Digital Commons Network^™

Association Between Obesity And Depression And Anxiety Disorders: Results From The 2008 National Health Interview Survey, Monica Gaidhane

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Obesity is one of the most important medical problems in the U.S. and is considered to be an epidemic with over 30% of the population being obese. Obesity is associated with increased risk of hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, certain cancers and a shorter life expectancy. Recent studies have shown that higher BMI levels are also significantly associated with several lifetime mental disorders such as major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders as well as panic attacks and panic disorders. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to quantify the extent to which higher BMI increased the likelihood of Depression, Anxiety Disorder …

Intimate Partner Violence And Pregnancy: Data From The Chicago Women's Health Risk Study, Anne Zehner

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy increases the risks of adverse outcomes for both mothers and their unborn children, including maternal and fetal death. However, more research is needed to determine if IPV increases in frequency or severity during pregnancy and to determine what the risk factors are for IPV during pregnancy. Objectives: To use data from the Chicago Women’s Health Risk Study to determine (1) if abuse is more prevalent during the pregnancy period, 2) if abuse during the pregnancy period increases in frequency or severity, 3) if pregnant women who are abused are at increased risk for …

Mindfulness, Health, Well-Being, And Patient Care Of Oncologists, Amanda Kracen

Theses and Dissertations

Demands on physicians in the workplace are growing, as are the occupational and psychosocial stressors they encounter. However, there is scant research regarding physicians, their patient care, and strategies that enhance their well-being. Mindfulness, the ability to be present in the moment, is increasingly being encouraged among healthcare workers for personal benefits and possible positive effects for patients. Thus, the present study examined (a) the health, well-being, and patient care practices of oncologists, (b) the relationship between oncologists’ mindfulness and health indicators (general health and sleep problems) with three outcomes (satisfaction with life [SWL], job satisfaction, and suboptimal patient care), …

Gaining Balance: Toward A Grounded Theory Of The Decision-Making Processes Of Applicants For Adoption Of Children With And Without Disabilities, Philip Burge, Margaret Jamieson

The Qualitative Report

A grounded theory is presented of the decision-making processes among applicants when considering available children with and without disabilities for domestic public adoption. Using grounded theory methodology (Strauss & Corbin, 1998), data from 15 adoption applicants were analyzed followed the traditional three coding phases. The central category of Adoption Decision Making is labeled Gaining Balance and was the underpinning concept to all categories and sub-categories (i.e., in parentheses) of the theory: Commitment (e.g., motivation, financial considerations), Persistence (e.g., coping with emotions, counteracting pessimism), and Evaluation (e.g., assessments of personal abilities and resources, assessments of knowledge of potential adoptees' needs). The …

Psychosocial Factors Influencing Promotion Of Male Circumcision For Hiv Prevention In A Non-Circumcising Community In Rural Western Kenya, Alfredo F. X. O. Obure, Erick O. Nyambedha, Boniface O. Oindo, Hezborn M. N. Kodero

The Qualitative Report

Male circumcision (MC) is now recommended as an additional HIV preventive measure, yet little is known about factors that may influence its adoption, especially in non-circumcising communities with generalized HIV pandemic. This qualitative study explored factors influencing MC adoption in rural western Kenya. Twenty-four sex specific focus group discussions were conducted with a purposive sample of Luo men and women (15-34 years). Perceived barriers to circumcision were pain and healing complications, actual and opportunity costs, behavioral disinhibition, discrimination, cultural identity, and reduced sexual satisfaction; perceived facilitators were hygiene, HIV/STI risk reduction, ease in condom use, cultural integration, and sexual satisfaction. …

Using Literary Ethnography As A Form Of Qualitative Document Synthesis To Explore The Maltreatment Of Vulnerable Populations: An Examination Of Verbal Neglect And Abuse In Nursing Homes, Jason S. Ulsperger

The Qualitative Report

Studying vulnerable populations can be highly problematic. This is especially true when they are located in institutional settings. When gatekeepers block access and a researcher wants to examine a delicate topic, one ethical, feasible way to paint an interpretive picture of everyday life involves the use of a literary ethnography. With data on the verbal neglect and abuse of elders in United States nursing homes, this paper details the six-stages of a literary ethnography. It includes a discussion of identifying sources, reading and interpreting the documents, identifying textual themes, classifying themes, developing a set of analytic constructs, and re-reading documents …

Older People With Complex Health Needs Desire For Change: A Qualitative Study, Diane Jorgensen, David R. Thoman, Matthew Parsons

The Qualitative Report

As a sub study of another study we examined older people with complex health and disability support needs' desire for change. The aim was to compare this across different ages, residence, and gender. Semi-structured interviews were held with 129 participants and the data were analyzed using a General Inductive Approach. Six themes emerged, Health, No Change, Personal Changes, Family, Housing, and Services. The two most popular themes were a desire for health changes and to have no change. Health professionals might note that older people in their 80s with significant health and disability impairments have a decrease in both the …

Elements Of Engagement For Successful Learning, Amy Schweinle, Marcy F. Reisetter, Valerie Stokes

The Qualitative Report

In this research we sought to understand student practices, beliefs, and behaviors that led to positive engagement on campus. More specifically, we studied student engagement as a function of the individual within the contexts of classroom and university environment using a basic interpretive approach. First year students from a medium-sized, public, Midwestern university participated in interviews on engagement, the classroom, university, and community contexts. Results suggest that both personality and a sense of self influence students' levels of engagement. Students who had identified life goals and who sought related activities and relationships made greater use of university resources and felt …

Facilitating The Generalization Of Social Skills With Bibliotherapy And Positive Peer Reporting, Angelina C. Krieger

Theses and Dissertations

Social competence is needed for interaction among peers, teachers, and families in order for children to be successful in school. Children enter school with various levels of social competence. Social skills training is an effective method for building social skills; however, many programs fail to generalize these skills across settings and time. This study investigated the effects of a social skills training intervention for first and second grade students with emotional and behavioral problems. The intervention blended direct instruction, role-plays, and children's literature, with peers supporting both the acquisition and generalization of the social skills through positive peer reporting (PPR) …

December 4, 2009, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.

Creating Insanity In Learning Systems: Addressing Ambiguity Effects Of Predicting Non-Linear Continuous Valued Functions With Reconstructabilty Analysis From Large Categorically Valued Input Data Sets, William D. Eisenhauer

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

Being told to give two different, and potentially counter, responses to the same stimulus can set up a double bind in humans, leading to a type of insanity. So what how do you deal with it when it comes up quite frequently in modeling through simplification and removal of predictive variables?

In his current dissertation research Ike Eisenhauer is using reconstructability analysis to implement K-System, U-System, and B-System approaches to predict a continuously valued function through discrete categorically valued input variables [e.g. textual data]. One of the key issues is how to address the inability of K-Systems and U-Systems to …

Genetic Variations In Three Interacting Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms And The Risk Of Preterm Birth In Black Families, Margaret Steinbach

Open Access Dissertations

Preterm birth, defined as birth prior to 37 completed weeks gestation, is a serious health concern. Despite advances in health care screening and interventions, the rate of preterm birth in the United States has risen more than 30 percent since 1981. In 2006, Menon and associates reported the first multilocus genetic interaction in three single nucleotide polymorphisms predictive of spontaneous preterm birth in a population of White mothers. A gene association study using a case-control design was conducted to determine whether the results of the Menon study were also true for Black women and their infants. The case group included …

Ucc Minutes December 3, 2009, Kutztown University Curriculum Committee

UCC Minutes

No abstract provided.

December 3, 2009, James Madison University

The Breeze, 2000-2009

The Breeze is the student newspaper of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Craig Bailey V. Comm Social Security

2009 Decisions

USDC for the District of New Jersey

The Statesman, V. 53, I. 23, Stony Brook University

Stony Brook Statesman-Sucolian

v. 53, i. 23

Quality-Driven Cross Layer Design For Multimedia Security Over Resource Constrained Wireless Sensor Networks, Wei Wang

Department of Computer Electronics and Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The strong need for security guarantee, e.g., integrity and authenticity, as well as privacy and confidentiality in wireless multimedia services has driven the development of an emerging research area in low cost Wireless Multimedia Sensor Networks (WMSNs). Unfortunately, those conventional encryption and authentication techniques cannot be applied directly to WMSNs due to inborn challenges such as extremely limited energy, computing and bandwidth resources. This dissertation provides a quality-driven security design and resource allocation framework for WMSNs. The contribution of this dissertation bridges the inter-disciplinary research gap between high layer multimedia signal processing and low layer computer networking. It formulates the …

Research Experiences For Undergraduates: An Evaluation Of Affective Impact, Brian N. Chantry

Theses and Dissertations

Each year the National Science Foundation (NFS) grants funding for universities in the United States to provide a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) summer program. The Department of Physics and Astronomy at Brigham Young University (BYU) has been a recipient of NSF REU grants for several years. This year the administrators of the REU program at BYU requested an evaluation be conducted to determine if their program was effective at helping participants have a significant research experience, as well as determine the impact the program is having on student's attitudes towards the field of physics, graduate school, and research. This …

A Multidimensional Measure Of Professional Learning Communities: The Development And Validation Of The Learning Community Culture Indicator (Lcci), Courtney D. Stewart

Theses and Dissertations

Because of disunity among prominent professional learning community (PLC) authors, experts, and researchers, the literature was studied to develop a ten-element model that represents a unified and reconceptualized list of characteristics of a PLC. From this model, the Learning Community Culture Indicator (LCCI) was developed to measure professional learning community (PLC) implementation levels based on the ten-element model. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed to determine the structural validity of the LCCI. Factor analyses provided successful levels of fit for the models tested in representing the constructs of the LCCI. Reliability measures also indicated high levels of internal consistency …

Feathers: A Creative Thesis, M. Shayne Clarke

Theses and Dissertations

Feathers is a young adult novel about two knucklehead boys and a summer of mischief they share. Boots and Gopher, the two principal characters in Feathers, are twelve-year old boys who are fascinated by a loft of racing pigeons kept by a peculiar man living on the edge of their small town. The fascination leads them to steal a few pairs of pigeons in hopes of generating their own loft. Their plan is to release the adult pigeons back to the man's loft while Boots and Gopher keep the babies. In stealing the pigeons, they discover the man also houses …

Daily Eastern News: December 03, 2009, Eastern Illinois University

December

No abstract provided.

The Pan American (2009-12-03), Brian Silva

UTPA Archives - The Pan American Newspaper

Vol. 66, No. 13

Commonwealth Times 2009-12-03 [Front Page Has 2009-11-30]

Commonwealth Times, 1969-

No abstract provided.

The Alestle - Vol. 62 No. 16 - 12/03/2009, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

The Alestle

Vol. 62 No. 16

The Grizzly, December 3, 2009, Caitlin Dalik, Katie Callahan, Ashley Mccomeskey, Jonathan Edward Barber, Gianna Paone, Lisa Jobe, Matt Whitman, Claire Peterson, Carly Siegler, Helen Ann Coin, Zach Shamberg, Matt Campbell, James Wagner

Ursinus College Grizzly Newspaper, 1978 to Present

Students Write Letters to Raise Money for St. Jude • Usernames Unlock Opportunities: UC Career Net Overview • Introducing the Ursinus Bioethics Society • Tuition Increases to Stay Competitive and to Cut Back on State Debts • Savoring Beer: All it Needs is a Little Love • Ursinus Japan Club Makes One Thousand Paper Cranes • Opinion: "Can Ex-Significant Others Ever Be Your New Close Friends?" • Ursinus Men's Basketball Wins Home Opener; Improves to 3-1

The Observer, Central Washington University

Student Newspaper

Student newspaper for Central Washington University for December 3, 2009. Vol. 83, No. 9.

The Impact Of Opencourseware On Paid Enrollment In Distance Learning Courses, Justin K. Johansen

Theses and Dissertations

Since MIT launched the first OpenCourseWare (OCW) initiative in 2002, responses from the academic community have ranged from exuberance to angst. Some institutions have been reluctant to adopt a program of open publishing because of concerns about long-term funding and possible adverse effects on paid enrollment. Money is an issue, forcing some organizations that initially created OCW programs to furlough them due to funding challenges. This study examined the cost of converting online distance learning courses to OCW, the impact of opening these courses on paid enrollments, and the long-term sustainability of OCW through the generation of new paid enrollments. …

The Montclarion, December 03, 2009, The Montclarion

The Montclarion

Student Newspaper of Montclair State University

The Bg News December 3, 2009, Bowling Green State University

BG News (Student Newspaper)

The BGSU campus student newspaper. December 3, 2009. Volume 100-Issue 67.

The Cowl - V. 74 - N. 11 - Dec 3, 2009

The Cowl

The Cowl - student newspaper of Providence College. Volume 74 - Number 11 - December 3, 2009. 32 pages.