Digital Commons Network^™

Pelvic Organs Prolapse Characteristics In Saudi Women., Hanan M. Al-Kadri, Najla F. Al-Marri, Hani M. Tamim

Saudi Medical Journal

No abstract provided.

Chronic Subjective Dizziness (Csd) Vs. Conversion Disorder: Discussion Of Clinical Findings And Rehabilitation., Julie A. Honaker, Jane M. Gilbert, Jeffrey P. Staab

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

PURPOSE: Audiologists frequently encounter patients who complain of chronic dizziness or imbalance, in the absence of active vestibular or neurological deficits. Knowledge about conditions that cause this clinical presentation will allow audiologists to make important contributions to accurate diagnosis and effective management of these patients. This article reviews two such conditions, chronic subjective dizziness (CSD) and conversion disorder. METHOD: A case of CSD and another of conversion disorder are presented with a literature review of their clinical presentations, key diagnostic features, and treatment strategies. The role of the audiologist in assessing patients with these conditions and facilitating appropriate treatment referrals …

Efficacy Of A Manualized And Workbook-Driven Individual Treatment For Social Anxiety Disorder, Deborah Roth Ledley, Richard G. Heimberg, Debra A. Hope, Sarah A. Hayes, Talia I. Zaider, Melanie Vandyke, Cynthia L. Turk, Cynthia Kraus, David M. Fresco

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Social anxiety disorder is a prevalent and impairing disorder for which viable cognitive-behavioral therapies exist. However, these treatments have not been easily packaged for dissemination and may be underutilized as a result. The current study reports on the findings of a randomized controlled trial of a manualized and workbook-driven individual cognitive-behavioral treatment for social anxiety disorder (Hope, Heimberg, Juster, & Turk, 2000; Hope, Heimberg, & Turk, 2006). This treatment package was derived from an empirically supported group treatment for social anxiety disorder and intended for broad dissemination, but it has not previously been subjected to empirical examination on its own. …

Counting Girls In - Gender Issues In Science And Mathematics: An Examination Of The Research Concerning Innate And Socio-Cultural Gender Differences In The Fields Of Science And Mathematics In An Effort To Promote More Female Participation, Valerie R. Mackin

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

In today's world, there is an increasing demand for people in the technological fields. Fewer females than males pursue careers in physical sciences, engineering, and computer science in the United States presenting a loss of needed mathematicians and scientists. Gender differences related to mathematics and science is a complex arena of study, involving both innate biological differences combined with socially constructed ideas about gender in society. Through an in-depth investigation from educational, cognitive, and social psychology perspectives one will be able to determine how innate and socio-cultural factors contribute to the shortage of needed mathematicians and scientists in the United …

Circadian Disruption, Per3, And Human Cytokine Secretion, Jaclyn Guess, James B. Burch, Kisito Ogoussan, Cheryl A. Armstead, Hongmei Zhang, Sara Wagner, James R. Hébert, Patricia Wood, Shawn D. Youngstedt, Lorne J. Hofseth, Udai P. Singh, Dawen Xie, William J. M. Hrushesky

Faculty Publications

Circadian disruption has been linked with inflammation, an established cancer risk factor. Per3 clock gene polymorphisms have also been associated with circadian disruption and with increased cancer risk. Patients completed a questionnaire and provided a blood sample prior to undergoing a colonoscopy (n=70). Adjusted mean serum cytokine concentrations (IL-6, TNF-alpha, gamma-INF, IL-I ra, IL-I-beta, VEGF) were compared among patients with high and low scores for fatigue (Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory), depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory II), or sleep disruption (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index), or among patients with different Per3 clock gene variants. Poor sleep was associated with elevated VEGF, and fatigue-related …

Cyber Influence, William Hutchinson

Australian Information Warfare and Security Conference

This paper explores influence in the cyber-world and the ability and effectiveness of influence campaigns in this medium. It examines the possibilities of influence in the online world as examines the potential of mobile technologies in this area. The contentious link between influence and behavioural change is investigated. Counterinfluence in the context of radicalisation is also looked at. Whilst it is inevitable that the digital medium is and will be used for influence campaigns and will be influential regardless if there are concerted ‘campaigns’ or not, it effects in terms of behavioural change are still open to question.

Sex At The Park: Stories From My Days With Ninfa, Dalel Serda

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This creative nonfiction manuscript chronicles the burgeoning relationship between the narrator and her subject, Ninfa—the folkloric, enduring and elusive Harlingen, Texas prostitute. This project aims to document the process of demystification the narrator undergoes as the women get to know each other. Furthermore, in the process of gathering the materials that will tell her subject’s story, the narrator attempts to tell the story about getting the story, about what led to this story and of what resulted. In sum, this work explores the often-blurry boundaries and complexities of what is inevitably a friendship.

Well-Being On Planet Earth, Ed Diener, William Tov

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The Gallup World Poll allows a look at how humanity is flourishing, based on the answers of survey respondents sampled from across the globe. Several conclusions are clear. First, how people are doing depends enormously on the society in which they live, and nations vary from doing very well to extremely poorly. In terms of subjective well-being, nations vary greatly, in both judgments of overall life and in positive and negative emotions. The best predictors of global life judgments were income and ownership of modern conveniences, whereas the best predictors of emotions were social factors such as the control of …

The Hard Embodiment Of Culture, Dov Cohen, Angela K. Y. Leung

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The way humans move and comport their bodies is one way they (literally) carry their culture. In pre-wired embodiments, body comportment triggers basic, evolutionarily prepared affective and cognitive reactions that subsequently prime more complex representations. Culture suffuses this process, because (1) cultural artifacts, affordances, and practices make certain body comportments more likely, (2) cultural practices, rituals, schemas, and rules promote the learning of an otherwise underspecified connection between a given body comportment and a particular basic reaction, and (3) cultural meaning systems elaborate basic affective and cognitive reactions into more complex representations. These points are illustrated with three experiments that …

Exempting High-Level Employees And Small Employers From Legislation Invalidating Predispute Employment Arbitration Agreements, E. Gary Spitko

Faculty Publications

On February 12, 2009, lawmakers in the U.S.House of Representatives introduced the "Arbitration Fairness Act of 2009. " This bill, if enacted, will invalidate any predispute arbitration agreement between an employer and its employee. Last year, the 110th Congress considered the narrower "Preservation of Civil Rights Protections Act of 2008, " which would have invalidated such predispute arbitration agreements if they required "arbitration of a dispute arising under" federal civil rights laws. This Article explores how best to structure any such invalidation of predispute employment arbitration agreements, both in light of the rationales for and against regulation of the employment …

Police Blotter, Unlv Department Of Police Services

Police Blotter

No abstract provided.

Teacher Candidates' Experience Of Ubd In A Social Studies Methods Course, Patricia K. Gulsvig

Theses and Dissertations

Teacher candidates in secondary social studies education come to their methods course eager to share their passion for the subject. Enthusiasm often turns to confusion and frustration when they are confronted with unforeseen decisions about the content they will teach before they determine the instructional strategies for teaching that material. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of Understanding by Design (UbD) as a model in a social studies methods course for preparing teacher candidates to make purposeful curricular and instructional decisions.

This study took place at a small private Midwestern college and involved 10 participants between …

Social Networking: Is It Another Stage In The Evolution Of Communication And Does It Affect The Way We Think About Problem Solving And Communicating?, Sandy L. Robinson

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

This thesis explores whether participants in online social networking sites differ from non-participants in their approach to problem solving or in their attitudes about their interactions with their own social networks. Walter Ong (1982) determined that people’s thinking changed with different media usage, particularly from oral to script, script to print, and print to electronic. This research examines problem solving and attitudes about interactions with social networks as two criteria for exploring how people think. In a review of the literature, the thesis explores the theory of media ecology, which expands on the work of McLuhan (1967) and Ong (1982), …

A Time For Necessary Change: Fdr’S First Inaugural Address, Corey Lenzen

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

School Breakfast Program: Efficacy And Impact, Amber Ward

Food Science and Nutrition

The primary goals of the school breakfast program are to reduce food-insecurity among low-income students and to decrease the growing habit of breakfast skipping. Consumption of school breakfast has been associated with improved health and academic performance. The purpose of this review was to investigate these alleged beneficial outcomes and to evaluate the program’s success in promoting accessibility and participation for all students. Results showed that children who ate a school breakfast were more likely to have a healthier BMI and a broader daily nutrient intake. Participation also helped students achieve higher math and reading grades. Their teachers reported improvements …

Communication Within The Packaging Industry, Lauren K. Soares

Graphic Communication

The purpose of this study was to show the potential that strategic packaging communication could have on attracting a larger client base. Through revealing current packaging innovations and the psychology behind it, a business should be well informed on how to appeal to the maximum amount of customers.

The study consisted of elite and specialized interviewing of industry experts in order to get an inside look at packaging and how companies are using it to communicate to their target markets. The next step was to survey this targeted customer base and discover the psychology behind their purchases and what is …

The First Anniversary: Stress, Well-Being, And Optimism In Older Widows, Mary E. Minton, Melody Hertzog, Cecilia R. Barron, Jeffrey French, Roni Reiter-Palmon

Psychology Faculty Publications

The first anniversary for older widows (n = 47) has been explored during Months 11, 12, and 13. Concurrent correlations show that optimism inversely correlates with psychological (intrusion and avoidance) stress as measured with the Impact of Event Scale (r = —.52 to —.66, p < .005) and positively correlates with well-being (physical: r = .36 to .46, p < .025; psychosocial: r = .58 to .72, p < .005; spiritual: r = .50 to .69, p < .005). Lagged correlation patterns suggest that higher levels of optimism at a given time are associated with higher life satisfaction and spiritual well-being at later times. Psychological stress is higher at Month 12 when compared to Month 13, t(43) = 2.54, p = .01, but not when compared to Month 11, t(43) = 1.49, p > .10. There are no significant differences in physiologic stress (salivary cortisol) or well-being during the first …

Comparison Of Cephalometric Norms Of Esthetically Pleasing Faces, Attiya Jawaid Shaikh, Arif R Alvi

Section of Dental-Oral Maxillofacial Surgery

OBJECTIVE: To establish cephalometric norms of a sample of aesthetically pleasing Pakistani faces and to analyze differences and similarities with accepted standards for Caucasians.

STUDY DESIGN: Analytical cross sectional study.

PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Carried out at Alvi Dental Hospital, Karachi, from August 2007 to February 2008.

METHODOLOGY: Cephalometric tracings were analyzed on a sample of 40 (20 males and 20 females) Pakistani young adults, aged 18-25 years, with full complement of permanent teeth, no previous orthodontic treatment and pleasing profile. To check the reliability of the measurements, 20 randomly selected cephalograms were retraced. None of the measurements showed …

Brain‐Mind And Structure‐Function Relationships: A Methodological Response To Coltheart, Adina L. Roskies

Dartmouth Scholarship

In some recent papers, Max Coltheart has questioned the ability of neuroimaging techniques to tell us anything interesting about the mind and has thrown down the gauntlet before neuroimagers, challenging them to prove he is mistaken. Here I analyze Coltheart’s challenge, show that as posed its terms are unfair, and reconstruct it so that it is addressable. I argue that, so modified, Coltheart’s challenge is able to be met and indeed has been met. In an effort to delineate the extent of neuroimaging’s ability to address Coltheart’s concerns, I explore how different brain structure‐function relationships would constrain the ability of …

Effects Of Anxiety Reducing Interventions On Performance Anxiety In Graduate Nurses, Georgita Tolbert Washington

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Every new nursing graduate is challenged to successfully transition from student to professional nurse. The stress involved in that transition can manifest itself as performance anxiety, a type of anxiety occurring when someone is the focus of attention and is fearful of interactions or of being humiliated or embarrassed. It occurs only in specific situations. The new graduate's performance is the focus of attention and evaluation. Further, the need to interact with other professionals, patients, and families can create anxiety about performance. No studies have examined performance anxiety in graduate nurses.

Use of cognitive behavioral therapy, progressive muscle relaxation, and …

The Macroeconomy And Health In The United States, Elizabeth Herring

All Theses

The economy affects everyone as it expands and contracts. This paper will look at the effects that economic downturns have on the health of Americans. It will analyze the number of deaths per year caused by certain causes of death and determine the extent to which a downturn affects these numbers. This paper also looks at the cause and effect relationship between antidepressants and suicide. The empirical results indicate that the state of the economy affects the health of the nation.

The Bite Detector: A Device For The Behavioral Treatment Of Overweight And Obesity, Jenna Scisco

All Theses

Overweight and obesity are primary health concerns worldwide and particularly in the United States. Currently, the most effective treatments are behavioral interventions, and a reduction of eating rate is one behavioral method that may help individuals eat less and lose weight. Additionally, adaptive eating behaviors, such as intuitive eating, have been identified as healthy body weight predictors. The purpose of Study 1 was to examine the accuracy of the bite detector, a wrist-worn device designed to detect bites of food. Participants (N = 21) ate a meal in the laboratory, and the sensitivity and positive predictive value (PPV) of the …

Reading Between The Lines: Reactions To Gendered Managerial Communications, Melissa Waitsman

All Theses

Some of the earliest research on women in the workplace demonstrated that women are not perceived as competent leaders and managers. Several decades have passed since that time, but, on average, American women still earn less than their male counterparts, and women still occupy only 12 Chief Executive Officer positions in Fortune 500 companies, up from 2 in 2007 (Fortune, 2008). Recent research suggests that negative stereotypes about women's managerial competence persist, particularly in regards to their assertiveness and forcefulness, two core managerial characteristics.
Current research on gender differences indicates that females are significantly more concerned with social relationships in …

Digital Social Imagery In Silhouette, Ashley Triplett

All Theses

Society places an extreme emphasis on outward appearance and beauty that is often unattainable. The short film, Silhouette, reminds audiences of the dangers that can result from society's infatuation with physical perfection, and the film's production is the focus of this thesis. The goal of the film is to effectively communicate the impact of society on an individual's self-worth and self-image and to illustrate the consequences that result when trying to attain physical perfection. An integral part of this project is an examination of how women have been portrayed in art historically as compared to present day. To visualize …

The Effects Of Ethnic Identity On The Assimilation Behaviors Of Second Generation Immigrants, Emily Baumann

All Theses

This thesis examines the effects of ethnic identity on assimilation behaviors in second generation immigrants. It looks at two types of ethnic identity--one that is an internal, self-identification and one that is an external, objective designation. More specifically, this study reviews the effects of ethnic identity on how well a respondent writes a foreign language, how well a respondent writes English, language the respondent prefers to speak, total monthly earnings, and highest level of education achieved. This study hypothesizes that various ethnic self-identifications and various nationalities will be predictors of various assimilation pathways set forth in the segmented assimilation theory. …

A Comparison Of Methods For Teaching Auditory-Visual Conditional Discriminations To Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Laura Lee Grow

Dissertations

Early and intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) is an approach to treating the behavioral deficits and excesses observed in children with autism spectrum disorders. The magnitude of improvement in the overall functioning of children receiving EIBI has stimulated additional research and widespread clinical dissemination through the publication of EIBI curricular manuals. Many EIBI manuals recommend teaching conditional discriminations using the simple/conditional method. Initially, component simple discriminations are taught in isolation and in the presence of a distracter stimulus. Finally, conditional discriminations, which include stimuli previously taught as simple discriminations, are presented to the learner. Although the simple/conditional method is often recommended …

Examining Client Motivation And Counseling Outcome, Guy Ilagan

All Dissertations

University mental health clinics have experienced a marked increase in demand for services without an increase in resources to meet the rising demand. Consequently, university mental health centers need strategies to determine the best allocation of their limited resources. Transtheoretical Model, based on client motivation, may offer valuable insight into whether a university student is likely to benefit from campus mental health counseling.
The subjects included 331 university students at a liberal arts, public university in the Southeastern part of the United States. The subjects consisted of all students over age 18 who visited the research site campus mental health …

A Scanpath Comparison Of The Salient Features Of Weather Among General Aviation Pilots Based On Training And Experience, Michael Sawyer

All Dissertations

Over the last 20 years the number of annual accidents in general aviation has seen a steady decline. The annual number of fatal accidents, however, has remained relatively stable. Adverse weather is consistently cited as a leading cause of fatal accidents in general aviation; weather accidents have a fatality rate nearly four times that of other general aviation accidents. Reviews of accident data reveal that often these accidents occur when inexperienced pilots who are certified only for visual flight rules flight continue into adverse weather. The Situation Assessment Hypothesis suggests these accidents occur when pilots fail to accurately recognize weather …

Covalent Immobilization Of L1 Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule To Acrylated Tetronicâ® Hydrogels For Neural Regeneration, Rebecca Cribb

All Dissertations

Spinal cord injuries cost the United States $20 billion per year, with an existing patient population of 256,000 growing by an estimated 12,000 each year. Current clinical therapies for spinal cord injury are limited to spinal immobilization and realignment via traction, surgery, administration of methylprednisolone sodium succinate (MPSS) within eight hours post-injury, and rehabilitation exercises. While these therapies are important and may minimize damage and restore limited function, there is a dire clinical need for treatments to address the growing population of chronically-injured patients.
Varying degrees of axonal regeneration and functional recovery following spinal cord injury have been achieved in …

Service Recovery: Trend, Path Model, And Cultural Comparison, Hua-Hung Weng

All Dissertations

This dissertation studies the trend of service recovery practice over the past decade, establishes a service recovery model, and compares the cultural differences using it. Service recovery has been an important topic in service operations, but few studies discuss the changes of recovery practices over time and analyze their differences across countries. This dissertation consists of three essays. The first investigates the service recovery trends by comparing recovery practices in 2008 and in 2000. In 2008, successful recovery was found to have less impact on satisfaction and loyalty, and fair compensation has less chance of successful recovery. The second essay …