Digital Commons Network^™

Using A Nearest Neighbor Algorithm And Logistic Regression To Assess Hazard Identification In The U.S. Army Risk Management Process, Heath L. Mccormick

Theses and Dissertations

This research considers whether a person's demographic and experiential attributes play a significant role in how they perceive the presence or absence of hazards in a given situation. The goal of the research is to show that participants with enlisted military experience, prior to being commissioned as a junior officer, would be more successful at identifying the hazards presented in military scenarios than those who had only been trained on the process via their pre-commissioning and initial entry courses of instruction. The research study involves the use of two surveys with realistic military scenarios including both Foot March and Maintenance …

Improving Breastfeeding Support Through Understanding Mothers' Perspectives And Experiences, Alicia D. Debevec

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Best Practice Management Of Seasonal Affective Disorder When Considering Antidepressant Therapy, Light Therapy, And Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Tia Gullickson

Theses and Dissertations

Seasonal affective disorder is a recurrent depressive disorder that follows a seasonal pattern with treatment focused on antidepressant therapy, light therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy (Thaler et al, 201 1 ). The relevance of this paper is to examine the treatment options available for seasonal affective disorder and detem1ine the best practice management for the patient. The case described is a 55-year-old male patient with recurrent depression symptoms who was treated with antidepressant therapy with the consideration that this may be the best supported treatment option; however other viable options are available as well.

Literature review found that antidepressant therapy …

Increasing Palliative Care Referrals In Terminal Lung Cancer Patients, John Edward Roll

Theses and Dissertations

Late referrals to palliative care services for patients suffering from terminal lung cancer is an ongoing problem that unnecessarily shortens patient survival time by inadequate and poorly timed symptom control that affects the remaining quality of life for both patient and family. The latest mortality figures available (2011) showed approximately 157,000 people died due to cancer of the lung, trachea, and bronchus (CDC, 2014a). The purpose of this independent study was to review and effectively analyze the literature and understand the reasons and barriers to early referral of palliative care services by health care providers for their clients diagnosed with …

Polyethylene Glycol Diacrylate (Pegda) Resin Development For 3d-Printed Microfluidic Devices, Kamran Qaderi

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, the successful fabrication of 3D-printed microfluidic devices will be discussed. Fabrication is performed with a low-cost commercially available stereolithographic 3D printer utilizing a custom PEGDA resin formulation tailored for low non-specific protein adsorption based on my colleagues' work [Rogers et al., Anal. Chem. 83, 6418 (2011)]. Horizontal microfluidic channels with designed rectangular cross sectional dimensions as small as 300 um wide and 150 um tall are printed with 100% yield, as are cylindrical vertical microfluidic channels with 300 um designed (334 um actual) diameters. Moreover, two different resins developed by our group are utilized in the process …

Ligament Model Fidelity In Finite Element Analysis Of The Human Lumbar Spine, Mitchell Scott Hortin

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project is to quantify the effects of increasing spinal ligament fidelity on the mechanics of the human lumbar spine using finite element analysis (FEA). In support of this goal, a material characterization study was completed to provide anisotropic, nonlinear material parameters for the human anterior longitudinal ligament. (ALL). Cadaveric samples of the human ALL were tested using a punch test technique. Multi- axial force-deformation data were gathered and fit to a commonly used transversely isotropic material model using an FEA system identification routine. The resulting material parameters produced a curve that correlated well with the experimental …

The Effectiveness Of Alternative Dissertation Models In Graduate Education, Rebecca Arlene Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

Historically, the doctoral dissertation has had two purposes: to train young scholars in proper research methodology, and to contribute original findings to research. However, some feel that the traditional dissertation format falls short of these goals for two reasons. First, the majority of dissertations never get published in academic journals, and dissertations are unlikely to get cited in academic articles. Second, many students in doctoral programs see little authenticity in traditional dissertations because the writing style and process differ from that of academic articles. In response to these concerns, many Instructional Technology programs have implemented alternative dissertation formats. This study …

Reduction Of Osteoporosis In Cancer Patients Who Are Receiving Aromatase Inhibitor Treatment, Amaka G. Onyeka

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Online Mormon Self-Presentation: Content Analysis Of Mormon.Org And Ldssingles.Com Profiles, Megan Marie Fereday

Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to examine online Mormon self-presentation, specifically in the context of Mormon.org and LDSSingles.com (LDSSO). To examine the different styles of self-presentation used in Mormon.org and LDSSO profiles, this study drew upon self-presentation theory (Goffman, 1959; Jones, 1990; Jones & Pittman, 1982) and analyzed profiles according to Dominick's (1990) definitions of Jones and Pittman's (1982) five self-presentation strategies. In addition, this study examined the relationship between a profile poster's sex and the self-presentation strategies exhibited in his or her Mormon.org or LDSSO profile. Content analysis of 100 (50 male and 50 female) Mormon.org and 100 (50 male and …

The Effects Of Open Educational Resource Adoption On Measures Of Post-Secondary Student Success, Thomas J. Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether the adoption of Open Educational Resources had a significant effect on student learning outcomes in seven courses taught at seven post-secondary institutions. The use of open educational resources (OER) is increasing in the United States. Initiatives focusing on expanding the use of OER as a replacement for traditional textbooks at the post-secondary level include OpenStax, Project Kaleidoscope, Open Course Library, and others. While researchers have begun to explore OER, few have sought to evaluate the quality of OER as a function of student academic success. In this dissertation, I examined measures …

Feature Identification And Reduction For Improved Generalization Accuracy In Secondary-Structure Prediction Using Temporal Context Inputs In Machine-Learning Models, Matthew Benjamin Seeley

Theses and Dissertations

A protein's properties are influenced by both its amino-acid sequence and its three-dimensional conformation. Ascertaining a protein's sequence is relatively easy using modern techniques, but determining its conformation requires much more expensive and time-consuming techniques. Consequently, it would be useful to identify a method that can accurately predict a protein's secondary-structure conformation using only the protein's sequence data. This problem is not trivial, however, because identical amino-acid subsequences in different contexts sometimes have disparate secondary structures, while highly dissimilar amino-acid subsequences sometimes have identical secondary structures. We propose (1) to develop a set of metrics that facilitates better comparisons between …

Impact Of Collagen-Incorporation Within Electrospun Vascular Conduits On The Inflammatory Response And Conduit Mechanics, Karamveer Birthare

Theses and Dissertations

Current surgical alternatives for treating coronary artery diseases are limited in patients with systemic vascular diseases due to unavailability of suitable autologous vessels. The overall goal of this research project is to develop an appropriate tissue engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs) for small-diameter (<6 mm) arteries. Current grafts fail from intimal hyperplasia, caused by hyperproliferation of the smooth muscle cells (SMCs), and graft thrombosis, caused by lack of functional endothelium. Formation of the endothelium, and production of pro-inflammatory species that limits the long term patency, are partially due to the accumulation of oxidized lipid species. In this study, the scaffold composition was systematically varied to assess the inflammatory response and lipid oxidation levels in a rat peritoneal model. Specifically, we determined the collagen to PCL ratio required to limit the production of pro-inflammatory species, while maintaining the required mechanical strength for vascular grafts. Electrospun conduits were prepared from 0%, 10%, and 25% blends of collagen/ PCL (w/w) and implanted in the rat peritoneal cavity for 4 weeks. The results of the study showed that scaffold composition can be varied while keeping the fiber diameter similar. Results from 10% blend conduits showed significantly higher expression for contractile markers compared to the 25% and 0% blend conditions. In general, adding collagen to the PCL conduits reduced the accumulation of oxidized species within the implanted conduits. All conduits exhibited sufficient tensile strength post- implantation. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that introducing 10% collagen into electrospun scaffolds limits the pro-inflammatory characteristics of the recruited peritoneal cells that can potentially improve patency of the TEVGs.

Consumers’ Trust In Pilots Based On Pilot’S Preference For Use Of Breathalyzer In The Cockpit, Katie Marie Reid

Theses and Dissertations

Trust has been studied across disciplines for years, with the focus looking at trust between individuals, between individuals and organizations, and between organizations (Lee & See, 2004). Establishing trust between people has been an issue for decades (Simpson, 2011), but defining it has proved difficult as well. Within the aviation industry, there has been a lack of research exploring how trust is affected from the consumer’s or passenger’s perspective. Aviation is one of the major forms of transportation in today’s culture, and understanding consumers’ trust is important for safety and economic reasons. The current study will use a 5-point Likert-type …

Testing A Model Of The Relationship Of Demographic, Affective, And Fitness Variables To Academic Achievement Among Non-Science Majors At An Independent University, Andrew Martin Dutra

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of specific attributes of college students to their academic achievement at an independent university in central Florida. Academic achievement was measured as the numeric score on the final exam in a survey-of-science course (EDS 1032) required for nonscience majors. Attribute sets included personological, affective, and fitness variables. A hypothesized diagram of the direct and indirect effects among these attributes relative to academic achievement was developed and tested using data collected Spring 2014 from 168 students in four sections of EDS 1032 at Florida Institute of Technology. Multiple regression results revealed …

Burnout, No, And Flame Characterization From An Oxygen-Enriched Biomass Flame, Steven Andrew Owen

Theses and Dissertations

Concern for the environment and a need for more efficient energy generation have sparked a growing interest throughout the world in renewable fuels. In order to reduce emissions that negatively contribute to global warming, especially CO2, enormous efforts are being invested in technologies to reduce our impact on the environment. Biomass is an option that is considered CO2 friendly due to the consumption of CO2 upon growth. Co-firing biomass with coal offers economic advantages because of reduced capital costs as well as other positive impacts, such as NOx and SOx emission reductions. However, due to the large average particle size …

The Efficacy Of A Social Communication Intervention To Increase Syntactic Complexity In Narratives Of Children With Language Impairment, Alexandra Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Research has shown that children with Language Impairment (LI) struggle with social communication skills in addition to their characteristic syntactic difficulties. This pilot study analyzed the potential change in grammatical complexity in narratives of five children with LI when enrolled in a social communication intervention. The intervention itself focused on teaching emotion understanding by reading and reenacting children’s stories and journaling. Grammatical limitations were indirectly addressed by clinician modeling of complex forms during the intervention sessions. Each child’s productions were assessed and analyzed for grammatical complexity during retelling a book in the Mercer Mayer “a boy, a dog, and a …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Carbonized Poly (Divinylbenzene) Microspheres For Carbon/Nanodiamond/Polymer-Based Core-Shell Materials And Applications Of This Mixed-Mode Phase To High-Performance Liquid Chromatography, Chuan-Hsi Hung

Theses and Dissertations

This work focuses on improving the quality of carbon-based core-shell materials for high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) via the characterization of the core materials, and also the development of chromatographic methods (separations) for them. In the early part of this work, I applied organic synthesis to make uniform, spherical poly(divinylbenzene) (PDVB) microspheres, and then carbonized them to prepare carbon core materials for core-shell particle synthesis. Here, I studied in detail the surface and material properties of these particles with multiple instruments, which allowed me to describe the physical and chemical changes that took place during each treatment. The uniform, spherical …

Tree Islands Of Fertility Structure Bacterial Community Assembly And Functional Genes Contributing To Ecosystem Processes, Tayte Paul Campbell

Theses and Dissertations

In arid and semi-arid ecosystems, dominant tree species create dramatic mosaics of plant islands of fertility and relatively barren plant interspaces that exert immense pressure on ecosystem processes and offers an ideal opportunity to explore the impact of bacterial communities. We evaluated potential links between soil respiration and N mineralization, and community co-occurrence networks and predicted gene function across three tree island microsites (i.e., beneath tree canopies, at the canopy edge, and in interspaces) in a replicated field experiment in thirty-eight woodlands sites in the Great Basin Desert in UT, USA. Additionally, we potentially intensified the effects of tree islands …

Random Walks On Random Lattices And Their Applications, Ryan Tyler White

Theses and Dissertations

This work studies a class of continuous-time, multidimensional random walk processes with mutually dependent random step sizes and their exits from hyperrectangles. Fluctuations of the process about the critical boundary are studied extensively by stochastic analysis and operational calculus. Further, information on the process can be ascertained only upon observations occurring according to a delayed renewal process, rather than in real time. Passage times are thus obscured and results are first derived pertaining to the pre-passage and post-passage observations. Two distinct strategies are developed to combat the crudeness of delayed observations in order to derive more refined information about the …

Developmental Analysis Of Rod And Cone Photoreceptor Architecture In The Retina Of The Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia Mydas), Nikia Lynn Rice

Theses and Dissertations

All sea turtle species are threatened or endangered, some critically so. Vision is key to individual success in sea turtles; they use their vision for sea finding at hatching, foraging and predator avoidance throughout life, and mating and nesting as adults. This research project provides a comprehensive analysis throughout development (the first of kind) of the outer retina of the green turtle, Chelonia mydas. The research project included characterization of the retina biochemically via immunohistochemistry and histologically via light microscopy, both done over the course of development from hatchling through adult. At all stages, the retina was duplex, containing both …

Effects Of Peer Instruction On State College Student Achievement In An Introductory Biology Unit In Genetics, Holly Nicole Mcknight

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Peer Instruction (PI) in a state college biology classroom. Students discussed biological concepts in the area of genetics among their peers during class time. Conceptual questions were delivered to the student in the form of ConcepTests, conceptual questions designed to uncover students’ misconceptions in the material. Students first answered a question projected from the computer to an overhead screen on their own. Depending on the percentage of students that answered correctly, students then discussed their answers with their peers (PI). These discussions allowed students to uncover their misunderstandings in …

A Multi-Level Analysis Of Collaborations In Computer Science, Pramod Divakarmurthy

Theses and Dissertations

Working in collaboration is common in today’s highly connected scientific community. By collaborating, researchers can solve challenging multi-disciplinary problems, increase knowledge dissemination as well as productivity. These and other advantages motivate the study of the collaboration patterns of researchers. Such patterns can be observed directly in networks of manuscript co-authorship. In such a network, nodes represent authors and the links between them indicate that they have co-authored a paper. Several researchers constructed and studied large-scale networks representing collaborations in Mathematics, Biology, Physics, and Neuroscience. Most studies have performed bibliometric analysis of scientific publications, evaluated and ranked scholars on their research …

The Impact Of Relational Training Of Preferred Food And Non-Preferred Food To Arbitrary Symbols On Implicit Relational Tasks, Janelle Antoinette Allison

Theses and Dissertations

The Mixed-Trial Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (MT-IRAP) is a tool for measuring implicit behavior (i.e., biases or beliefs the individual is unaware of or intends to conceal from the public) among individuals. The MT-IRAP is a modified version of the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) and was designed to address limitations inherent to the IRAP’s design. The MT-IRAP was tested with adult participants across a series of five studies. Throughout each study, the MTIRAP assessed implicit behavior toward high-preferred foods, non-preferred foods, and arbitrary symbols. The experimenter administered the MT-IRAP before and after participant completion of a task designed to …

Seasonal Affective Disorder: A Comparison Between The Use Of Light Therapy And Psychopharmacology Therapies, Pamela M. Rhiel

Theses and Dissertations

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a major depressive disorder that primarily occurs in the fall and continues until remission in the late spring to early summer. It is considered a major public health problem due to the effects that depression can have on the general population (e.g. inability to work, unable to pay bills, not able to maintain healthy relationships). This disorder affects approximately 0.4 to 2.9% of the general population, primarily those living in the northern latitudes. There have been numerous studies which have looked at the effectiveness of light therapy in the treatment of SAD. Recent studies have …

The Efficacy Of School Head Lice Policies: A Review Of The Literature, Sheila Hurst

Theses and Dissertations

Each year millions of people in the United States are infested with head lice. Despite common beliefs that schools are the epicenter of transmission, this has been not been proven to be true. Regardless of this fact many schools continue to enforce no nit/lice policies by excluding children perceived to be infected from school. Consequences of such policies include loss of school days, mistreatment, economic burden, and shame. This paper provides a review of the literature providing best evidence regarding the efficacy of no nit/lice school policies. Method: 4 Sixteen articles were extracted for final review from CINAHL, PubMed, Psychlnfo, …

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Vs Antidepressant Medications In The Treatment Of Major Depressive Disorder, David Ogato

Theses and Dissertations

Depression is a common and debilitating mental illness in the U.S. It affects a great number of people and yet often it goes undiagnosed and undertreated. Older adults are especially under-diagnosed because of different presentation in symptoms and increased commodities. Mark, a 55 year old male patient presented with fatigue at the clinic. Fatigue can be a symptom of many conditions. Labs were unremarkable and there were no physical examination findings indicating depression. Patient did not report complete depressive symptoms until PHQ-9 was employed. He was diagnosed with moderate depression, opted for cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) over antidepressant medications (ADMs). …

Utilizing Remote Sensing Imagery To Monitor Vegetation Change Within World Heritage Sites, Mimi Eve Hatzis

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

World Heritage sites provide a glimpse into the stories and civilizations of the past. There are currently 1007 unique World Heritage properties with 779 being classified as cultural sites, 197 as natural sites, and 31 falling into the categories of both cultural and natural sites (UNESCO & World Heritage Centre, 1992-2015). However, of these 1007 World Heritage sites, at least 46 are categorized as in danger and this number continues to grow. These unique and irreplaceable sites are exceptional because of their universality. Consequently, since World Heritage sites belong to all the people of the world and provide inspiration …

Switching Tactics: Phenotypic Plasticity In The Alternative Mate-Finding Tactics Of Burying Beetles, Theresa Mulrey

Theses and Dissertations

Male Nicrophorus burying beetles utilize two alternative mate-finding tactics, representing an ideal model system to test the influence of environmental cues on the expression of alternative tactics. The "searching" tactic involves flying in search of a carcass on which to mate. This tactic can result in high levels of paternity, but is risky in that carcasses are rare and competition for carcasses is fierce. The "signaling" tactic, which involves emitting pheromone in the absence of a carcass to attract females, is energetically less costly, but a signalling male must mate with multiple females to achieve the same reproductive returns as …

Faith Capital: A Persistence Study Of Two Student Learning Communities At A Northeastern Community College, David Edwards

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this embedded single-case study is to explore and better understand what social and institutional factors account for the success or lack of success in developing, delivering, and sustaining learning communities in support of at-risk, underprepared students enrolled at the community college where the research was conducted. Towards that end, theories of social capital, social justice education, and emergent organizational strategies are aligned with practitioner perspectives in an examination of two student learning community initiatives at the college. Faith capital (Hanson, 2001) is a secular notion aligned with the principles of social capital as an integrative locus for …

Investigations Into The Genomes Of Two Ascomyetes, Jay Wilbur Pyle

Theses and Dissertations

Fusarium verticillioides is a filamentous ascomycete that is both a plant endophyte and pathogen, causing disease during any life stage of the plant. When F. verticillioides grows in maize the fungus can synthesis a number of mycotoxins including the fumonisins, which have been linked with human esophageal cancer and neural tube associated birth defects. In an attempt to control fumonisin production our lab is searching the genome of F. verticillioides for a selfish genetic element known as Spore killer. The plan is simple; we envision creating a bio-control strain capable of harnessing the genetic transmission-distorting properties of Spore killer to …