Digital Commons Network^™

The New Childbirth : An Analysis Of Planned Cesarean Sections, Loren Wilbers

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study examines the experience of planned cesarean section delivery as told by six mothers who have given birth utilizing this method. The rate of planned cesarean deliveries being performed in the United States has been increasing over the past two decades. The existing literature attributes this phenomenon to mothers' fear of the pain associated with vaginal birth, desires to imitate celebrities and maintain vaginal tone, and the greed of obstetricians who push for cesarean deliveries for both convenience and financial gain. The voices of mothers themselves is lacking in the existing literature. Thus, this study draws upon a qualitative, …

The Role Of Valuation In Federal Bankruptcy Exemption Process: The Supreme Court Reads Schedule C, David G. Carlson

Articles

In Taylor v. Freeland & Kronz, a debtor claimed a law suit was exempt. The bankruptcy trustee failed to object within the required period. Later, the law suit realized an amount that far exceeded the monetary limit to which the debtor was entitled. The Supreme Court permitted the debtor to keep all of the proceeds, even beyond the statutory limit, claiming that a deadline was a deadline. Recently, in Schwab v. Reilly, the Supreme Court overruled Taylor, holding that a claim to a monetarily limited item can only exempt the monetary limit. The Court tries and fails to "reconcile" these …

Glucocorticoid-Remediable Aldosteronism: An Uncommon And Often Overlooked Cause Of Adrenal Hypertension, Sindhu Bhat Md, Larry N. Merkle Md

Department of Medicine

No abstract provided.

Getting The Euro At A Later Time - A Waste Or A Benefit?, Alojzy Z. Nowak, Kazimierz Ryć

European Management Studies

Lately, probably as a result of the financial crisis, an opinion has appeared that strongly concluded it was a good thing that Poland and the countries of the region did not enter the eurozone and instead pursued monetary politics of their own, based on a flexible exchange rate, among other things. For it saved them from an economic catastrophe, or at the very least a deep depression. The authors, using qualitative analysis, argue that not having entered the eurozone was not and does not have to be an impairment in times of financial crisis. Furthermore, keeping a country's monetary sovereignty …

Polish Cash Settlement System In The Prospect Of Our Accession To The European Monetary Union, Artur Gorzelak

European Management Studies

Poland's accession to the European Union had a great impact on many aspects of social life - also in the context of settlement of financial obligations. Unification of settlement systems in the whole of EU belongs among the priorities of the European Commission, set up to provide a strong, stable and competitive economy. The article below depicts the current regulatory background of financial settlement systems and contains a summary of the obligations of Polish monetary policy institutions arising thereunder. A special emphasis was placed on the role of the National Bank of Poland in the cash settlement system. The article …

Financial Flow Between Poland And The Eu Budget - Accession Period Results And Possible Changes, Elżbieta Kawecka-Wyrzykowska

European Management Studies

The financial flow between the EU and Poland represents one of the easiest-to-measure effects of Poland's membership. Poland is a beneficiary of the EU funds (transfers from the EU budget are higher than Polish contributions). The analysis shows that Poland had utilized all the money allocated under the 2000-2006 Financial Perspective. Big allocations for the period 2007-2013 offer Poland the chance for a faster catching-up with better developed countries. They also, however, mean that the absorption will be more difficult. The author argues that the advantages of EU transfers consist not only in additional financial flow (extra financing of investments) …

Socioeconomic Cohesion Of The European Union - The Status Of Poland And Her Regions, Janina Witkowska

European Management Studies

No abstract provided.

The Market Competitiveness Of Environmental Wares And Services, Zofia Wysokińska

European Management Studies

Demand-increase wise, the market of environmental wares and services belongs among the most robust. Its development hinges, however, on the degree of its openness - the degree of liberalisation. That means the need for the reducing of barriers limiting market access, especially in developing countries, where tariff and non-tariff barriers to environmental wares trade are relatively high and amount to a level exceeding 20% ad valorem. In highly developed countries, the market exhibits a low level of protective tariffs (about 3% ad valorem). The efforts to liberalise the market are being undertaken both in the World Trade Organisation forum, especially …

Poland-Eu Integration And The Risk Factor During The Crisis. The Experience Of Polish Companies Five Years After The Accession, Waldemar Kozioł

European Management Studies

It is now five years that Polish companies have been operating under the conditions of Poland's membership in the European Union. At the same time, this is the third year of the global financial crisis, which, according to Nobel Prize winner P. Krugman, will bring a new economic order. This article is a verification of one of the theses of the Nobel Prize winner from 1999, concerning the increased confidence (and lower risk) of investors for the member countries of integration groupings on the example of Polish enterprises in the years 2004-2009.

Testing The Selective Chivalry Theory In Iowa : Gender Sentencing Of Rural Property Offenders, Maria Dorothy Herring Koeppel

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

During recent decades, sentencing patterns of offenders based on gender have been the topic of criminological and sociological research. There has been particular attention given to the lenient sentencing of female offenders compared to male offenders. Several research studies have found that gender affects the sentencing process in ways that are advantageous to female offenders, such as lower incarceration rates and shorter prison sentences. Despite the existing research on gender and sentencing, there are still several specific areas that need to be studied regarding this topic, such as property crimes and rural areas. The current research adds to the existing …

Language Exclusionary Behavior And Attitudes Toward Immigrants, Christine L. Bennett

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Immigrants often speak languages that natives do not understand, leading to intentional or inadvertent ostracism, which in turn may increase perceptions of threat. For example, English language participants excluded from a conversation in Spanish report more negative reactions than participants excluded in English (Hitlan, Kelly, & Zarate, 2010). Integrated threat theory (ITT) suggests that there are four threats that lead to prejudice toward outgroups such as immigrants: realistic threat, symbolic threat, intergroup anxiety, and negative stereotypes (Stephan, Ybarra, & Bachman, 1999). The current study expanded upon prior research by ostracizing participants in English, Spanish, or Arabic and then measuring participants' …

A Case Study Of The Perceptions Of Stakeholders From A School District In Iowa On The Impact Of No Child Left Behind On The Comprehensive High School, Brian Coppess

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The American comprehensive high school was designed for a diverse society (Wraga, 1998, p. 1 ). The concept originated in the 1920s as a result of a report entitled The Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education (Commission on the Reorganization of Secondary Education [CRSE], 1918). Since the adoption of The Cardinal Principles, the institution of the comprehensive high school has withstood years of continued review and reform efforts. Despite the many attempts to change it, the comprehensive high school has remained a constant of secondary education in America. The nation's most recent educational reform effort-the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, …

Service Learning : A Vehicle To Reflective Thinking, Janelle Lynn Hawk

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Education reform is a topic that has been around for a long time. With the passage of No Child Left Behind in 2002, states set out to set high standards for students. While setting high standards is a worthwhile goal, the method to reach those high standards has not been mandated. This research study sought to determine if exposing students to a service-learning project would increase reflective thinking, communication, and social interaction skills.

The questions that guided this study were:

1. Does engagement in a service-learning project impact the individual's development of reflective thinking? If so, what is that impact? …

Trends In Environmental Concern By Grade Level: A Study Of Elementary, Middle, And High School Students, Ryan David Lensing

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Environmental concern has been frequently measured since the 1970's, however, much of this research has focused on adults. Of the studies that look at students, the majority focus on high school with little attention given to middle or elementary grades. None of these studies have looked at elementary, middle, and high school students from the same population. This study uses the NEP Scale for Children in conjunction with free response questions to examine the trends in environmental concern from 120 Catholic elementary, middle school, and high school students from Des Moines, Iowa. The findings show no significant differences in levels …

Struggling Learners Of Mathematics: An Investigation Of Their Learning Through Reform-Based Instruction, Jennifer Pothast

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to explore mathematics instruction which implements reform-based problems within a traditionally taught classroom and its effect on struggling learners of mathematics. The reform-based problems implemented during the course of this study dealt with area and perimeter concepts at the fifth grade level. For this study, struggling learners of mathematics were defined as students scoring below the 40th percentile on the mathematics subtests of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. The regular classroom teacher taught all lessons during the unit of instruction, while the researcher collected data from students using multiple methods: pretests and posttests, …

A Glance Backwards: An Analysis Of Youth Resiliency Through Autoethnographical And Life History Lenses, Toney Bissett Ford

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to investigate youth resiliency employing dual methodologies, auto-ethnography and life history research respectively, to reveal how two middle-aged adults (one African-American, the other Caucasian) achieved resiliency; and most importantly, how their experiences and insights might inform ongoing efforts to promote youth resiliency. This research project was a follow-up to a previous study (involving four African American participants – two males and two females) conducted to determine the roles that schools and communities play in promoting youth resiliency.

Offering insights into the usefulness of extended research, Herr and Anderson (2005) captured the essence of my …

A Late-Quaternary Record Of Environmental Variability From Lake Sediment Cores, Wind River Range, Wyoming, Tyler Johnson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Sediment cores from two alpine lakes in Wyoming's Wind River Range were collected and analyzed to establish a record of depositional and mineralogical variability. Due to the hydrologic setting and isolation of Fiddlers and Louis lakes, these cores yielded the longest continuous limnological record in the region that extends back nearly 20,000 years to full-glacial conditions, a rarity for alpine lakes in the western United States.

To develop a paleolimnological record for Fiddlers and Louis lakes, the sediment cores were analyzed using four laboratory techniques. These techniques included particle size analysis, x-ray diffraction, heavy mineral analysis, and loss-on-ignition. Radiocarbon ages …

A Comparison Of Forgiveness Across Two Cultures: Lebanon And The United States, Zeina Yousof

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Research suggests that the propensity to forgive expressed by societies is often influenced by the cultural orientation of the society. Collectivistic societies tend to express a higher level of willingness to forgive than individualistic societies. This study examined how two samples of different cultural orientations, Lebanese and American, define forgiveness and express their feelings, thoughts and behavior towards a specific offender who has hurt them in the past. In addition to that, the willingness to forgive of the two samples was measured. Measurement instruments for this study consisted of the Enright Forgiveness Inventory and the Willingness to Forgive scale. These …

Evaluation Of The Care Manager Role In Primary Care, Malaika Stoll Md, Mpa, Lynn M. Deitrick Rn, Phd, Nancy Gratz Mpa, Pam Marcks, Kathleen Moser

Administration & Leadership

No abstract provided.

Motion Of The Multisegmental Foot In Hallux Valgus, Karl Canseco, Leah Rankine, Jason T. Long, Thomas Smedberg, Richard Marks, Gerald F. Harris

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Hallux valgus is a common condition characterized by lateral deviation of the large toe and medial deviation of the first metatarsal. While some gait analyses of patients with hallux valgus have been performed using plantar pressures, very little is known about the kinematics of gait in this population. The purpose of this study was to evaluate triplanar kinematics in patients with hallux valgus using a multisegmental foot model. Materials and Methods: A 15-camera Vicon Motion Analysis System was used to evaluate the gait of 38 feet in 33 patients with mild to severe hallux valgus. The Milwaukee foot model was …

Book Review: Digital Forensic Evidence Examination, Gary C. Kessler

Publications

This document is Dr. Kessler's review of the second edition of Digital Forensic Evidence Examination by Fred Cohen. ASP Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-1-878109-45-3

Assessing Service-Learning To Improve Instruction, Sally Blomstrom, Hak Tam

Publications

Experiential learning has been an area of interest for over 30 years within the field of communication. Service-learning has gained popularity (Oster-Aaland, Sellnow, Nelson, & Pearson, 2004) particularly in public relations (Panici & Lasky, 2002). This paper presents a discipline-defined framework for service-learning in public relations, suggestions for implementing the assessment measure, and reflection on its use.

Introduction To Public Librarianship, Kathleen De La Peña Mccook

School of Information Faculty Publications

Preface Public libraries in the United States of America are in their third century of service as the heart of communities throughout the nation. Our public libraries are our public sphere open to all who desire to use their services—both as cultural spaces and as virtual services. The literature of public librarianship is extensive, but it is also dispersed among many specializations such as management, information technology,youth services, and community planning. In truth, public librarianship incorporates all of these specializations, just as public librarians work to serve all people—all backgrounds, all ethnicities, all ages, all religions or no religion, all …

Unions In Public And Academic Libraries, Kathleen De La Peña Mccook

School of Information Faculty Publications

The role of unions and collective bargaining in U.S public and academic libraries is stated with a summary of historical development. After noting the lack of national association attention to unionization, the evolution of the American Library Association-Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA) is described. The connection between human rights and unions is discussed. Appendices with URLS of public and academic library worker unions in the United States and Canada as compiled by the author are included.

Whole Genome Wide Expression Profiles Of Vitis Amurensis Grape Responding To Downy Mildew By Using Solexa Sequencing Technology, Jiao Wu, Yali Zhang, Huiqin Zhang, Hong Huang, Kevin M. Folta, Jiang Lu

School of Information Faculty Publications

Background: Downy mildew (DM), caused by pathogen Plasmopara viticola (PV) is the single most damaging disease of grapes (Vitis L.) worldwide. However, the mechanisms of the disease development in grapes are poorly understood. A method for estimating gene expression levels using Solexa sequencing of Type I restriction-endonuclease-generated cDNA fragments was used for deep sequencing the transcriptomes resulting from PV infected leaves of Vitis amurensis Rupr. cv. Zuoshan-1. Our goal is to identify genes that are involved in resistance to grape DM disease.

Results: Approximately 8.5 million (M) 21-nt cDNA tags were sequenced in the cDNA library derived from PV pathogen-infected …

[Rd] Prism Library: Patient Registry Item Specifications And Metadata For Rare Diseases, Rachel L. Richesson, Denise Shereff, James E. Andrews

School of Information Faculty Publications

Patient registries are important for understanding the causes and origins of rare diseases and estimating their impact; and they may prove critical developing new diagnostics and therapeutics. This paper introduces the [RD] PRISM resource , an NIH-funded project to develop a library of standardized question and answer sets to support rare disease research. The paper presents a project case-driven plan for creating a new registry using questions from an existing related registry, revising and expanding an existing registry, and showing interoperability of data collected from different registries and data sources. Each of the use cases involves the retrieval of indexed …

Force Balance Design For Educational Wind Tunnels, Scott Post, Martin Morris

Publications

A typical educational wind tunnel need only measure the lift and drag forces and be able to control the angle of attack of the mounted model. This paper presents a simple design for the balance apparatus to measure lift and drag. Two load cells are used in the apparatus, one to measure the vertical force (lift) and one to measure the horizontal force (drag). This can be used for aerodynamics studies of airplane and airfoil models, as well as ground vehicles such as trucks and cars. If desired, a third load cell can be added to enable measurements of the …

Plausible Methods For Populating Virtual Scenes, Catherine Ennis, Anton Gerdelan, Carol O'Sullivan

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Visual Motion Of Curves And Surfaces, Andrei Ludu

Publications

This is Dr. Ludu's review of the book Visual Motion of Curves and Surfaces by Roberto Cipolla and Peter Giblin. Published by Cambridge University Press in 2009. ISBN: 978-0-521-63251-5.

Five Supreme Court Cases Everyone Should Know, Ann K. Vaught

Honors Theses

Operating under the assumption that the average college student knows little to nothing about the Supreme Court and significant cases in the field of American constitutional law, the author hypothesizes that this ignorance is due not to an inability to understand the material, but an unwillingness on the part of the average student to expend the effort necessary to decipher the "legalese" of an average Supreme Court opinion. The author also hypothesizes that it is the high and lofty language of the opinions that generally disenchants the reader, and not the information itself. Therefore, as a means of testing this …