Digital Commons Network^™

Case Study To Evaluate Effectiveness Of A Treatment Approach For Major Depression, Jennifer R. Laird

Theses and Dissertations

This case study evaluated the effectiveness of a therapeutic intervention with an adult diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder. A case study design was used to evaluate treatment for an adult male diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder and Opioid Dependence in Early Full Remission. The subject voluntarily participated in individual psychotherapy, was given the Beck Depression Inventory during the fourth and final sessions, completed a satisfaction survey during the final session and self-reported his substance use throughout his time in psychotherapy. The literature review indicated that the three psychotherapy modalities were most effective in the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder are: …

Dual Diagnosed Clients And Rate Of Relapse, Michele Fredericks

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study was to gather information on dual diagnosed clients' level of social support in the environment and to assess the degree to which this has an impact on the rate of relapse or rehospitalization. The sample for the study consisted of 46 clients with an Axis I diagnosis of schizophrenia or a chronic mood disorder according to the DSM IV criteria along with poly substance abuse. The age of the clients ranged from 19- 59 with a mean of 38.8. All clients used in the study were enrolled in a nonprofit intensive case management program (ICMS) …

Average Effort Extended In Person Hours To Complete An Initial Child Study Team Evaluation, Lisa Hak Licciardello

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the number of person hours necessary to complete a Child Study Team initial evaluation by School Psychologists and Learning Disabilities Teacher Consultants in a random sample of school districts in Southern New Jersey. Sixteen components of an initial evaluation were identified and respondents were asked to report the time in minutes devoted to each component. Thirty questionnaires were distributed and twenty-four were returned. On the basis of the responses, it was found that School Psychologists spend fourteen hours completing an initial evaluation, and Learning Disabilities Teacher Consultants spend ten hours completing an …

Block Scheduling And Its Effect On The Academic Performance Of Students With Learning Disabilities, Paul J. Blass

Theses and Dissertations

This study surveyed the professionals from one middle school in southern New Jersey regarding their perceptions of block scheduling as well as their views on its effectiveness with students who have learning disabilities. The survey indicated that the participants favored teaching under the block schedule format. They felt that they can address the students' needs more effectively and that the quality and quantity of student work has improved. Some questions were directed only to special education teachers, and they also agreed that the time allocated using the block format helped them work more effectively with their students.

Teacher Attitudes Toward Inclusion, Megan E. Ireland

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the type of attitude towards inclusion that exists among regular classroom teachers, special education teachers, and specialist teachers in a middle school setting. Seventy-one subjects – forty-nine regular classroom teachers, ten special education teachers, and twelve specialist teachers – from a suburban New Jersey community were studied. Participants were given the Survey of Attitudes Toward the Inclusion of Students with Special Needs, a twenty item Likert-type scale. Data was analyzed using a one-way ANOVA and the Games-Howell post hoc test. Findings suggest that regular and specialist teachers believed that inclusion results in …

The Effects Of Breakfast On The School-Aged Child, Alicea J. Davis

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between eating a nutritious breakfast and academic performance. The sample consisted of 20 Second Grade Students, 12 males and 8 females, attending an elementary school in an urban school district. The subjects ranged in age from 7 to 9. Five males and two females were of Hispanic descent. Seven males and six females were of African American descent. The participants were given the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement to determine if the children were on grade level. A daily log was kept of what each child ate for breakfast and …

The Relationship Of Biological Parent Or Relative Involvement And Academic Success Among Special Education Students, James Murtaugh

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between biological parent and relative involvement in special education students' lives and academic success. Also investigated was the relationship between biological parent and relative involvement in special education students' lives and the amount of time spent out of the classroom for behavioral reasons. Other variables include age at separation, type of placement, classification, number of siblings, or if the child's home school district was urban or non-urban. Each city of the urban districts examined was also analyzed. Statistical tests were performed to establish correlation between these variables and GPA scores. …

The Philadelphia Phillies: Why Do They Play To An Empty Stadium?, Christine A. Bosco

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was threefold: 1) to determine fans' attitudes about the Philadelphia Phillies, 2) to determine why there is low attendance at Phillies home games, and 3) to determine how fans can be lured back to the stadium. A sample (n = 100) from the Philadelphia and southern New Jersey areas was chosen to complete a 12-question survey. Both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered. Data was processed through the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences for frequencies and cross-tabulations. Major findings from the study include: 36% of respondents indicated that ticket price was their first consideration …

Alternative Discipline: "In Or Out", V. Anthony Cattani

Theses and Dissertations

The design of this project was to determine the effectiveness of the in-school suspension program at Westervelt compared to the prominent alternative, out of school suspension practiced at Westervelt, Luyber and Shauna High Schools.

The results of this study were based upon the analysis of the feedback of the stakeholders and discipline records to assess the data subjectively and objectively when feasible to determine the effectiveness of the program. The data collected revealed that Westervelt's stakeholders supported the in-school suspension program as an effective alternative to out of school suspension.

The researcher found that the majority of the suspensions assigned …

Land Usage Impacts On Springhead Salamander Populations, At Callaway Extended Properties, Harris County, Georgia, Neil Allen Pearce

Theses and Dissertations

Recent scientific studies have indicated that anrphibian populations appear to be declining in many areas of the world or exhibiting local population fluctuations. Some of the reasons given for this population decline are associated with land usage, and the negative biological impacts of many forms of land management practices. A study was conducted at the Callaway Gardens Extended Properties in Pine Mountain Georgia which compared the local aquatic salamander populations of five spring -fed streams in the Cason J. Callaway Memorial Forest, and five spring-fed streams in the Lower Valley Area. Using a cat ch-per-unit -effort sampling methodology, a comparison …

A Plantation Mistress Of The Old South: The Life Of Ann Barnes Archer Of Mississippi, Nikki L. Berg

Theses and Dissertations

In 1834, at the age of sixteen, southerner Ann Barnes married Richard Thompson Archer, a successful planter twenty-one years her senior. Over the course of their thirty- two years of marriage, the Archers raised ten children and acquired over five hundred slaves. Their family and bondpersons were the defining elements of their lives. As the wife of an affluent planter, the mother of nine children, and the mistress of one of the biggest plantations in Mississippi, Ann Barnes Archer appears to have been the ideal southern lady and to have lived the ideal southern life.

By embodying these three principal …

Crossing The Gender Barrier - A History Of Male Nurses In Manitoba, Canada, 1960-1980, Carolyn M. Van Mackelberg

Theses and Dissertations

This paper, Crossing the Gender Barrier - a History of Male Nurses in Manitoba, Canada, will examine the role of men in a female-dominated profession. There is a distinct lack of historical writing on male nurses. Nursing historiography has generally focused on the women who constitute the majority of nurses. Indeed, much of the literature comes from within the nursing profession and the field of sociology, most of which lack an historical emphasis.

The development of the modem healthcare system is important to this work as it illustrates the evolution of the gender constructs that determined that physicians were male …

A Study Of Self-Esteem In Middle Children, Louise Henshaw

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether middle children who are the only male or only female child in the family have higher self-esteem than those middle children who are the same gender as one or more of their siblings. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale was administered to a total of fifty middle children, who ranged in age from ten through fourteen years old. These children were students in grades five through eight at a small, urban middle school in southern New Jersey. There were thirty-six students who had one or more siblings of the same gender as the …

Using Gis And Land Use Data To Select Candidate Reference Sites For Stream Bioassessment, John Robert Olson

Theses and Dissertations

GIS was used to select candidate reference sites in Georgia to characterize the reference condition by sub-ecoregion for a rapid bioassessment of streams statewide. Instead of relying on best professional judgment or previous knowledge of a limited number of sites, we performed an objective evaluation of cumulative impact on all catchments using land use data sets. These included road and impoundment data from DLGs and Multi-Resolution Land use Consortium data. Land use impairment was measured as percentages of forest, urban, pasture, row crops, and barren area for both the entire catchment and for 10, 40, and 130-m riparian buffers, road …

Counselors' Perceptions Of Violence And Treatment Recommendations In Response To Gay, Lesbian, And Heterosexual Domestic Violence Scenarios, Patricia J. Pahl

Theses and Dissertations

This study surveyed a national sample of 159 professicmal counseling psychologists regarding their perceptions of violence, perceptions of responsibility for violence, and treatment recommendations in response to reading one of four scenarios of domestic violence. The scenarios were identical, with the exception of the gender of the perpetrator and victim and the sexual orientation of the partners. The results did not support the hypothesis that overall perceptions of violence would differ depending on the scenario read. However, women and men who read scenarios of violence perpetrated by someone of the same gender against a female victim had a stronger perception …

The Effects Of Viewing Television Violence On School Children, Jennifer M. Morgan

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of viewing television violence on children. It was hypothesized that children who watch more than 3 to 4 hours of television daily, and who are exposed to inherently violent television programming in which physical and/or verbal confrontations and actions are commonplace, will be more likely than other peers to have received disciplinary referrals.

The study took place within an urban middle school serving children grades 6 through 8. A sample of 52 students was randomly selected, consisting of some students who had and some who had not received disciplinary referrals. …

Parental Involvement And Its Effects On Student Academic Achievement, Kevin G. Pinkett

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of parental involvement on student academic achievement. Parental involvement using forty-nine fifth graders and twenty-five sixth graders from an inner city public school in Wilmington, Delaware was measured by monitoring agenda book signatures and parent-teacher conference attendance. Reading test scores of students with high parental involvement were compared to students with low parental involvement using a comparison of test score means and Pearson correlations. Results indicated that there was no significant difference between the reading test scores of students who had high parental involvement and the students who had low …

The Effects Of Sleep Patterns On Academic Performance Among School-Age Children, Evelyn M. Rosa

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects that sleep patterns have on a student's academic performance. The study intended to determine if sleep disruptions affect a student's capacity to learn at school by comparing a group of students with disrupted sleep patterns to a comparison group. The sample size was n-46, with 28 female students and 18 male students. The participants involved were from an inner city middle school and were of Caucasian, African American, Asian, and Hispanic descent. The students' sleep patterns were monitored over a course of several months through self-report method. The students were …

The Benefit Of Alternative Scheduling On A Large High School, Brian Wert

Theses and Dissertations

In 2002 the teaching staff at Washington Township High School were asked to participate in a survey that would determine what scheduling format would benefit the large population enrolled at their school. This report presents the results of an analysis of a needs assessment survey administered to the entire staff. The results of this mandatory survey were compiled manually and appear in tabular form. The analysis of the results of the teacher survey yields the following findings: most teachers felt that the "nine period day" scheduling option would best address the needs of WTHS with regard to mechanics and logistics. …

Development Of The American Indian Biculturalism Inventory - Northern Plains, Jessica L. Gourneau

Theses and Dissertations

American Indians' “place” in the context of the Majority Culture has never been clear to either them or their non-Indian counterparts. Many authors of cross-cultural literature suggest the experience of “living with one foot in two canoes” is stressful, confusing, and can even lead to reduced life success and increased psychopathology. This study attempted to develop a factor-analytically devised inventory intended to aid in identification of bicultural identification in hopes it may contribute to greater understanding between cultural orientation and healthy or maladaptive American Indians' functioning.

One hundred and ninety-eight American Indian and Caucasian students and community members from four …

Attitudes And Beliefs About Obesity Among School Professionals Working With Adolescents, Kelli L. Jelsing

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe the attitudes and beliefs about obesity held by school professionals working with adolescents in a primarily rural, Midwestern region of the United States. The concern is that school professionals most likely to interact with adolescents regarding obesity may hold negative attitudes and beliefs about obesity, thus creating a negative environment for obese adolescents. This study partially replicated an urban-based study by utilizing sections of the questionnaire related to attitudes and beliefs about obesity. Fifty-eight science, health, home economics, and physical education teachers, and school nurses, social workers, and counselors working with adolescents …

Infant And Toddler Child Care Management Handbook, Mary E. Barrett

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Unique Examination Of The Buffer Overflow Condition, Terry Bruce Gillette

Theses and Dissertations

Buffer overflows have been the most common form of security vulnerability for the last ten years. More over, buffer overflow vulnerabilities enable the type of exploits that dominate remote network penetration. As our reliance on commercial third party software is critical in the current computing environment one must consider the question of how these vulnerabilities are discovered in released proprietary software. This thesis presents research focused on the fundamental issues surrounding the buffer overflow vulnerability. The objective is to analyze and understand the technical nature of this type of vulnerability and, on the basis of this, develop an efficient generic …

Social Support As A Moderator Of Depression Among Female Survivors Of Domestic Violence, Kimberly D. Slocombe

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of social support on depression in female survivors of domestic violence. This study sampled 20 women from domestic violence programs located in the United States and Canada. Participants were assessed on the nature of abuse, level of perceived social support, and level of depression. One hypothesis was supported. It was found that those who experienced domestic violence were also likely to experience depressed mood. Social support was not found to moderate between abuse and depression. More research is needed in order to understand the role of social support in a …

Wellness Center Program Study, Sheri A. Pallen

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Perspective Of Traditional Elders On The Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation, Serena Marsden-Koop

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a study of Native American traditional elders perspective of suicide on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Native American elders are viewed as spiritual leaders who have wisdom and knowledge. They are the ones people in the tribe turn to for guidance, healing, and information. This study looked at suicide causes and prevention focusing on a Native American Indian population. The data was gathered using an open-ended questionnaire. The study shows the themes that emerged based on the traditional elders responses. The themes were based on the number of responses to the questionnaire sections. The …

Post-Processing Of Low Dose Mammography Images, Jesung Kim

Theses and Dissertations

In mammography, X-ray radiation is used in sufficient doses to be captured on film for cancer diagnosis. A problem lies in the inherent nature of X-rays to cause cancer. The resolution of the images obtained on film is directly related to the radiation dosage. Thus, a trade-off between image quality and radiation exposure is necessary to ensure proper diagnosis without causing cancer. A possible solution is to decrease the dosage of radiation and improve the image quality of mammograms using post- processing methods applied to digitized film images. Image processing techniques that may improve the resolution of images captured at …

A Novel Membrane Process For Autotrophic Denitrification, Agnieszka Pierkiel

Theses and Dissertations

This research focused on the novel use of hollow fiber membranes for gas delivery in biological dentrification using hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria. Autotrophic denitrification is a biological process that reduces nitrate to nitrogen gas using an inorganic carbon source. Hydrogen gas is an electron donor and nitrate is the electron acceptor in the reaction. The specific research objectives were to:

• develop a mixed acclimated culture of hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria;
• evaluate biodegradation kinetics of the acclimated culture;
• evaluate hydrogen transfer characteristics of hollow fiber membrane modules;

and

• demonstrate technical feasibility of a continuous bioreactor-membrane system for denitrification.

The following kinetic coefficients were obtained: µ …

New Egypt High School's Single Lunch: "It's Common Sense", Joseph Dipietro

Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to determine if hosting an open campus single lunch at New Egypt High School would positively affect the cultural climate of the entire school. The single lunch project involved the entire school community. As the administrative intern I served as the project coordinator, as well as a lunch monitor.

To determine the project's effectiveness, students and staff members were randomly selected to provide feedback on separate questionnaires. The intern also held informal interviews with cafeteria workers and the school custodian to better understand their perceptions of the project.

Staff members perceived the single lunch policies and …

The Behavioral Effects Of Placing Emotionally Disturbed Students In An Alternative School Day Setting, Allen Randall Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to examine the effects on student behaviors, of taking emotionally disturbed students out of the regular high school and placing them in an alternative afternoon (1PM - 5PM) program. The researcher attempted to determine whether removing the students from the regular population and placing them in a self-contained setting would improve their behaviors. The subjects of the study were all high school aged students attending a regional high school in southern New Jersey. Each of the students was classified as either emotionally disturbed or multiply handicapped. Prior to being placed in this program, the students had …