Digital Commons Network^™

Teacher Perceptions Of Evidence-Based Classroom Management Practices, Chloe Lindstrom

Masters Theses

The current study examined teachers' perceptions of 20 evidence based classroom management strategics. Participants were asked to complete an online survey that required them to rate their use, acceptability, and self-efficacy for each of the strategies, as well as demographic questions such as whether they had taken a behavior management course during their training program, and how long they have been teaching. Participants included 202 kindergarten through eighth grade teachers across the state of Illinois. Results indicated that teachers on average reported using 18 of the 20 strategies, and that there was not a significant difference in number of strategies …

Exploring High School Students' Attitudes Towards Reading, Heather G. Crivilare

Masters Theses

This study explored high school students’ attitudes towards reading as both a recreational activity and academic endeavor; while there are numerous studies regarding the reading habits of younger children, there is a deficit of research into the reading habits of students beyond the middle school years. This study surveyed and interviewed freshmen-through-senior students in a medium-sized, rural Illinois high school about their habits as readers in order to explore the relationship between different environmental factors and reading, as well as between reading habits and college readiness. This study found a gender gap in reading enjoyment favoring female students; a decline …

College Students Experiences Participating In International Alternative Break Trips, Dayton L. Ehrlich

Masters Theses

This study sought to explore undergraduate students’ experiences participating in international alternative break trips. A qualitative approach was used to understand the motivating factors as well as the impact the trip had on them. Participants included three female undergraduate students who had participated in an international alternative break trip in Mexico were interviewed one-on-one. The results demonstrated there were multiple different motivating factors and impacts the students experienced. The motivating factors consisted of student involvement, they were all personally invited on the trip, practicing a new language, opportunity to leave the country, and service was not a motivator. The impacts …

Construct Validity Of The Teate Depression Inventory (Tdi) With A Middle Eastern/Arab American Sample, Dalia Bunni

Masters Theses

The purpose of the study was to examine the construct validity of a newer test used to measure depressive symptoms, the Teate Depression Inventory (TDI). The primary focus of the study was on Middle Eastern/Arab Americans (ME/AA). Previous research has demonstrated that ethnic minority groups may experience and present internalizing disorders, such as depression and anxiety differently than the majority ethnic group, White/Caucasian (W/C) individuals. Further, research suggests that there is a disparity in mental health care among ethnic minority groups, starting with detecting and diagnosing mental health disorders. Inaccurate detection and diagnoses informs inaccurate treatment, further creating a disparity. …

The Effects Of Parenting Style And Feeding Style On Child Weight Status: A Systematic Review, Rahaf A. Alahmadi

Masters Theses

Childhood obesity is a global health concern. According to the World Health, prevalence of obesity decupled in the last four decades, where 124 million children and adolescents are now considered obese (“Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity”, 2019). Organization Interactions between parenting styles and feeding styles play a critical role in the development of a child's lifestyle habits, which may impact their weight status. The purpose of this study was to identify how parenting and feeding styles impact a child’s weight status. A systematic review of the literature, guided by The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Evidence Analysis Manual protocol, was …

Medicinal Properties Of The Araliaceae, With Emphasis On Chemicals Affecting Nerve Cells, Rana Alharbi

Masters Theses

In recent times, medicinal plants have become the focus of scientists and research. However, many have used traditional medicine to take advantage of plant extracts to treat many diseases, especially neurological diseases. Various central nervous system receptors have been shown to associate with plant extracts influencing the pharmacology and in this manner conceivably assuming a role in human sickness and treatment. For instance, extracts from Cussonia paniculata Eckl. & Zeyh targeted several early nervous and mental disease, and Kalopanax pictus has been traditionally used for the treatment of rheumatoidal arthritis, nerve pain and diabetes mellitus.

In the present study, we …

Income Inequality And Political Survival In Countries Around The World, Sahan Shrestha

Masters Theses

There are many factors that influence whether a political leader exits out of office or remains in power. In this thesis, we evaluate the impact of one important factor, income inequality, on the survival prospects of the leader using data for 152 countries for the period 1962 - 2015. We use a linear probability model, a logit model, and a Cox Proportional Hazard Model, all of which indicate that higher income inequality increases the probability of leader survival. To address the potential endogeneity of income inequality, I use a simultaneous equations model and the results hold. The results are also …

Assessment And Recovery Of Stream Restoration Efforts On Fish Communities, Jessica Marie Rohr

Masters Theses

Aquatic systems are subjected to disturbances of various types, including natural and anthropogenic, or can deteriorate due to accumulating unfavorable conditions, including receding banks, decreasing riparian vegetation, and disrupted flow patterns. An analysis was done on a variety of streams in central Illinois that experienced one or multiple anthropogenic disturbances without remediation to determine the natural recovery dynamics of each system. A separate analysis was performed on a multi-site restored stream with a complex restoration project with a variety of restoration methods. This data were collected over at periods of time spanning from 5-15 years, including time prior to disturbance/restoration …

The Influences Of Social Media: Depression, Anxiety, And Self-Concept, Emily Baker

Masters Theses

The current study examined correlations between social media use and its effects on depression, anxiety, and changes in self-concept through quantitative and qualitative data. Variables included in the analysis of Study 1 were depression, anxiety, time spent using social media, number of platforms used, perception of addiction, and type of use. Study 1 showed no significant correlations between social media used and depression or anxiety, however observational analyses of correlation tables revealed a relationship between time spent using and number of platforms used; time spent using and perception of addiction; time spent using and perception of addiction; time spent using …

Parental Involvement And Academic Success During Emerging Adulthood, Michael V. Mendez

Masters Theses

Emerging adults are posited to experience their own life stage that differs from adolescents and adults in a variety of ways. This study explored the interaction between the parent-child relationship and emerging adult academic success. Participants were 275 university students who completed measures of their self-perception of adulthood including actual parental involvement and ideal parental involvement. These factors were examined among students who were academically at-risk and academically in good standing. Regardless of academic status, students indicated moderate to high levels of parental involvement, desired more parental involvement, and identified with the emerging adulthood stage more than any other life …

Export Performance Of Landlocked Countries: With Special Reference To Developing Economies, Kaushal Bhattarai

Masters Theses

The present research intends to find whether "landlockedness" has any impact on the exporting capacity of the landlocked countries. To meet that end, I carry out a panel data analysis of 104 countries including 30 landlocked countries. The Hausman test validates the random effect as an appropriate estimation strategy given the structure of the data and research questions in hand. A dummy variable is employed to capture the "landlockedness" and its impact on exporting performance of those countries. The variables openness and foreign direct investments are used to capture the economic health of the countries, other than penalized of being …

Mary Mcgovern: Adapting A Life In Three Genres, Kelly M. Pierce

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Intra-Species Diversity Of Oxalobacter Formigenes Strains Using Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis (Pfge) And Multiplex Pcr, Nivedita Pareek

Masters Theses

Oxalobacter formigenes is a beneficial, strict anaerobic gut bacterium that plays an important role in the prevention of kidney stone disease with a unique characteristic of using only oxalate as a carbon and energy source. To date, twenty-one strains of O. formigenes have been isolated which are further divided into two groups based on differences in the patterns of cell membrane lipids, cellular proteins, and nucleic acid fragments. The objective of the study was to evaluate intra-species diversity of O. formigenes strains using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multiplex PCR.

Nine pure cultures of O. formigenes strains (5 strains group …

Women's Empowerment And Its Impact On Reproductive Health Outcomes: Evidence From Nepal, Samyukta Ghimire

Masters Theses

The percentage of women utilizing maternal health care services in Nepal is relatively less than women in other South Asian countries. Moreover, large socio-economic and regional disparities have been the root causes for lower utilization of health care leading to increasing maternal mortality. Using a national representative sample of 9,475 women (2011) and 9,875 women (2016) from Nepal, I examine the impact of women empowerment in relation to prenatal care, place of delivery and postnatal care (3Ps) outcomes. A composite Women’s Empowerment Index (WEI) based upon responses is also constructed to include three empowerment domains namely, attitude toward violence, social …

I Am A Citizen: An Examination Of The Civic Lives Of Adults With Cognitive Disabilities, Jihed Ncib

Masters Theses

This project lays down a foundation to study the civic lives of people with cognitive limitations. Considering the lack of research on the issue, the findings lean more toward theory building. Drawing on in-person interviews conducted with institutionalized individuals with intellectual disability (ID), this work attempts to clarify the impact of their disability on their civic lives. The questions that will be answered relate to their issue preferences, voting behavior, partisanship and mobilization, political awareness, and the influence of their circle on their citizen participation. Getting input directly from people with ID, instead of their proxies, will improve our understanding …

Relationship Of Self-Construal To Perceived Availability And Seeking Of Social Support By International Students Studying Abroad In The United States, Yue Zhang

Masters Theses

This study was created to examine the relationship between different self-construals and the behavior of seeking social support or the perceived availability of social support. We recruited 84 international students who currently study abroad in the United States. Participants completed the Singelis Self-construal Scale (SCS; Singelis,1994) and a Social Support Scale created for the current study. The SCS measured the degree to which participants’ self-construals are Independent (IND) or Interdependent (INT). The Social Support Scale presented five different scenarios and asked participants to rate activities responding to two types of social support (tangible support and emotional support). I predicted that …

The Impact Of Dutch Disease: The Case Of Nigeria, Halimat Atinuke Laguda

Masters Theses

Nigeria, over the years, has been showing a rapid appreciation of the domestic currency, a rise in real wages and the service sector and a slow-down in the industrial production which are all signs of presence of Dutch disease which predicts that a country with large natural resource rents may experience a de-industrialization and a lower long term economic growth. This paper analyses the impact of Dutch disease in Nigeria Ordinary Least square method, Two-Stage Least Square and Autoregressive Distributed Lag with a system of equation from 1981 to 2017 and found that the real wage rate emphasizes on the …

The Effects Of Health Care Expenditures On Health Outcomes In West Africa: Analysis Of Selected 14 Countries From 2000 To 2018, Oluwaseun Kilanko

Masters Theses

This study has examined the impact of health expenditure on health outcomes in the selected West African countries. The health outcomes used in this study are infant mortality, under-five mortality, and maternal mortality rates. A panel data set for 14 countries for the period 2000‒2018 was used. Aside from examining the role of total health expenditure on the health outcomes, we examine whether public and private healthcare expenditure could have dissimilar health outcomes. This research used panel data estimation method. Panel data has some advantages over the cross sectional analysis and time series analysis in the sense that it controls …

Narrating Trauma: Youth, Masculinity, And Storytelling In The Midst Of War, Rebekah Smith

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Soy- Based Flexographic Ink For Linerboard Printing, Rahul Ramchandra Pingale

Masters Theses

Many printing inks use volatile solvents in the formulation, which are hazardous to the environment from emission of VOC’s and at the same time, synthetic resins in these inks are not biodegradable. These problems with the fluctuating and rising price of petroleum are main reasons to look for new resources for making more environmentally friendly printing inks. The majority of the commercially available water based inks are formulated based on using acrylic resins, synthetic colorants, solvents/water and additives, which are the common main components for formulating printing inks. In this research, soy proteins were tested for their suitability to partially …

Reclaiming A Biblical Sexual Ethic: How A Renewed Understanding Of The Doctrine Of The Image Of God Is An Important Response To The Ideas Of The Sexual Revolution And The Self-Esteem Movement, Sarah Stewart

Masters Theses

Sexual ethics have become a large source of debate in modern America and will continue as American sexual mores become more progressive. The church in America also faces the issue of how to respond to issues caused by changes in American sexual ethics. These changes, however, have not been greatly beneficial to society. While debates about sexual ethics are not new, the debate has reemerged in modern society, primarily as the result of two movements, the Sexual Revolution and the Self-esteem Movement. Both of these movements shifted belief in human value away from inherent value, as a result of humans …

Church Conflict In The Atlanta-Rome District: Developing A Systematic Approach To Conflict And Membership Attrition, James C. Clements

Masters Theses

The decline in church membership and attendance of the 22 churches and 18 ministries of the Atlanta-Rome District (ARD) of the Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church has dramatically impacted the ministries and effectiveness of the Atlanta-Rome District churches in conducting what Jesus Christ commanded in the Great Commission. The congregations whose membership once boasted governmental officials and civil rights icons have all but dwindled to a faithful few that continue to support the Spiritual and fiduciary obligations of the local churches. The rise of non-denominational churches with a more contemporary style of worship as well as internal conflicts within the …

Church Life Cycle, Benjamin Boatman

Masters Theses

With thousands of American churches permanently closing their doors each year, it is important to take a closer look at the churches that are in desperate need for renewal. The Body of Christ is eternal, but each church will individually display the life cycle that is observed in the human body. With so many churches in desperate need, all attempts must be made to provide suggestions that may result in their ability to continue on with the mission of Christ. The purpose of this research study is to examine the body of Christ as to its scriptural background, compare the …

Evaluation Of Bike Boxes And Protected Intersections With Bicycle Signal Treatments For Improving Safety And Multimodal Mobility At Urban Signalized Intersections, Odai Al Houz

Masters Theses

With the dramatic increase of non-motorized transportation users, more people are concerned about the non-motorized traffic safety. Unfortunately, bicyclist and pedestrian are prone to more severe injuries when involved in a crash. For bicycle crashes, failing to yield/disregarding traffic control device, and lack of non-motorized facilities were identified to be the main causes of bicycle crashes in urban intersections. This research investigated the effectiveness of two bicycle crash countermeasures with bicycle signal treatments at urban signalized intersections. The two countermeasures are the bike boxes and the protected intersections. The bicycle signal treatments are the leading bicycle interval and the exclusive …

The Relationship Between Feeding Type And Temporomandibular Joint Morphology In Superfamily Musteloidea, Travis L. Garvin

Masters Theses

Many studies have focused on the soft tissue analysis of carnivores and have demonstrated a relationship between feeding biomechanics and feeding types. Herbivores and omnivores rely heavily on anteroposterior and helical movement of the mandible and teeth for the breakdown of fibrous foods resulting in a flat mandibular fossa while the function of the carnivore TMJ is different, as they need a much stable joint for ripping and tearing of the flesh. I aim to look at whether the bony morphology of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) can be directly related to feeding type, specifically in the superfamily Musteloidea. I sampled …

The Design, Analysis, Development, And Test Of A High-Energy Trauma Prevention Safety Device, Samuel B. Schaefer

Masters Theses

The continued development of modern-day vehicles has allowed innovators to shape their design to meet the consumer’s requirements. Vehicles have become faster and larger to accommodate more passengers and their belongings. The increased popularity of Light Trucks or Vans (LTVs) and Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) elevated their sales to approximately 50% of all vehicles sold in the United States by 1999 [1]. These advancements have created a high-energy world, which poses a serious threat to the ever-growing population. Unprotected pedestrians come in all too frequent contact with these vehicles creating the potential for high-energy blunt force trauma. This thesis aims …

Design And Testing Of A Sheath Device To Secure Rotator Cuff Anchors In Osteoporotic Bone, Alissa Smith

Masters Theses

A rotator cuff tear is a common injury that affects many elderly people. These tears vary in severity, with moderate to severe tears requiring surgery. In rotator cuff surgery, bone anchors are used to re-attach the supraspinatus tendon to the humerus. This surgery is difficult in many older patients because aging bones become osteoporotic, or soft, and thus inadequate for securing bone anchors. Studies confirm that osteoporotic bone is a contributing factor of implant failure. A finned sheath concept was designed, developed, and tested to ensure securement of the bone anchors during and after rotator cuff repair. The sheath interacts …

Is Tpmt Testing A Predictor Of Duration Of Use Or Long-Term Benefit Of Thiopurine Agents?, Shatoya R. Wilson

Masters Theses

Background: Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) affects as many as 1.3 million Americans and includes both ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). Recent practices have moved towards using immunomodulators early in the course of disease to prevent disease progression. Patients have shown improved outcomes on immunomodulators compared to aminosalicylates, and reduced risk for tachyphylaxis compared to corticosteroid treatment. Thiopurine agents such as azathioprine and 6-mercaptopurine are immunomodulators often used to treat IBD. Unfortunately, many patients experience cytotoxicity from thiopurine use. Recent studies have shown that patients deficient in thiopurine-S-methyltransferase (TMPT), produce an overabundance of the therapeutic end product, 6-thioguanine nucleotide …

The Effect Of Patterned Sensory Enhancement On Balance And Ambulation In Persons Diagnosed With Parkinson’S Disease, Brittany Barko

Masters Theses

One rehabilitation protocol effective in delaying the symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is Lee Silverman Voice Training BIG (LSVT BIG), comprising pre-gait exercises and gait training. This study seeks to determine if combining Patterned Sensory Enhancement (PSE), a music therapy intervention, with LSVT BIG will improve quality of movement. During physical therapy sessions with three participants, a music therapist adapted the PSE stimuli to support each patient’s motor needs, which were then recorded on CD and sent with patients to exercise with at home. Results showed improved balance and ambulation comparing pre- and post- measures of the BERG balance scale …

Fat Bias And Culture Shock: Psychosocial Adjustments In Post-Obesity Life, Scott Thomas Macpherson

Masters Theses

Obesity in the United States is unprecedented levels, affecting adults and children as well. As our society has become for sedentary since industrialization, the nation has become fatter. The escalating rate of obesity has had a negative effect on the health of millions of Americans. Health problems such as metabolic disorders and other comorbidities, for instance, hypertension, Type II diabetes, heart disease, weight related cancers etc., (Mozaffarian and Benjamin 2013). The collective cost of obesity is to the nation is staggering, weighing in at $270 billion a year, childhood obesity costs nearly $15 billion alone (Hammond and Levine 2010). This …