Digital Commons Network^™

Building Rapport Via Telepractice: The Perceptions And Strategies Used By Speech-Language Pathologists In Speech-Language Telepractice Sessions, Jaret Webb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Telepractice has been increasingly used in the field of speech-language pathology. Within this study, we aimed to explore the perceptions and strategies speech-language pathologists (SLPs) use to build rapport with their clients via telepractice. Two populations were considered to evaluate their influences, children with speech sound disorders (SSD) and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In addition, two age groups were also studied within these disorder populations, including children ages 0-3 and children ages 4-8.

Acceptability And Feasibility Of Healthcare Communication Considerations For Altering Perceptions Towards Influenza Vaccine: A Qualitative Study, Saumil Jadhav

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background

Influenza (influenza) is a contagious disease, causing thousands of deaths every year. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends routine annual influenza vaccination for all people over 6 months of age who do not have contraindications, yet the vaccination coverage for 2018-19 season was 49.2%, around 20% less than the goal set by Healthy People 2030 of 70% coverage. The national foundation of infectious diseases survey showed that 51% of respondents do not think the flu vaccine works, 34% are concerned with the side effects from the vaccine, and 22% are concerned about getting flu from the vaccine. …

Development Of Hollow Vaginal Device Using Stereolithography (Sla) 3d Printing For Intravaginal Drug Delivery, Preethi Lakkala

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Vulvovaginal candidiasis is a condition caused by the polymorphic opportunistic fungus Candida albicans, which involves the first-line treatment with antifungal agents comprising azole groups. An intravaginal drug delivery device is an alternate approach to conventional therapy that transcend multiple daily administrations and systemic side effects associated with oral medications and offers effective drug concentrations at the target site for a sustained period. This study reports, for the first time, the development of a novel hollow vaginal device by exploiting stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing technology to achieve localized and extended delivery of Itraconazole. These devices were fabricated using a shape memory …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Mindfulness-Based Group Interventions On Reducing Externalizing Behaviors In Adolescent Populations, Erica Montgomery

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the extent of the impact that mindfulness-based interventions, such as mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques, have on externalizing behaviors in adolescents. Specifically, the intended population receiving the intervention will be minority adolescents, ages 9-15, in rural Mississippi who have received disciplinary action from the school or community based on acting out and aggression. The Ohio Youth Rating Scale will be used to collect information from three primary sources: parents, teachers, and participants. Data will be collected at multiple points in the intervention. Based on previous research with similar age groups, outcomes should be favorable for reducing unwanted behaviors.

Scan Stack: A Search-Based Concurrent Stack For Gpu, Noah Brennen South

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Concurrent data structures play a critical role in the overall performance of GPGPU applications. Stack is one of the basic data structures and finds numerous applications where data is processed in a Last In First Out (LIFO) fashion. Although concurrent stack is well researched for multi-core CPUs, there is little research pointing to the conversion of CPU stacks into a GPU-friendly form. In this paper, we propose a concurrent search-based GPU stack named "Scan Stack." The proposed stack is designed to take advantage of GPU memory access patterns, memory coalescence, and thread structures (i.e., warps) to increase throughput. Our experiments …

The Effects Of A Blended Learning Environment On Students' Discourse In A Secondary Mathematics Classroom, Brandi Blake

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To prepare students for college and careers, the Common Core Mathematical Practice Standards propose teachers engage students in classroom discourse where they make sense of mathematics by working collaboratively and communicating their thinking. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the relationship between a blended learning environment and the discourse students produce while in an AP Calculus AP course. Participants in this study are members of a large high school enrolled in either hybrid or virtual learning environments. Data were collected through recorded observations, coded using the Mathematics Classroom Observation Practices Protocol (MCOP2) and analyzed using statistical …

Program Evaluation Of Music Teacher Education In Ghana: Implications For Practice, Policy, And Research, George Blankson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The improvement of music teacher education programs is inevitably tied to improvement of the quality of music instruction in schools. As such, one of the essential avenues for improving educational programs is conducting regular program evaluations. Given the ever-evolving national standards for school music, along with the changing socio-cultural dynamics in Ghana, a corresponding review of the music teacher education programs is needed. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the music teacher education programs in Ghana. By overlaying the Content, Input, Process, and Product (CIPP) evaluation model as a conceptual framework, I sought the …

Do Policies Matter? An Exploratory, Qualitative Study Of The Lived Experiences On Campus Of Transgender And Non-Binary Education Employees, Sarah Clay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The student population of American colleges and universities is becoming increasingly diverse. Though the racial and ethnic makeup of a campus population has been given the most attention in diversity and inclusion efforts, there has been a growing focus on LGBTQ issues in recent decades. As a result, institutions of higher learning have been working to develop responsive policies and programs that aim to promote LGBTQ inclusion amongst faculty, staff, and students.

However, the current socio-political climate in the United States is becoming intensely antagonistic toward gender non-conforming people. With gender identity being such a socially and politically divisive issue, …

Down The Stream: The Evolution Of Queer Stream-Of-Consciousness Novels Through The Works Of Virginia Woolf And Ali Smith, Turner Nat Byrd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis attempts to understand the evolution of the stream-of-consciousness genre as it applies to, is written by, or centers queer people. Through generous Marxist-feminist readings of the works of Virginia Woolf and Ali Smith—used in this project as exemplars of the genre—it attempts to understand the differences within both the formal and philosophical/political outlook of the two authors. Specifically looking at Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse and Smith’s Hotel World, The Accidental, and Girl Meets Boy, this project posits that Smith, intentionally or not, has effectively re-written the basic narratives and re-visited the same themes as Woolf, …

Online Learning Readiness Among International Students, Brandon Mcleod

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The United States holds a commanding 22% of the market share of international students, more than double that of the second leading country (United Kingdom). The number of international students studying at U.S. institutions has had a steady incline for decades and these students now make up approximately 5% of all higher education students in the U.S. Even still, there have been previous examinations of international students’ perceptions of online learning readiness. As online and blended learning elements are an integral part of nearly every degree program, and, indeed, nearly every course, it is imperative that we gain a better …

Bridging The Gap Between Journalism 273 And Graduation, And Beyond, Mackenzie Slate Ross

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While Journalism 273: Creative Visual Thinking is a requirement for all undergraduate students majoring in Integrated Marketing Communications and some students majoring in Journalism, there are students who end up graduating from the University of Mississippi with a desire for more knowledge of graphic design. Feedback from current students in the School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi as well as alumni of the program was gathered in two surveys to understand better how Journalism 273 benefits them and pinpoints opportunities for improvement. One hundred nineteen students who took Journalism 273 and were enrolled in the …

Effects Of Stuttering Severity Disclosures On Listener Perceptions Of A Female Adolescent Who Stutters, Mikayla Ryan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to measure whether factual self-disclosure statements with differing levels of overt stuttering severity have effect on listener perceptions regarding an adolescent female who stutters (AFWS). Method: A total of 759 adults participated in this study. Participants were gathered through a nationwide campaign to various universities via email. There were four overt severity experimental conditions (control, fluent, mild and moderate-severe); participant assignments were balanced such that each experimental condition had comparable population demographics. Each condition contained a video stimulus of an adolescent female providing a factual disclosure statement identifying herself as a person who …

Value-Directed Remembering: Evidence For Distinctive Processing Of High Value Items, Donald Skinner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A large body of literature has found that when participants are instructed to maximize their score, they reliably demonstrate better memory for information assigned high relative to low-values. This value-directed remembering effect has been replicated numerous times throughout nearly three decades of research. The most current theoretical explanation posits that high-value items disproportionately benefit from semantic processing relative to low-value items; however, this does not explain how this additional processing supports better memory for high-value items. Prior research suggests that semantic processing may benefit memory through item-specific processing or the processing of unique aspects of meaning. To this extent, the …

The Queer And Trans Ecologies Of Shakespeare's Ocean, Elijah Two Bears

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis squarely approaches the overlooked theoretical nexus of early modern blue ecologies and LGBTQIA2S+ studies to argue that Shakespeare's ocean is a deeply queer space that inspires both queer and trans effects in his characters, plays, and audiences across time. I argue you can’t fully process Shakespeare’s aquatic environments, and the broader range of his more watery plays, without accounting for the queer destabilization and trans self-fashioning that is inextricably linked with encountering the ocean, whether it is through shipwreck, ship travel, or near-drownings. This project recreates a lost world using whatever small gems of textual and historical evidence …

The Ability Of Mississippi School Personnel To Recognize And Act On Internalizing Disorders In Students, Madison Varner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Childhood internalizing disorders traditionally do not garner much attention in academic settings; however, previous research has found that 1 in 4 public school students in Mississippi experiences some form of an internalizing disorder. These disorders strongly affect both behavior (e.g. bullying, school attendance, and social performance) and academic performance (e.g. literacy, mathematical learning). Under several existing pieces of legislature, public schools should already be providing treatment for these disorders; however, few schools have any provisions for the numerous students silently struggling. The primary objective of this study was to investigate teachers’ understanding of internalizing disorders and their frequency in school …

Application Of Hot-Melt Extrusion And Fused Deposition Modeling On Screening Filaments And Developing Diverse Dosages, Pengchong Xu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Three-dimensional printing (3DP) provides a flexible and cost-beneficial solution to patient-centric medicine and its potential to challenge current pharmaceutical supply chains. Fusion deposition modeling (FDM) is one of the most commonly applied 3D printing techniques in pharmaceutical study. But the poor mechanical properties of printing filaments have limited mainly the application of FDM 3D printing in the pharmaceutical area. In this dissertation, the development of texture analysis methods to evaluate the printability of filaments was investigated first. The parameter “Stiffness” was successfully developed to measure and predict the printability of filaments in the direct-extrude FDM printer. Then, the combination of …

The Cognitive Inhibitory Response To Acute Exercise With And Without Blood Flow Restriction And Full Body Cooling, Yujiro Yamada

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The production and utilization of lactate has been suggested as a potential mechanism to increase interference control, a core executive function. Although blood flow restricted exercise has been shown to acutely increase blood lactate concentration, the effect of this exercise on interference control is unknown. Higher intensity exercise tends to have a greater benefit on interference control, but this is not always the case, which may be due to an increase in body temperature. Cooling may prevent this elevation and reinforce the exercise-induced benefit on interference control. The purpose of this thesis was twofold: 1) to evaluate the effect of …

Domestic Lives Of The Worthless And Insignificant: Land And Labor In Eighteenth-Century British Literature, Mellissa Black

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Domestic Lives posits that the proliferation of the georgic mode in selected eighteenth-century works provided writers with the language and tropes needed to negotiate burgeoning stresses on the stability of political, cultural, and class systems. In my reading of the georgic as a “gentrifying” force, the mode generates and recreates a managerial authority over the productive potential of what I call the “laboring sort,” those who are rooted in agricultural labor. In turn, the georgic aided the expansion of the British empire by allowing for the expansion of definitions of national identity. As national identity was gentrified, so too was …

The Few Among The Many: Women's Labour In British Guiana Prisons, 1838-1917, Estherine Gwendoline Adams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the history of incarceration in British Guiana between 1838 and 1917 with emphasis on the interconnections between the colony’s burgeoning carceral apparatus and the life and labour of women. It highlights the intersection of coerced labour and colonialism in the colony in the post-emancipation period, by centering the lives of incarcerated women to understand the nature of state governance and the use of labour in this colonial spaces. I argue the plantocracy leveraged the expansion of the penal apparatus not to control crime but to control labour.

Tracing the use of prisons in the colony, I demonstrate …

The N-Terminal Domains Of Voltage Dependent Anion Channels As Novel Members Of The Bcl-2 Family: Their Roles And Interactions With The Bh3 Domain Of The Bcl-2 Family Members, Clement Nana Agyemang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

VDACs are pore-forming proteins found within the mitochondria's outer membrane (MOM) whose function is to allow the exchange of metabolites such as ATP and ADP in and out of the mitochondria. In apoptotic cells, they allow the release of cytochrome c from the MOM into the cytosol to initiate apoptosis. The Bcl-2 family of proteins regulates mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis by inhibiting or promoting apoptosis through their BH3 domain. Recent studies have demonstrated that VDACs play essential roles in regulating mitochondrial apoptosis through their interactions with the Bcl-2 family. In this study, we proposed that VDACs are part of the Bcl-2 family …

Development And Characterization Of Different Dosage Forms Utilizing Hot-Melt Extrusion Technique, Abdulmajeed Althobaiti

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hot melt extrusion (HME) is a promising technique for developing different dosage forms and improving products already on the market. Numerous studies have been published utilizing HME due to its advantages over conventional techniques. It is solvent-free, has few processing steps, continuous processing, and low cost. Furthermore, HME has the flexibility to be coupled with Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) to develop complex dosage forms for patient-focused drug delivery. The first objective of this research work was to design and develop different dosage forms (capsule-in-capsule, and three-dimensional-printed tablet) of nifedipine/indomethacin fixed-dose combination (FDC) utilizing hot melt extrusion (HME) with or without …

Perceived Value Of A Vr (Virtual Reality) Tourism Experience: A Scale Development, Fernando Arroyo Lopez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Firms are skeptical about what values travelers anticipate obtaining from a Virtual Reality (VR) experience in tourism, and the valuation of trade-offs they are willing to make. This scale development aimed to fill this gap in the literature by creating a scale that can capture the perceived value derived from a VR experience in tourism. This research study adhered to well-established, mainstream psychometric scale creation and validation methods as demonstrated by several authors. This study provides a key step in developing measurement theory related to the perceived value derived from a VR experience in tourism and identifies four value dimensions: …

The Effect Of Hydration Status On Jump Height In Track And Field Athletes, Joshua Hogg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The maintenance of hydration levels are often a key focus when trying to sustain athletic performance in sport. The amount of fluid intake needed to reach appropriate hydration levels varies widely from a multitude of factors. This ideal hydration level (euhydration) is characterized by an optimal total intracellular and extracellular body water content, which is the ultimate goal of fluid intake protocols within athletics. The aim of this research was to investigate if a specific fluid recommendations for track and field (TAF) athletes, based upon urine specific gravity (USG) classification cutoffs, helps to improve athletic performance. This study also analyzed …

Willingness To Use Hiv Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (Prep) And Preferences For A Pharmacy-Based Prep Program Among Men Who Have Sex With Men, Swarnali Goswami

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to: 1) estimate willingness to use PrEP (WTUP) among men who have sex with men (MSM) using meta-analysis; 2) to assess patterns of minority stressors, HIV/AIDS acquisition stress and PrEP stigma among MSM and evaluate the association of such patterns with WTUP, using latent profile analysis; and 3) to elicit MSM’s preferences for a community pharmacy-based PrEP delivery program, using a discrete choice experiment.

First, a meta-analysis using a random-effects model revealed a moderate pooled prevalence proportion for WTUP of 0.58 (95% CI: 0.54-0.61) (or 58 out of 100) among PrEP naïve MSM estimated …

The Daughters Of Remington Taylor, Latoya Faulk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Synopsis

Feminine hygiene is a billion-dollar industry and women of color are the largest consumers of feminine hygiene products—particularly vaginal douching; studies link this frequent use of douching to high levels of harmful chemical compounds and adverse health effects. In researching hygiene rituals, the phrase “fresh and clean” came up repeatedly when Black women expressed feelings that came with their use or purchase of tampons, powders, soaps, sprays, douches, wipes, lotions, suppositories, napkins, and creams guaranteed to tame the odorous, fluid draining, and menstruating vagina.

FRESH AND CLEAN is a novel interested in the cultural obsession of vaginal cleanliness. The …

Fatiguing Effects Of Electrical Stimulation Superimposed Onto Voluntary Contraction, William Matthew Miller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

BACKGROUND: The current understanding of fatigue is specific to voluntary exercise (VOL) or neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) separately. Currently, there is no data on the understanding of fatigue in VOL+NMES specific to motor control strategies.

PURPOSE: The main purpose of this research project was to compare the fatigability of two exercise conditions (VOL and VOL+NMES) in the elbow flexors and knee extensors.

METHODS: Thirty-six participants aged 18-35 completed this four-visit randomized, controlled study. Visit one included familiarization to procedures. Visits 2-4 included control, VOL, and VOL+NMES fatiguing exercise with the same pre- and post-measurements. Pre-measures included two isometric maximal voluntary …

Dynamic Characterization Of Southern Yellow Pine (Syp) Wood-Based Bio-Composites, Maharshi Dave

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Wood-based bio-composites are becoming increasingly popular due to their low cost, biodegradability, eco-friendliness, relatively robust mechanical properties, and environmental and sustainability benefits. In addition, over 300 million scrap tires are generated in the United States each year. A waste tire rubber aggregate used as supplementary material in wood composites can promote energy absorption and contribute to environmental sustainability. There has been a growing interest in discovering ways to incorporate rubber tire waste into wood-based materials. In this study, micronized rubber powder (MRP) was incorporated into a wood-based bio-composite made of southern yellow pine (SYP) fibers, to determine how it affects …

Faculty Perceptions Of Barriers To Invention Disclosure And Researcher Engagement In University Technology Transfer: An Exploratory Study, Barbara K. Neyses

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For most institutions of higher education, the reduction in state and federal funding has caused a shift in focus to activities that are revenue generating. As Slaughter and Leslie (1997) pointed out, financial uncertainty at both the state and federal levels prompted faculty and institutions to focus on programs and research that intersect with the market. This expansion of the research mission with an emphasis on faculty entrepreneurial activities is both exciting and problematic. Through my research I will explore the barriers faced by faculty who are engaged in entrepreneurial activities related to technology commercialization.

This dissertation was completed using …

Karaites & Reformers: Two Failed Cases Of Coherent Interpretation, Menashe Chaim Roberts

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There are two groups which claim that proper textual interpretation does not require extratextual information. They posit that the meaning of texts is discoverable from the words of the text and/or an individual's reason alone. Thus, no extratextual information is required to arrive at a cogent and coherent interpretation. The medieval Karaites reject the notion that there is any such thing as interpretive precedent and everyone's interpretation, when guided by reason, is as valid and coherent as anyone else's. Early Protestant Reformers such as John Calvin and Martin Luther argue that all one needs to interpret the Bible is the …

Formulation Development, Optimization, And Characterization Of Primaquine Loaded Lipid Based Nanocarriers For Liver Targeting, Tabish Mehraj

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by unicellular eukaryotic parasite of genus Plasmodium. Since ancient times, it has been affecting human populations and still is considered as one of the deadliest diseases with the highest rates of morbidity and mortality. Malaria is the disease, most common in African and Asian regions and the rate of mortality varies from 0.3% to 2.2% on global level with 11% to 30% in tropical regions of the world. Several efforts are being made to control malaria which includes various attempts to eradicate the vectors of mosquitoes, develop effective vaccines, and new anti-malarial drugs. The …