Digital Commons Network^™

Steps Toward Creating And Validating An Evidence-Based Couples Curriculum, H Wallace Goddard, James P. Marshall, Jonathan R. Olson, Steven A. Dennis

Journal of Extension

This article describes a four-step process for creating an evidence-based couples curriculum and describes the first steps in applying this process. Specifically, we developed a self-report questionnaire to operationalize a model of healthy relationships. We gathered data from 1,204 married people in a southeastern state and conducted a series of analyses to assess the psychometric properties of the questionnaire and the predictive usefulness of the general model. Results indicated partial support for the reliability and validity of the instrument. In addition, certain aspects of the model were significantly related to positive marital outcomes.

Extension Efforts To Restore Bottomland Oaks Requires Knowledge Of Both Trees And Soil, David Mercker, Ryan Blair, Don Tyler, Arnold Saxton, Joshua Smith

Journal of Extension

Bottomland oak restoration projects have been marginally successful because professionals often recommend conventional tree planting procedures that prove problematic in saturated soils. A reliable method of matching oak species to bottomland sites is needed prior to planting. In the study reported here, bottomland oaks were matched to hydric soils based on soil mottling. The findings suggest that as soil drainage improves, species diversity expands. Natural Resource Extension professionals should consider "active" methods of direct technical assistance and field demonstrations and "passive" methods of newsletters, publications, and pamphlets, as delivery methods to educate both landowners and professionals about this subject.

"Apps"—An Innovative Way To Share Extension Knowledge, Joseph S. Dvorak, Tanya C. Franke-Dvorak, Randy R. Price

Journal of Extension

Extension professionals across the country are continuously seeking innovative ways to reach clientele and to disseminate timely, educational information. A new avenue to reach clientele includes the use of smartphone "apps." The "Machinery Sizing" app, which was developed to ease the estimation of tractor horsepower to implement sizing for Extension clientele anytime, anywhere, is explained as a key example for Extension professionals to utilize apps in disseminating information to clientele. There are many benefits to using apps, including information availability wherever Internet service is available on the smartphone, ease of computations of equations, and automatic updates being sent to users.

Extension's Online Presence: Are Land-Grant Universities Promoting The Tripartite Mission?, Shannon Arnold, Alexandra Hill, Nikki Bailey, Courtney Meyers

Journal of Extension

Land-grant universities were established with a tripartite mission: education, research, and outreach through the Cooperative Extension Service. The purpose of the study reported here was to evaluate the online presence and technological adoptions of Extension on land-grant university, college of agriculture, and state Extension websites. Almost half of the university websites did not contain a direct link to Extension, and only 10% highlighted Extension services. Many state Extension websites had some form of social media, but only 45% had a link to eXtension. The results demonstrate the need to expand Extension's Internet presence, particularly on land-grant university websites.

Fact Or Fiction: Ethics Versus Moral Lessons In Young Adult Literature, Amber Trent

McNair Scholars Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Living With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Chalonda Henry

Dissertations

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a commonly diagnosed disorder for both children (and today adults). The literature discusses how ADHD is defined as research continues, the symptoms demonstrated by those diagnosed, how it has been known to affect their main life areas e.g. home, school, social relationships, and how it is assessed, diagnosed and treated. However, reading the literature does not give the reader a sense of the real life perception of ADHD. Children with ADHD and parents of children with ADHD participated in an interview consisting of nine open ended questions. The results were found to be consistent with …

Profiling H-2a Program Participants In Tobacco Farming: Implications For Extension, Jane H. Starnes, Shiferaw T. Feleke, Harwood D. Schaffer, Kelly J. Tiller

Journal of Extension

The challenge to meet tobacco's labor requirements by domestic sources has prompted tobacco growers to seek a foreign source of labor through the H-2A program. The H-2A program is the only legally sanctioned program allowing farm employers to bring foreign workers into the country to perform seasonal and temporary agricultural work. The article profiles H-2A program participants in major tobacco growing states. The results will help Extension personnel better understand their constituents' labor needs and inform the design of specific Extension programs and workshops in farm labor management, labor laws and regulations as well as labor cost-saving measures.

Poultry Farmers' Willingness To Participate In Energy Audits, Kimberly L. Jensen, Roland K. Roberts, Burton C. English

Journal of Extension

Farmers' willingness to participate in energy audits of their poultry operations is influenced by a variety of farm characteristics and farmer demographics. Data from a 2008 survey of Tennessee poultry farmers were used in a logit regression to investigate factors influencing willingness to participate in energy audits. Size of operation, energy costs, use of propane, farm income, use of energy efficiency measures, and share of acreage in row crops influenced willingness to participate. Farmer demographics, including farming experience, educational attainment and use of Extension services, also influenced willingness to participate.

Mixed-Mode Surveys: A Strategy To Reduce Costs And Enhance Response Rates, Daniel Tobin, Joan Thomson, Rama Radhakrishna, Luke Laborde

Journal of Extension

Mixed-mode surveys present one opportunity for Extension to determine program outcomes at lower costs. In order to conduct a follow-up evaluation, we implemented a mixed-mode survey that relied on communication using the Web, postal mailings, and telephone calls. Using multiple modes conserved costs by reducing the number of postal mailings yet maintained an acceptable response rate (67.1%). The case presented here provides further evidence that using mixed-mode survey techniques provides Extension with a tool to conduct rigorous survey research while adapting to budget constraints.

Using On-Line Bulletin Boards To Gather Preliminary Information, Kathleen Kelley, Ramu Govindasamy, Jeffrey Hyde

Journal of Extension

Internet bulletin-board sessions can be used to collect preliminary, qualitative data. This method allows Extension personnel to gather responses from stakeholders about potential programming, consumer needs and desires, and preference for program delivery method without assembling participants in one location. Several other advantages exist, including time available for moderators and researchers to review participants' submissions and ability to alter questions, if needed. Disadvantages, compared to traditional face-to-face focus group session, exist; however, certain shortcomings can be overcome. Preliminary data collected can help Extension personnel identify issues to explore further including programming and opportunities for stakeholders.

Maddy The Mathasaurus: An Interactive Math Game That Introduces The Concept And Properties Of Multiplication And Designed With Consideration For Children With Adhd, Mansi Vora

Theses

ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is one of the most commonly diagnosed behavioral disorder in kids, and is estimated to affect about 8-10% of school-aged children. Research shows that out of these children about 26% particularly have Math learning disabilities. The cognitive ability to understand and solve complex mathematical problems requires high level of concentration over a longer duration of time. This ability is disrupted in certain children due to ADHD. Therefore these students are likely to receive lower grades or even failure in standardized measures. However, if an educational environment is created that is specifically targeted towards reducing the …

Meat-Wise Eating Habits, Jenna Haycock, Kelly Anderson, Roslynn Brain

All Current Publications

No abstract provided.

Md Mouse: Integrated Blood Pressure Device, Anand Shah, Jamila Mckenzie, Rex Weinstein, Noelle Nelson, Clayton Goertemiller

Intersections Fall 2020

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a public health concern due to both its pervasiveness and the significant risk of disability, stroke, or heart attack that can occur years after high blood pressure is detected. Furthermore, new pandemic statistics suggest that patients with hypertension experience greater health consequences of COVID-19, indicating that the condition is more circumstantially deadly. Occasional visits to a doctor's office, the most common method to measure blood pressure, only provide a snapshot of a person's blood pressure and are not an accurate characterization. This is because blood pressure can fluctuate based on daily changes to the …

System For Enhanced Removal Of Gastrointestinal Clots, Neha Boinpally, Megan Buford, Emma Hammelef, Sharmila Iyer, Keyvon Rashidi

Intersections Fall 2020

Gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding is a hazardous clinical condition often resulting in morbidities and mortality in patients. After diagnosis, treatment options include administering proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), embolic agents to aid in the breakdown of the clots. At the same time, hemostasis can also be achieved using targeted endoscopic techniques and hemostatic forceps. During the procedure, the blood clots and other fibrous material are removed from the GI tract via suction from the endoscope instrument. However, this process is not overly effective with regard to removing the clots from the GI tract since the clots often cause blockages in the suction …

Stress Measurement Wearable Device Optimized For Use In The Clinical Icu, Jacob Baraz, Max Jesurum, Mason Jiang, Cierra Spriggs, Ryan Tatton

Intersections Fall 2020

The current benchmark for measuring stress in the intensive care unit (ICU) is the perceived stress questionnaire (PSQ). Validated by a large population of in-patients, the PSQ is a self-reported questionnaire used in clinical and laboratory settings for assessing stressful circumstances that typically exacerbate disease symptoms. However, clinicians and nurses operating in the ICU could benefit from a more efficient system for measuring the stress of admitted patients. Monitoring physiological markers for the degree of stress can aid clinicians in providing accurate and effective treatment methods to benefit the health condition and alleviate the stress of the patient. The proposed …

Episleeve: Multimodal Night-Time Seizure Detection, Jorge Mirabelli, Sophia Hall, Dylan Rasmussen, Luca Lin, Devin Lewis

Intersections Fall 2020

This project involves the creation of a nighttime wearable device that can measure heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, temperature, motion, and skin resistivity using sensors placed on the upper and lower arm. Incorporating a wide variety of sensors allows for detection of focal and generalized epilepsy. These sensors will be used to collect data to wirelessly (via Bluetooth) transmit to a separate base station for processing to determine if a seizure has occurred. If a seizure is detected for a specified period of time, the base station can call (via cellular communications) for medical aid to prevent harm to users. …

Development Of Core Body Temperature (Cbt) And Heart Rate Wearable Device, Brenna Carbone, Madison Castellanos, Jonathan Chen, Jenna Wagner

Intersections Fall 2020

Hyperthermia is a condition when the body's heat-regulation system is overwhelmed and a person's core body temperature (CBT) is above 100.4°F (38°C). This is a major risk among athletes and occupational workers in the military, construction, manufacturing, and emergency response who engage in intense physical activity. Currently the gold standard to measure CBT is through a rectal thermometer. While rectal thermometers are accurate, they are quite invasive and do not provide a way for continuous monitoring. Other skin and oral thermometers which are considered noninvasive are not accurate because they only measure surface temperature and are easily influenced by other …

The Deliberate Integration Of Creativity Into Strategic Planning, Laura A. Ryan

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

The Deliberate Integration of Creativity into Strategic Planning

The purpose of this project is to explore the deliberate use of creativity in strategic planning. A framework for strategic planning and metacognition tools aligned with each phase is posited. In addition, a bifurcation of the process is suggested in order to engage in strategic innovation where groundbreaking initiatives are warranted. Creative culture and the make-up of creative teams are also addressed.

Deliberate Use Of Creative Problem Solving In Art Making, Rebecca Dame-Seidler

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project explores the productivity of the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) tools in the visual art making process. The project offered the opportunity for high school student volunteer’s to participate in an after school program called Creative Art Group Experience (CAGE). Volunteers learned and made use of CPS tools to guide their art making. The project researched the effectiveness of using CPS tools in art making documenting volunteer progress and feedback. As an art educator, I had the opportunity to evaluate the impact of using CPS tools with the art-making process. The results of CAGE will benefit how CPS tools …

Human Centered Design Approach To Mentoring, Jennifer Lynn Potratz

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

Design Thinking is quickly changing from a model of designing products to becoming known for human centered design. This change has occurred with the work of companies like IDEO, who strive to bring about change to non-profits in socially innovative ways. With this knowledge, more people are utilizing Design Thinking in new and challenging ways. This project serves to use Design Thinking and human centered design to assist in the ongoing challenge of youth who age out of the foster care system by creating a lesson plan to teach foster care and adoption agencies effective ways to recruit mentors and …

"Apps"—An Innovative Way To Share Extension Knowledge, Joseph S. Dvorak, Tanya C. Franke-Dvorak, Randy R. Price

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Extension professionals across the country are continuously seeking innovative ways to reach clientele and to disseminate timely, educational information. A new avenue to reach clientele includes the use of smartphone "apps." The "Machinery Sizing" app, which was developed to ease the estimation of tractor horsepower to implement sizing for Extension clientele anytime, anywhere, is explained as a key example for Extension professionals to utilize apps in disseminating information to clientele. There are many benefits to using apps, including information availability wherever Internet service is available on the smartphone, ease of computations of equations, and automatic updates being sent to users.

Directional Tonality In Schumann's Early Works, Benjamin K. Wadsworth

Faculty Articles

Beginning and ending a work in the same key, thereby suggesting a hierarchical structure, is a hallmark of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century practice. Occasionally, however, early nineteenth-century works begin and end in different, but equally plausible keys (directional tonality), thereby associating two or more keys in decentralized complexes. Franz Schubert’s works are sometimes interpreted as central to this practice, especially those that extend third relationships to larger, often chromatic cycles. Robert Schumann’s early directional-tonal works, however, have received less analytical scrutiny. In them, pairings are instead diatonic between two keys, which usually relate as relative major and minor, thereby allowing Schumann …

Biochemical Characterization Of Binding Partners Of Two Hsp70 Co-Chaperones In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Jacob Verghese

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Cells are exposed to a variety of environmental and physiological changes including temperature, pH and nutrient availability. These changes cause stress to cells, which results in protein misfolding and altered cellular protein homeostasis. How proteins fold into their three-dimensional functional structure is a fundamental biological process with important relevance to human health. Misfolded and aggregated proteins are linked to multiple neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular disease and cystic fibrosis. To combat proteotoxic stress, cells deploy an array of molecular chaperones that assist in the repair or removal of misfolded proteins.

Hsp70, an evolutionarily conserved molecular chaperone, promotes protein folding and helps maintain …

A Study On The Function Of 14-3-3sigma In Regulating Cancer Energy Metabolism, Liem M. Phan, Liem M. Phan

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Metabolic reprogramming has been shown to be a major cancer hallmark providing tumor cells with significant advantages for survival, proliferation, growth, metastasis and resistance against anti-cancer therapies. Glycolysis, glutaminolysis and mitochondrial biogenesis are among the most essential cancer metabolic alterations because these pathways provide cancer cells with not only energy but also crucial metabolites to support large-scale biosynthesis, rapid proliferation and tumorigenesis. In this study, we find that 14-3-3σ suppresses all these three metabolic processes by promoting the degradation of their main driver, c-Myc. In fact, 14-3-3s significantly enhances c-Myc poly-ubiquitination and subsequent degradation, reduces c-Myc transcriptional activity, and down-regulates …

"Leadership Is Behaving And Acting Like A Leader": A Narrative Exploration Of The Life Stories Of Three Latino Leaders In Healthcare, Kevin L. Flores

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

There is a dearth of Latino leaders holding executive positions in healthcare. The purpose of this study was to provide a privileged platform for the voice of Latino leaders in healthcare who, by definition, emanated from a marginalized population. This study began with the assumption that the stories of Latino leaders were different than leaders of the majority population due to their ethnicity. Latino critical theory asserts that concepts like leadership need to be viewed through an ethnic lens. The overarching question that guided this study was: What do the stories of three Latino leaders reveal about their development as …

Evolution Of The Calcareous Nannofossil Genus Biscutum In The Mid- To Upper Cretaceous North American Mid-Latitudes, Bobbi J. Brace

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The calcareous nannofossil genus Biscutum is ubiquitous in mid to Upper Cretaceous pelagic sediments and is an important paleoceanographic proxy for surface water fertility. Most work on the evolution of Biscutum has been conducted on high latitude sections or Lower Cretaceous or Jurassic sediments, leaving a gap in the understanding of Biscutum evolution in mid-latitudes during the mid to Late Cretaceous. This study documents the evolution of Biscutum during the mid to Late Cretaceous in a mid-latitude composite section from North America. Six new species of Biscutum are presented herein, in addition to an emended Biscutum constans species concept. An …

Making Room For Formative Assessment Processes: A Multiple Case Study, Rob Mcentarffer

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This qualitative instrumental multiple case study (Stake, 2005) explored how teachers made room for formative assessment processes in their classrooms, and how thinking about assessment changed during those formative assessment experiences. Data were gathered from six teachers over three months and included teacher interviews, student interviews, participant-observation notes, videos of classroom experiences, and classroom artifacts. These data were analyzed using a category construction method (Merriam, 2009) that involved open coding, axial coding, and finally a cross-case analysis that grouped axial codes according to themes relating to the two research questions. Four case studies describe the process of co-created work with …

In-Plane Shear Resistance Of Sustainable Structural Walls With Large Openings, Matija Radovic

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Shear walls are primary structural systems that support building against lateral loads (tornadoes and hurricanes). Even though concrete shear walls are the most efficient lateral resisting system, they are rarely used in a residential construction. The reasons for why contractors do not use concrete walls in residential construction were due to higher construction cost and slower construction paces. This study proposes building and testing residential concrete structural wall system that is energy efficient, cost competitive and structurally safe.

In order to decrease environmental impact of the residential construction process, this study proposed implementing sustainability concept while building residential structures. The …

Investigations On Rangeland Grasshoppers: Ecoregion Level Distribution, Identification, Feeding Performance, And Vegetation Clipping, Muhammad Ullah

Department of Entomology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Short-horned grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae) were studied in the field as well as in laboratory for their distribution, identification, preferred food plants and feeding damage. These grasshoppers are important potential pests of rangelands where they compete for forage with cattle. Examination of the 20 most common grasshoppers by levels 3 and 4 of Nebraska ecoregions revealed specific habitat use and may be helpful in predicting hotspots. The relative abundance of all species analyzed showed at least some significant differences at ecoregion level 4 and two species showed single ecoregion that differed from all others at level 3.

Grasshoppers belonging to subfamilies …

Understanding Africa’S China Policy: A Test Of Dependency Theory And A Study Of African Motivations In Increasing Engagement With China, Nkemjika E. Kalu

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

African states are increasingly engaging with China--politically, socially and economically--especially through the machinations of the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). This dissertation asserts that Africans are willing partners of the Chinese, motivated by their state-centric belief that engagement with China is in their national interest. This assertion contradicts the assumption of most literature to date that appears to borrow from the logic of dependency theory and presents African nations as pawns, subject to the demands of a dominant and exploitative China, who is benefiting at Africa’s expense. Economic trends from the decade before the launch of the FOCAC and the …