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Neurochemical Effects Of Amyloid-Beta Oligomers In Rats, John J. Panos

Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by memory loss and cognitive decline. Although the symptomology of Alzheimer’s disease is well defined, its precise etiology remains elusive. Animal models are invaluable for understanding the pathogenesis of this devastating disease. Knowledge of the neurochemical actions of amyloid-β oligomers in specific brain structures is essential for validating animal models of Alzheimer’s disease and for determining the most appropriate behavioral assays of memory. The specific aim of this project was to investigate the neurochemical effects of direct intracerebral infusion of amyloid-β oligomers in the rat. Experiment 1 investigated direct infusions of synthetic …

The Process Of One White Upper Middle Class Lesbian Couple Pursuing Parenthood For The First Time: A Qualitative Case Study, Jessica L. Manning

Dissertations

During the past three decades researchers have shown increasing interest in studying planned lesbian parenting. However, no previous studies have examined the process of lesbian couples as they pursue parenthood for the first time. Instead, previous research has typically conducted one retrospective interview with one or both parents in order to answer one outcome related query, such as whether a couple used a known or anonymous sperm donor. The current study is a qualitative case study that examines the process of one lesbian couple who is pursuing parenthood for the first time.

The participants in this study were Ann and …

Development Of The Trauma Informed System Change Instrument: Evaluation Of Factorial Validity And Implications For Use, Margaret M. Richardson

Dissertations

This paper outlines the process of developing and evaluating an instrument measuring the extent to which a complex community system has changed as a result of a community initiative, and for purposes of this research, doing this within the content area of developing local trauma informed child welfare systems in specific communities in Michigan. The instrument was designed for the Southwest Michigan Children's Trauma Assessment Center's (CTAC) SAMHSA-funded initiative to bring a trauma informed perspective to professionals working with children in child welfare. Because there is not a standard set to define what constitutes trauma informed treatment of children in …

A Study Of Change Readiness: Factors That Influence The Readiness Of Frontline Workers Towards A Nursing Home Transformational Change Initiative., Veronica A. Barber

Education Doctoral

The purpose of this study was to determine factors that influence the readiness of frontline workers toward a nursing home’s planned organizational change. Individual levels of readiness toward change were assessed to determine if there were differences in levels of readiness and: organizational commitment, relationship with direct supervisor, and perceived organizational support. Demographic variables were also assessed to determine whether a relationship existed with change readiness. A quantitative method was employed for the study using a single-subject survey design. 460 employees from a large not-for-profit nursing home in upstate New York completed the survey. The organization was in the planning …

The Role Of Ambient Air Pollution In The Occurrence Of Emphysema, Shiva Metghalchi

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Emphysema is the most common cause of death from respiratory disease in the United States. Emphysema is most common among people aged 50 and older. Those with a genetic predisposition to emphysema may experience the onset as early as their thirties or forties. Men are more likely than women to develop emphysema, but female cases are increasing as the number of female smokers rises.

In the past few years, etiological and pathogenic research has been carried out in an attempt to determine the reason for an increase in deaths and other health problems associated with air pollution, and there have …

An Investigation Into The Use Of Color As A Device To Convey Memes During The Little Ice Age, Peter Allen White

Master's Theses

Color is used as a tool in visual communication to express ideas in a symbolic fashion. It can also be used as a guide to assist the viewer in the visual narrative. Artwork created in the period of time between 1300 to 1850 in northern and central Europe provides a comprehensive perspective in the use of color as symbol and color as an elucidative devise. This period of time is known as the Little Ice Age, the duration of which spans European history between the Medieval period and the Romantic era. The extreme climatic conditions of this era caused profound …

Boardroom Climate: Understanding How It Impacts Board Level Strategic Decision Making, Bernard C. Bailey

Student Scholarship

This study seeks to better understand board effectiveness by opening the "black box" associated with board dynamics and behaviors. Drawing on the process oriented perspective of board level strategic decision making from Forbes and Milliken (1999) as well as the group engagement model by Tyler and Blader (2000; 2003), we analyzed surveys from 151 board directors representing 119 U. S. publicly traded companies. Our findings show that the creation of a climate of respect within the boardroom, as well as board member and top management team (TMT) collaboration are positively related to "effort norms" and "cognitive conflict" processes. TMT and …

Boardroom Climate: Understanding How It Impacts Board Level Strategic Decision Making, Bernard C. Bailey

Student Scholarship

This study seeks to better understand board effectiveness by opening the "black box" associated with board dynamics and behaviors. Drawing on the process oriented perspective of board level strategic decision making from Forbes and Milliken (1999) as well as the group engagement model by Tyler and Blader (2000; 2003), we analyzed surveys from 151 board directors representing 119 U. S. publicly traded companies. Our findings show that the creation of a climate of respect within the boardroom, as well as board member and top management team (TMT) collaboration are positively related to "effort norms" and "cognitive conflict" processes. TMT and …

Beyond The Shackles And Chains Of The Middle Passage: Human Trafficking Unveiled., Enrique A. Maciel-Matos

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

For the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) to truly meet its twin aims of the prosecution of traffickers and the protection of victims, it must be reformed. The current overemphasis on the prosecution of traffickers renders the TVPA an ineffective tool for providing aid to victims of human trafficking. Trusting law enforcement officers to identify victims without proper training may lead to victims of more severe trafficking being denied benefits. Further, by providing benefits only to those who agree to cooperate with law enforcement, the TVPA denies assistance and protection to those who may be too scared or traumatized to …

Pre-Employment Credit Checks: Effectuating Disparate Impact On Racial Minorities Under The Guise Of Job-Relatedness And Business Necessity., Roberto Concepcion Jr.

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Breaking The Dress Code: Protecting Transgender Students, Their Identities, And Their Rights., Zenobia V. Harris

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract Forthcoming.

Waiver, Certification, And Transfer Of Juveniles To Adult Court: Limiting Juveniles Transfers In Texas., Emily Ray

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

The adult criminal justice system is worse for juveniles who commit crimes. Underlying principles upon which the juvenile justice system was founded remain viable and worthy goals, and Texas law should reflect that understanding. Part II traces the development of juvenile justice in this country, including the evolution of the first American juvenile courts, and summarizes the due process rights afforded to juveniles by the U.S. Supreme Court. In Part III, I argue juvenile transfers to adult court should be limited in Texas with a special emphasis on young peoples' development, decision-making and reasoning abilities, and insights scientific research provides …

Betty Foy Sanders Department Of Art Newsletter, Georgia Southern University

Art: News & Publications (2008-2023)

• The Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art

Investigation Whether The German Credit Financial Market Is Promising For Consulting Fees As An Alternative To Traditional Commission Banking., Alexandra Antonia Behrens 1979-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is written to investigate if and how far the German credit financial market could be promising for consulting fees in the field of mortgage loan banking. The problem identified is an extensively discussed issue in the German credit financial sector. In solving the problem the author made some literature research and points out different modes of determining consulting fees. The author faces the challenge that, up to now, there is hardly any literature on the application of mortgage loan consulting fees in Germany. Secondly, a form concerning mortgage loan related business in conjunction with customers' attitudes towards consulting …

Body Image, Peer Pressure, And Sexual Activity, Whitney Miller

XULAneXUS

Yamamiya, Cash, and Thompson (2006) found that when women begin to obsess over their bodies and their overall physical attractiveness, especially when trying to attract the opposite sex, they begin to form a negative body image about themselves. However, although research has shown that body image is assessed when attempting to attract the opposite sex, the relationship between body image and peer pressure’s influence on sexual activity has not been shown. Additionally, Whitbeck, Yoder, Hoyt, and Conger (1999) found that females with higher levels of self-esteem had significantly lower levels of sexual activity than those with lower levels of self-esteem. …

Anencephaly: Concepts Of Personhood, Ethical Questions, And Nursing Care, Jessica L. Ryskamp

Senior Honors Theses

Anencephaly is a neural tube defect that severely limits the lifespan of affected infants. While these infants have no higher brain function, they are still persons, and should be given the same moral and ethical considerations as healthy infants. With this in mind, organ donation procedures should follow the same guidelines that apply to other donors. Because a large part of nursing care for anencephalic infants is palliative care, nurses need appropriate training to care effectively for both the infant and the family, providing for physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual needs.

The "Enlightened Barbarity" Of Inclusive Fitness And Wrongful Death: Biological Justifications For An Investment Theory Of Loss In Wycko V. Gnodtke, Ryan Shannon

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Wrongful death laws should permit and encourage courts and juries to consider the survivors' investment in decedents when determining wrongful death damages, given new biological justifications for this theory of loss. The investment theory of damages, which permits an award of damages based on the investment of financial resources relatives make in one another, originated in Michigan's courts in the early 1 960s, but as of present day has been largely abrogated. In the context of modern understandings of evolutionary biology, including kin selection theory and sociobiology, the investment theory of recovery accords with the goals of corrective justice as …

A Chinese Case Study In Using Psychoanalysis For Ethnography, Maris Boyd Gillette

Southern Anthropologist

In this article I explore a surprising conversation that I had with a Chinese Muslim woman named Sheng Lanying. Her persistent tendency to see images of Mao that were no longer present led me to examine how personal, emotional meanings informed her experience of nation-building. After providing basic historical context about the Chinese revolution, I present the conversation between Sheng and me. Then I discuss how anthropologists can use, and have used, psychoanalysis for ethnography. I next apply the psychoanalytic approach that I find most useful to Sheng’s memories. I conclude with a discussion of what anthropologists can gain from …

The Life Of An Unknown Assassin: Leon Czolgosz And The Death Of William Mckinley, Cary H. Federman

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The purpose of this essay is to examine the discourses that surrounded the life of Leon Czolgosz, the assassin of President William McKinley. The gaps in Czolgosz’s life, his peculiar silences, his poor health and the ambiguity and thinness of his confession, rather than taken as instances of mental and physical distress, have, instead, been understood as signs of a revolutionary anarchistic assassin. Czolgosz is an expression of a cultural tradition in somatic form. I argue that the discursive construction of criminality, already present in the late nineteenth century within the medical and human sciences, is what shaped Czolgosz’s life …

Burden Of Common Mental Disorders In Patients With Functional Dyspepsia, Abdul Sattar, Mohammad Salih, Wasim Jafri

Section of Gastroenterology

OBJECTIVE: To assess the frequency of common mental disorders among diagnosed functional dyspepsia patients.METHODS: A case-control study with 150 cases of functional dyspepsia (FD) and 150 healthy controls were recruited from Gastroenterology Clinic at the Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi from 1st March 2009 through 31st August 2009. Urdu version of WHO-developed Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ) was administered to diagnose patients of FD and healthy controls. A cut off score of 8 on SRQ was used to confirm cases of Common mental disorders (CMD). Data was entered and analyzed by SPSS version 16.0.RESULT: There was significant difference in CMD i.e. 107 …

Perception Of Control: Accuracy Among Optimists And Pessimists On Noncontingency And Contingengy Tasks, Spencer Baunn M.S.

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The learned helplessness theory asserts that depressed individuals unrealistically believe that they have little to no control over aversive outcomes in their lives. Paradoxically, research on judgment of control has demonstrated that depressed individuals are not necessarily pessimistic, but rather more realistic than non-depressed individuals. Most of the research on depressive realism has investigated individual’s perceived control in situations in which they have no actual control. Few studies have investigated perception of control in situations where control is possible. Considering that many circumstances in life are controllable, it is important to examine how different personality variables contribute to accurate judgments …

An Examination Of Chronic Pain Coping Strategies And Health Locus Of Control Among Prison Inmates, Joseph M. Mitrovich

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study evaluated the types of coping strategies for chronic pain implemented by 88 inmates, and the degree to which these inmates possessed an internal versus external locus of control. Based on the findings of previous research, it was expected that inmates would report utilizing passive coping strategies more often than active coping strategies, and that passive strategies would be associated with poorer adjustment to pain in terms of depression, pain intensity, and pain interference with daily activities. It was also expected that inmates would report higher levels of external locus of control beliefs than internal locus of control …

Self-Discrepancies, Symbolic Self-Completion, And The Role Of Possessions In The Transition From High School To College, Ashlee Lochbaum

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to explore some of the ways that possessions may be used symbolically to aid adjustment in first-semester freshmen who are transitioning to college. Based on prior literature, the transition to college is often accompanied by self-discrepancies which may be alleviated through symbolic self-completion using possessions. Overall, 219 students participated in this study. Results indicate that first-semester freshmen, as well as upperclassmen students, rely on the symbolic use of possessions in both managing negative affect and symbolizing the ideal college student identity. Furthermore, managing affect through the use of feeling regulators was found to …

Wording Effects In Moral Judgments, Ross E. O'Hara, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, Nicholas A. Sinnott-Armstrong

Dartmouth Scholarship

As the study of moral judgments grows, it becomes imperative to compare results across studies in order to create unified theories within the field. These efforts are potentially undermined, however, by variations in wording used by different researchers. The current study sought to determine whether, when, and how variations in wording influence moral judgments. Online participants responded to 15 different moral vignettes (e.g., the trolley problem) using 1 of 4 adjectives: “wrong”, “inappropriate”, “forbidden”, or “blameworthy”. For half of the sample, these adjectives were preceded by the adverb “morally”. Results indicated that people were more apt to judge an act …

Toward A New Standard For The Admission Of Expert Evidence In Illinois: A Critique Of The Frye General Acceptance Test And An Argument For The Adoption Of Daubert, Paul A. Rodrigues

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

Illinois courts continue to apply the general acceptance test announced in Frye v. United States, as opposed to the Daubert approach used by the federal courts, to determine the admissibility of expert evidence. This article reviews both standards and argues that Illinois should abandon the Frye test in favor of the current federal admissibility standard laid out in the line of cases beginning with Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The recent Illinois Supreme Court decision in People v. McKown demonstrates the flaws of the current Frye analysis. The case fails, however, to adequately draw boundaries between “novel scientific evidence” …

The Parents' Role In Childhood Obesity, Heather M. Wintrup

Psychology and Child Development

This paper is an examination of the current childhood obesity crisis in the U.S. and how this epidemic is related to psychological issues. Specifically, the role of parental forces on children’s health attitudes and habits is addressed. The following chapters will define and explain the current situation of childhood obesity, investigate the role parents have in contributing to their children’s weight development, and cover methods of intervention for families dealing with this serious health issue.

A Generational Look Into The Occurrence Of Child Maltreatment Among Latinos And Their Effects On Developmental Growth, Maria Teresa Sanchez Diosdado

Psychology and Child Development

Little is known about the prevalence or risk factors associated with child maltreatment among Latino immigrant and native born families. As a result, Latino children and families are often treated as a homogeneous group, with little understanding of the potential differences that may exist between immigrant and native-born families. This paper attempts to explain the concept of child maltreatment and explore the differences between the two groups, while taking into account the effects of acculturation, Belsky’s Ecological Model of Maltreatment, childrearing practices, and the developmental consequences of maltreatment. Finally, the role that Child Protective Services plays in this issue will …

Positive Language In The Parent-Child Relationship: Creating An Educational Video For Parents, Katherine Y. Upchurch

Psychology and Child Development

Parenting is a role recognized across the world for centuries. It is complex and diverse, yet a common feature of cultures encompassing the majority of the world. Classifications of parenting characteristics, such as the attachment or overall parenting style, have been created to try and understand the inner-workings of the parent-child relationship. It has been shown that ethnicities, races, cultures, and/or socioeconomic classes must be taken into account when evaluating the usefulness of the various classifications. These differences in lifestyle carry diverse values and beliefs that are instilled in the family system, affecting preferred styles of parenting and their influences …

Mandatory Reporting In The Context Of Home Visitation Programs, Danielle Marie Davidov

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Each year in the United States, 4.8 million physical assaults and rapes are committed against 1.5 million women by an intimate partner. An estimated 3.3 to 10 million children are exposed to some form of intimate partner violence (IPV) in their own homes annually. Although mandatory reporting laws regarding child abuse and/or neglect are implemented in all 50 U.S. states, the extent to which these laws are appropriate for IPV between adults and children exposed to IPV is undetermined. A comprehensive examination of the perspectives of those required to report abuse is critical, as their roles as mandated reporters often …

Examining The Effectiveness Of Dropout Prevention Practices And Their Implications For Intervention With Public School Students, Louisa Pollack

Dissertations

Schools face the dilemma of transforming both the trend of students dropping out of school and the associated negative socioeconomic outcomes into a positive path of persistence and school completion. Despite ongoing efforts of the federal and state government, as well as those of the local school districts, this problem continues to burden the educational system and society as a whole. The opinions of those with the experience of dropping out and returning to school are pertinent sources of information on educative practices that can help stem the dropout rate.

A survey was conducted to gather the opinions of students …