Digital Commons Network^™

Content Analysis Of Acculturation Research In Counseling And Counseling Psychology: A 22-Year Review, Eunju Yoon, Kimberly Langrehr, Lee Za Ong

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

The authors conducted a 22-year (1988–2009) content analysis of quantitative empirical research that included acculturation and/or enculturation as a study variable(s). A total of 138 studies in 134 articles were systematically evaluated from 5 major American Psychological Association and American Counseling Association journals in counseling and counseling psychology, including Journal of Counseling Psychology, The Counseling Psychologist, Journal of Counseling and Development, Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, and Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. To guide the analysis, the authors conceptualized acculturation/enculturation as a “bilinear” (i.e., developing cultural orientations to both majority and ethnic cultures) and “multidimensional” (i.e., across …

The Influence Of Antidiabetic Medications On The Development And Progression Of Prostate Cancer, Anna Elizabeth Hitron

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

The development of prostate tumors has been linked to co-morbid diabetes mellitus (DM) in several studies, potentially through the stimulation of insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGFR). This study evaluates the effect of anti-diabetic medication use on the development of high grade tumors and time to tumor progression compared to non-diabetics. This retrospective, nested case control study identified patients with prostate cancer (PCa) from the Kentucky Medicaid Database. Cases were diagnosed with PCa and DM and using at least one of the following antidiabetic medications; sulfonylureas, insulin, metformin or TZDs. Cases were further stratified on their insulin exposure resulting from therapy. …

Initial Response Of Invasive Exotic Plant Species To Timber Harvesting In Southeastern Kentucky Forests, Kevin Patrick Devine

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

The responses of invasive exotic plant species (IES) to silvicultural treatments one growing season after timber harvesting were examined in the Cumberland Plateau region of Southeastern Kentucky. Treatments included a commercial deferment harvest and unharvested control applied to five watersheds within University of Kentucky’s Robinson Forest. The effects of harvesting were compared between treatments and between preharvest and postharvest samplings. The spatial distribution and abundance of targeted IES throughout forest sites and trail systems were calculated from several sampling schemes. Additional analyses were performed to quantify forest disturbances derived from harvest activities to determine the relationships between soil, light levels, …

Responding To Narratives Of Sexualized Violence In The College Composition Classroom, Tessa M. Pitré

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This project examines the multiple challenges inherent in instructor response to narratives of sexualized violence within the college composition classroom. Rape, as well as other forms of sexualized violence, on university campuses is an endemic problem that affects the lives and safety of those who belong to these communities. This project considers, the multiple ways in which narratives of survival or experience of rape and other forms of sexualized violence enter the composition classroom. Drawing from the fields of trauma studies and feminist pedagogy, this paper suggests that there is an institutional failure to talk about sexualized violence in ways …

Perceptions Of Five Low-Income Parents On School Readiness, Roanne Eugenia Malm

Theses and Dissertations

This small-scale qualitative study explored the perceptions of five low-income mothers regarding their child's readiness for kindergarten. The study has the potential to help early childhood advocates and other stakeholders (a) understand how low-income environments influence school readiness, (b) understand the aspirations low-income parents have for their children, (c) discover ways to improve the transition to school for economically disadvantaged children, and (d) engage parents in a more equitable manner--ultimately helping all children start kindergarten with success.

Parents selected for this study had a child age 4-5 who was the oldest child in the family, on a Head Start waiting …

Pilot Study: Barriers To Whole Grain Consumption Among Diabetics Of German Heritage, Nicole Erickson

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Whole grains play a cost-effective role in the treatment and prevention of type 2 diabetes, yet consumption remains well below recommendations. This pilot study showed that nonfamilial environmental factors have a strong influence on whole grain consumption among type 2 diabetics of German descent. Dietary records and grain questionnaires were used to probe subjects’ knowledge of the benefits of whole grains, reasons for grain preferences, and actual consumption. For this population (n=18), mean whole grain consumption ( = 48±30 g/d = 3±2 servings/d) was much higher than the national average (μ ≤ 1 serving/d). Misunderstanding of labels negatively influenced whole …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between The Generation A Teacher Is Born Into, Teaching Style, And High School Student Engagement, Catherine L. Meyer-Looze

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Educators across America are attempting to prepare students for a world of rapid change, including globalization and the move from industrialization to the Age of Information (Marx, 2006). Dynamics of change include teachers, who encompass a wide range of generations and experiences (Marx, 2006). Each generation includes a set of value and belief systems (Oblinger, 2003). Each generation has been engaged in their learning experiences in differing ways.

The primary purposes of this study were to determine if there were relationships between teacher generation and teaching style, teacher generation and student engagement, and teaching style and student engagement. A survey …

Insulin Based Inhibitors Of Human Islet Amyloid Polypeptide (Hiapp) And Their Effect On Aggregation Of Hiapp In The Treatment Of Type Ii Diabetes, Ranadheer R. Pesaru

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Human islet amyloid polypeptide protein (hIAPP) is secreted by the pancreas along with insulin and is assumed to play a role in pathological development of type II diabetes. It has 37 amino acids in its sequence. Amyloid is formed due to misfolding of the protein, which is cytotoxic to beta cells in the pancreas of type II diabetic patients. The presence of amyloid deposits is also a characteristic feature of a number of other diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Since insulin has been reported to interact with hIAPP and block amyloid formation, fragments of insulin were synthesized and …

Ypsilanti: A Cultural Assessment, Sarah Mark

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This research examines the culture of Ypsilanti, Michigan. Participants consisted of four leaders and five residents, all long-term citizens of Ypsilanti. Participants were interviewed and first asked to describe the general culture of Ypsilanti, then asked to comment on the potential presence of a music and arts scene as part of the culture of Ypsilanti. These questions are research questions one and two, respectively. Participants were recruited through word-of-mouth as people heard about the research through people I know. A content analysis of the interviews was conducted to find conceptual patterns in participants’ descriptions of the general culture as well …

Final Offer Arbitration And Major League Baseball, Michael L. Miller

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

In 1974 Major League Baseball implemented the use of Final Offer Arbitration (FOA) to settle contract disputes for those players who were not yet eligible for free agency. Final Offer Arbitration was chosen because of its design to have parties reach settlement before the actual arbitration hearing. The purpose of this research is to evaluate if this system is the best method for settling contract disputes by analyzing whether Major League Baseball and its Players Association are using the system correctly, whether the system is fair and consistent, whether FOA has an effect on player performance, and also whether there …

The Impact Of Breast Cancer Educational Workshops On Knowledge And Breast Self-Examination Practice Among Korean-American Women, Corinne Lee

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Among Korean-American women, breast cancer is the second leading cause of death. Although their incidence is lower than that of Caucasian women, Korean-American women are more likely to be diagnosed at more advanced stages of breast cancer. One of the suggested methods in breast cancer prevention is early detection and routine screenings. The present study was conducted to explore the impact of breast cancer educational workshop on breast cancer knowledge and breast self-examination practices among Korean-American women. The knowledge of breast cancer and the health beliefs (perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and perceived self-efficacy) was examined before and after the educational …

Investigating Trait Attribution Through Gendered Avatar Play: An Analysis Of The Sims 3, Erika M. Behrmann

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigates whether the life-simulation videogame, The Sims 3, enables the deconstruction of the gender binary. The Sims 3 permits its players the capability to attribute similar traits to male or female avatars. In doing so, players can experiment with taboo trait attributions and potentially defy a male-female binary. A group of 82 The Sims 3 players was surveyed to determine their overall male and female Sims trait selections during gameplay. Participants were questioned on how their trait selection related to their personal identities. Results indicated that players tend to select traits that maintain a gender binary. This …

The Relationship Of Interpersonal Sensitivity, Identity Impairment, And Binge Eating Disorder Among College Women, Rachel M. Sienko

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study explored the association of identity impairment and interpersonal sensitivity (IPS) with binge eating disorder (BED). A convenience sample of 295 female undergraduate psychology students from a large Midwestern university was recruited to complete an online survey. Three primary hypotheses were tested: (1) IPS (high fear of negative evaluation and selfconsciousness) would be associated with binge eating; (2) Identity impairment (few total and positive possible selves, many negative possible selves, and a high ratio of negative to total possible selves) would be associated with binge eating; and 3) There would be a significant interaction between identity impairment and IPS …

A Retrospective Study To Evaluate The Efficacy Of Trimethoprim/Sulfamethoxazole (Tmp/Smx) Compared To Daptomycin Or Linezolid For The Treatment Of Infections Due To Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (Mrsa), Aparna Lakshmi Murari

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Background: Staphylococcus aureus is still considered one of the most significant human pathogens in terms of morbidity, mortality, and costs. Vancomycin should be avoided if possible for the treatment of MRSA when the Minimum Inhibiting Concentration (MIC) to Vancomycin is 2μg/mL, as it poses a therapeutic challenge. Main therapeutic options include Daptomycin and Linezolid, two new, expensive drugs, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole(TMP/SMX), an old, inexpensive agent. Study aims were to compare the clinical efficacy and potential cost savings associated with TMP/SMX use.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted at Detroit Medical Center. For calendar year 2009, unique adult patients (>18 years) …

Building Children's Liking And Preferences For Fruits And Vegetables Through School-Based Interventions, Anantha Padmaja Lakkakula

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Children’s food preferences play a major role in their food choices and consumption. The objectives of these studies were to examine the relationship between children’s preferences for fruits and vegetables (FV) and their weight status and to increase children’s liking of FV by offering repeated opportunities to taste less liked items. A representative sample of elementary school children (1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades) were recruited in the three interventions. In the first study, 341 fourth- and fifth-grade children (43% boys; 68% 4th graders) were measured for height and weight and completed a survey which sought their preferences for 38 …

A Performance Guide To Libby Larsen's Sifting Through The Ruins For Mezzo-Soprano, Viola And Piano, Kori Lea Jennings

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of this document is to offer a performance guide of Libby Larsen’s song cycle, "Sifting Through the Ruins," for mezzo-soprano, viola, and piano. The letters and photos, which inspired the texts for this song cycle, were discovered in New York City by mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer while she was struggling to comprehend the events of the World Trade Center attack which took place on September 11, 2001. Chapter 1 discusses the life and vocal works of Libby Larsen. Biographical information is presented, followed by a discussion of Dr. Larsen’s compositional process, her musical style, and the importance she places …

Caught In A Preventive Dragnet: Selective Counterterrorism In A Post 9/11 America, Sahar F. Aziz

Faculty Scholarship

While post-9/11 preventive counterterrorism policies have adversely impacted various groups of Americans, no group has been more profoundly affected than the Muslim, Arab, and South Asian communities. Mosque infiltration has become so rampant that some congregants assume they are under surveillance as they fulfill their religious obligations. Government informants have ensnared numerous, seemingly hapless and unsophisticated young men such that Muslims no longer know whom they can trust among each other. Aggressive prosecutions of Muslim charities and individuals across the country have embittered communities that now feel under siege by their government and distrusted by their non-Muslim compatriots.19 Selective counterterrorism …

Buried Treasure Or Buried Hope? The Status Of Mexico-U.S. Transboundary Aquifers Under International Law, Gabriel E. Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

Transboundary aquifers found along the 2,000 mile-long border between Mexico and the United States are not governed by any treaty. Yet, these aquifers are the primary source of water for many of the twelve million people who live in this parched region. The region’s groundwater, however, is being over-exploited and contaminated, which is threatening the very life that it currently sustains. As populations continue to expand and current rates of haphazard development persist, the absence of an agreement for the management and allocation of this critical resource could lead to bi-national economic, social and environmental tragedies. This study reviews groundwater …

Eeg Artifact Removal Using A Wavelet Neural Network, Hoang-Anh T. Nguyen, John Musson, Jiang Li, Frederick Mckenzie, Guangfan Zhang, Roger Xu, Carl Richey, Tom Schnell, Thomas E. Pinelli (Ed.)

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

In this paper we developed a wavelet neural network. (WNN) algorithm for Electroencephalogram (EEG) artifact removal without electrooculographic (EOG) recordings. The algorithm combines the universal approximation characteristics of neural network and the time/frequency property of wavelet. We compared the WNN algorithm with the ICA technique and a wavelet thresholding method, which was realized by using the Stein's unbiased risk estimate (SURE) with an adaptive gradient-based optimal threshold. Experimental results on a driving test data set show that WNN can remove EEG artifacts effectively without diminishing useful EEG information even for very noisy data.

Prediction Of Brain Tumor Progression Using Multiple Histogram Matched Mri Scans, Debrup Banerjee, Loc Tran, Jiang Li, Yuzhong Shen, Frederic Mckenzie, Jihong Wang, Ronald M. Summers (Ed.), Bram Van Ginneken (Ed.)

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

In a recent study [1], we investigated the feasibility of predicting brain tumor progression based on multiple MRI series and we tested our methods on seven patients' MRI images scanned at three consecutive visits A, B and C. Experimental results showed that it is feasible to predict tumor progression from visit A to visit C using a model trained by the information from visit A to visit B. However, the trained model failed when we tried to predict tumor progression from visit B to visit C, though it is clinically more important. Upon a closer look at the MRI scans …

Automatic Segmentation Of Subfigure Image Panels For Multimodal Biomedical Document Retrieval, Beibei Cheng, Sameer K. Antani, R. Joe Stanley, George R. Thoma

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Biomedical images are often referenced for clinical decision support (CDS), educational purposes, and research. The task of automatically finding the images in a scientific article that are most useful for the purpose of determining relevance to a clinical situation is traditionally done using text and is quite challenging. We propose to improve this by associating image features from the entire image and from relevant regions of interest with biomedical concepts described in the figure caption or discussion in the article. However, images used in scientific article figures are often composed of multiple panels where each sub-figure (panel) is referenced in …

Power & Politics In Resettlement: A Case Study Of Bhutanese Refugees, Christie Shrestha

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

This thesis examines the complexities in the resettlement of Bhutanese refugees. Using anthropological ethnographic field methods, this thesis explores the power dynamics between the employees of a resettlement organization and the refugees and the intricate webs of power within different institutions, such as local NGOs and healthcare institutions. The study argues that humanitarian actions and interventions are often driven by bureaucratic politics and policies that contradict what humanitarianism stands for as apolitical and value-neutral. These contradictions or paradoxes in humanitarianism also are also present in refugee resettlement. Analyzing these paradoxes that characterize resettlement, this thesis illuminates structural discontinuities or gaps …

Evaluation Of The Physicochemical Properties And Stability Of Solid Lipid Nanoparticles Designed For The Delivery Of Dexamethasone To Tumors, Melissa Howard

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Pre-clinical and clinical trials suggest that pre-treatment with dexamethasone (Dex) may facilitate enhanced uptake of subsequently administered chemotherapeutic agents. To reduce the side effects associated with systemic administration of Dex, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) containing dexamethasone palmitate (Dex-P) were prepared as a means of achieving tumor-targeted drug delivery. These studies were aimed at evaluating the physicochemical properties and both the physiological and storage stability of the SLNs.

SLNs were prepared using nanotemplate engineering technology. Stearyl alcohol (SA) was used as the lipid phase with Brij^® 78 and Polysorbate 60 as surfactants and PEG6000 monostearate as a long-chain PEGylating agent. …

Factors Associated With Tobacco Use Among Rural And Urban Pregnant Women, Whitney Jeanne Katirai

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influences of smoking on rural and urban pregnant women. More specifically, the variables of the knowledge of health effects, health provider recommendations, subscores from the Health Belief Model (HBM), and social support were explored in relation to the smoking behavior of pregnant women. A secondary purpose was to investigate the accuracy of self-reported smoking during pregnancy using biochemical validation. Pregnant women (N=71) completed an anonymous questionnaire, designed by the researcher, to identify variables that predicted smoking for urban and rural women. Participants also gave a saliva sample for cotinine testing.

Approximately …

Isolation And Elucidation Of The Chrysomycin Biosynthetic Gene Cluster And Altering The Glycosylation Patterns Of Tetracenomycins And Mithramycin-Pathway Molecules, Stephen Eric Nybo

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Natural products occupy a central role as the majority of currently used antibiotic and anticancer agents. Among these are type-II polyketide synthase (PKS)-derived molecules, or polyketides, which are produced by many representatives of the genus Streptomyces. Some type-II polyketides, such as the tetracyclines and the anthracycline doxorubicin, are currently employed as therapeutics. However, several polyketide molecules exhibit promising biological activity, but due to toxic side effects or solubility concerns, remain undeveloped as drugs.

Gilvocarcin V (GV) (topoisomerase II inhibitor) has a novel mechanism of action: [2+2] cycloaddition to thymine residues by the 8-vinyl side chain and cross-linking of histone …

Computer Simulation Of A Hollow-Fiber Bioreactor: Heparan Regulated Growth Factors-Receptors Binding And Dissociation Analysis, Changjiang Zhang

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This thesis demonstrates the use of numerical simulation in predicting the behavior of proteins in a flow environment.

A novel convection-diffusion-reaction computational model is first introduced to simulate fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2) binding to its receptor (FGFR) on cell surfaces and regulated by heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) under flow in a bioreactor. The model includes three parts: (1) the flow of medium using incompressible Navier-Stokes equations; (2) the mass transport of FGF-2 using convection-diffusion equations; and (3) the cell surface binding using chemical kinetics. The model consists of a set of coupled nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs) for flow and …

“All Must Combine In The Struggle Against The Microbes” Global Biopolitics And Twentieth-Century Health Organizations, Patrick Kothe

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

The following paper explores the rise of global biopolitics by focusing on the League of Nations Health Organization (LNHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) as pivot points around which an international system transitioned into a global system. The central thesis of the paper is that the LNHO served as the first true site of deployment for global discourses on health and hygiene, not as recent scholarship has suggested, the WHO. The purpose of the paper, however, is to provide an overview of the larger transformation of public health in the twentieth century, beginning with the proliferation of nineteenth-­‐century international …

Modeling And Quantitative Analysis Of White Matter Fiber Tracts In Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Xuwei Liang

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique to record incoherent motion of water molecules and has been used to detect micro structural white matter alterations in clinical studies to explore certain brain disorders. A variety of DTI based techniques for detecting brain disorders and facilitating clinical group analysis have been developed in the past few years. However, there are two crucial issues that have great impacts on the performance of those algorithms. One is that brain neural pathways appear in complicated 3D structures which are inappropriate and inaccurate to be approximated by simple 2D structures, …

The Absence Of Abcd2 Reveals A Novel Role For Peroxisomes In The Protection From Metabolic Syndrome, Jingjing Liu

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

ABCD2 (D2) is a peroxisomal ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter that is expressed in brain, adrenal and liver. D2 is transcriptionally regulated by key transcriptional factors that control lipid and glucose metabolism. Therefore, we examined its role in adipose tissue. These studies revealed that D2 is highly abundant in adipose tissue and upregulated during adipogenesis. However, D2 deficiency does not affect either adipogenesis or lipid accumulation. An examination of the lipid profile of adipose tissue revealed the accumulation of C20 and C22 fatty acids in D2 deficient (D2‐/‐) mice. When challenged with a diet enriched in erucic acid (C22:1, 10% …

Genome-Wide Association Studies At The Interface Of Alzheimer’S Disease And Epidemiologically Related Disorders, Christopher Ryan Simmons

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS)s provide an unbiased means of exploring the landscape of complex genetic disease. As such, these studies have identified genetic variants that are robustly associated with a multitude of conditions. I hypothesize that these genetic variants serve as excellent tools for evaluation of the genetic interface between epidemiologically related conditions. Herein, I test the association between SNPs associated with either (i) plasma lipids, (ii) rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or (iii) diabetes mellitus (DM) and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD) to identify shared genetic variants. Regarding the most significantly AD-associated variants, I have also attempted to elucidate their molecular function. …