Digital Commons Network^™

Iptakalim: A Potential Antipsychotic Drug With Novel Mechanisms?, Tao Sun, Changjiu Zhao, Gang Hu, Ming Li

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Iptakalim is a novel putative adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-sensitive potassium (K_ATP) channel opener. In the brain, iptakalim is thought to act on the neuronal and astrocytic plasma membrane and/or mitochondrial K_ATP channels. Because iptakalim demonstrates an action on the regulation of dopamine and glutamate release in the forebrain regions, we examined its potential antipsychotic efficacy in several preclinical tests. First, we show that iptakalim is effective in reducing amphetamine- and phencyclidine-induced hyperlocomotion as well as selectively disrupting conditioned avoidance responding. Next, we show that combined iptakalim and amphetamine treatment produces a reduction on prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle …

Aging And The Vulnerability Of Speech To Dual Task Demands, Susan Kemper, Ralynn Schmalzried, Lesa Hoffman, Ruth Herman

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Tracking a digital pursuit rotor task was used to measure dual task costs of language production by young and older adults. Tracking performance by both groups was affected by dual task demands: time on target declined and tracking error increased as dual task demands increased from the baseline condition to a moderately demanding dual task condition to a more demanding dual task condition. When dual task demands were moderate, older adults’ speech rate declined but their fluency, grammatical complexity, and content were unaffected. When the dual task was more demanding, older adults’ speech, like young adults’ speech, became highly fragmented, …

All Anchors Are Not Created Equal: The Effects Of Per Diem Versus Lump Sum Requests On Pain And Suffering Awards, Bradley D. Mcauliff, Brian H. Bornstein

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

This experiment examined whether different quantifications of the same damage award request ($175,000 lump sum, $10/ hour, $240/day, $7300/month for 2 years) influenced pain and suffering awards compared to no damage award request. Jury-eligible community members (N = 180) read a simulated personal injury case in which defendant liability already had been determined. Awards were: (1) larger for the $10/hour and $175,000 conditions than the $7300/month and control conditions and (2) more variable for the $10/hour condition than the $7300/month and control conditions. No differences emerged on ratings of the parties, their attorneys, or the difficulty of picking a compensation …

Examination Of The Construct Validity Of Impact™ Computerized Test, Traditional, And Experimental Neuropsychological Measures, Arthur C. Maerlender, L. Flashman, A. Kessler, S. Kumbhani, R. Greenwald, T. Tosteson, T. Mcallister

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Although computerized neuropsychological screening is becoming a standard for sports concussion identification and management, convergent validity studies are limited. Such studies are important for several reasons: reference to established measures is needed to establish validity; examination of the computerized battery relative to a more traditional comprehensive battery will help understand the strengths and limitations of the computer battery; and such an examination will help inform the output of the computerized battery. We compared scores on the ImPACT™ battery to a comprehensive battery of traditional neuropsychological measures and several experimental measures used in the assessment of sports-related concussion in fifty-four healthy …

Reference Place Conditioning Procedure With Cocaine: Increased Sensitivity For Measuring Associatively Motivated Choice Behavior In Rats, Carmela M. Reichel, Jamie L. Wilkinson, Rick A. Bevins

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Place conditioning is widely used to study the conditioned rewarding effects of drugs. In the standard version, one reward (cocaine) is compared to no reward (saline). A modified variant of this task, “reference-conditioning” procedure, compares two potentially rewarding stimuli (high versus low cocaine dose). There has been little research on the utility of this procedure. Experiment 1 used the standard protocol with saline administered before confinement to the reference compartment of a place-conditioning chamber. On alternating days, saline, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, or 20 mg/kg cocaine was administered before confinement to the opposite compartment. In Experiments 2 and 3, reference-compartment …

An Examination Of Questionnaire Evaluation By Expert Reviewers, Kristen Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Expert reviews are frequently used as a questionnaire evaluation method but have received little empirical attention. Questions from two surveys are evaluated by six expert reviewers using a standardized evaluation form. Each of the questions has validation data available from records. Large inconsistencies in ratings across the six experts are found. Despite the lack of reliability, the average expert ratings successfully identify questions that had higher item nonresponse rates and higher levels of inaccurate reporting. This article provides empirical evidence that experts are able to discern questions that manifest data quality problems, even if individual experts vary in what they …

Management Of Damage By Elk (Cervus Elaphus) In North America: A Review, W. David Walter, Michael J. Lavelle, Justin W. Fischer, Therese L. Johnson, Scott E. Hygnstrom, Kurt C. Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Abundant populations of elk (Cervus elaphus) are cherished game in many regions of the world and also cause considerable human–wildlife conflicts through depredation on agriculture and specialty crops, lack of regeneration to native ecosystems, collisions with vehicles and transmission of disease between free-ranging and farmed hoofstock. Management of elk varies, depending on current and historical agency objectives, configuration of the landscapes elk occupy, public perception, population density and behaviour of elk. Selection of the method to manage elk often requires knowledge of timing of impacts, duration relief from elk damage is desired, cost-effectiveness of management activities, tolerance of …

The Ties That Bind: Soil Surveyor William Edgar Tharp And Oceanographic Cartographer Marie Tharp, Edward R. Landa

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The link between soil science and geology is personified in the American father and daughter: soil surveyor William Edgar Tharp (1870–1959) and oceanographic cartographer Marie Tharp (1920–2006). From 1904 to 1935, W.E. Tharp mapped soils in 14 states for the US Department of Agriculture, and campaigned during the late 1920s–early 1930s to raise awareness of the high rates of soil erosion from croplands. The lifestyle of the federal soil surveyor in the United States during the early 20th century involved frequent household moves, and it played a formative role in Marie Tharp’s childhood. Her path to a career in geology …

Nutrition-Related Practices And Attitudes Of Kansas Skipped-Generation(S) Caregivers And Their Grandchildren, Mary Meck Higgins, Bethany J. Murray

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Despite growing numbers, the nutrition practices and attitudes of skipped-generation(s) kinship caregivers regarding feeding the dependent children in their care have not been examined. In this qualitative study, transcriptions of semi-structured interviews with 19 female and four male skipped-generation(s) Kansas caregivers (ages 47 to 80, 92% non-Hispanic whites, 83% female, 78% grandparents and 22% great-aunt or great-grandparent caregivers; caring for a range of one to four children, ages three to 18, for an average of nine years) were content analyzed for how their nutrition-related practices and attitudes had changed since parenting the first time. Sub-themes regarding practices included: being more …

Mining Antagonistic Communities From Social Networks, Kuan Zhang

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In this thesis, we examine the problem of mining antagonistic communities from social networks. In social networks, people with opposite opinions normally behave differently and form sub-communities each of which containing people sharing some common behaviors. In one scenario, people with opposite opinions show differences in their views on a set of items. Another scenario is people explicitly expressing whom they agree with, like or trust as well as whom they disagree with, dislike or distrust. We defined the indirect and direct antagonistic groups based on the two scenarios. We have developed algorithms to mine the two types of antagonistic …

News Which Moves The Market: Assessing The Impact Of Published Financial News On The Stock Market, Yu Chiang Soon

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Recent years have seen a large increase in the volume of financial news available to investors daily. What has traditionally been restricted to print media has now evolved to include the internet and satellite television as important media sources for financial news. With this overwhelming flow of information available to investors, the impact of financial news on market prices is at best uncertain. In this paper, a computational text-scoring methodology will be employed to uncover behavioral responses by investors to negative news. The empirical methodology employed in this paper will consist of three parts. Firstly, through the General Inquirer (GI) …

Risk Response Strategies In The Supply Chain: Examining Attributes Of Stakeholders And Risk Attitude, Shu Jian Lim

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Supply chain management is about managing flows of material, information and funds in a complex network of entities of suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and customers. Companies are now connected in this network as an extended enterprise and any company may be involved in more than one such extended enterprises. But, such a network of relationships is very much vulnerable to disruptions of all sorts ranging from internal to inter-firm and to external turbulences. Companies now need to be prepared for risks associated with their participation in the supply chain network. Not many works in the literature have used theories to study …

Ownership Structure, Financial Structure And R&D Investment: Evidence From Korean Firms, Yanghua Chen

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Understanding factors that can enhance a firm‟s innovativeness is of critical concern in management research. Prior studies in strategy and financial economics have advanced our understanding of how resource allocation into innovation is shaped in a firm, mainly from the perspectives of ownership and financial structures. However, the extant literature is incomplete, because it treats ownership and financial structures as separate determinants, even though theoretical arguments and empirical evidences suggest that they are interdependent. This study investigates the determinants of firm‟s R&D investments by bridging ownership and financial structures. Ownerships held by inside and external owners are considered for ownership …

Metamorphic Viruses With Built-In Buffer Overflow, Ronak Shah

Master's Projects

Metamorphic computer viruses change their structure—and thereby their signature—each time they infect a system. Metamorphic viruses are potentially one of the most dangerous types of computer viruses because they are difficult to detect using signature-based methods. Most anti-virus software today is based on signature detection techniques. In this project, we create and analyze a metamorphic virus toolkit which creates viruses with a built-in buffer overflow. The buffer overflow serves to obfuscate the entry point of the actual virus, thereby making detection more challenging. We show that the resulting viruses successfully evade detection by commercial virus scanners. Several modern operating systems …

Master's In General Psychology, Nova Southeastern University

College of Psychological Services / College of Psychology Postgraduate Student and Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Specialist Program In School Psychology, Nova Southeastern University

College of Psychological Services / College of Psychology Postgraduate Student and Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Master Of Science In Counseling A Selective Online Program With Concentrations In Applied Behavior Analysis/Mental Health Counseling/Substance Abuse, Nova Southeastern University

College of Psychological Services / College of Psychology Postgraduate Student and Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

School Counseling M. S. Excellence In Training Convenient For Working Professionals, Nova Southeastern University

College of Psychological Services / College of Psychology Postgraduate Student and Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

General Psychology M. S. Online Convenience For Working Professionals, Nova Southeastern University

College of Psychological Services / College of Psychology Postgraduate Student and Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Specialist Program In School Psychology Handbook Of Field-Based Training Experiences In School Psychology 2010, Nova University

College of Psychological Services / College of Psychology Postgraduate Student and Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Microbial Community Characterization And Pathogen Analysis Within Constructed Wetlands Of Varying Scale Designed For Contaminant Removal, Michael R. Mitzel

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Constructed wetlands (CWs) are complex treatment environments, requiring an integrative research approach to improve our understanding of them. The goal of this thesis was to establish an understanding of the functional and structural characteristics of microbial communities within bench-, field- and industrial-scale environmental treatment systems. The impact of pathogenic and/or antibiotic contaminants on these communities based on their functional and structural profiles using community-level physiological profiling (CLPP) and denaturing-gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), respectively, was investigated. Under normal operation, bench-, field- and industrial-scale treatment systems were able to produce similarly behaving structural and functional profiles. Increased retention time was consistently associated …

What The Body Stories Of Girls Tell Us About Autonomy And Connection During Adolescence, Colleen Mcmillan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This qualitative study aimed to understand what the body stories of girls who exhibit signs of disordered eating reveal about the concepts of autonomy and connection during early adolescence. The study was guided by the research question “Are the symptoms of disordered eating one of the ways the female body “talks” about the experience of disconnection during adolescence?” Informed by Relational Cultural Theory, data was collected from two focus groups of 16 adolescent girls aged 11 to 14 years. Each group met six times over a four month period. Because many aspects of lived experience cannot be expressed verbally, the …

Exploring The Concepts Of Partnership And Their Implications For Hiv And Aids Prevention And Care In Two Ghanian Communities, Jonathan Lomotey

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study was an exploration of the concepts of partnership in the La and Nsawam-Adoajiri communities of Ghana and their implications for HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support. Using qualitative data gathering methods, this study sought to discover what is referred to as a partnership, how it is initiated, why it is initiated, the meanings ascribed to it, and its structure and processes in either community. The study further sought to understand how the concepts of partnership in each community could facilitate the development of an effective community-based initiative for HIV and AIDS prevention and care in either …

The Dance In Contexts: Exploring The Complexity Of The Helping/Healing Process With A Focus On Client Satisfaction, Margriet De Zeeuw Wright

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This multiperspectual study was undertaken to explore and describe the complexity of the helping / healing process in a community-based counselling centre. The standard for evaluation was client satisfaction. Client and worker participants’ perspectives were sought in an exploration of whether and / or how the client as an individual, the worker both as an individual and as a staff member, the therapeutic relationship, and the organizational setting impacted client satisfaction.

Former clients of the agency (N=400) were asked to complete Greenfield, Attkisson, and Pascoe’s (©2005) Service Satisfaction Scale (SSS-30). Respondents (N=73) were profiled using descriptive statistics which led the …

An Exploration Of American And Canadian Tourist Destination Images Of Cuba, Culum Richard Canally

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Tourism in Cuba is thriving. Since 1991 the island has quickly become one of the top Caribbean tourist destinations. As a result tourism researchers have recently turned their attention towards investigating many facets of tourism on the island. However one omission in this growing corpus of research is the effect that politics has had on Cuba’s tourist destination image (TDI). In this study I explore how politics influences the evolution of tourist destination image. I also demonstrate that a critical constructivist paradigm can be used as an alternative to traditional positivist/postpositivist ways of researching tourist destination image. Finally I utilize …

Beauty And Belonging: How Appearance Self-Appraisals Affect Perceived Relational Value, Relationship Standards And Desire For Interpersonal Contact, Vanessa M. Buote

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

All individuals seek to develop and maintain social relationships (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). The extent to which people feel loved and accepted within their relationships is called perceived relational value (Leary, 2001). I argue that because sociocultural norms equate physical appearance and social acceptance for women (Thompson, 1999), women’s perceived relational value is inordinately linked to their self-appraisals of physical appearance. I also suggest that significant relational consequences can result from this association. In Study 1,1 demonstrated that self-appraisals of physical attractiveness and Body Mass Index predicted perceived relational value among women but not men. In Study 2,1 found that …

It’S Like Jumping Out Of A Plane Without A Parachute: Incarceration And Reintegration Experiences Of Provincially Sentenced Women In Atlantic Canada, Jennifer Robena Bernier

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Women are now the fastest rising prison population in the world (Balfour & Comack, 2006). As more and more women are being incarcerated, it becomes increasingly important to understand how they experience imprisonment, as well as their transition back to the community. Scholarly work on women’s incarceration and reintegration is limited. In Canada, the majority of research on reintegration, and otherwise, has focused on the federal correctional system. The goal of this study was to gain a greater understanding of the incarceration and reintegration experiences of women in the provincial correctional system. In order to achieve this goal, I conducted …

The “Budget Fallacy”: Sources Of Accuracy And Bias In Personal Spending Predictions, Johanna Peetz

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In everyday life, people frequently estimate their spending for projects and time periods. In the present research, I extend previous work on self prediction into the realm of personal financial behavior. Seven studies examine people’s ability to predict their future personal spending and processes underlying spending predictions. I found that people tended to underestimate their future personal spending when predicting next week's spending (Studies 1-3), predicting that they would spend substantially less money during an upcoming week than they actually did. On average, participants underestimated their weekly expenditures by about 27&. However, spending predictions for concrete events appeared to be …

Human Values And Corporate Actions Propensity: Examining The Behavioural Roots Of Societal Sustainability, Joel Marcus

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Global society is currently facing a series of interrelated challenges that cross the economic, social, and environmental domains. Widespread market instability, corporate fraud, social unrest, failing states, environmental degradation, and climate change represent just a few of the most salient issues with which we are having to contend, and which could long affect future generations. Corporations, as the dominant institutions of our time, will necessarily play an important role in our ability to address these challenges. At a very basic level, corporate actions that degrade economic, social, or environmental value make the prospect of long-term sustainability increasingly uncertain. In contrast, …

The Problem Of Causal/Explanatory Exclusion, Dwayne Moore

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The problem of mental causation, at least in one of its most basic forms, is how to reconcile two plausible but potentially incompatible intuitions. The first intuition is that the mind makes a difference in the world. For example, I am writing this paragraph for certain reasons, and before long I will stop to eat something because of certain desires for food. Seemingly, these reasons and desires play a role in what happens. The second intuition is that the physical world is causally complete, so everything that happens is the result of the movement of physical particles. For example, the …