Digital Commons Network^™

Think : An Installation, Kathleen Moore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Very High Bond (Vhb) Pressure Sensitive Acrylic Foam And Adhesive Transfer Tape Aluminum Bonded Joints Subjected To Environmental Aging, Manoj Anakapalli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Septic System Performance Using Remote Sensing Technology, Amanda Patterson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Willie Morris : Toward A Literary Biography, Richard Malcolm Caldwell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Political Neutrality And Humanitarian Aid: Practical Implications Of Organizational Ideology, Nancy Bruni

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates how the different ideological interpretations of the principle of neutrality affect the practices of humanitarian aid organizations in conflict situations. Specifically, I study the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Médicins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders/MSF). Additionally, I seek specific examples from the current conflict in Darfur, Sudan to illustrate my findings.

The purpose of this study is to determine how the organizations deal with delivering aid in a highly politicized environment while maintaining neutrality. It seeks to articulate the current dilemmas facing aid organizations that work to save the lives of those who suffer. …

Examination Of The Reliability And Validity Of The Triage Assessment Survey: Organizations, Christian Conte

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study evaluated the reliability and validity of the Triage Assessment Survey: Organizations (TAS:O), a 27-item, 5-point, Likert summated rating scale. The participants consisted of 117 graduate students. All participants responded to the TAS:O after reading mild, moderate, marked and severe organizational crisis scenarios. Statistical analyses were performed on the data to determine the instrument's reliability and validity. The overall Cronbach's alpha and Spearman-Brown reliability tests were both .93. An item total correlation revealed that all but one item had statistically significant correlations. Factor analysis revealed three factors, confirming the hypothesis that the TAS:O is comprised of three distinct factors …

Migraine: An Existential Phenomenological Study, Jodie Eckenrod

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the structure of the migraine headache experience. Three adult participants were asked to give a written answer to the question: "Please describe a time you experienced a migraine headache. Please explain what was happening before the headache, during the headache and how it was resolved." The participants were then asked for an audio taped interview with the researcher, the purpose of which was to further explore unclear areas in the written response. The written response and audio taped interview comprised the data sets for phenomenological analysis. From the data from the three participants, a general narrative of …

A Comparison Of The Perceptions Of The Importance Of Supervision Skills And Training Between Formally Trained Supervisors And Non-Formally Trained Supervisors In A Children And Adolescent Service System Program, Jeffrey Spencer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The problem to be investigated is to compare counseling supervisors who have formal training in supervision (CFT) to counseling supervisors who have not been formally trained in supervision (CNT) on two dependent variables. The two dependent variables used in this investigation are (1) the perceived importance of having supervisory competencies in order to do their job and (2) the perceived need to have training in these supervisory competencies in order to do their job. This study will extend a study by Dr. Maura Krushinski (2004) that examined the importance of these variables among CFTs and CNTs who were supervising counseling …

The Self-Reported Multicultural Sports Counseling Competencies Among Professional School Counselors And Play It Smart Academic Coaches, Taunya Tinsley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study compared the self-reported multicultural sports counseling competencies of professional school counselors and Play It Smart academic coaches. Specifically, the study explored the differences in multicultural awareness, multicultural counseling knowledge, multicultural counseling skills, and the multicultural counseling relationship among professionals who provide counseling services to high school student athletes. Defining culture inclusively allows the extension of the definition of multicultural counseling to include the student athlete population. This study compared the multicultural sports counseling competencies of professional school counselors and academic coaches affiliated with high schools throughout the United States that utilize the National Football Foundation's Play It Smart …

The Effects Of Parental Involvement Strategies On Elementary At-Risk Students' Oral Reading Accuracy Levels, Kenneth Leon Jenkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to work with parents who used two different reading interventions at home and find out which parent intervention was more effective in improving their children's oral reading accuracy levels. The total sample size was the parents of 34 elementary at-risk reading students who were taking part in a summer reading and writing program at a state university. Approximately 15 to 20 parents were randomly assigned to both the experimental and main control groups. The main design of this study was an experimental design of parents who were selected randomly by grade level to …

The Us Government-Sponsored Graduate-Level Exchange Programs: The Goals Of The Major Stakeholders And The Students' Academic Interests, Ekaterina Kharlamova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A steady increase in student mobility levels has become a widely recognized component of general globalization trends in the modern world. Yet, internationalization of education is not merely a product of bigger globalization processes. Educational exchange, in many instances sponsored and administered by national governments, is an effective tool in governmental foreign policies. The shift of focus in governmental policies towards the political rather than educational purposes of educational international exchange could lead for lack of attention paid to the issues of foreign students' academic interests. At the same time, universities, although prompted by the globalization tendencies to internationalize their …

Religiosity And Attitudes On Intimacy: Implications For The Hiv/Aids Pandemic In Central Uganda, Herbert Ssewagudde Kibuuka

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study has been to carry out an exploratory survey study of how religion can be instrumentalized in the fight against HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. After years of research, different drugs have been produced; and different methods of combating HIV/AIDS have been used. The pandemic, however, is still on the rise in most of the world. By 2010 for instance, South Africa will have more than two million orphans (of 57 million projected population), and Uganda today has more than 2.5 million orphans (13% of the population). Significant behavior changes across the population can, however, stop and …

The Perceptions Of Beginning Counselor Education Candidates' Multicultural Knowledge And Awareness When Comparing Candidates Who Have Successfully Completed Instruction In Multicultural Counseling With Candidates Who Have Not Completed Instruction In Multicultural Counseling, Evelyn H. Kitchens-Stephens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Within this study, the investigator attempts to determine the perceived effectiveness of counselor trainees using multicultural counseling competencies. The investigator measured the perceived degree of multicultural counseling knowledge and awareness among beginning master's level counseling students in a graduate counselor education program located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The primary research question was: Do counselor education candidates who have successfully completed a 3 credit graduate level course in multicultural counseling perceive themselves to be more knowledgeable and aware in cross-cultural counseling settings than trainees who have not completed the course? A 32-item inventory, the Multicultural Counseling Knowledge and Awareness Scale (MCKAS, Ponterotto …

Kaleidoscope Catechesis: Critique And Response To Missionary Catechesis In Africa With Particular Reference To The Diocese Of Wa In Ghana, Anthony Y. Naaeke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The question about how to appropriately incarnate the Christian message among different cultures is a perennial one. The very first Christian Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15: 1-35) dealt with this issue and throughout the centuries different cultures have continued to battle with the same issue.

Within the African context, the question arises as to how Christianity can truly be Christian and African at the same time. In other words, how can faith become culture in Africa?

The answer to this question must be rhetorical. That is to say, the proclamation (catechesis) of the Christian message must be expressed in a …

Financial System In Economic Development: The Nature And Role Of A Robust Financial System In The Economic Transformation Of Uganda, Frederick Leo Nkwasibwe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Financial System in Economic Development: The Nature and Role of Robust Financial System in the Economic Transformation of Uganda is a thesis that treats the nature and role of the massive network of efficient as opposed to dysfunctional financial institutions and functions in the mobilization and allocation of financial resources for creative investment and economic transformation of Uganda.

The thesis suggests that a market-focused robust financial system utilizing a Rural Reach Refocus Financial Model (the 3-R Financial Model), spurs the entrepreneurial revolution, offers debt and equity financing, and enhances economic transformation. It also highlights the basic conditions for the success …

The Relationship Of Burnout To Contextual Work Factors For Rural Community Mental Health Counselors, Antoinette Petrazzi-Woods

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Burnout is a job-related hazard for human service employees including rural community mental health counselors. Historically, burnout was perceived more as a problem with an individual than a problem with an organization. Contemporary burnout research has recommended expanding the theoretical framework of burnout to include organizational sources of burnout. Consequently, burnout is described as an individual syndrome, consisting of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced sense of personal accomplishment, mediated within the work context. The purpose of this survey research was to describe the relationship between burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, personal accomplishment), as measured by the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey …

The Role Of The Pseudomonas Aeruginosa 1244 Pilin Glycan In Virulence, Jennifer Roguskie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The pili of P. aeruginosa 1244 are involved in a post-translational modification in which an acidic carbohydrate moiety structurally similar to the lipopolysaccahride (LPS) O-antigen is covalently attached to the pilin protein. It has been shown that this associated glycan is evenly distributed over the entire surface of the pilus. Because of its prime location along the pilus, experiments were conducted to determine if the pilin glycan contributed to the virulence of P. aeruginosa. Initial studies involved the assessment of LD50 values to demonstrate that acquisition of the exoU gene increased the virulence of PA1244. Interestingly, the LD50 studies suggested …

Migrant Mobilization: Factors Contributing To The Success Of The Coalition Of Immokaleee Workers, Jane Walsh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

What factors have facilitated the success of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW)? This is the key question that this study attempts to answer. The answer to this question can provide valuable lessons for other farmworker organizations and unions. Social movement literature emphasizes 1) effective leadership; 2) collective identity; 3) the strategic use of various sources of power; 4) conscience constituency involvement; and 5) political opportunities as factors necessary for mobilization. I have used these five factors to analyze the success of the CIW.

The design of this research study includes both participant-observation and in-depth interviews. Subjects for in-person interviews …

Recasting Hegel's Ethical Theory, Theresa Wambui

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the contribution of George Wilhelm Hegel to the modern ethical reflection in which the state is understood as an ethical institution. The goal of this study is to recast Hegel's ethical theory in order to enable his ethical thought to contribute to contemporary reflection on global ethical issues. At issue in Hegel's discourse is the problem of individual and community freedom. Hegel's thesis hinges on the notion of the 'truth' as 'the whole.' In Herbert Marcuse's interpretation, the truth and the whole is freedom. Hegel's ethical theory aims to resolve the tension between individual and communal …

Childhood Fire-Setting: A Contextual Understanding, Andrew Ward

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous research on fire-setting has been either totally theoretical or has been based on limited contact with individuals who set the fires. This dissertation accessed fire-setting through interviews with three male adults who set fires as children. Background information was acquired from the participants to construct the context in which each instance of fire-setting occurred. The purpose of this project was to understand each individual's life as a child in relation to his fire-setting behavior.

The initial goal of this project was to gain access to the actual experience of setting a fire; however, this proved to be an elusive …

Model Based Optimal Design For Structural Health Monitoring / By Hank S. Rinehart, Hank S. Rinehart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Who Chooses Who? : An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Ethnicity, Gender, And Peer Nominations Of Aggression, Karen Hammack Petty

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Testing An Intervention To Address The Sociocultural Influence Of Mass Media On Body Image: Can We Reverse The Curse?, Janet Derosier Murray

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The adverse effects of exposure to unrealistic ideals in the media are well documented, however, this is the first study to explore the possibility that women may experience improvement in body image and affect via social comparison to women with realistic, non-ideal body shape and size. Using material from The Century Project©, the impact of exposure to nude, non-pornographic photographs of women of varied shape, size, age, and physical condition, and the photographed women's personal commentaries about how they successfully cope with body image concerns was tested using an experimental design. It was hypothesized that exposure to the photographs and …

Home School Versus Other Applicants To Postsecondary Institutions: Admission Policies And In-Depth Analysis, Rebecca Lynn Ashford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this study, 94 colleges and universities in Florida were surveyed to determine what their admission policies were for home school applicants. Forty-six colleges responded to the survey. The results of the survey were analyzed to determine if there was a pattern of acceptance based on institution type--public, private, or proprietary. Further, the admission policies were analyzed to determine the extent to which they complied with the National Center for Home Education's (NCHE) recommend college admission policies for home school applicants. The researcher found that public colleges were more likely to accept home school students than were private colleges. Also, …

A Constructionist Analysis Of Same-Sex Marriage, Sandra Kay Nead

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Same-sex marriage has been heavily debated in academics and in the public sphere. During the 2004 Presidential election same-sex marriage became an issue that polarized the candidates. It has become a lightning rod for public debate. Due to the increasing attention to the controversy of legalizing same-sex marriage, it is an important topic for research. This paper seeks to contribute to the research of same-sex marriage by providing insight into claims-making efforts to define same-sex marriage as a social problem. My findings shed light on this topic from a social constructionist perspective by examining the use of rhetorical idioms of …

Design Of A Dynamic Focusing Microscope Objective For Oct Imaging, Supraja Murali

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a novel optical imaging technique that has assumed significant importance in bio-medical imaging in the last two decades because it is non-invasive and provides accurate, high resolution images of three dimensional cross-sections of body tissue, exceeding the capabilities of the current predominant imaging technique –ultrasound. In this thesis, high resolution OCT is investigated for in vivo detection of abnormal skin pathology for the early diagnosis of cancer. The technology presented is based on a dynamic focusing microscopic imaging probe conceived for skin imaging and the detection of abnormalities in the epithelium. A novel method for …

Internal Capital Markets And Bank Relationship - Evidence From Japanese Corporate Spin-Offs.Internal Capital Markets, Investment, Seung Han

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of two studies related to internal capital markets and bank relationship using Japanese corporate spin-offs. The first study analyzes the relation between internal capital markets and banks by examining 137 Japanese corporate spin-offs created between the years 2001 and 2003 (since the establishment of new spin-offs law in 2001). In a univariate analysis, we find significant positive average cumulative abnormal returns around the announcements, market-adjusted excess returns after the spin-offs, an increase of the Herfindahl index, and a reduction in the diversification discount after the spin-offs. In a cross-sectional analysis, we find that bank-related governance variables such …

An Assessment Of Mental Health Counseling Services Provided By Florida Public Community Colleges And Universities, Tito Jovan Benjamin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess mental health counseling services provided by Florida public community colleges and universities. The researcher of this study designed the Counseling Center Questionnaire instrument. This instrument consisted of two different questionnaires, one for community colleges and the other for universities. The questionnaires were developed to ascertain information regarding mental health services provided by higher education institutions. The questionnaires yielded information pertaining to (a) which Florida community colleges and public universities were offering mental health counseling services to students, (b) the types of mental health counseling services provided, (c) the types of problems/issues students …

The Effect Of Pre-K Early Intervention Duration On Academic Achievement And Socialization Opportunities Of 3rd Grade Students Who Were Eligible For Special Education Services At Ages 3 To 5: An Exploratory Study Of Children With Developmental Delays, Mike Chang-Hui Lin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study focuses on young children with developmental delays (DD) in a large school district and explores the effects of Pre-Kindergarten Exceptional Student Education (Pre-K ESE) duration on 136 students' 3rd grade academic achievement and socialization opportunities. This study specifically examines the 2003 statewide assessment (i.e. Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, FCAT) results of children with DD and their 3rd grade special education status. The literature review showed that providing early intervention services for young children ages 3 through 5 with special needs in the public school system has become the movement of both the federal and state educational policies. However, …

Returning Home: Unhcr's Strategies For Repatriation For And Reintegration, Tania N. Domenech

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Under what conditions is the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) able to successfully repatriate and reintegrate refugees to their country of origin? This work aims to evaluate the success of UNHCR's initiative to sponsor the repatriation and reintegration of political refugees who voluntarily chose to return to their homeland. The study of political refugees is essential in International Relations, since it entails the failure of preventing ethnic violence and civil unrest. Overall, the emergence of refugees is the product of the inability of conflict prevention. Voluntary repatriation and reintegration of these refugees provides a message of mending relations, …