Digital Commons Network^™

When Talking Helps: A Quantitative Study Of Privacy And Resilience After Bereavement, Carrie Lynn West

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using the theoretical framework of Communication Privacy Management, this study sought to determine how trait resilience, state hopefulness, distress disclosure, use of social networks, and boundary turbulence relate to bereaved spouses' life satisfaction. Bereaved spouses (N=149) completed questionnaires at Camp Widow, a weekend-long conference for bereaved spouses held in San Diego, from August 12-14, 2011. Participants were single, engaged or remarried. The average age of the participants is 46.24 years. The average age at time of bereavement reported was 43.71 years. The amount of time that had passed since the death of their spouse was 2.83 years, and the average …

The Relationship Between Teacher Cultural Competency And Student Engagement, Erin Nicole Robinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory study investigated teachers' cultural competency and their students' engagement within international high schools located in Hong Kong. Cultural competency is defined as a combination of knowledge about cultural groups as well as attitudes towards and skills for dealing with cultural diversity (Betancourt, 2003). The literature indicates that cultural competency will continue to play an increasingly important role in the professional work place as culturally diverse people become more interdependent. When examining the classroom experience, cultural competency equates to a teacher's ability to successfully instruct and engage culturally different students.

The students in this study reported over 30 different …

It's About Access: How The Curricular System And Unequal Learning Opportunities Predict The Racial Test Score Gap In Mathematics, Floyd Cobb Ii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This mixed methods study investigates how the design of the curricular system of one Colorado school district contributes the racial test score and racial college preparedness gaps in mathematics. The researcher examined this issue through a mixed methods design using Critical Race Theory (CRT) as the overarching theoretical framework supported by Yosso's (2002) Critical Race Curriculum. For the quantitative portion of the study the researcher utilized the theory of opportunity to learn (OTL) to test the impact of differential access to advanced mathematics content on test score outcomes on the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) and the Colorado ACT (COACT). …

Trauma In Transportation: Factors Contributing To Positive And Negative Outcomes Of Involvement In Trauma For Railroad Workers, Jill Veronica Pinarowicz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored several predictors of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Post Traumatic Growth (PTG) in a sample of 136 train employees. The first objective was to examine the influence of number of work related traumas, number of life traumas, age, personality characteristic extroversion, personality characteristic openness, social support, positive cognitive coping, and negative cognitive coping in the prediction of PTSD. The second objective was to assess the influence of number of work related traumas, number of life traumas, age, personality characteristic extroversion, personality characteristic openness, social support, positive cognitive coping, and negative cognitive coping prediction of PTG.

Freight …

The Relationship Between Middle School Students' Perceptions Of Physical Activity, Student Engagement, And Academic Achievement, Jeremy D. Moretti

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Physical activity is important, and many adolescents are not meeting the recommendation that youth participate in at least 60 minutes of physical activity most days of the week (CDC, 2011). Physical inactivity among middle school students is on the rise and may be a contributing factor to a decline in academic performance. Prior research has focused primarily on bodily health; however, growing evidence supports the benefits of physical activity for academic achievement (Chomitz et al., 2009). This study examined the relationship between middle school students' perceptions of physical activity and student engagement they relate to academic achievement among 179 middle …

Dopamine-Beta-Hydroxylase And Norepinephrine Transporter Immunoreactivity In Rat Taste Buds, Jenna Ashley Walton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Of the handful of neurotransmitters modulating taste response, norepinephrine (NE) may be the least understood. Although the physiological role of NE has been tested, it is still unclear whether the rat taste bud may serve as an endogenous source of neurotransmitter or if it must be taken up from outside the taste bud. Immunocytochemical analysis of DBH has shown that DBH–LIR is present in taste cells of the rat circumvallate papillae. Specifically, DBH–LIR is present in a subset of Type II taste cells. Nearly all (98%) DBH–LIR cells express PLCβ2–LIR, and about half (41%) of PLCβ2–LIR cells express DBH–LIR. DBH–LIR …

Plasma Spectroscopic Techniques Applied To Biological And Environmental Matrices, Morgan Steele Schmidt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to apply the use of direct ablation plasma spectroscopic techniques, including spark-induced breakdown spectroscopy (SIBS) and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), to a variety of environmental matrices. These were applied to two different analytical problems. SIBS instrumentation was adapted in order to develop a fieldable monitor for the measurement of carbon in soil. SIBS spectra in the 200 nm to 400 nm region of several soils were collected, and the neutral carbon line (247.85 nm) was compared to total carbon concentration determined by standard dry combustion analysis. Additionally, Fe and Si were evaluated in a …

Feature-Based Neuro-Symbolic Networks For Global Diagnostics, Tracy Lynn Schantz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Engineered system diagnostics have been researched over the years with many successful results. From transportation systems to office technologies, many have been equipped with self-diagnostic capabilities and are called Smart Machines. In spite of these advances, current diagnostic systems are driven by direct sensory information without much concern for patterns of the system behavior or features associated with them. For large-scale systems with complex dynamics, global as well as local diagnostics become of great importance, where sensory information is used as input for the local diagnostics, and patterns of behavior or features are utilized for global diagnostics.

The main objective …

Implicating Bitzer's Rhetorical Situation In Comparative And Non-Violent Rhetoric: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Three Ecofeminist Movements From East To West, Shahreen Mat Nayan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the study of social movement rhetoric, scholars often focus on movements based in Western nations, foregoing study of social change in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and other parts of the world. Similarly, the focus on non-violent rhetoric has also been lacking, despite its use by great leaders such as Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King. This dissertation contributes to the study of social change in a globalized world, by taking a comparative approach to non-violent rhetoric in three diverse case studies. As sub-areas, both comparative rhetoric and non-violent rhetoric require further deliberation due to the numerous debates concerning …

Teaching Facial Emotion Recognition To Low-Functioning 4-7 Year Old Students With Autism, Gary A. Butcher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Autism Symptom Disorder (ASD) is one of the fastest growing developmental disorders in the United States. This study investigated the development of facial emotion recognition in three individuals aged 4 - 7 years old with Autism Symptom Disorder. It incorporated both objective measures for facial recognition and subjective measures for motivation, time on task, and increased enjoyment of school. A multiple baseline design was utilized which included establishment of the baseline for each of the three students and then a period of intervention and evaluation. It was hypothesized that the use of the DVD, The Transporters, would increase facial recognition, …

Analysis Of Interphase Chromatin Motion In Hela Cells, Matthew Joel Westacott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Motion of particles under influencing forces may be observed under light microscopy techniques. Variations in mobility of particles may give relevant biophysical information. Automated high resolution single particle tracking techniques were used to characterize interphase chromatin mobility in the cell nucleus. Interphase chromatin undergo replication prior to cell division with the assistance of replication proteins (machinery) which modify chromatin mobility. Using dual color imaging of flourescently tagged chromatin and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) were followed through interphase. Chromatin motion was modelled as a two dimensional random walk. Reduction in chromatin mobility was observed during S phase was dependent on …

Micro Channel Cooler Performance Improvement By Insonation, Peter Webb Higgins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The motivation for this work is the need to remove waste heat from laser diodes and high speed transistors in processes which are exponentially increasing past 1 kW/cm2 as anticipated by Moore's Law. The hypothesis guiding the work is that ultrasonic insonation of micro coolers employed to dissipate these heat loads can improve heat removal. It is thought that the mechanism promoting the benefit is enhancement of the ability of the coolant to remove latent heat in two-phase operation by managing entrained bubble size near the cooler's exit so as to forestall flow reduction or blockage caused by large bubbles, …

Feasting On Four Wheels, Mariel Patricia Rodriguez-Mcgill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The documentary film Feasting On Four Wheels explores the new wave of "gourmet" food trucks on the streets of Denver, Colorado. What started as a bigger movement across the country made its way to the Mile High city in 2010 and snowballed to the food-loving community portrayed during the summer of 2011. Interviews with food truck owners, a food truck fabricator and a blogger for DenverStreetFood.com, explore the nature of the movement and how its existence creates a feel of community and culture within the city. The evolution of street food history and the influence of new technology are also …

Estradiol Modulation Of Calcium Dynamics In Pituitary Mmq Lactotroph Cells, Monika Pauckova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pituitary lactotrophs are excitable cells that exhibit spontaneous, calcium influx triggering prolactin (PRL) secretion to stimulate lactation. Lactotrophs express estrogen receptors (ER) and are a well established estrogen-responsive cell system. 17B-estradiol (E2) is known to directly affect lactotrophs by increasing PRL transcription and biosynthesis, intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) and PRL secretion. This study demonstrates that the MMQ clonal cell line, isolated from the 7315a rat pituitary tumor, is a model lactotroph cell line that is E2-responsive. Spontaneous and evoked Ca2+ transients were especially sensitive to L-type channel block, but not affected by block of omega-conotoxin-GVIA-sensitive CaV channels or TTX-sensitive voltage-gated …

Pomc Is Expressed In Pancreatic Alpha Cells, Samia M.M Farrara

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pancreatic alpha cells secrete glucagon to increase blood glucose during hypoglycemia. Currently, the mechanisms that initiate glucagon secretion are not well understood. This study investigates the expression of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), a potent regulator of glucagon secretion, in alpha cells.

Insulin tolerance tests in mice lacking the POMC gene showed a correlation between alpha MSH, and glucagon secretion from alpha cells (Hochgeschwender et al. 2003). Results from a previous study showed that the POMC product, melanocortin á-MSH, acts through a melanocortin receptor 4 (MC4R) at the surface of the alpha cells to trigger the release of glucagon [Angleson, unpublished data, Lumsden …

Nesting In The Clouds: Evaluating And Predicting Sea Turtle Nesting Beach Parameters From Lidar Data, Kristina H. Yamamoto

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Humans' desire for knowledge regarding animal species and their interactions with the natural world have spurred centuries of studies. The relatively new development of remote sensing systems using satellite or aircraft-borne sensors has opened up a wide field of research, which unfortunately largely remains dependent on coarse-scale image spatial resolution, particularly for habitat modeling. For habitat-specialized species, such data may not be sufficient to successfully capture the nuances of their preferred areas. Of particular concern are those species for which topographic feature attributes are a main limiting factor for habitat use. Coarse spatial resolution data can smooth over details that …

Star Lake, Arda Collins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Star Lake is a collection of poems.

Matching Educational Interventions To Behavioral Phenotypes: Spatial Temporal Math As A Mathematics Achievement Intervention For Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Erin Slason Grell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), a rapidly growing group of neurodevelopmental disorders, affect nearly all aspects of development. The knowledge base of ASDs has increased significantly over the past half century due to translational research models (Rutter, 1999). Basic science and applied clinical work have informed research in a bi-directional manner. Through these models, much is now known about the language, behavioral, and cognitive difficulties associated with ASDs. However, autism research would benefit from further delineation of the differences between ASD types through the development of behavioral phenotypes. Behavioral phenotypes are expressions of particular aspects of disorders that may aid in …

Quality Of Life Of Parental Caregivers Of Children (1-36 Months) With A Tracheostomy, Rachel A Joseph

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Children's health and well-being are invariably related to the health and well-being of their parents or caregivers. Many parents undertake home care of children with a tracheostomy who require highly complex and technology driven care that would have been formerly assumed by health care providers. Parents accept multiple responsibilities- that of an advocate, case manager, parent, nurse, and much more. A cross sectional descriptive study using survey method was conducted to gather data on stress, coping and quality of life in parents of children with a tracheostomy aged one month to 36 months. The survey was administered via a secure …

The Effect Of Risk Assessment On Racial Disproportionality In The Child Welfare System, Joseph Martin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Minority children are involved in the child welfare system at rates disproportionate to their numbers in the overall population. Prior research argues that risk assessments conducted by child welfare agencies may be racially biased, and thus contribute to disproportionality. This study seeks to explore the effect of different risk assessment models on racial disproportionality. This is done by examining the relationship between race/ethnicity and various child welfare outcomes in three states that utilize the consensus-based model and three states that utilize the actuarial model of risk assessment. Results were similar for both groups of states, suggesting that one model is …

Flourishing Selfhood In Aristotle And Authentic Selfhood In Heidegger, Jacob Graham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores Aristotle's concept of human flourishing, or eudaimonia, through the lens of the flourishing self. Connections will be made with Heidegger's concept of authenticity, as seen through the lens of authentic selfhood. It is argued that there is some type of authenticity or self-appropriation already present in Aristotle's ethical thought. For both thinkers, however, the particularized self is subsumed into a type of universality--the universality of excellence or care.

Reducing The Use Of Seclusion And Restraint In Segregated Special Education School Settings Through Implementation Of The Collaborative Problem Solving Model, Bethann Glew

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The intent of this study was to determine whether implementation of the Collaborative Problem Solving (CPS) model, that has proven successful in psychiatric settings, was equally effective in reducing restrictive practices in public school settings. Many peer-reviewed, published reports suggest that educators are poorly prepared to manage the extremely challenging behaviors of aggression and non-compliance, which are common in students classified with an emotional disturbance (ED). Too often educators rely on ineffective, potentially harmful interventions such as seclusion and restraint, which adversely impact students as well as staff. The nonrandom sample was comprised of students enrolled in two segregated special …

Perceptions Of School Climate And Connectedness:The Impact Of A Cross Age Peer Mentoring Program, Kathleen Staude-Sites

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The intent of this research is to determine the impact of a peer mentoring/tutoring program on parent perceptions of school climate and connectedness and standardized test scores, report card grades and attendance of at risk elementary students. Peer mentoring has been found to be effective in addressing some of the concerns regarding at risk student performance in the school environment and eventual school outcomes. This study uses quantitative methods to determine the effect of this intervention on this population. A school climate/connectedness survey completed by parents of the students participants in a Cross Age Peer Mentoring Program (CAPM Program) and …

Structural Polymorphism In Tau Filaments: An Implication For Neurodegenerative Diseases, Ayisha Siddiqua

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Tau filaments are the pathological hallmark of >20 neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease, Pick's disease, and progressive supranuclear palsy. In the adult human brain, six isoforms of tau are expressed that differ by presence or absence of the second of the four semiconserved repeats. As a consequence, half of the tau isoforms have three repeats (3R tau), whereas the other half has four repeats (4R tau).

Site-directed spin labeling of recombinant tau in conjunction with electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to obtain structural insights into tau filaments. The studies showed that the filaments of 4R tau and 3R tau …

If There's No "Fat Lady," When Is The Opera Over? An Exploration Of Changing Physical Image Standards In Present-Day Opera, Emily L. Stephenson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Though present-day American society generally assumes opera is one of the few remaining entertainment fields where talent matters more than physical appearance, as the 2004 firing of Deborah Voigt demonstrates, present-day opera singers are increasingly being held to stricter image standards. In 2004, Covent Garden dismissed Voigt from their production of Ariadne auf Naxos, in which Voigt was supposed to reprise her critically acclaimed interpretation of the title role. According to Voigt, Covent Garden's casting director Peter Katona felt that she was too large to fit into the black dress the new production required of the character. Voigt's removal …

Hijas Rebeldes: Chicana Spirituality And The Re(Claiming) Of The Indigenous, Daisy Vargas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Though the Chicano nationalist movement of the 1960s and 1970s helped Chicanas/os embrace an indigenous identity traced back to the Aztecs of Mexico, it nevertheless proved alienating to Chicanas. In response to patriarchal structures of control within the Chicano movement and Western culture, Chicanas developed a mestiza consciousness. The grounding of this new epistemic tradition in ancient indigenous practices creates a Chicana spirituality and a method for identifying with the cosmology and goddess mythology of the Aztecs. Though critics of Chicana spirituality question the authenticity of Chicana claims to indigenous traditions, Chicanas employ their spirituality as tool to transform them …

Modeling Of Growth Kinetics And Characterization Of Membrane Mechanics, Antonio Nava

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

One growing field in alternative energy is biofuel production through microorganisms. These fields of research include hydrogen and biofuel production through the cultivation of algae. We've selected 2 different algae, Anabaena sp. cpcc 387 and Tetraselmis to study. Through mathematical modeling of Anabaena we investigate the complex multicellular relationships and colony stability when noise is introduced. In conjunction with researchers at NREL, we've set out to characterize Tetraselmis cells' membrane elasticity.

Performed And Perceived Masculinity In Father-Son Relationships From The Perspective Of Sons: A Thematic Narrative Analysis, Daniel Steven Strasser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study qualitatively explored father-son relationships and the perceptions and performances of masculinity within that relationship from the perspective of sons. Through the utilization of symbolic interactionism and narrative as theoretical and conceptual frameworks narratives were collected as a means to make sense of participants' experiences and interactions with their fathers throughout their lives. Through a multi-phase analysis and utilizing Riessman's (2008) thematic narrative analysis as an ideological and practical basis, RQ1, which asked what themes underlie sons' narratives surrounding the performance and perceptions of masculinity within their father-son relationships, yielded the following three themes: (1) traditional masculinity …

The Hyperspatial Self: Henry James And Posthuman Modalities, Christina Patsiokas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the era of computing and ubiquitous media, scholars across disciplines have been developing new models for how humans operate in complex environments. This line of inquiry can be bracketed under the larger term of posthuman thought. This thesis attempts to engage the critical and fictional work of Henry James with several posthumanist texts to challenge the temporal limitations of both. Against the backdrop of posthuman discourse, James emerges not as the cherished father of modernism but rather as a pioneer of distant territories far beyond the ways in which the modernist novel conceptualized the self and its consciousness. James …

Nutraceutical Antioxidants And Their Therapeutic Potential In Neurodegeneration, Erika Kristine Ross

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neuromuscular disease that affects motor neurons of the brain and spinal cord. Many studies indicate that mitochondrial oxidative stress (MOS) is a principal mechanism underlying the pathophysiology of this and other devastating neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we investigated a unique whey protein supplement (Immunocal®) to determine its neuroprotective efficacy in several in vitro models of MOS and in an in vivo mouse model of ALS. This non-denatured whey supplement contains cystine which is an oxidized form of cysteine, an essential precursor for synthesis of the endogenous antioxidant, glutathione (GSH). In primary cultured rat cerebellar …