Digital Commons Network^™

Managing Change In Asian Business: A Comparison Between Chinese Educated And English Educated Chinese Entrepreneurs In Singapore, Thomas Menkhoff, Ulrike Badibanga, Yue Wah Chay

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Against the background of the current rapidly changing business environment, the article examines the organizational change management behaviour of the owner-managers of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore. The analysis of survey data is aimed at ascertaining whether there are any differences between Chinese and English educated small (ethnic Chinese) businessmen in terms of Change Management (CM), a dichotomy that is of great historical and politico-cultural significance in Singapore. The survey data show that there are indeed differences between the subgroups (eg with regard to the initiation of a more participatory people management style) but these variations turned …

The Ditme Project: Interdisciplinary Research In Music Technology, Eugene Coyle, Dan Barry, Mikel Gainza, David Dorran, Charlie Pritchard, John Feeley, Derry Fitzgerald

Level 3

This paper profiles the emergence of a significant body of research in audio engineering within the Faculties of Engineering and Applied Arts at Dublin Institute of Technology. Over a period of five years the group has had significant success in completing a Strand 3 research project entitled Digital Tools for Music Education (DiTME), followed by successful follow-on projects funded through both the European Framework FP6 and Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation research schemes. The group has solved a number of challenging problems in the audio engineering field and has both published widely and patented a novel sound source separation invention.

Key Skills Framework: Enhancing Employability Within A Lifelong Learning Paradigm, Aidan Kenny, Ray English, Dave Kilmartin

Level 3

Employability (see note 1) has become an area of interest among the general public and policy makers alike, with an increasing number of reports in the general media regarding the need for workers in certain sectors to up-skill due to the possible threat of job ‘displacement’. In addition, there has been an increase in education and training policy documents emphasising that citizens should pursue Lifelong Learning (see note 2) /Life Wide Learning to address the increased job-related uncertainty attributed to the globalisation process and the concomitant competitive threats. Academics such as Barnett (2005) claim that we …

Transition From Health Maintenance Organizations To Consumer Driven Health Plans: Measurement Of Initial Impacts For Members With Chronic Conditions, Carl F. Goff

Theses and Dissertations

New consumer driven health insurance products are designed to contain health care costs by making consumers more accountable for the care they receive through being responsible for more cost sharing, making decisions regarding health care providers they will use, and increasing exposure to and use of health information for services and providers. Potential benefits of consumer driven products include increased information regarding personal health and a more knowledgeable patient base. Potential drawbacks of consumer driven products include negative impacts on consumers with chronic and complex health conditions.

The purpose of this study was to ascertain differences in health services utilization …

Lets Make It Outback Tonight, Michael Douglas Erickson

Theses and Dissertations

When I was younger, shortly after my father died, my mother bought me a t-shirt that I loved and wore till it was worn out. On the shirt there was an image of a man, strapped into an electric chair, holding pieces of bread in each hand. A sign above him read, "Making the best of a bad situation." That statement became a mantra I held onto in the early years after my father's death. It still guides my personal philosophy---humor is key to survival. Particularly a type of humor that celebrates the fact that "shit happens", while highlighting and …

Roles And Attitudes Of Males And Females In The Anarchist Punk Community, Donna M. Manion

Theses and Dissertations

Sexism is a widespread social problem that exists throughout the world today. It persists within the dominant culture, as well as in various subcultures, including the punk subculture (Daugherty 2002; Leblanc 1999; McRobbie 1991; Rosenberg and Garofalo 1998). Nijole Benokraitis and Joe Feagin's (1995) theory of sexism posits that subtle sexism is the unequal and harmful treatment of women that is typically less visible than blatant sex discrimination. This particular type of sexism may often go unnoticed, as society has internalized subtle sexist behaviors. Empirical research on subtle sexism has been conducted in various settings, such as the employment, academic, …

Adverse Anesthesia Outcomes: A Retrospective Study Of An Ambulatory Surgical Center Versus A Dental Office Setting, Gaurav Agarwal

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the adverse events that occur with general anesthesia for dental rehabilitation between a hospital setting and dental clinic setting. Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed examining patients who had received dental rehabilitation with general anesthesia at the Virginia Commonwealth University Department of Pediatric Dentistry. Subjects were either treated in the Pediatric Dental Clinic or the Hospital Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) from July 2005 to December 2006. Anesthesia records of induction, intubation, maintenance, emergence and recovery were compared between the two settings.Results: There were a total of 422 charts reviewed with …

Electrospun Blends Of Polydioxanone And Fibrinogen For Urological Applications, Joshua Ford Grant

Theses and Dissertations

The need for tissue and organ replacements cannot be satisfied by autograft and allografts alone. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of electrospinning a blend of polydioxanone and fibrinogen to produce an engineered tissue scaffold. Fiber diameter and pore size of blends were characterized, as well as mechanical strength. Cell proliferation assays for 1 and 7 day cultures were preformed, and a histological evaluation was performed to determine how favorable the various blends were to cell infiltration and proliferation. Some ratios of blends were identified that contained both acceptable mechanical properties and properties that facilitated cell …

An Exploration Of The Influence Of Race And Gender On Sexual Beliefs And Attitudes Of Adolescents, Kristine Marie Vandenberg

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores factors that influence the sexual attitudes and behaviors of adolescents specifically through an examination of social constructs that measure sexual beliefs and attitudes of adolescents and the relationships between race and gender and sexual beliefs and attitudes. As the U.S. has maintained one of the highest rates of unplanned teen pregnancy and births among industrialized nations, schools and community groups have struggled to combat teen pregnancy and worked toward designing effective prevention programs. Through an emphasis either on abstinence or safe sex practices, these programs strive to influence adolescents' sexual behavior. However, studies and reports reveal a …

I Built This City, Joshua Isaiah Rodenberg

Theses and Dissertations

I have been overwhelmed by curiosity, a curiosity that is keeping my desire to make valid. I have an endless infatuation with growth and constructing. My aim is to juxtapose an academic and a "rudimentary" approach that will set up contradictions in which traditional woodworkers may find irreverence towards.

Induction Of Heme Oxygenase By A Carbon Monoxide-Releasing Molecule, Robert Andrew Kulina

Theses and Dissertations

We have recently demonstrated that heme oxygenase is expressed in both healing wounds and in pressure ulcers. Heme oxygenase has been shown to have important cytoprotective functions in myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury and organ allograft survival. The cytoprotective effects of heme oxygenase are multifactorial. Besides reducing levels of pro-oxidant heme, heme oxygenase products (bilirubin, carbon monoxide, and iron) have been demonstrated to possess anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, and anti-proliferative properties. These properties make heme oxygenase an attractive therapeutic target for the prevention and treatment of chronic wounds. The purpose of this study was two-fold: evaluate the effects of carbon monoxide (CO) on …

Victims' Perspectives On The Process Of Seeking A Protective Order: Predictors Of Perceived Empowerment, Sara-Beth Plummer

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined victims' perceived sense of empowerment during the process of seeking a Preliminary Protective Order. A cross sectional survey design with stratified sampling was used to gather information from women seeking Preliminary Protective Orders in Richmond City, Virginia. During a six month period 89 women agreed to participate, for a response rate of 83 percent. In general, the sample consisted of women who identified themselves as African-American, single, with either a high school/GED degree, and/or some college education.Overall, the women found the steps during the process of seeking an Order, either easy or very easy. In general, the …

This Art Is For The Birds, Shawn Earl Heller

Theses and Dissertations

I use bright colors to portray birds. Typically, the birds are modeled after herons, peacocks, woodpeckers, and roadrunners. I am interested in the curvilinear forms or colorful plumage of these birds. Why birds? I wonder that myself. The rational part of me wants to know why I use bird imagery, while the intuitive side of me likes the fact that if is unknown, I haven't been able to answer that burning question. In my sculpture, wire connectors, kitchen funnels, electrical tape, caps, marker parts, cleaning bottles, and watering cans are just some of the many plastic items I use. In …

"Shut It Down, Open It Up": A History Of The New Left At The University Of Virginia, Charlottesville, Thomas M. Hanna

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a history of social and political activism in Charlottesville during the 1960s focusing on new left student organizing at the University of Virginia. It is a work of social history that establishes a community that has been generally ignored in traditional histories of the new left as one of the most influential centers of new left activism in the South and asserts that this prominence was due to years of activism by local liberals, civil rights advocates, and students during the city's unique experiences on the front lines of the southern desegregation, civil rights, and anti-war struggles. …

Creative Matrix, Bonnie Gay Mcginn

Theses and Dissertations

My personal life experiences are reflected in my art. I use symbolic and expressive marks in developing my abstract imagery, which acts as a visual language. The combining of my past and current art work, fused together, has become what I call a creative matrix. I see my images as choreographed compositions using a mixed media approach. The open-ended interpretation of my art have expanded the never ending possibilities of creation.

Constraints On Breastfeeding Choices For Low Income Mothers, Carol Grace Hurst

Theses and Dissertations

The choice to breastfeed a baby is a woman's concern with impact reaching beyond each individual mother and child to longer term health and mental health outcomes for society. The U.S. government has made increasing breastfeeding rates one of its major public health goals for 2010. Breastfeeding is a health disparity issue with mothers who are poor, young, less educated or Black less likely to breastfeed. This project examined impacts of sexual perceptions of breastfeeding, social support, and work on breastfeeding choices made by a sample of low income mothers. A cross-sectional survey design was employed to examine potential barriers …

Blogging In The Writing Classroom: A Move Toward Dialogue, Design, And Citizenship, Meghan E. Foster

Theses and Dissertations

A bridge connecting student's new multi-modal abilities and schooling can be built. Students choose between school and other activities outside of the classroom walls (and sometimes even inside the classroom) and schoolwork seems to be losing ground in the battle of spare time more and more. Students could benefit from an electronic space that incorporates their media know-how, their studies, and others in the classroom. Blogs, or weblogs, provide just that type of space by relying on the user's insightful writing and creativity to retain a dynamic position in the Internet blogging community. Blogs have the ability to better the …

Reviving The Seventies, Aimee M. Huber

Theses and Dissertations

Design Analysis of the VCU Mainstage production process for The Nerd The comedic farce, The Nerd, written by Larry Shue and directed by Drew Fracher here at VCU, is the production I intend to analyze in terms of the scenic design process. From the initial conception of ideas, to their development through collaboration, to completion of construction, and ultimately, opening night, I plan to breakout my process step by step. I'd like to communicate the transformation of a literary play into the three-dimensional world in my mind.I. Introduction A. Overall description of process as it applies to this particular interaction …

The Multiple Meanings Of Domestic Violence: A Constructivist Inquiry, Monica Rene' Leisey

Theses and Dissertations

Spurred by the work of the Battered Women's Movement, domestic violence has been responded to since it emerged as a problem in the 1970s. At first the response was providing places for victims to stay and recover from the violence while also providing opportunities for consciousness raising and empowerment work. As domestic violence became a more recognized problem, policies were created and enacted to end the problem. Through the 1980s and 1990s, changes in federal policies in regards to domestic violence were incorporated. The criminal justice system began incorporating such policies as mandatory arrest and no-drop prosecution policies as well …

Within And Without, Shane Robert Rocheleau

Theses and Dissertations

Within and Without is a document which illustrates my personal and artistic research into the nature of the postmodern conception of the self: that self is unfixed, multiple, and reactive. It explicates my myriad and explorative approaches to photographic portraiture. Furthermore, it indicates many of my theoretical and artistic references and how I have applied my lessons both as an artist and a researcher to maximize the effect of my concepts within the formal and aesthetic confines of my photographs. Finally, this document explains my own beliefs concerning the nature of self and how a synthesis of my influences has …

Determinants Of College Students' Opinions Towards Felon Voting Rights: An Exploratory Study, Edwards Brenda Cherie Dawson

Theses and Dissertations

The disenfranchisement of felons follows a long American tradition of selectively granting the most coveted democratic tradition - voting. As a collateral "civil" consequence to criminal conviction that is legally deemed as non-penal, felon voting prohibitions have been used as an exclusionary tool for certain otherwise eligible voting populations. Current research finds that African-Americans individually and collectively may experience diminished voting power due to felon voting laws (Uggen & Manza, 2002; Manza & Uggen, 2004; King & Mauer, 2004). The purpose of this research is to examine opinions toward felon voting prohibitions in a state that has one of the …

Beyond The Threshold: Allusions To The ÒrìsÀ In Ana Mendieta's Silueta Series, Latricia M. January

Theses and Dissertations

The Cuban-born artist Ana Mendieta (1948-1985) created the Silueta Series during the 1970s and ‘80s. It consists of earth-body works in situ featuring the silhouette of the artist's body fashioned from mud, plants, rocks, gunpowder and other materials. Underlying the creation of the Silueta Series is Mendieta's belief that the elements are sentient and powerful beings. This perception is particularly strong in the Afro-Cuban religion Santeria, a creolized form of the Òrìsà tradition of the Yoruba of West Africa introduced to the Americas during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. While scholars have noted Mendieta's incorporation of Santeria in her art, a …

Lucidity, Sarah Rebekah Byrd Mizer

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on space, the in-between-ness that exists amidst mental and physical experience. Pith explains personal attachments and rooting systems. The thesis continues with Blessing, narrating love then loss, and finishes with a recipe for making a tomato sandwich. Blessing is followed by Materialize, a collective view of cyclical learning and meandering paths. Finally, the paper concludes with a quirky Women and Swarovski encrusted skulls, which matter-of-factly lists artists (all of whom happen to be women) whose works I find particularly compelling; and also notes on general trends in art I find interesting in a much less obvious manner. …

Concurrent Whitening And Orthodontic Treatment, Jason Thomas Gladwell

Theses and Dissertations

The aim was to evaluate whether a whitening system, when used during the final stages of orthodontics, would yield results comparable to whitening alone. Patients were assigned to either the control (n=20) or experimental (n=26) groups. At T1, patients were given a ten day supply of Trèswhite™ by Opalescence®, instructions on use, and initial shade determination was made and photographs were taken. At T2 and T3, shade determination was accomplished and updated photographs were taken. Whitening of the teeth occurred in both groups on average, but significantly more whitening was experienced in the experimental group (p < 0.004). An average of 87% of teeth whitened during orthodontic treatment compared to 97% of control teeth (p < 0.01) were judged to be uniform in appearance. In conclusion, the data do not contraindicate the concurrent accomplishment of teeth whitening during orthodontic treatment.

Civilly Committing Criminals: An Analysis Of The Expressive Function Of Nebraska's "Dangerous Sex Offender" Commitment Procedure, Marc W. Pearce

Nebraska Law Review

In 2006, the State of Nebraska adopted legislation that authorizes the civil commitment of convicted sex offenders who are "substantially unable to control [their] criminal behavior" and who "suffer[] from a mental illness .. .or .. .a personality disorder which makes [them] likely to engage in repeat acts of sexual violence." This legislation, which has its origins in the "sexually violent predator" commitment statutes of Washington and Kansas, authorizes the continuous, indefinite confinement of sex offenders who have completed their prison terms and who do not meet the state's traditional "mentally ill and dangerous civil commitment standard." Courts reviewing the …

Watercress (Nasturtium Officinale) Production Utilizing Brook Trout (Salvelinus Fontinalis) Flow-Through Aquaculture Effluent, Erika Nichole Smith

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Dissolved nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) present in flow-through aquaculture effluent can pose the risk of eutrophication to receiving streams when discharged from flow-through systems. One potential solution to prevent nutrient loading is the establishment of an integrated system that cultures green plants in the effluent. The objectives of this research were to determine watercress' (Nasturtium officinale) growth and nutrient contents in both a hydroponic controlled environment and a flow-through aquaponic production system utilizing brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) aquaculture effluent; and to evaluate various treatments to determine the best cultural conditions for watercress in the aquaponic system for optimization as …

Changes In Broadcast Television: A Study Of Recent Challenges Facing The Broadcast Television Networks, Danielle Marie Newman

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Regulation Fair Disclosure And Its Effect On Corporate Information: A Checkup On A Controversial Rule & Content Analysis Of Hewlett-Packard News Release Habits, Michael E. Maguire

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

On October 23, 2000, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) instituted Regulation Fair Disclosure (Reg FD), which mandated that all public companies give stock-moving information to all investors simultaneously. What seems simple in concept has actually been difficult for many companies to interpret and has resulted in some falling victim to sanctions from the SEC. Siebel Systems, ImClone Systems, Tyco International, Adelphia Communications and Raytheon are some examples of companies who have recently engaged in corporate fraud that has misled investors. Reg FD is in existence today to stop companies from hand-picking who gets their news first. This study will …

Teachers' Stories Of Change: Stress, Care And Economic Rationality, Chris Easthope, Gary Easthope

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The impact of economic rationalism on teachers’ working lives has been documented extensively, particularly in the UK. This article provides a case study of its impact in the early 1990s in a small Australian state, Tasmania, to illustrate that although the particular institutional forms through which it is expressed may differ its impact is similar. We do this by focusing on teachers' stories of change that have stress as a major theme. Stress is partially explained by increased workloads, teachers teaching outside their specialist areas and a changing student population. However, the ideology of economic rationalism has heightened stress because …

Book Review, Graeme Lock

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Andrews, H.A. (2006). Awards and recognition for exceptional teachers: K-12 and community college programs in the U.S.A., Canada and other countries. Ottawa, IL: Matilda Press..