Digital Commons Network^™

Use Of Kindergarten Screening Assessments For The Identification Of At-Risk Readers, Kathryn S. Gipe

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Early identification of students at-risk for reading problems has become a national priority. At the present time, the most commonly used kindergarten screening methods are self-made by local districts and are not considered effective methods of early detection for at-risk readers. This retrospective study involved third, fourth and fifth grade students enrolled in a suburban elementary school during the 2007-2008 school year. The first research question examined the relationship between at-risk status determined with the Kindergarten Screening measure prior to entry into kindergarten and at-risk status determined by Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills measures administered in the fall …

The Power Of The Mind : The Relationship Between Mindfulness, Quality Of Life And Anxiety For Older Adults With Chronic Illness , Tracy Elizabeth Ransom

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

This dissertation examines the relationship between mindfulness training and older adults with chronic illness and a documented clinical anxiety diagnosis. Six subjects (mean age = 69 years) who met criteria for a DSM-IV-TR anxiety condition and who endorsed one or more chronic illnesses participated in an 8-week customized mindfulness training program. The research evaluated the impact of mindfulness training and practice on depression, quality of life, health satisfaction and anxiety. This dissertation's findings suggest that of these variables, state and trait anxiety were significantly reduced at the conclusion of the program. Given these findings, this research proposes that anxiety in …

Caregiver Religiosity, Spirituality, And Positive Emotion As Predictors Of Psychological Well-Being In Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Patients, Andrea Beth Weller

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that results in degeneration of motor neurons of the cerebral cortex, the brainstem, and the spinal cord. Also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, ALS has no conclusive etiology and no known cure. The disease is ultimately fatal within approximately 3 to 5 years and robs individuals of all physical functions while leaving their intellectual capacity and personalities intact. Therefore, patients’ quality of life (QOL) becomes increasingly important in their lives and in the lives of their caregivers. Patients with ALS and their caregivers face a number of psychological, psychosocial, and existential …

Kss 3000 : Fitness Concepts For Teachers, Kinesiology And Sports Studies

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Soc 4820 : Sociology Of Health And Health Care, Sociology And Anthropology

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Kss 1150 : Lifetime Fitness, Kinesiology And Sports Studies

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

A Historical Perspective On Parental Alienation Syndrome And Parental Alienation, Joan S. Meier

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Claims of parental alienation syndrome (PAS) and parental alienation have come to dominate custody litigation, especially where abuse is alleged. While much psychological and legal literature has critiqued PAS, and leading researchers as well as most professional institutions have renounced the syndrome concept, alienation as a parental behavior or child’s condition continues to be extensively investigated and credited in research and forensic contexts. This article reviews the history of PAS, both as posited by its inventor, Richard Gardner, and as used and applied in courts, suggesting that it not only lacks empirical basis or objective merit, but that it derives …

Time Use Of Mothers In The United States: Recent Evidence From The American Time Use Survey, Rachel Connelly, Jean Kimmel

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

What Do We Know About Interpersonal Skills? A Meta-Analytic Examination Of Antecedents, Outcomes, And The Efficacy Of Training, Cameron Klein

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite extensive statements about the importance of possessing good interpersonal skills, little quantitative evidence has been brought forth to investigate these claims. At the same time, training in soft, or interpersonal, skills continues for organizational managers, customer service representatives, and members of formal work teams. Based on these considerations, the current research was guided by five broad questions. First, are gender and the Big Five personality variables important predictors in the use and effectiveness of interpersonal skills? Second, what is the relationship between various interpersonal skills and important personal and workplace outcomes? Third, given that training in interpersonal skills is …

Predictors Of Firearm Use And Effects Of Weaponry On Victim Injury In Violent Crime: A Criminal Events Approach, Nicholas Libby

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study, framed in the criminal events perspective, investigates situational and contextual factors of violent interpersonal encounters that impact the likelihood of offender weapon usage and, when a weapon is used, the likelihood that it will be a firearm. Furthermore, this study examines the effects that weapons have on levels of victim injury along with other factors that may impact injury independent of weapon use. Three specific topics of interest are addressed: whether or not black offenders were more likely to make use of a firearm, what factors impact firearm use amongst female offenders, and if the findings of Kleck …

Performance Appraisal Systems In Higher Education: An Exploration Of Christian Institutions, Forrest Flaniken

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although there is substantial literature on the use of performance appraisal in the for-profit world, there is little literature available concerning the appraisal of staff positions in higher education. More knowledge is needed in this area since there is considerable research indicating that performance appraisal creates benefits to an organization and its employees. This study provides a comprehensive review of the development and use of performance appraisal in the United States, and a detailed look at the purposes, benefits, and challenges of performance appraisal. The study found a very high usage of staff performance appraisal in its population of 108 …

Testing Bias In The Occupational Interview: A Pilot Study On Racial Discrimination, Brandon Presley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine the possibility of the occupational interview utilizing tests that prove to be bias towards one particular race or another. This study is a pilot study and represents the first step in developing a more extensive research design to examine testing bias within the occupational employment interview setting. Ten black students and ten white students are asked to complete two types of occupational interview samples. Those samples are then reviewed by two black hiring managers and two white hiring managers. The results are examined to determine if one test had a greater impact …

Integrating Political And Social Issues In Operations And Supply Management, M. Maloni

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Consumer Perspectives Of Health During Prenatal Care In The Usa And Iceland: An Exploratory Study, Claudia Wiseman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Prenatal care (PNC) is the healthcare service most often provided to women of childbearing age throughout the world. Poorly understood and defined, based on culture, and expensive for any healthcare system, PNC remains a target for change and improvement. The purpose of this cross-national qualitative research study using narrative inquiry methods was to explore consumer perspectives of individual health and routine PNC in the USA and Iceland. Methods: A purposive sampling technique was used to identify study participants (n = 32) from the United States (n = 16) and Iceland (n = 16). Data were collected via a semi …

What Owners Want And Governments Do - Evidence From The Oregon Experiment, Bethany Berger

Faculty Articles and Papers

In 2004, Oregonians decisively approved Ballot Measure 37. The measure answered the calls of critics of contemporary takings jurisprudence by requiring either compensation for losses caused by land use restrictions imposed after acquisition of the property or waivers of the restrictions. Three years later, voters acted to repeal most of Measure 37 by an even greater margin. Together the birth, brief life, and rapid demise of Measure 37 comprise an unusual natural experiment in property law. The results of this experiment go to the heart of debates about regulatory takings in property law and policy. First, the Oregon experience resulted …

Religious Expression And The Penal Institution: The Role Of Damages In Rluipa Enforcement, Joseph E. Bredehoft

Missouri Law Review

This Summary focuses on RLUIPA's institutionalized persons provision and whether, under its remedial provision, an inmate plaintiff can receive compensatory damages. First, this Summary looks at key decisions dealing with the availability of compensatory damages in individual and official capacity claims under RLUIPA. The second component of the Summary analyzes a recent Eighth Circuit decision on the issue of damages as it relates to RLUIPA. This Summary then evaluates the case law on this issue, discussing the policy reasons for and against allowing compensatory damages. Lastly, the discussion concludes that the Eighth Circuit should prohibit institutionalized persons from obtaining compensatory …

Interpreting Eminent Domain In Missouri: Elimination Of Blight Is Allright, Anita J. Patel

Missouri Law Review

This Note argues that the court in Allright improperly interpreted the statute's requirement of a specific finding of blight for each parcel but it properly applied the predominance requirement. It also examines the impact of the new eminent domain legislation in Missouri and argues that the legislation does not provide as much protection to private property owners as the legislature claims.

School Safety And Violence Prevention Programs As Seen Through The Eyes Of Instructional Staff And Students, Ronda S. Sobel

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Violence and security on high school campuses are paramount issues that many instructional staff and students face in today's society. A strong, comfortable atmosphere will encourage students to succeed socially and academically, and will enable instructional staff to work in a secure environment producing successful teaching regimens in their classrooms. High schools need to strategize ways to enforce safety and security for all instructional staff and students. In order for safety and security to transpire on high school campuses, safety prevention methods and violence prevention programs must be supported by the entire school.

The purpose of this study was to …

Effects Of Computer Application Courses On Students At Menchville High School, Wardell Boyle

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

The problem of this study was to determine the effects of computer application courses on student academic achievement at Menchville High School in Newport News, Virginia.

Relationship Between Discipline Referrals In Career And Technical Education As Compared To Core Classes, Kim Genge

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

A study to determine whether there was a relationship between discipline referrals in career and technical education as compared to academic classes for determining factors that could be used to reduce referrals in eighth grade. Determine the number of referrals written by career and technical education and academic teachers. Determine if career and technical education classes provided environments and instructional strategies which reduced discipline referrals.

Effects Of 4-H Hand-On School Enrichment Lessons On Science Test Scores, Wendy Herdman

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

The problem of this study was to determine whether participation in 4-H hands-on in-school SOL enrichment lessons improved science SOL test scores for third and fifth graders.

Peripheral Dendritic Cells Are Essential For Both The Innate And Adaptive Antiviral Immune Responses In The Central Nervous System, Christina D. Steel, Suzanna M. Hahto, Richard P. Ciavarra

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Intranasal application of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) causes acute infection of the central nervous system (CNS). However, VSV encephalitis is not invariably fatal, suggesting that the CNS may contain a professional antigen-presenting cell (APC) capable of inducing or propagating a protective antiviral immune response. To examine this possibility, we first characterized the cellular elements that infiltrate the brain as well as the activation status of resident microglia in the brains of normal and transgenic mice acutely ablated of peripheral dendritic cells (DCs) in vivo. VSV encephalitis was characterized by a pronounced infiltrate of myeloid cells (CD45^highCD11b^{+ …}

Culture And The Social Context Of Health Inequalities, Carol Leler Mansyur, Benjamin C. Amick Iii, Luisa Franzini, Robert E. Roberts

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

There is a great deal of recent interest and debate concerning the linkages between inequality and health cross-nationally. The U.S. National Institutes of Health recommended in 2001 that any new research on health disparities should include social and cultural systems as units of analysis. Nevertheless, many public health interventions and policies continue to decontextualize risk factors from the social environment. Exposures to social and health inequalities probably vary as a consequence of different cultural contexts. To identify the processes that cause social and health inequalities, it is important to understand culture's influence. Navarro's research on political institutions and inequality illustrates …

Probing The Urea Dependence Of Residual Structure In Denatured Human Α-Lactalbumin, Victoria A. Higman, Heike I. Rösner, Raffaella Ugolini, Lesley H. Greene, Christina Redfield, Lorna J. Smith

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Backbone ¹⁵N relaxation parameters and ¹⁵N–¹H^N residual dipolar couplings (RDCs) have been measured for a variant of human α-lactalbumin (α-LA) in 4, 6, 8 and 10 M urea. In the α-LA variant, the eight cysteine residues in the protein have been replaced by alanines (all-Ala α-LA). This protein is a partially folded molten globule at pH 2 and has been shown previously to unfold in a stepwise non-cooperative manner on the addition of urea. ¹⁵N R₂ values in some regions of all-Ala α-LA show significant exchange broadening which is reduced as the urea …

Consequences Of Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Activation In Dendritic Cells, Jaishree Bankoti

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

TCDD (dioxin) causes immunosuppression via activation of the Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). Dendritic cells (DCs), the professional antigen-presenting cells in the immune system, are adversely affected by TCDD. However, limited information exists regarding the effects of AhR activation on DCs. We evaluated the consequences of AhR activation by TCDD on both steady-state and inflammatory DCs using in vivo and in vitro approaches, respectively. We hypothesized that AhR activation alters DC homeostasis and differentiation leading to generation of immunosuppression. C57Bl/6 mice gavaged with an immunosuppressive dose of TCDD (15 ug/kg) displayed decreased frequency and number of splenic CD11c^high DCs on …

Decomposing The Increase In Reported Levels Of Subjective Well-Being In South Africa From 1993 To 1998, Benjamin Fitch-Fleischmann

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Reported levels of household life satisfaction, also referred to as subjective well-being, increased dramatically in South Africa following the end of Apartheid. This study uses household surveys from 1993-1994 and 1998 in South Africa to investigate why. Models of subjective well-being are estimated following previous literature and a Oaxaca decomposition is then applied, which allows subjective well-being and the determinants of subjective well-being to be examined in a new framework. The decomposition determines what portion of the life satisfaction increase in South Africa is due to improvements in living conditions and what portion is due to changes in the way …

Effects Of A Yeast Β-Glucan Supplement On Symptoms Of Upper Respiratory Tract Infection In Free-Living College-Aged Males, Casey E. Gorham

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The focus of previous research has demonstrated that both oat and yeast ß-glucan benefits immunosuppressed populations. However, previous research has not, to our knowledge, investigated the effects of a yeast ß-glucan on the ummune functioning of healthy, free-living human populations. PURPOSE: The goal of this research was to evaluate the effects of a yeast ß-glucan on symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection in healthy, free-living, college-aged males. METHODOLOGY: The WURSS-44, a reliable, validated survey used for determining symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection was filled out online daily by 79 male subjects between the ages of 18 and 40. Subjects …

Enhancing Motivation To Change In Clients With Alcohol Use Disorders: Video Feedback As A Brief Intervention, Wendy M. Rothman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This research examined whether videotaped self-observation of drinking behavior combined with a one-session motivationally-based interview resulted in higher levels of motivation to change drinking behavior, lower levels of quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption, decreases in alcohol-related problem behaviors, and expectations of the positive effects of alcohol for individuals mandated to treatment for alcohol-use disorders. DUI offenders (n = 8) and heavy drinking college students (n = 13) mandated to treatment were randomly assigned to receive treatment as usual at their respective agencies or an experimental video intervention in addition to their regular treatment requirements. Participants were assessed at baseline …

Injury Rates, Severity Of Injury, And Access To Specialty Health Care Of American Indian High School Athletes In Montana, Drew Anthony Babcock

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Introduction: Athletics are an integral part of American Indian (AI) life and culture. However, with participation there is a risk of receiving an injury. Sustaining an injury can be devastating to AI athletes that live on or near a reservation due to the rural location and disparities in health care. Objective: To determine Montana’s AI high school athletes’ injury rates, severity of injury, the current level of medical supervision, and type of health care they seek/receive. Methods: The procedure for collecting data consisted of sending out surveys to head coaches at 11 high schools that met the inclusion criteria. Analysis: …

Monitoring Noxious Weeds Invasions In Riparian Areas Following Livestock Exclusion Of The Upper Big Hole River Valley: Adaptive Management Under The Candidate Conservation Agreement With Assurances Project, Ana Ingrid Pederson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

As a 2008 summer intern working for the Nature Conservancy, I arrived in the Big Hole Valley and was introduced to an innovative federal land management program initiated to benefit government land managers, local ranchers, and the general public while increasing ecological integrity in the valley and recovering the fluvial Arctic grayling species. The government program offered funding assistance to local ranchers for conservation projects that would help recover the species, but the landowner had to agree to a few stipulations; among them are riparian enclosures fenced for 5 years to exclude all domestic grazing. The goal of this project …