Digital Commons Network^™

Seizure Clusters In Patients With Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures, Grayson Luderman Baird

Open Access Dissertations

There is a paucity of literature concerning seizure clusters for patients who suffer from psychogenic, non-epileptic seizures (PNES). The purpose of the present study is threefold. Manuscript one will explore how seizure clusters may be defined for patients with PNES using both statistical and traditional approaches of cluster identification. Manuscript two will examine seizure clusters as a primary outcome in patients receiving treatment for PNES. Cluster reduction is examined longitudinally using traditional and statistical definitions of seizure cluster for patients. Possible risk factors for clustering will also be examined along with clustering as a risk factor for poorer secondary outcomes. …

Effects Of Hiv Behavioral Interventions For Men Who Have Sex With Men - United States, 1988-2014, H. Elsa Larson

Open Access Dissertations

Men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States continue to experience disproportionate HIV disease burden. Historically, most HIV prevention research has focused on reducing sexual risk behaviors through individual-level behavior change interventions. To date, behavioral interventions have not reduced HIV incidence among MSM and combination prevention approaches that package behavioral interventions with additive biomedical or structural interventions are now recommended. The last meta-analysis of HIV behavioral interventions for MSM was conducted in 2008. Since then sixteen new rigorous trials have been identified. New evidence and new recommendations justify an updated meta-analysis to identify the most promising and …

Can Self-Affirmation Decrease Blame Toward A Victim Of Sexual Assault?, Gregory J. Paquin

Open Access Dissertations

Victims of a sexual assault often do not report the assault for fear of being blamed for the sexual assault, particularly if they had been drinking. The current study aims to examine a method of decreasing blame of a victim of sexual assault, even when alcohol was involved, using a technique called self-affirmation: an activity that promotes the values, beliefs, and self integrity.

It was hypothesized that 1) Participants would likely place more blame upon the victim when she had been drinking compared to when she has not, 2) self-affirmed participants would place less blame upon the victim of sexual …

Examining The Role Of Phonological Memory In Math And Reading Development, Stephanie Tang

Open Access Dissertations

Although much research has supported the role of phonological memory with reading and math achievement, there has been mixed results within each academic domain pertaining to when in development and with what subskills. Additionally, the major focus of most research has been on the causal influence of phonological memory on reading abilities without considering potential reciprocal relations. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to: a) evaluate the contributions of phonological memory to reading and math skills development; and b) examine if reading influenced the development of phonological memory.

Secondary data was used from the Reading Development and Reading …

“A Peculiar Power Of Perception”: Scottish Enlightenment Rhetoric And The New Aesthetic Of Language, Rosaleen Greene-Smith Keefe

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation is an inquiry into the ways rhetoric, as the study of the art of language use, and literature, as the art of written language, were coherently theorized in Enlightenment Scotland to articulate the complex nature of language and its inherent relationship to the human mind and its faculties. The chapters contained in this manuscript dissertation are previously published studies in eighteenth-century Scottish rhetorical theory, examining the multiple and sometimes contradictory legacies of this important body of work on language pedagogy, philosophy of mind and language, and political theory. These studies offer new grounds for examining the legacies of …

A Photovoice Study Of The Relationships And Tensions Among The Home, Community, And School Linguistic And Social Practices Of Cambodian And Guatemalan Youth, Erin L. Papa

Open Access Dissertations

Cambodians and Guatemalans have a similar history of forced migration to the United States to escape state-supported violence, genocide, starvation, and poverty (Smith-Hefner, 1993; Menjívar, 2008), yet the U.S. Government has treated each group differently, granting refugee status to Cambodians, but forcing most Guatemalans to enter the U.S. without proper documentation (Feuerherm & Ramanathan, 2016). Although Guatemalan and Cambodian youth make up a significant portion of the Eagle City Public Schools (ECPS) population, their linguistic and social strengths and concerns often go unrecognized due to the essentializing (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001) of the two groups into the aggregate racial categories …

Discrimination, Substance Use, And Hiv Risk Among First-Time Juvenile Offenders, Brittney C. Poindexter

Open Access Dissertations

Perceived discrimination is an important social determinant of mental and behavioral outcomes among adolescent populations. Research has found associations between perceived discrimination and increases in internalizing symptoms, such as depression and anxiety, as well as increases in a number of negative behavioral outcomes, including substance use, delinquent behavior, and HIV risk behaviors (e.g. multiple sexual partners and substance use during sex). There is a gap in the research examining how experiences of perceived discrimination impact substance use and HIV risk behaviors among more at-risk youth, such as juvenile offenders. Court Involved Non-Incarcerated (CINI) juveniles participate in substance use and sexual …

Prescriptions Of Intergroup Conflict: The Role Of Implicit And Explicit Associations Of Violence, Justine N. Egan

Open Access Dissertations

Violence is pervasive in our world. The acceptability of violence as a societal norm sets the stage for interpersonal and intergroup conflicts. One source of such conflict is that individuals differ in how they perceive violence and violent behavior. Previous research found that individuals differ in their explicit attitude evaluations of violence. The first manuscript in this dissertation expanded upon this research area with an examination of implicit attitude evaluations of violence. This manuscript addressed the creation of a new measure of implicit attitude evaluations of violence and nonviolence using the Implicit Association Test (IAT). Participants were asked about their …

Mental Health Help-Seeking Behavior Of Ghanaian American Immigrants, Gifty Ampadu

Open Access Dissertations

Research pertaining to mental health treatment disparities and help-seeking behaviors overwhelmingly focuses on differences between racial and ethnic minorities, who are often compared to the majority. There is a critical gap in psychological research on the subject of intra-group differences in help-seeking among ethnic minorities. This study addressed within-group differences regarding help-seeking intention of Ghanaian American immigrants, a subgroup of the Black population. Specifically, the study examined the relationship among demographic variables (e.g., age, education, marital status, and gender), acculturation, religious commitment, attitudes toward help-seeking, and mental help-seeking intentions in Ghanaian American immigrants. The study was also interested in learning …

Evaluating The Implementation Quality And Utility Of Response To Intervention Practices, Paige Hamilton-Read

Open Access Dissertations

The current study investigated the extent to which eight elementary schools in one cooperative education district implemented the five essential components of Response to Intervention (RtI), and explored the relationship between fidelity of implementation and student reading outcomes measured by oral reading fluency (ORF). Various RtI models exist because there is no single method to implement RtI appropriately. The majority of available studies examining fidelity of RtI implementation have focused on the individual components of RtI. However, when implemented as intended, RtI is a coherent system of coordinated components. Consequently, it is important to study the implementation of RtI as …

Longitudinal Investigation Of Behavior Change Across Multiple Cancer Risk, Hui-Qing Yin

Open Access Dissertations

There is accumulated evidence to support the efficacy of population-based behavioral interventions, however, our understanding of how and why effective interventions promote behavior change is still lacking. The goal of these two studies was to investigate mechanisms of single and multiple behavior change with a focus on cancer risk behaviors, so as to further our understanding of how effective behavioral interventions can promote successful behavior change; improving public health while reducing healthcare costs.

These studies pooled primary data from three large population-based randomized intervention trials that included important cancer-related risk behaviors, including smoking, unhealthy eating, and sun exposure. A total …

Parent Behaviors In Relation To Characteristics Of Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Amy C. Laurent

Open Access Dissertations

Emotional self-regulation (ESR) challenges are well documented in the developmental profiles of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD); however, less is known about the development of ESR and the role of parents in ESR development for this population. This study explored the associations between diagnostically significant characteristics of children with ASD (i.e., social communication profile and sensory processing abilities) and parent behaviors associated with development of a child’s ESR.

Participants were 37 children previously diagnosed with ASD and their parents recruited throughout Southern New England. The children’s ages ranged between 30-48 months. The study was a cross sectional design involving …

Head Start Teacher Nutrition Knowledge, Attitudes And Diet As Predictors Of Classroom Mealtime Behaviors With Children, Katherine M. Halloran

Open Access Dissertations

Recent research has suggested that childcare settings can play an integral role in the prevention of childhood obesity. Childcare providers are in a unique position to influence the diets of children through a number of mealtime interactions including food and nutrition intake, observational learning and nutrition education (Hendy et al., 2000; Birch, Zimmerman, & Hind, 1980). However, there is little evidence on childcare provider’s own behavior, in particular how their own diet, attitudes and knowledge may influence their mealtime behaviors with children. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between childcare providers’ diet, nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and …

Risk And Protective Factors In The Non-Medical Use Of Prescription Drugs Among Adolescents, Jamie E. Vela

Open Access Dissertations

This study aimed to investigate the Non-Medical Use of Prescription Drugs NMUPD among adolescents. Previously studied risk and protective factors were evaluated across five ecological domains including community, family, individual, peer, and school. These sets of factors were used to help understand the relationship of the constructs that serve as risk or protective in adolescent NMUPD. The Communities that Care Survey was distributed to 9-12^th graders on one occasion. For the intents and purposes of this study, NMUPD was assessed by previous 30-day tranquilizer, pain-reliever, or stimulant use. The survey results were used to construct an exploratory factor analysis. …

Running For Integration: Ccny And The Promise Of Interracial Cooperation Through Basketball, Arthur Banton

Open Access Dissertations

In 1951, an investigation of gambling in college basketball by New York district attorney, Frank Hogan, ultimately led to the arrest of more than 30 players from seven schools, including six players from the City College of New York (CCNY). Just a year earlier in 1950, CCNY became the first racially integrated basketball team to win the national championship; and the only one to win the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and National Invitational Tournament (NIT) championships in the same season. Unfortunately, their accomplishments were overshadowed by the gambling scandals.

Perceptions Of And Experiences With The Indiana Teacher Evaluation System In Physical Education, Andrew Dale Eberline

Open Access Dissertations

Physical educators face a difficult task of using limited time and resources to fully impact students in the gymnasium. Physical education is labeled as a noncore subject with no standardized test to evaluate student learning. In Indiana, multiple types of teacher evaluation models are used in schools across the state, causing concerns of reliability and validity for educators. The purpose of this study was to describe physical educators’ perceptions of and experiences with the teacher evaluation system in the state of Indiana. Additionally, this research examined challenges faced by teachers as they adapted to teacher evaluation systems. Solutions to the …

Do Psychologists Help? Assessment And Evaluation Of An Integrative Care Approach To Cancer Treatment, Miryam Yusufov

Open Access Dissertations

Psychosocial care has been shown to improve psychological and physiological functioning in cancer patients. However, as few as five percent of cancer patients engage in psychosocial care. Therefore, Study 1 of this dissertation developed measures of core TTM constructs (Stage of Change, Decisional Balance, Self- Efficacy) relevant for increasing engagement in psychosocial care among individuals diagnosed with cancer.

Measure development entailed qualitative methods for item development and refinement followed by a series of quantitative analyses. The Stage of Change measure was validated against external constructs such as subjective present and future well-being. As expected, a chi-square test indicated that individuals …

Understanding, Evaluating, And Diagnosing Undergraduate Student Difficulties With Graph Choice And Construction, Aakanksha Angra

Open Access Dissertations

Creating effective graphical representations of biological data is an essential component in the practices of science and involves engaging concepts and skills of quantitative literacy. With undergraduate biology students increasingly involved in scientific inquiry and experimentation, they are faced with the task of choosing and creating appropriate graphical representations of their data to communicate their findings. However, difficulties with graph choice and construction that were previously documented in literature, still exist today at both the K-12 and undergraduate levels. The purpose of this dissertation is to understand the reasoning involved behind choosing certain graph types and the process that occurs …

A Human-Centered Approach For The Design Of Perimeter Office Spaces Based On Visual Environment Criteria, Iason Konstantzos

Open Access Dissertations

With perimeter office spaces with large glazing facades being an indisputable trend in modern architecture, human comfort has been in the scope of Building science; the necessity to improve occupants’ satisfaction, along with maintaining sustainability has become apparent, as productivity and even the well-being of occupants are connected with maintaining a pleasant environment in the interior. While thermal comfort has been extensively studied, the satisfaction with the visual environment has still aspects that are either inadequately explained, or even entirely absent from literature. This Thesis investigated most aspects of the visual environment, including visual comfort, lighting energy performance through the …

The Interpersonal Psychological Theory Of Suicide: Suicidal Ideation And Behaviors Of Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual College Students And Their Heterosexual Peers, Rachel Ann Ploskonka

Open Access Dissertations

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) college students are among the most vulnerable to suicidal ideation and behaviors when compared to both heterosexual college students and other, generally older, members of the LGB community (Oswalt & Wyatt, 2011). Joiner’s (2005) interpersonal psychological theory of suicide seems to be a possible framework for conceptualizing suicidal ideation and behaviors for LGB college students. Joiner (2005) posited that perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness are associated with suicidal ideation and that acquired capability is related to suicidal behaviors. With respect to thwarted belongingness, researchers have posited that LGB college students have four primary interpersonal connections, …

Social Network Influence On Ridesharing, Disaster Communications, And Community Interactions, Arif Mohaimin Sadri

Open Access Dissertations

The complex topology of real networks allows network agents to change their functional behavior. Conceptual and methodological developments in network analysis have furthered our understanding of the effects of interpersonal environment on normative social influence and social engagement. Social influence occurs when network agents change behavior being influenced by others in the social network and this takes place in a multitude of varying disciplines. The overarching goal of this thesis is to provide a holistic understanding and develop novel techniques to explore how individuals are socially influenced, both on-line and off-line, while making shared-trips, communicating risk during extreme weather, and …

Women Writers And The Genealogy Of The Gentleman: Masculinity, Authority, And Male Characters In Eighteenth-Century English Novels By Women, Mary Elizabeth Harris

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation demonstrates that women authors in the eighteenth century carved out a space for their authority not by overtly opposing their male critics and society’s patriarchal structure, but by rewriting the persona of the gentleman—the poster boy for eighteenth-century society’s moral, masculine, and patriarchal values—and thereby advocating for novels as an important site for cultivating proper masculine behavior as well as a means of renegotiating gender relationships. Eighteenth-century feminist criticism has charted the wide-ranging and creative avenues women carved out for themselves within a male-dominated, patriarchal culture. However, critics have typically dismissed the male characters of eighteenth-century female authors …

Understanding Positive Electronic Word-Of-Mouth Intention: A Conceptual Model For Hotels, Jungyun Hur

Open Access Dissertations

To understand the underlying constructs and mechanisms of the generation of positive hotel electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), this study developed a comprehensive model that explains why consumers engage in positive eWOM generation about hotels and what triggers such behaviors. To develop a conceptual model, first, this study identified relevant constructs: a set of eWOM motivations (e.g., self-enhancement, gaining social benefit, helping other consumers, and helping the hotel), consumption-related factors (e.g., utilitarian and hedonic value), a social influence-related factor (e.g., online social capital), and behavioral intention (e.g., intention to generate positive eWOM about hotels). The constructs were incorporated into an integrated model …

Being And Literature: The Disclosure Of Place In Modernity, Donovan Irven Martin

Open Access Dissertations

The dissertation develops an original ontology of place by reading Modernist literature (1864-1950) as a critical reaction to Modern philosophy (1641-1800), and builds a platform upon movements implicit in literature from which future metaphysical and epistemological inquiries can begin. Western metaphysics and epistemology have been conditioned by the Cartesian commitment to the ego cogito, primarily understood as a subject to which the world appears as represented in concepts or ideas. The postmodern and deconstructive criticisms of such philosophical foundations – and indeed, on the very notion of foundation itself – have become well worn, but have failed to offer a …

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D Regulation Of Triacylglycerol Accumulation In Differentiated Adipocytes, Brienna Larrick

Open Access Dissertations

Obesity is a major public health concern, both in the United States and worldwide. Therefore, identification of measures by which obesity may be prevented and reversed is of high priority. Epidemiological studies consistently demonstrate an inverse relationship between serum 25(OH)D levels, an indicator of vitamin D status, and measures of adiposity. These data suggest that vitamin D may play a role in the prevention of excessive adiposity. However, whether vitamin D impacts lipid storage and metabolism in terminally differentiated adipocytes is not yet known. The purpose of this work was to determine the impact of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)2D), the bioactive …

Africa Is Always Bringing Forth Something New: African Worlds And Worldviews In British Enlightenment Literature, 1660-1780, Rebekah Kurtz Mitsein

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation argues that African worlds and worldviews left an indelible mark on British Enlightenment texts, whether their authors encountered the continent first or secondhand. As eighteenth-century thinkers began experimenting with empirical and categorical strategies for making sense of the globe, Africa was an important testing ground for these burgeoning epistemological methodologies. Travelers and writers tried to reconcile observer-based methods of knowledge production with the continent’s reputedly impenetrable landscapes, unfamiliar cultures, and strange animals. Such inquiries engendered broader philosophical debates about the natures of nature, the body, and the self. Yet, I contend Africa was not a passive participant in …

Violence, Militarism And The Environment In Contemporary South Asian Literature, Saba Pirzadeh

Open Access Dissertations

Current literary scholarship on the rise in violence and militarism within South

Resilience, Suicide, And Enrollment In Higher Education: Three Essays On Impacts Of Recession, Danielle Elizabeth Carriere

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation is comprised of three essays, all of which focus on various impacts of economic recession. The first two essays utilize county-level data to examine differences between rural and urban response to economic downturn, while the final essay makes use of individual-level data to examine the impact of recession on enrollment in higher education.

The Development Of A Computerized Interactive Teaching Assistant In Physics: The Cita On Chip Project, Cyrus Marazban Vandrevala

Open Access Dissertations

One of the many roles of university instructors is to provide help to students throughout the semester - especially in the form of feedback on homework. Personalized feedback from the instructor might be possible in a small classroom setting, but becomes unmanageable when class sizes grow to dozens or even hundreds of students. As a result, universities are turning to computerized homework systems that guide students through problems and provide focused grades and feedback.

Models And Optimization For Elective Surgery Scheduling Under Uncertainty Considering Patient Health Condition, Joonyup Eun

Open Access Dissertations

The managerial aspects to run a healthcare system are becoming increasingly important for patient safety. More than one patients are competing each other to be treated using limited medical resources in a healthcare system. The limited medical resources include surgeons, physicians, anesthesiologists, nurses, operating rooms, wards, etc. Therefore, patient safety is related to how to run a healthcare system with the limited resources.