Digital Commons Network^™

Evaluation Of An Early Intervention System At A Law Enforcement Agency, Robert Scott Russell

Theses and Dissertations

Evaluation of an Early Intervention System at a Law Enforcement Agency. Robert Scott Russell, 2014: Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler School of Education. ERIC Descriptors: Computer Software Evaluation, Crime Prevention, Law Enforcement, Police Community Relationship, Program Evaluation. The problem addressed through this program evaluation was that no formal study had been conducted regarding the implementation and effectiveness of the BlueTeam Program (BTP) within the law enforcement agency (LEA) serving as the study site. The BTP is a program that utilizes a computer application to track officer behaviors and alert administrators to potential trends in officer misconduct and …

Love And Civil Rights, Ediberto Román

Faculty Publications

Despite western legal scholars' almost universal rejection of the use of emotions in legal analysis, the unquestionable greatest social activist and grassroots legal reformer of our times, and perhaps one of the greatest in the annals of time, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, understood a basic yet profound fact concerning societal change - the transformative power of love. During the era where he achieved the greatest influence, Dr. King knew that societal-wide change could not occur without transforming the American psyche on the basic fairness of the civil rights struggle. This civil rights struggle, which is now so closely associated …

Estimating The Effect Of Home Court Advantage On Wins In The Nba, Jason Kotecki

Honors Projects

What is the effect of home court advantage in the National Basketball Association (NBA)? Based on the Economic Theory of Professional Sports and the concept of shirking, teams should perform better at home than they do on the road. Descriptive statistics support this expectation. It is hypothesized that a home court advantage is due to fan attendance, field goal and free throw percentages, and fouls called by the referee. Following every NBA team and every game played over a three-year span (2008-2011), this paper estimates the probability of producing a win at home based on the aforementioned variables. Using a …

Prison Health Care After The Affordable Care Act: Envisioning An End To The Policy Of Neglect, Evelyn Malave

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

Inadequate prison health care has created a health crisis for reentering prisoners and their communities--a crisis that is exacerbated by barriers to employment and other collateral consequences of release. This Note will first examine how current Eighth Amendment doctrine has failed to sufficiently regulate prison health care so as to have any significant effect on the crisis. Next, it will argue that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) alters the Eighth Amendment analysis by triggering a change in the "evolving standards of decency" that guide the doctrine. Specifically, this Note will argue that, after the passage of the ACA, releasing sick, …

Are We Teaching What They Will Use; Surveying Alumni To Assess Whether Skills Teaching Aligns With Alumni Practice, Sheila F. Miller

MC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Defense Lawyering And Wrongful Convictions, Ellen Yaroshefsky, Laura Schaefer

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

In Examining Wrongful Convictions: Stepping Back, Moving Forward, the premise is that much can be learned by “stepping back” from the focus on the direct causes of wrongful convictions and examining criminal justice systems, and the sociopolitical environments in which they operate. Expert scholars examine the underlying individual, systemic, and social or structural conditions that may help precipitate and sustain wrongful convictions, thereby “moving forward” the related scholarship.

"Examining Wrongful Convictions is a book that has no equal. With full and up-to-date chapters dedicated to the unique vulnerability of adolescents, insufficiently protected; the enabling role of a “muddled” news media, …

How The Myth Was Made: Time, Myth, And Narrative In The Work Of William Faulkner, Katherine A. Macdonnell

Scripps Senior Theses

It is all too easy to dismiss myth as belonging to the realm of the abstract and theoretical, too removed from reality to constitute anything pragmatic. And yet myth makes up the very fabric of society, informing the way history is understood and the way people and things are remembered.

William Faulkner’s works approach myth with a healthy skepticism, only gradually coming to find value in a process that is often destructive; his works demand of their readers the same perceptive criticism. This thesis approaches myth through the lens of Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," Absalom, Absalom!, and "The …

The Impact Of Cultural Cringe On Consumer Behavior In China, Yue Hu

Open Access Master's Theses

China’s market with huge demand and limited supply has become attractive to many international companies since 1976. This study examines the impact of cultural cringe on consumer behavior in China by using Nike, an American sports brand, and Li-Ning, a Chinese sports brand as examples. An online questionnaire survey with 36 questions is conducted in a comprehensive college in the People’s Republic of China. Participants are 314 students from different majors. Results show that the increase of cultural cringe leads to the increasing likelihood of buying Nike’s products. Limitations of the study and the direction for future research are also …

“Best Interests Of The Child”, Andrew Schepard

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

Parents are essential to raising children. They love them, make major decisions for them, provide a roof over their heads. They offer emotional, educational, and economic support. In “intact” families, parents make decisions for their children jointly. There is no issue about where a child lives because parents live together with the child in the same place.

Accessing Law: An Empirical Study Exploring The Influence Of Legal Research Medium, Stefan H. Krieger, Katrina Fischer Kuh

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

The legal profession is presently engaged in an uncontrolled experiment. Attorneys now locate and access legal authorities primarily through electronic means. Although this shift to an electronic research medium radically changes how attorneys discover and encounter law, little empirical work investigates impacts from the shift to an electronic medium.

This Article presents the results of one of the most robust empirical studies conducted to date comparing research processes using print and electronic sources. While the study presented in this Article was modest in scope, the extent and type of the differences that it reveals are notable. Some of the observed …

Judging Similarity, Shyamkrishna Balganesh, Irina D. Manta, Tess Wilkinson‐Ryan

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

Copyright law’s requirement of substantial similarity requires a court to satisfy itself that a defendant’s copying, even when shown to exist as a factual matter, is quantitatively and qualitatively enough to render it actionable as infringement. By the time a jury reaches the question of substantial similarity, however, the court has usually heard and analyzed a good deal of evidence: about the plaintiff, the defendant, the creativity involved, the process through which the work was created, the reasons for which the work was produced, the defendant’s own creative efforts and behavior, and on occasion the market effects of the defendant’s …

The Evaluation Of Doctor Of Physicaltherapy Students’ Confidence And Satisfaction Using Human Patient Simulation, Brooke O'Connell

Open Access Master's Theses

Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) curricula are designed to train physical therapy students to treat patients across a range of treatment needs and settings. However, the ability to provide students with hands on experience in a variety of settings can be limited. Acute care setting experience can be particularly challenging to provide students due to availability issues, legal concerns, and limited clinical opportunities. Human patient simulators; however, are not hindered by the same restrictions. Consequently, simulators provide a valuable resource for students to expand their acute care experience. This study was designed to evaluate the confidence and exposure levels of …

Aural (Re)Positioning And The Aesthetics Of Realism In First-Person Shooter Games, Ryan P. Laliberty

Open Access Master's Theses

The following study is concerned with how immersive experiences are constructed in first-person shooter (FPS) video games through the implementation of “realistic” audio. Bringing together the three fields of video game studies, sound studies, and science and technology studies in its theoretical framework, this study approaches FPS games as commodities, marketed for their capabilities towards providing the player with an immersive and realistic experience, and constructed in particular ways, for particular ends. The first part of this study explores the context of FPS game audio development, from the earliest days of video games in the mid-twentieth century, to the current …

Wedding Dress Purchase Intentions Of Tattooed Brides, Sarah Yang

Open Access Master's Theses

A tattooed bride faces internal and external influences that may affect her choice of dress. She also will face the decision of whether to hide or show her tattoos on her wedding day. A review of literature revealed that the history of tattoos, contemporary tattoos, and history of weddings have been comprehensively researched (Fenske 2007; Koch, Roberts, Armstrong, and Owen 2010; DeMello 2003; Mo 2000; Ehrman 2011). However, the topic [of tattooed brides has not been explored. Discussion threads on several wedding blogs indicate that tattooed brides have faced the issue of whether to hide or show their tattoos and …

Depression, Social Support, And Self-Rated Health In Older Adults, Kristen Frady

Open Access Master's Theses

Little research has explored factors indirectly related to health that may influence self-rated health (SRH) in older adults. Even less research has explored the relationship between perceived social support and SRH. The purpose of this study was to explore a health-related factor, depression, and an indirectly related to health factor, social support, as predictors of self-rated health in older adults. It explored three primary research questions: 1) Are there significant differences in older adults’ SRH scores when examined by demographic factors such as age, education, and marital status? 2) Are depression and social support correlated with SRH and is one …

The Anxiolytic Effects Of Exercise And Mindfulness, Alyssa L. Guastella

Open Access Master's Theses

Problem Statement and Background: Anxiety is prevalent and associated with high comorbidity and reduced quality of life. The efficacy of disseminable, inexpensive methods of anxiety management need to be studied. Such methods, including exercise (EX) and mindfulness practice (MP), have been shown to be effective compared to traditional treatments such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or pharmaceuticals. However, there is limited work investigating these methods, or their combination, in an anxious population.

Methods: Females (N = 970) were screened from the university population to identify those with high levels of anxiety (≥ 3 on GAD-2 screen). Fifty-six anxious females …

The Relationship Between Co-Sleeping And Self-Regulation In Early Childhood, Bie-Shuein Chu

Open Access Master's Theses

Co-sleeping has been considered as a dangerous sleeping practice for infants by some parents and pediatricians. However, past research found that co-sleeping in early childhood has a positive influence on both physical and mental development as well as the parent-child relationship, which suggests that co-sleeping may have a positive influence on self-regulation development. This study aims to investigate the relationship between co-sleeping and two self-regulation constructs: socioemotional control and cognitive control by analyzing data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B). After excluding the unqualified cases and weighing the sample size with adjusted DEFF weight, the final analytic sample …

The Relationship Between Adolescent Depression And Social Skills In Young Adulthood, Emily H. Simmons

Scripps Senior Theses

This study investigated the relationships between a history of adolescent depression and social skills in young adulthood. Participants between the ages of 22 and 30 reported past and present experiences with depression and completed assessments of three aspects of social skills: emotional understanding, strength of social relationships, and interpersonal competence. Results indicated an association between current depression and social skills deficits but no main effect of adolescent depression on overall social skills. However, greater emotional understanding was associated with a history of adolescent depression. An earlier age of onset predicted stronger social relationships while length of depressive episode and time …

Feminist Stereotypes: Communal Vs. Agentic, Emily R. Lindburg

Scripps Senior Theses

This study examined relationships between facial appearance, gender-linked traits, and feminist stereotypes. Naïve college students rated traits based on facial appearance of female CEO's whose companies appeared in the Forbes 1000 list. The photos of each female CEO (n=35) were randomly combined with two descriptive identifiers; an occupation (n=9) and an interest area (n=9), including 'feminist'. Participants then rated the head shots of the CEO's on a 7 point Likert scale of communal (expected feminine) traits like attractiveness, warmth, compassion and cooperativeness, and on agentic (expected masculine) traits like ambition, leadership ability and intelligence. If college students hold negative stereotypes …

Madrid Me Mata: Regional Identity Politics And Community Building Through The Music Of La Movida Madrileña, Winona A. Bechte

Scripps Senior Theses

Chapter 1: Formation and Early Beginnings of music in la Movida
-In the first chapter I am writing about how the early development of la Movida runs very much alongside political initiatives to stimulate cultural development in Madrid. Specifically I am writing about how popular songs and musicians at the time translated these messages of regional pride and identity that was being heavily stimulated by the government into a way that the general public could understand and support. Citing specific song lyrics and early bands of la Movida, I also track the years leading up to 1975 and how music …

A Comparison Of Different Methods Of Zero-Inflated Data Analysis And Its Application In Health Surveys, Si Yang

Open Access Master's Theses

Count data with excessive zeros and/or over-dispersion are prevalent in a wide variety of disciplines, such as public health, psychology, and environmental science. Different regression models have been proposed to deal with data with a preponderance of zero observations. These approaches include: a. transform the data to make it normal and use ordinary least-squares regression (LST); b. Poisson regression (Poisson); c. negative binomial regression (NB); d. zero-inflated Poisson regression (ZIP); e. zeroinflated negative binomial regression (ZINB); f. zero-altered Poisson regression (ZAP); and g. zero-altered negative binomial regression (ZANB). There is no clear guideline as to which one to use and …

Measuring And Predicting The Factors Associated With Persistence To Antidepressant Therapy In Patients With Diabetes, Harini Chinthapatla

Open Access Master's Theses

Objective: The objective of this study was to measure the rate of persistence to antidepressants and to identify the factors influencing persistence to these medications in patients with diabetes.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study among patients with diabetes enrolled in a commercial health plan between 2009 – 2012. The study population includes patients who were at least 18 years of age and diagnosed with major depression during this period. The patients were eligible for acute phase treatment and continuation phase treatment if they were enrolled at least 90 days and 180 days after the Index antidepressant Prescription …

Positive Patient Experiences In An Australian Integrative Oncology Centre, Bonnie J. Furzer, Anna S. Petterson, Kemi E. Wright, Karen E. Wallman, Timothy R. Ackland, David J. Joske

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of cancer patients' utilising complementary and integrative therapies (CIT) within integrative oncology centres across Western Australia.Methods: Across four locations 135 patients accessed CIT services whilst undergoing outpatient medical treatment for cancer. Of the 135 patients, 66 (61 ± 12 y; female n = 45; male n = 21) agreed to complete a personal accounts questionnaire consisting of open-ended questions designed to explore patients' perceptions of CIT. All results were transcribed into nVivo (v9) and using thematic analysis, key themes were identified.Results: Of the 66 participants, 100% indicated they would …

Messages That Increase Women's Intentions To Abstain From Alcohol During Pregnancy: Results From Quantitative Testing Of Advertising Concepts, Kathryn E. France, Robert J. Donovan, Carol Bower, Elizabeth J. Elliott, Janet M. Payne, Heather D'Antoine, Anne E. Bartu

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: Public awareness-raising campaigns targeting alcohol use during pregnancy are an important part of preventing prenatal alcohol exposure and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. Despite this, there is little evidence on what specific elements contribute to campaign message effectiveness. This research evaluated three different advertising concepts addressing alcohol and pregnancy: a threat appeal, a positive appeal promoting a self-efficacy message, and a concept that combined the two appeals. The primary aim was to determine the effectiveness of these concepts in increasing women's intentions to abstain from alcohol during pregnancy. Methods. Women of childbearing age and pregnant women residing in Perth, Western …

An Eportfolio Environment To Enhance Reflection In Pre-Service Teachers: What Worked, What Didn't And Why?, Pauline K. Roberts

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This research paper details some results of a doctoral study that was designed to enhance reflection in pre-service teachers by scaffolding an action research project within the eportfolio-based learning environment. It reports on a unit level implementation of the PebblePad eportfolio platform in a Western Australian university, and focuses specifically on the levels of student engagement when guided by prompts placed within PebblePad as part of a scaffolded learning environment. The paper also examines the barriers to engagement that were identified through the data collection. The key findings indicate that the students were most engaged with the prompts that had …

Ensuring The Development Of Digital Literacy In Higher Education Curricula, Mark T. Mcmahon

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Digital Literacy is widely considered to be an essential attribute for both academic and professional success. In an increasingly regulated and standards -based higher education environment, however, there is a lack of clear guidance as to what constitutes the nature of appropriate level of Digital Literacy that graduates need to demonstrate. This paper argues for the application of a Digital Literacy Taxonomy to articulate the dimensions inherent in it, which can then be applied to student activities and curricula. This process can be used to assist academics in identifying the literacy requirements of their courses, their own opportunities for professional …

Genetic Algorithm With Logistic Regression For Prediction Of Progression To Alzheimer's Disease, Piers Johnson, Luke Vandewater, William Wilson, Paul Maruff, Greg Savage, Petra Graham, Lance S. Macaulay, Kathryn A. Ellis, Cassandra Szoeke, Ralph N. Martins, Christopher Rowe, Colin L. Masters, David Ames, Ping Zhang

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Assessment of risk and early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a key to its prevention or slowing the progression of the disease. Previous research on risk factors for AD typically utilizes statistical comparison tests or stepwise selection with regression models. Outcomes of these methods tend to emphasize single risk factors rather than a combination of risk factors. However, a combination of factors, rather than any one alone, is likely to affect disease development. Genetic algorithms (GA) can be useful and efficient for searching a combination of variables for the best achievement (eg. accuracy of diagnosis), especially when the search …

Neural And Behavioral Effects Of Being Excluded By The Targets Of A Witnessed Social Exclusion, Kaitlin R. Dunn

Honors Projects

The consequences of social exclusion can be extremely detrimental to physical and emotional well being, ranging from mild distress to extreme violence and aggression. Research findings indicate that witnessing exclusion is just as common as experiencing exclusion and can invoke similar levels of distress. As such, it is also important to examine responses and reactions to the targets after witnessing it. Accordingly, this study examined the association between witnessing and experiencing social exclusion and event-related brain potential (ERP) activity. ERPs were collected while participants played a game of Cyberball with the previous targets of a witnessed inclusion or exclusion and …

The Effect Of Choice Set Size And Other Choice Architectures On Decisions To Volunteer, Lauren Carroll

School of Psychology Theses

This thesis adds to the existing literature on the too-much-choice effect. The effect documents a range of negative consequences as a result of choosing from extensive choice sets, such as increased decision difficulty, increased deferment likelihood, and increased feelings of uncertainty, regret and dissatisfaction with chosen options. The research presented in this thesis investigates the effect of choice amount in the novel domain of volunteering, specifically which organisation to volunteer for. This is an experiential choice rather than the material choices typically studied. The first three field studies focussed on real volunteering recruitment ‘events’ to gain preliminary insight into this …

Modelling Learning To Count In Humanoid Robots, Marek Rucinski

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

This thesis concerns the formulation of novel developmental robotics models of embodied phenomena in number learning. Learning to count is believed to be of paramount importance for the acquisition of the remarkable fluency with which humans are able to manipulate numbers and other abstract concepts derived from them later in life. The ever-increasing amount of evidence for the embodied nature of human mathematical thinking suggests that the investigation of numerical cognition with the use of robotic cognitive models has a high potential of contributing toward the better understanding of the involved mechanisms. This thesis focuses on two particular groups of …