Digital Commons Network^™

Examining The Impact Of The Cultivation Of Presence On Autonomy, Hai Wright

Theses and Dissertations

Paradoxes, such as the co-existence of stability and continual change, are characteristic of a complex organization. The ability to adapt to change is a vital trait that leaders must acquire to embrace and integrate organizational paradoxes. The autonomous person is one who is best able to adapt to change. The cultivation of presence (CP) is an approach to developing autonomy that holds great promise in facilitating change. The central purpose of this research was to determine if CP was positively related to the fulfillment of the basic psychological need for autonomy. The study involved 14 alumni from graduate degree programs …

Including People With Disabilities In Disaster Preparedness: A Delphi Study, Michael Anthony Castañeda

Theses and Dissertations

Recent disasters demonstrate that the needs of people with disabilities are not being met when disaster strikes. At the root of the problem is a widespread failure to include people with disabilities in preparing for emergencies before they occur. This study used a 2-round Delphi methodology with a panel of experts, consisting of people with disabilities and key players in emergency planning and response. The study instrument consisted of questionnaires containing items presented in Likert, yes-no, and open-ended formats. The goal of the study was to reach consensus on a way for people with disabilities and emergency planners to address …

Schizophrenia, Acculturation, And Chinese American Families : A Review And Clinical Recommendations For Treatment, Lorena Ho

Theses and Dissertations

Schizophrenia is a disorder that appears across cultures, typically creating a tremendous amount of suffering and loss for both the individual diagnosed, and his or her family. While psychosocial family treatment (along with medication) has proved thus far to be the most promising treatment for schizophrenia in Western cultures, it has yet to be proven effective with ethnocultural minority groups. Furthermore, literature shows that Western treatments for schizophrenia cannot be uniformly applied to ethnocultural minority groups with the expectation of similar results. In the United States, Asian Americans, and specifically Chinese Americans, continue to underutilize mental health services for schizophrenia, …

Drivers Of Member Advocacy And Detraction In Credit Unions: Key Contributors To Net Promoter Scores, Neil Goldman

Theses and Dissertations

Credit unions today face an uncertain future, with their very survival in question. This study sought to understand where credit union leaders should focus to foster growth and create lasting organizational success. Treacy and Wiersema (1995) proffer that the key to growth rests in "customer intimacy" and as others suggest, the creation of an exceptional customer experience (McConnell & Huba, 2003; Pine & Gilmore, 1999). As customers for credit unions are called members, an exceptional "member experience" is thus necessary. Customer (or member) satisfaction levels indicate the member experience. Member loyalty levels also reflect the member experience. This study sought …

A Qualitative Program Evaluation Of A Structured Leadership Mentoring Program At A Large Aerospace Corporation, Romney P. Teller

Theses and Dissertations

The researcher utilized a qualitative approach to conduct a program evaluation of the organization where he is employed. The study intended to serve as a program evaluation for the structured in-house mentoring program at a large aerospace corporation (A-Corp). This program evaluation clarified areas in which the current mentoring program is lacking and could be improved to align with best practices for mentoring that have been identified in the research literature. As a participant observer, the researcher used telephone focus groups as the main data source. A secondary data source included documents such as the training manual and intranet descriptions …

Designing High Fidelity Simulation To Maximize Student Registered Nursing Decision-Making Ability, Cathleen Deckers

Theses and Dissertations

The current healthcare environment is a complex system of patients, procedures, and equipment that strives to deliver safe and effective medical care. High fidelity simulation provides healthcare educators with a tool to create safety conscious practitioners utilizing an environment that replicates practice without risk to patients. Using HFS learning opportunities to refine a learner's clinical decision-making skills under time pressure and high stakes outcomes could provide new opportunities for training the healthcare workforce of the future. This design based research project explored how to structure HFS training to facilitate the development of decision-making in second semester Registered Nursing learners. Borrowing …

Successful Change Strategies For A Major Research And Consulting Company, Islam Ahmad Azzam

Theses and Dissertations

This case study describes a major change initiative undertaken by a major consulting-contracting agency, 3 Tier Research and Development, Inc., engaged in market branding, research, and development in the United States. Focusing on one client account, Go-Green Auto Corp, the study scrutinizes relevant organizational theories as they apply to real-time organizational leadership and change-management strategy scenarios. Members of the studied organization from one office in Southern California, predisposed by their own mind-sets and training in the organization's mission statement and policies and procedures of operation, voluntarily participated in field research that included questionnaires and interviews by the researcher. The goal …

Childhood Physical Abuse And Adulthood Mortality In Treatment-Seeking Male Veterans With Combat-Related Ptsd, Anna F. Leshner

Theses and Dissertations

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been associated with increased overall risk for mortality as well as deaths death due to behavioral causes in combat veterans. In addition, adverse childhood experiences, including childhood physical abuse, have been associated with many of the leading causes of death in adults. The present study investigated childhood physical punishment experiences in 1,866 U.S. military male combat veterans who had been in residential PTSD treatment in order to explore whether such experiences were related to increased risk for mortality or cause of death in this population. It was hypothesized that more physical punishment would be related …

The Role Of Digitally Native, Nonprofit News Media In The Future Of American Journalism: An Exploratory Study, Rebecca Coates Nee

Theses and Dissertations

Unprecedented changes in journalism practices have been occurring since the 21st century ushered in the digital age. News gathering methods, means of information delivery, and consumer habits have altered dramatically because of technological advances, causing a disruption in the traditional business model. Newspapers, historically the key instrument for investigative and public affairs reporting in the United States, have been the media sector facing the biggest decline in revenue and circulation. While the audience is migrating to traditional news outlets online, the advertisers are not. Free services such as eBay and Craig's List have contributed to a nearly 50% drop in …

How Husbands Can Support Their Wives In Achieving Weight Management Goals: The Development Of A Self-Help Resource, Christi Lynn Kush

Theses and Dissertations

The nationwide prevalence of obesity calls for more effective strategies for weight loss and maintenance of desired weight. The majority of weight loss programs focus on behavior change (diet and exercise) with some success, although lost weight is often regained. Interventions that boost the long-term effects of weight loss achievements are greatly needed. Marriage provides an ideal context for the lifestyle changes required for effective weight maintenance. Although well-intentioned, spouses may not know how to support their partner's weight loss efforts. Because women are more likely than men to attend to their spouses' health needs and women struggle more than …

Religious And Spiritual Beliefs, Practices, Professional Attitudes And Behaviors Of Clinical And Counseling Psychology Interns, Jeanette Francis

Theses and Dissertations

It is important for clinicians to address religious and spiritual matters in their psychological treatment. Personal religious and spiritual beliefs can have a significant impact on the consideration of religious and spiritual issues in psychotherapy. The religious and spiritual views of clinicians form as a function of general development and may be influenced by graduate education and training. The current study sought to determine the religious and spiritual attitudes, beliefs, and practices of doctoral students in clinical and counseling psychology, their views on religious and spiritual clinical interventions, and the effect of graduate education and training on both of these …

Influence Of Social Support And Intimate Partner Abuse In African American Mothers' Substance Use, Shaquita Tillman

Theses and Dissertations

African American women are at increased risk for severe forms of partner abuse. Moreover, women abused while pregnant have reported higher frequencies of severe intimate partner abuse compared with women who have been abused only before and/or after pregnancy. Literature suggests that social support is a critical resource for abused women who are seeking safety. Specifically, African American women, both those who report experiences of abuse and those who do not, endorse social support as a healthy coping strategy. The current study is a secondary analysis of the multisite Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study dataset looking at the relationship …

Significant Traits, Characteristics, And Qualities Of High Effective United Methodist Church Clergy, Grant John Hagiya

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation attempts to identify the key traits, characteristics, and qualities of high effective United Methodist Church clergy. The experimental study employed a mixed methods design, with a quantitative component that compared high effective and low effective clergy on the dimensions of their Emotional Intelligence using the BarOn Assessment, leadership qualities using the Leadership Practices Inventory, church size and vitality, and finally, self identification as to leadership abilities and ministry effectiveness. It also included a qualitative component in the form of in-depth interviews with high effective United Methodist Church clergy on their leadership traits, characteristics, and qualities. The dissertation's quantitative …

A Study To Determine Differences In The Level Of Perceived Preparedness In Teaching Algebra To Eighth Graders Between Teachers In The United States And Teachers In Lebanon, Seta Khajarian

Theses and Dissertations

Algebra is a branch in mathematics and taking Algebra in middle school is often a gateway to advanced courses in high school. The problem is that the United States and Lebanon had low scores in Algebra in the 2007 Trends in Mathematics and Sciences Study (TIMSS), an international assessment administered to 4th and 8th graders every 4 years. On the 2007 TIMSS, Lebanon's average score in Algebra was 465, a lower score than the United States' average of 501. This paper attempted to determine if there were differences in the level of perceived preparedness between teachers in Lebanon and teachers …

Identifying The Challenges And Support Needs Of Baby Boom Mothers Middle Managers, Audrey Sloofman

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify the challenges, development needs, and support needs of Baby Boomer middle manager women who have children and plan to continue working for the next 10 years. Baby Boomer women have played the role of groundbreakers for other women in the workplace and must continue to do so, as many organizations are still male-dominated at the uppermost levels. As mothers and managers, they have developed a holistic view of the world, which can add insight at C-suite levels. This study involved in-depth interviews with 12 Baby Boom generation women (born between 1946 and …

The Role Of Process Consultation And Appreciative Inquiry In The Coaching Model At Los Angeles Universal Preschool, Karel Kreshek

Theses and Dissertations

Enabling American students to race to the top through the education reform launched by the Obama Administration begins with attention to its youngest citizens. Studies have shown that high-quality early childhood education is associated with improved school achievement in later years. However, limitations in the reach and effectiveness of federal and state preschool programs have prompted the creation of nonprofit organizations dedicated to improving access to preschool for underserved children. One such organization is Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP), whose design includes coaching for childcare providers to heighten the quality of their preschool programs. This study examined the use and …

Romans 12:17-13:10 & Quakers' Relation To The State, Cherice Bock

Quaker Religious Thought

No abstract provided.

Risk Assessment And Prevention Of Pressure Ulcers, Registered Nurses' Association Of Ontario

General Submissions: Community and Population-based Materials

This best practice guideline assists nurses who work in diverse practice settings to identify adults who are at risk of pressure ulcers. This guideline further provides direction to nurses in defining early interventions for pressure ulcer prevention, and to manage Stage I pressure ulcers.

Golan V. Holder: A Look At The Constraints Imposed By The Berne Convention, Daniel J. Gervais

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

One of the central issues in the Golan v. Holder litigation is the extent to which the United States had flexibility to tailor the protection of existing works that had fallen in the public domain when it joined the Berne Convention. This Essay argues that the Berne Convention obligates the United States as a Berne Union member to provide some degree of protection, but otherwise leaves wide latitude to set the conditions under which works in the public domain receive retroactive copyright protection. The Convention itself does not mandate that any particular level of protection be granted to such works …

The Four Pillars Of Constitutional Doctrine, Suzanna Sherry

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Constitutional interpretation, and thus constitutional doctrine, is inevitably controversial. Judges, scholars, lawyers, politicians, and the American public all disagree among themselves, not only about the correct constitutional outcome but even about the right approach to constitutional interpretation. We are unlikely to reach consensus on whether we should read the Constitution as a living and evolving document or instead read it in accordance with a fixed original meaning, much less on whether it does or does not protect campaign contributions, reproductive rights, affirmative action policies, gun ownership, or any of the other contested issues that have recently come before the Supreme …

A Study Of Positive Emotions And Turnover Intentions Among Hong Kong Police Officers : The Mediating Role Of Psychological Capital And Work Well-Being, Chun Lok Lui

Lingnan Theses

With reference to Fredrickson‘s (2001) broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, the current study investigated the mechanism of how positive emotions contribute to desirable outcomes to the organization through psychological capital (PsyCap), which is a positive, state-like, and performance-related resource comprising self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience. To date, only few studies have been done particularly on the relationships between PsyCap and positive emotions among Chinese employees. Studies on PsyCap of police force are even rarer. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the underlying mechanism relating positive emotions and work outcomes, specifically to examine the separate roles of positive …

Spousal Abuse And Social Workers : When Private Sphere Goes Public, King Fan, Veronica Shek

Lingnan Theses

This study uses the concept of public and private spheres to analyze how Hong Kong‘s social workers manage spousal abuse cases. Victims of spousal abuse in Hong Kong generally see their experiences as "family shame‖" something that belongs to the private domain - and are therefore reluctant to disclose them to third parties. However, there is a public conviction that social workers are appropriate agents to handle spousal abuses. This study examines the roles and responsibilities of social workers and their service recipients in spousal abuse cases. The analysis is based on eleven semi-structured, in-depth interviews conducted with social workers …

Smoking Restrictions In Bars And Bartender Smoking In The Us, Christopher (Kitt) Carpenter, Marianne P. Bitler, Madeline Zavodny

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Objective The present work is an analysis of whether adoption of state clean indoor air laws (SCIALs) covering bars reduces the proportion of bartenders who smoke primarily by reducing smoking among people already employed as bartenders when restrictions are adopted or by changing the composition of the bartender workforce with respect to smoking behaviours.

Methods Logistic regressions were estimated for a variety of smoking outcomes, controlling for individual demographic characteristics, state economic characteristics, and state, year, and month fixed effects, using data on 1380 bartenders from the 1992–2007 Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey combined with data on …

Survey Mode Effects On Valuation Of Environmental Goods, W. Kip Viscusi, Jason Bell, Joel Huber

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This article evaluates the effect of the choice of survey recruitment mode on the value of water quality in lakes, rivers, and streams. Four different modes are compared: bringing respondents to one central location after phone recruitment, mall intercepts in two states, national phone-mail survey, and an Internet survey with a national, probability-based sample. The modes differ in terms of the representativeness of the samples, non-response rates, sample selection effects, and consistency of responses. The article also shows that the estimated benefit value can differ substantially depending on the survey mode. The national Internet panel has the most desirable properties …

Rethinking Novelty In Patent Law, Sean B. Seymore

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The novelty requirement seeks to ensure that a patent will not issue if the public already possesses the invention. Although gauging possession is usually straightforward for simple inventions, it can be difficult for those in complex fields like biotechnology, chemistry, and pharmaceuticals. For example, if a drug company seeks to patent a promising molecule that was disclosed but never physically made in the prior art, the key possession question is whether a person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) could have made it at the time of the prior disclosure. Put differently, could the PHOSITA rely on then-existing knowledge …

Effect Of Collaborative Planning For An Activity-Based Approach To Early Intervention For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders Across School And Home Environments, Marisa J. Salazar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) continues to rise, families and educators are challenged with providing intensive, evidence-based practices in the least restrictive environment. Evidence exists for a variety of effective intervention approaches. Selection of appropriate interventions requires consideration of the individual needs of the child and family. An activity-based approach to early intervention combines strategies from a variety of evidence-based practices and allows for intensity of instruction through distributed opportunities for practice. Brief teaching interactions are elicited within the context of typical routines and activities throughout the day. Thus, intervention can be provided in inclusive classroom settings …

Effects Of Deadline Conditions On Learners Of Different Procrastination Tendencies In An Online Course, Pin Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of three deadline conditions (i.e., frequent-instructor-set-deadline condition, flexible-instructor-set-deadline condition, and self-imposed-deadline condition) on students of different academic procrastination levels (high, medium, and low) in terms of their perceived learning, academic performance, and course satisfaction in an online course. A 3 x 3 factorial quasi-experimental design was adopted for this study. One hundred and seventy three students from three classes of different majors voluntarily participated in the study with 50 students majoring in Agriculture, 61 in International Trading, and 62 in Food Manufacturing. The three classes were randomly assigned to three …

Role Of Membrane Lipids In Modulating Protein Structure & Function, Ray Supriyo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A-B family of toxins consists of plant toxins such as ricin and bacterial toxins such as cholera. The A subunit is the enzymatic domain and the B subunit is the receptor binding domain. Commonly, these toxins bind to the target cell plasma membrane receptors through their B subunit followed by endocytosis and a transport to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Inside the ER, the A subunit dissociates from the rest of the toxin, unfolds and triggers the ER quality control mechanism of ER-associated degradation (ERAD). Most ERAD substrates are purged out of the ER into the cytosol for proteasomal degradation. However, …

High Pressure And Micro-Spectroscopic Studies Of Single Living Erythrocytes And The Intraerythrocytic Multplication Cycle Of Plasmodium Falciparum, Silki Arora

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A novel experimental approach for micro-absorption spectroscopy and high-pressure microscopy of single cells is developed and applied to the investigation of morphological, volume, and spectroscopic changes in healthy red blood cells (RBCs) and erythrocytes infected with the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Through real-time optical imaging of individual erythrocytes (size ~ 7[micrometer]) we determine the change in volume over the pressure range from 0.1 to 210 MPa. The lateral diameter of healthy RBCs decreases reversibly with pressure with an approximate slope of 0.015 [micrometer] / MPa. In infected cells, clear differences in the deformability and between the compression and decompression curves …

Hybrid Adult Neuron Culture Systems For Use In Pharmacological Testing, Darin Keay Edwards

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Neuronal culture systems have many applications, such as basic research into neuronal structure, function, and connectivity as well as research into diseases, conditions, and injuries affecting the brain and its components. In vitro dissociated neuronal systems have typically been derived from embryonic brain tissue, most commonly from the hippocampus of E18 rats. This practice has been motivated by difficulties in supporting regeneration, functional recovery and long-term survival of adult neurons in vitro. The overall focus of this dissertation research was to develop a dissociated neuronal culture system from human and animal adult brain tissue, one more functionally and developmentally correlative …