis of future trends of housing market.

Several factors influence the HPI, economical, geographical, and demographic features. Development of traditional time series …

Heterotypic Interaction Of Α-Synuclein And Tdp-43 In Neurodegenerative Diseases, Shailendra Dhakal

Dissertations

Amyloid aggregates of specific proteins form important pathological hallmarks in many neurodegenerative diseases, defining neuronal degeneration and disease onset. Recently, increasing numbers of patients show co-morbidities and exhibit clinical and pathological overlaps between multiple neurodegenerative diseases including α-synucleinopathies and TDP-43 proteinopathies. These overlaps are often accompanied by co-localization of α-synuclein (αS) and TDP-43 enhancing the possibility of direct interactions to generate heterotypic amyloids with distinct cellular consequences. To understand this, we investigate the interaction of α-synuclein (αS) and prion-like domain of TDP-43 (TDP-43 PrLD) in both homogenous and inhomogeneous phases. Firstly, we show that monomeric TDP-43 PrLD and αS interact …

Teachers' And Administrators' Opinions Of Lgbtq Students And Inclusive Education, Katie Vining

Dissertations

The goal of this study was to explore opinions of teachers and administrators in the South, when dealing with inclusive education within their school. Additionally, the goal was to examine the reported effect of teachers and administrators’ opinions of providing LGBTQ students with inclusive education on the school climate and risk factors of students. The study explored what practices and strategies have been implemented to provide an inclusive education for LGBTQ students.

The results of this study confirmed that bullying of LGBTQ students exists in schools in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, and a lack of specific policy to address the …

Intelpvt And Opt-Stvit: Advances In Vision Transformers For Object Detection, Classification And Video Recognition, Divya Nimma

Dissertations

Since the advent of Transformers, followed by Vision Transformers (ViTs), great success has been achieved by researchers in the field of computer vision and object detection. The difficult mechanism of splitting images into fixed patches posed a serious challenge in this arena and resulted in the loss of useful information at the time of object detection and classification. We propose an innovative Intelligent-based patching mechanism to overcome the challenges and integrate it seamlessly into the conventional Patch-based ViT framework. The proposed method enables the utilization of patches with flexible sizes to capture and retain essential semantic content from input images, …

An Analysis Of The Effects Of Visual Art And Gender On Secondary Students’ Achievement In Geometry, Johnny Gary Iii

Dissertations

Students’ understanding of geometry can be hampered in part because of their inability to visualize, describe, draw, and recognize images and shapes. What if art and making could support students’ mathematics learning and interest and help them over the geometry hurdle? This work investigated visual-arts integrated geometry lessons to explore its impact on high school students’ understanding and attitudes. This study used a quasi-experimental mixed methods design, with a pre- and post- survey and interview data collected from geometry students at Mississippi high school. The control group was taught the same geometry content using a traditional curriculum, and the treatment …

Structural Features Of Hiv-1 Integrase In The Late Stage Of Viral Replication, Tolga Catmakas

Dissertations

HIV-1 integrase (IN) is an essential enzyme for the viral life cycle as it integrates viral genomic material into the host cell genome. In addition to its’ essential catalytic function, IN has another important non-catalytic role where it binds the viral RNA to facilitate successful particle maturation during the viral life cycle. A significant number of IN mutants, addressed as class II IN mutants, show various defects, affecting different steps of the viral life cycle. Class II IN mutants exhibit aberrant morphology where viral ribonucleoprotein particles are mislocalized outside of the capsid core. This phenomenon can be observed in the …

An Examination Of Influential Factors Of Academic Dishonesty And Ethical Decision-Making Among Community College Nursing Students, Roshelle L. Lemon-Howard

Dissertations

Academic dishonesty remains a pervasive, multi-discipline dilemma which has been reported as having the propensity of resulting in longstanding consequences beyond academic settings. Previous research has suggested that students who participate in dishonest behaviors while attending institutions of higher education have greater tendencies to engage in dishonest and unethical behaviors within professional settings. Notably, schools of nursing are not exempt from academic dishonesty and the ramifications that have been associated with such misconduct. Although academic dishonesty has been examined from various perspectives, and in numerous contexts, current studies that compare relationships between peer and faculty influences on academic dishonesty and …

Coach-Athlete Conflict And Well-Being Outcomes For Division I Athletes, Alisha M. Hilliard

Dissertations

The purpose of the research was: to qualitatively explore and further understand NCAA Division I (DI) athletes’ experiences with coach conflict and the impact of that conflict on well-being. To serve the purpose of this research, the primary researcher used a purposive sample of DI student-athletes by contacting them directly or sharing the study with faculty, graduate students, and athletic department personnel who work with student-athletes. An interpretive phenomenological approach was utilized while engaging in qualitative inquiry to pursue richer answers to the research question, because these approaches “seek to explore, describe, and analyze the meaning of individual lived experience” …

Biophysical Factors Affecting Habitat Suitability For Crassostrea Virginica, Jason D. Tilley

Dissertations

Oyster reefs provide a variety of important ecosystem services. However, the mortality rate of eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, the dominant species that produces oyster reefs in the northern Gulf of Mexico, is increasing at an alarming rate due to a variety of abiotic and biological factors. I examined how biophysical factors, including the less-studied fatty acid profiles of the suspended particulate matter on which oysters feed, influenced morphometric condition of C. virginica.

I sampled suspended particulate matter (SPM) and oysters in-situ in the western Mississippi Sound, which historically supported the majority of oyster production in Mississippi waters. Sampling …

Engagement In Mental Health Research: The Role Of Mental Health Awareness And Perceived Intervention Stigma In Clinical Research Engagement Among African American Faith Communities, Camelia Harb

Dissertations

The dearth of participation in clinical research by marginalized racial and ethnic groups is a commonly cited limitation of research studies. To better understand research engagement among marginalized groups, this study proposed a mixed methods design examining the roles of mental health awareness and perceived intervention stigma on the capacity to engage in clinical research among a sample of African American faith community members. The primary aims were to: 1) examine the associations between and predictive roles of mental health awareness and perceived intervention stigma on clinical research engagement; 2) evaluate the moderating role of perceived intervention stigma; and 3) …

Adaptive Leadership During Times Of Great Change And Opportunity, Danielle Daubin

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this exploratory phenomenological study was to identify and describe the strategies used by middle school principals to build an adaptive capacity based on the five key characteristics of adaptive leadership identified by Heifetz et al. (2009).

Methodology: Three counties in northern California were selected to conduct a phenomenological study on middle school principals. Of this population, purposeful sampling was applied to identify participants who met specific criteria. Ten participants were selected: four from Contra Costa County, three from San Joaquin County, and three from Stanislaus County. The researcher conducted one-on-one interviews to gather data, which was …

Never-Ending Parenting: Challenges Experienced By Caregivers Of Adults With Severe Autism, Andrea Palerino

Dissertations

Despite the large number of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who are annually aging out of the school-based systems in the United States, much of the academic literature has been focused on the concerns and challenges of preschool or school-aged children with ASD. As a result, there lacks a clear understanding of how primary caregivers of adult children with severe autism spectrum disorder (SASD) utilize various forms of capital to navigate care.

This study proposed to fill that gap by employing Bourdieu's notions of capital as a theoretical framework for the interview protocol to address accessing community services, securing …

Power-Up With Emotional Intelligence: Exploring Flight Attendant Leadership And Crew Resource Management In A Dynamic Post-Pandemic Travel Environment, Carlin Laviolet Clarke

Dissertations

In the post-pandemic travel environment, disruptive passengers fail to accept flight attendants’ leadership and cause unruly incidents that compromise flight safety, damage airlines, and present behavioral challenges that can lead to physical harm (Al-Arshani, 2021; Albert, 2016; Araiza, 2022; Albert, 2016; FAA, 2021; Inspire Academy, n.d.-a.; International Air Transport Association [IATA], n.d.-b; James, 2022; Pederson et al., 2021; Ramona & Anbro, 2017; Timmis et al., 2018; TSA, 2021; Wong & Neustaedter, 2017). Flight attendants rely on Crew Resource Management (CRM) skills to manage inflight incidents; however, CRM promotes team effectiveness and flight attendants are often dispersed throughout the cabin and …

Mentor Teacher And Administrator Attitudes And Beliefs Toward Mentoring Programs In K-12 Education In South Mississippi, Krystle Womack

Dissertations

The teaching profession relies heavily on mentor programs to promote teacher retention, to reduce attrition and to increase the quality of new teachers. Teachers grow professionally through gaining knowledge. Mentor teachers show professional growth through knowledge gained from mentoring programs and serving as mentor teachers.

There is a significant gap in mentoring research in that the mentoring literature is limited in perspective. Research focuses solely on the perspectives of the beginning teacher or the person being mentored, but the perspective of more than one stakeholder is needed to give the full picture of induction and mentoring. This study uses a …

Perceived Power By Nurse Managers In Dialysis Units: A Qualitative Case Study, Janie Griner

Dissertations

Nurses comprise the largest workforce in health care but lack power despite their numbers. Nurses have suffered short-staffing, burnout, job dissatisfaction, unsafe work settings, and cumbersome technology for decades. The dialysis nurse manager is an important component of the dialysis unit and plays a role in the retention and recruitment of nurses. Using a case study approach this qualitative, thematic analysis described dialysis nurse managers’ perception of power in dialysis units. A review of the current research revealed a gap involving dialysis nurse managers’ perception of power in the dialysis unit. The following research question was developed: • How do …

Spatial Visualization Of High School Geometry Students, Jennifer Crissey

Dissertations

Spatial ability has been defined as “the innate ability to visualize that a person has before any formal training has occurred, i.e., a person is born with ability” (Sorby, 1999, p. 21) and is comprised of spatial orientation and spatial skills.Each of these facets are used in everyday life. High school students can enhance their spatial visualization skills through experiences and instruction. The purpose of this study was to test an intervention with the aim of increasing high school geometry students’ spatial visualization skills. The participants in this study were high school geometry students who were randomly placed in either …

"Innumerable Small Crafts": Maritime Work In The Estuarian Gulf, 1865-1900, Kevin Grubbs

Dissertations

Maritime historians have argued for a highpoint in maritime activity during the antebellum years. This peak was fed by Americans travelling on tall wooden sailing ships in international trade, in the whaling industries, and as members of the US Navy. The prowess of the American Merchant Marine faded quickly in the middle of the nineteenth century due to military losses during the American Civil War and due to the rise of steamships and steel hulls. This peak was followed by another lesser peak in the Twentieth Century as American ships caught up with technological changes. World War One provided a …